Penn-Ohio Intercollegiate Hockey League

The Pennsylvania-Ohio Intercollegiate Hockey League, sometimes called the Penn-Ohio Intercollegiate Hockey League, Ohio-Penn Intercollegiate Hockey League or Cleveland-Pittsburgh Intercollegiate Hockey League, was a varsity men's collegiate ice hockey conference from 1937-41.
==History==
The conference existed as early as 1930 as a loose affiliation of varsity and non-varsity programs. 
In Pittsburgh, Duquesne University had a desire to align themselves with local schools who had a commitment to varsity intercollegiate hockey. In Cleveland, Al Supthin, owner of the Cleveland Barons was looking to fill the schedule of his newly completed Cleveland Arena. Supthin helped establish the league by offering Cleveland Arena as a home rink for local colleges. The league was officially formed in 1937 and divided into Eastern (Pittsburgh colleges) and Western (Cleveland area colleges) divisions.
The original members were Baldwin Wallace College, Carnegie Institute of Technology, Case Institute of Technology, Duquesne University, Fenn College, John Carroll University, University of Pittsburgh, and Western Reserve College.
Just before the 1939-40 season, Pittsburgh abruptly discontinued their hockey program leaving just two teams in the Eastern division. The league abandoned the two-division format for 1939-40. The other Pittsburgh colleges, Duquesne and Carnegie Tech, dropped hockey after 1940 leaving the league with only the Ohio colleges of Case, Fenn, John Carroll and Western Reserve. The four schools continued competing as a league dropping the "Penn-Ohio" name for the 1940-41 season.
The league ceased to exist after 1941.
==Regular Season Champions==
===Eastern Division===
*1938 Duquesne University
*1939 Duquesne University
===Western Division===
*1938 John Carroll University
*1939 John Carroll University
===League===
*1940 John Carroll University
*1941 John Carroll University
==Playoff Champions==
===Eastern Division===
*1938 University of Pittsburgh (defeated Duquesne)
*1939 University of Pittsburgh (defeated Duquesne) 
===Western Division===
*1938 John Carroll University (defeated Western Reserve)
*1939 John Carroll University (defeated Western Reserve)
===League===
*1938 John Carroll University (defeated Pittsburgh 2-0 in a best-of-three series)
*1939 John Carroll University (defeated Pittsburgh 2-1 in best-of-three series) 
*1940 John Carroll University (defeated Duquesne 2-0 in best-of-three series) 
*1941 Case Institute of Technology (defeated John Carroll 2-1 in best-of-three series) 
====Playoff Format====
*1938 A four team divisional playoff (top two teams from each division) with the semifinals being a two games, total goals format and the championship being a best-of-three format.
*1939 The four team divisional format was retained in 1939 with the semifinals switching to a best-of-three series.
*1940-1941 Playoff was played between the top two teams in the league in a best-of-three series format.
==Members==
===Eastern Division===
*Carnegie Institute of Technology
*Duquesne University
*University of Pittsburgh (dropped hockey on November 7, 1939)
===Western Division===
*Baldwin Wallace College (dropped hockey after 1938-39 season)
*Case Institute of Technology 
*Fenn College
*John Carroll University
*Western Reserve College
After Baldwin Wallace College and the University of Pittsburgh dropped hockey in 1939, the two division structure was abandoned.
==Unbeaten Streak==
John Carroll's hockey team went undefeated for a record 41 straight games between a January 11, 1939, loss to Duquesne and a March 21, 1941, triple overtime loss to Case in game two of the playoffs. The record is three games better than the modern record of 38 games by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in NCAA Division I and St. Norbert College and University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in NCAA Division III.
==References==
Category:Ice hockey leagues