Atlantic Hockey Association Atlantic Hockey is a minor conference in NCAA Men ' s Division I . Its member teams are : History . Despite its short tenure , Atlantic Hockey has had a tumultuous , yet relatively stable history . The MAAC . In 1995 , the NCAA passed a regulation requiring all schools classified at the Division I level to play all their sports at that level , if an NCAA tournament existed at that level . While mostly affecting football programs opting to play at Division III , it also affected eight Division I schools playing at the Division II / III level in hockey : Connecticut , Quinnipiac , Sacred Heart , Iona , Fairfield , Canisius , Holy Cross and Villanova . Those schools were required to bring their programs up within four years , which would be the 1998 - 99 hockey season . Villanova would drop their program before that year , but the discontinuing of the Division II ice hockey tournament would see American International seeking to join the Division I ranks . The eight programs would talk to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference ( the all - sports home of Canisius , Iona and Fairfield , as well as CHA member Niagara ) , and the league agreed to form a cost - containment hockey league for the eight teams ( the league still has a scholarship limit of 11 ) to ease the transition from Division III to Division I play . The league ' s first season , 1998 - 1999 , was won by Quinnipiac , and the first tournament would be won by host Holy Cross . Growing Pains . The second season , 1999 - 2000 , would see league membership increase to 10 , as Bentley and Mercyhurst would join the league from Division II . The latter would quickly cement themselves as one of the league ' s top teams , while the former has struggled . It would also be a season of controversy for the fledgling league . For one , a league by - law proscribing all members , full and associate , from playing provisional NCAA programs , forced the cancellation of several games against the University of Findlay , who had not yet finished their provisional term . The black eye for the league carried over into discussions surrounding the other controversial happening to the league : the application for an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament . Having completed all requirements for an automatic bid , the MAAC made the official application for the next season ' s tournament ( the 1999 - 2000 winner , Connecticut , would be the last team to win the tournament without getting an NCAA bid ) ; they faced a backlash from the tradition - rich hockey community ( exacerbated by the Findlay controversy ) about the league ' s unworthiness to compete at the same level as the Big Four and being " undeserving " of an automatic bid . The application , however , was approved , and the old tournament rules changed to accommodate them . Growth , Contraction , and Change . 2000 - 2001 would be another year of growth for the league , as Army would defect from the CHA to the MAAC , bringing the league to 11 teams . It would also see two of the league ' s biggest games : the first win against a Big Four team , when Sacred Heart defeated the ECACHL ' s Cornell , and the MAAC ' s first ever NCAA tournament game , where league tournament champion Mercyhurst nearly upset Michigan . The league would stay at eleven members until the 2002 - 2003 season , when Fairfield and Iona both announced , within weeks of one another , that they would be dropping hockey . As this left only one all - sports MAAC member , Canisius , in the league , the remaining nine teams first applied for full voting rights in the league ' s administration ; when that request was turned down , the teams then decided to form an independent hockey league , known as Atlantic Hockey . The new league would name as its commissioner the former Merrimack athletic director , Bob DeGregorio . The 2004 - 05 season saw another shake - up in the league ' s membership , as Quinnipiac was accepted into the ECACHL to replace Vermont , which was shifting over to Hockey East . The league had eight teams for the 2005 - 06 season , and the addition of new Division I team , the RIT and the transfer of Air Force from the CHA brought the number of teams up to the current roster of 10 in 2006 - 07 . Both of these new teams would be very successful in their first year in the league , as RIT won the regular season title , and Air Force defeated Army to win the 2007 AHA Tournament . In 2009 , with College Hockey America ' s viability as a men ' s conference in serious doubt , Atlantic Hockey agreed to take in Niagara and Robert Morris starting with the 2010 - 2011 season . As a result of the NCAA Division I men ' s hockey realignment of the 2010 ' s , Hockey East offered membership to the University of Connecticut , which was accepted . The school ' s women ' s program was already a member of Hockey East . They will join Hockey East for the 2014 - 15 season . List of Atlantic Hockey Champions . From 1999 to 2003 , the team listed was the MAAC champion . < nowiki > * < / nowiki > Ineligible for postseason play External Links . Official league website