Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference

Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) is a league in NCAA Men's Division III.  The conference was established in 1971.  Men's ice hockey was sponsored from 1971-72 through 2002-03 seasons and then was reestablished starting with the 2008-09 season.
==Men's Membership (2024-25)==
Team 	Location 	Arena
Anna Maria Amcats (added for 2024-25)	Paxton, Massachusetts 	Horgan Arena
Fitchburg State Falcons 	Fitchburg, Massachusetts 	Wallace Civic Center
Framingham State Rams 	Framingham, Massachusetts 	Loring Arena
MCLA Trailblazers (added for 2024-25)	North Adams, Massachusetts	Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Skating Rink
Mass-Dartmouth Corsairs 	Dartmouth, Massachusetts 	Hetland Arena
Plymouth State Panthers 	Plymouth, New Hampshire 	Hanaway Rink
Rivier Raiders (added for 2024-25) 	Nashua, New Hampshire 	Conway Arena
Salem State Vikings 	Salem, Massachusetts 	Rockett Arena
Westfield State Owls 	Westfield, Massachusetts 	Amelia Park Ice Arena
Worcester State Lancers 	Worcester, Massachusetts 	Hart Center (Holy Cross)
Prior to 2020, of all the conference schools only Plymouth State and Salem State offer women's ice hockey.  The women's teams play in New England Hockey Conference.
Plymouth State is located in New Hampshire and they are an affiliated (for hockey only) member of the conference along with U-Mass Dartmouth both joining the conference jor the 2008-09 men's ice hockey season.
Mass Maritime was added to the conference in September of 1974.
Lowell State College was a member until July of 1975 when the school merged with Lowell Tech and the schools were collectively renamed the University of Lowell and later  UMass-Lowell, this school is now a member of NCAA Division I Hockey East.
Boston State was a member until 1982 when the school was merged in to UMass-Boston.  The school now plays in the former ECAC East, which is now known as the New England Hockey Conference.
In 1997, North Adams State was renamed Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.  The athletic teams changed their nickname from Mohawks to Trailblazers in 2002.  The school was concerned about the use (and public backlash of a Native American name for its' team.  The Trailblazers name was chosen since there are several notable trails including the Mohawk Trail (a trading route that was used to linked the pre-Colonial populations of of New England and upstate New York Other trails such as the African-American Heritage Trail, Appalachian Trail, Long Trail, Molly Stark Trail, Taconic Trail and the Mount Greylock trail system.
Prior to the 2009-10 season, all these teams were in the ECAC Northeast (except Salem State, which was in the ECAC East). In 2008, Westfield State restarted their program after 30 years, which brought the number of MASCAC teams playing men's hockey to 7, enough for an automatic bid. As such, MASCAC began sponsoring hockey in 2009 and these seven teams left their old conferences.
On August 26, 2014 it was announced that Western Connecticut State Colonials will join the conference as an affiliated member for men's ice hockey starting with the 2015-16 season.  However, the school cancelled the program for the 2015-16 season due to financial concerns and suspended the American Collegiate Hockey Association team as well.
Two all-sport MASCAC members do not presently participate in varsity level men's hockey; they are Bridgewater State, and Mass Maritme Academy (based in Buzzard's Bay).  Bridgewater State and MMA have a men's club hockey team.
==Seasons/Champions==
===Original League===
Season 	Regular Season Champion 	Tournament Champion
1971-72 	Boston State Warriors 	No Tournament
1972-73 	Boston State Warriors 	No Tournament
1973-74 	Salem State Vikings 	No Tournament
1974-75 	Salem State Vikings/Boston State Warriors 	No Tournament
1975-76 	Salem State Vikings 	No Tournament
1976-77 	Salem State Vikings 	No Tournament
1977-78 	Salem State Vikings 	No Tournament
1978-79 	Salem State Vikings 	No Tournament
1979-80 	Salem State Vikings 	No Tournament
1980-81 	Salem State Vikings 	No Tournament
1981-82 	Salem State Vikings 	No Tournament
1982-83 	Salem State Vikings 	No Tournament
1983-84 	Salem State Vikings/North Adams State Mohawks 	No Tournament
1984-85 	Salem State Vikings 	No Tournament
1985-86 	North Adams State Mohawks 	No Tournament
1986-87 	Salem State Vikings 	No Tournament
1987-88 	Salem State Vikings 	No Tournament
1988-89 	Salem State Vikings/Fitchburg State Falcons/North Adams State Mohawks	No Tournament
1989-90 	Salem State Vikings 	No Tournament
1990-91 	Salem State Vikings 	No Tournament
1991-92 	Salem State Vikings 	No Tournament
1992-93 	Salem State Vikings 	No Tournament
1993-94 	Salem State Vikings 	No Tournament
1994-95 	Salem State Vikings 	No Tournament
1995-96 	Salem State Vikings/Fitchburg State Falcons 	No Tournament
1996-97 	Salem State Vikings 	No Tournament
1997-98 	Salem State Vikings 	No Tournament
1998-99 	Salem State Vikings 	No Tournament
1999-00 	MCLA Trailblazers 	No Tournament
2000-01 	Salem State Vikings 	No tournament
2001-02 	MCLA Trailblazers 	No tournament
2002-03 	Salem State Vikings 	No tournament
No League play 2003-04 to 2007-08	No League play 2003-04 to 2007-08 	No League play 2003-04 to 2007-08
2008-09 	Salem State Vikings 	No tournament
2009-10 	Fitchburg State Falcons 	Salem State Vikings
2010-11 	Mass-Dartmouth Corsairs 	Fitchburg State Falcons
2011-12 	Plymouth State Panthers 	Plymouth State Panthers
2012-13 	Plymouth State Panthers 	Mass-Dartmouth Corsairs
2013-14 	Salem State Vikings 	Salem State Vikings
2014-15 	Salem State Vikings 	Plymouth State Panthers
2015-16 	Salem State Vikings 	Salem State Vikings
2016-17 	Plymouth State Panthers 	Salem State Vikings
2017-18 	Plymouth State Panthers 	Fitchburg State Falcons
2018-19 	Plymouth State Panthers 	Plymouth State Panthers
2019-20 	Plymouth State Panthers 	Plymouth State Panthers
2020-21 	Season Cancelled 	Season Cancelled
2021-22 	Plymouth State Panthers 	Plymouth State Panthers
2022-23 	Plymouth State Panthers 	Plymouth State Panthers
2023-24 	Plymouth State Panthers 	Plymouth State Panthers
== Notable Players== 
*Joe Gurney (Fitchburg State '88) played for the Johnstown Chiefs of the ECHL and Maine Mariners of the AHL from 1988-1991
*Dick Lamby (Salem State '75) member of 1976 US Olympic Hockey Team; played for St. Louis Blues from 1978-1981
* Peter Laviolette (Westfield State '86) member of 1988 and 2004 US Olympic Hockey Teams; NHL Coach played 10 years in the minors and played 12 games for the New York Rangers. Head coach of Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes in 2006. He was hired to be the head coach of the Nashville Predators starting with the 2014-15 season. He also coached the New York Islanders and the Philadelphia Flyers.
=Women's League=
As part of a June 14, 2023 announcement of the provisional addition of the Anna Maria Amcats men's ice hockey team and the Rivier University Raiders men's ice hockey team to the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference as affiliate members for the 2024-25 playing season the likely addition of women's ice hockey in the not too distant future, likely in 2024-25 with the Anna Maria Amcats women's ice hockey and Rivier University Raiders women's ice hockey teams joining the women's conference.https://www.mascac.com/sports/mice/2022-23/releases/Affiliate_Addition_Announcement This announcement would also put the previously independent Worcester State Lancers women's ice hockey and MCLA Trailblazers teams in a conference as well as the MASCAC is its' all-sport home.
The Salem State Vikings women's ice hockey team will join the conference in 2025-26 when the New England Hockey Conference is disbanded by the formation of the Little East Conference.
The Framingham State Rams women's ice hockey team will join the conference as a new program with the 2024-25 season.
Of the conference members that offer men's ice hockey Fitchburg State, Massachusetts-Dartmouth, and Westfield State do not offer women's ice hockey. Plymouth State is a member of the New England Hockey Conference as of the time of the announcemnt of the formation of MASCAC women's conference and will be joining the Little East Conference when it begins play in 2025-26. Bridgewater State and Mass Maritime Academy don't offer ice hockey at the varsity level for either men or women.
==Teams (2024-25)==
Team 	Location 	Arena
Anna Maria Amcats 	Paxton, Massachusetts 	Horgan Arena(in Auburn, Massachusetts)
Framingham State Rams 	Framingham, Massachusetts 	Loring Arena
MCLA Trailblazers 	North Adams, Massachusetts	Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Skating Rink
Rivier Raiders 	Nashua, New Hampshire 	Conway Arena
Salem State Vikings (2025-26)	Salem, Massachusetts 	Rockett Arena
Worcester State Lancers 	Worcester, Massachusetts 	Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center
==Links==
*MASCAC men's ice hockey website
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Category:NCAA Division III Conferences
Category:Established in 1971