2017-18 UCHC Men's Season

This is the 2017-18 United Collegiate Hockey Conference men's season.  This is the conference's first season.
==Automatic Tournament Bid Request==
The conference had requested a waiver on the NCAA policy of a two year wait on the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for new conferences by including the first year of the conference as the former ECAC West Conference.  At the June 19-20, 2017 meeting the NCAA Division III Championships Committee did not approve a request from the United Collegiate Hockey Conference to waive the first year of the two-year waiting period to receive automatic qualification. The committee was not comfortable with giving a year of credit to a conference that was not yet active (the conference will be active in 2017-18) and whose members were previously part of a conference that was not eligible for automatic qualification.
==Membership Changes==
The conference was announced on October 4, 2016.  The conference announced the inclusion of the following ten men's and women's teams  Chatham Cougars, Elmira Soaring Eagles, Hobart Statesmen, King's College Kings, Lebanon Valley Flying Dutchmen, Manhattanville Valiants, Neumann Knights, Stevenson Mustangs, Utica Pioneers, William Smith Herons.  The conference will also include the Nazareth Golden Flyers men's team.  The men's and women's Wilkes University Colonels will be also added to the conference playing an abbreviated schedule in 2017-18 and a full schedule in 2018-19.
However, the Middle Atlantic Conferences announced on October 13, 2016 that they would start to sponsor men's and women's ice hockey also starting with the 2017-18 season.  The following teams were announced as being members King's College Kings, Lebanon Valley Flying Dutchmen, Manhattanville Valiants,  Stevenson Mustangs, and the Wilkes University Colonels which would appear to  eliminate five programs from the conference.  However, the MAC is using the same format that the Ivy League uses to determine its' champion as they use the ECAC conference games to determine their champion.
Wilkes University announced on November 9, 2016 that they were delaying the start of play for the men's hockey team until 2018-19 due to the head coach they had hired (Michael Young) deciding to remain as the head coach of the Westfield State Owls.  the school felt it would be in the best interest to delay the start to have time to hire a new head coach and give them a full recruiting cycle to develop a roster for the 2018-19 season.
In January of 2017 the Hobart Statesmen would be announced as withdrawing from the UCHC and joining the New England Hockey Conference for the 2017-18 season.
On April 13, 2017 Nazareth University announced the addition of women's ice hockey for the 2018-19 season.
==Membership==
Team 	Centre 	Arena
Chatham Cougars 	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 	Alpha Ice Complex
Elmira Soaring Eagles 	Elmira, New York 	Murray Athletic Center Arena
Kings College Monarchs 	Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania 	Revolution Ice Centre
Lebanon Valley Flying Dutchmen	Annville, Pennsylvania 	Hersheypark Arena
Manhattanville Valiants 	Purchase, New York 	Playland Ice Casino (Rye, NY)
Nazareth Golden Flyers 	Pittsford, New York 	Bill Gray's Regional Iceplex
Neumann Knights 	Aston, Pennsylvania 	IceWorks Skating Complex
Stevenson Mustangs 	Stevenson, Maryland &Owings Mills, Maryland	Reisterstown Sportsplex
Utica Pioneers 	Utica, New York 	Utica Memorial Auditorium
===Future Members===
Team 	Centre 	Arena 	Notes
Wilkes University Colonels	Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania	Toyota SportsPlex	joining for 2018-19 season
===Announced but later withdrew===
Team 	Centre 	Arena 	Notes
Hobart Statesmen	Geneva, New York	Geneva Recreation Complex Skating Rink	Join New England Hockey Conference
==Standings==
United Collegiate Hockey Conference	United Collegiate Hockey Conference	United Collegiate Hockey Conference	United Collegiate Hockey Conference	United Collegiate Hockey Conference	United Collegiate Hockey Conference	United Collegiate Hockey Conference	United Collegiate Hockey Conference	Overall Record	Overall Record	Overall Record	Overall Record	Overall Record	Overall Record
Team 	GP 	W 	L 	T 	GF 	GA 	Pts 	GP 	W 	L 	T 	GF 	GA
Utica Pioneers 	16 	12 	4 	0 	79 	34 	24 	27 	21 	5 	1 	133 	55
Stevenson Mustangs 	16 	9 	3 	4 	50 	30 	22 	26 	11 	8 	7 	78 	71
Lebanon Valley Flying Dutchmen 	16 	10 	4 	2 	64 	47 	22 	24 	12 	10 	2 	80 	81
Manhattanville Valiants 	16 	9 	5 	2 	67 	44 	20 	26 	12 	9 	5 	93 	68
Elmira Soaring Eagles 	16 	8 	5 	3 	57 	45 	19 	28 	15 	10 	3 	94 	85
Neumann Knights 	16 	8 	6 	2 	54 	52 	18 	27 	10 	15 	2 	78 	100
Nazareth Golden Flyers 	16 	7 	8 	1 	46 	41 	15 	25 	10 	13 	2 	66 	69
Chatham Cougars 	16 	2 	14 	0 	20 	83 	4 	25 	2 	20 	3 	36 	125
Kings College Monarchs 	16 	0 	16 	0 	30 	91 	0 	25 	0 	25 	0 	47 	134
==Conference Tournament==
The top six teams qualify for the single elimination tournament with the 3rd and 4th seeds hosting the 6th and 5th seeds respectively in the quarterfinals.  The 1st seed hosts the lower seeded quarterfinal winner and the 2nd seed hosts the higher seeded quarterfinal winner in the semifinal.  The semifinal winners meet for the conference championship.
===Quarterfinals===
*Neumann Knights defeated Lebanon Valley Flying Dutchmen 3-1
*Elmira Soaring Eagles defeated Manhattanville Valiants 4-3
===Semifinals===
*Utica Pioneers defeated Neumann Knights 5-2
*Elmira Soaring Eagles defeated Stevenson Mustangs 5-3
===Final===
Utica Pioneers defeated Elmira Soaring Eagles 8-3
Category:2018 in hockey
Category:United Collegiate Hockey Conference