Women's Hockey East Association

Women's Hockey East Association
(WHEA)
Established 2002
Association NCAA
Division Division I
Members 9
Sports fielded Ice hockey
Region New England
Headquarters Wakefield, Massachusetts
Commissioner Joe Bertagna
Website http://www.hockeyeastonline.com

The Women's Hockey East Association, also known as WHEA, is a college ice hockey conference which operates in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference.[1]

Hockey East came into existence in 1984 for men's hockey when most of its current members split from what is today known as ECAC Hockey.[2] Women's ice Hockey became a widely played Division I US College sportin the 1990's. In response to the growing competition, the WHEA began play in 2002.[3]

Members

There were six Charter teams in the 2002-03 season, including Boston College, UConn, Maine, UNH, Northeastern and Providence. In 2005, Boston University and Vermont. Merrimack College joined the WHEA for the 2015-16 season.[4]

Institution City State Abbreviation Nickname Founded Affiliation Enrollment Primary Conference
Boston College Chestnut Hill Massachusetts Boston College Eagles 1863 Private/Catholic (Jesuit) 14,640 ACC
Boston University Boston Massachusetts Boston University Terriers 1839 Private/Non-sectarian (formerly Methodist) 31,766 Patriot League
University of Connecticut Storrs Connecticut UConn Huskies 1881 Public 31,119 American
University of Maine Orono Maine Maine Black Bears 1865 Public 11,222 America East
Merrimack College North Andover Massachusetts Merrimack Warriors 1947 Private/Catholic (Augustinian) 2,975 Northeast Ten (D-II)
University of New Hampshire Durham New Hampshire New Hampshire Wildcats 1866 Public 14,761 America East
Northeastern University Boston Massachusetts Northeastern Huskies 1898 Private/Non-sectarian 20,749 CAA
Providence College Providence Rhode Island Providence Friars 1917 Private/Catholic (Dominican) 4,585 Big East
University of Vermont Burlington Vermont Vermont Catamounts 1791 Public 11,999 America East

    Champions

    The Hockey East Championship was held in Boston from its inception in 2003 until 2007. The event was held at Northeastern's Matthews Arena in 2003 and 2004 before moving to BU's Walter Brown Arena in 2005. The tournament returned to Matthews Arena in 2006, was held at UNH's Whittemore Center in 2007, and at UConn's Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum in 2008. The tournament went back to UNH in 2009, Providence in 2010, and the last campus to host was Boston University in 2011. The tournament moved to Hyannis, Massachusetts in 2012, and Lawler Arena on the Merrimack College campus in North Andover, Massachusetts in 2016.

    Conference arenas

    School Hockey Arena Capacity
    Boston College Silvio O. Conte Forum 7,884
    Boston University Walter Brown Arena 3,806
    Connecticut Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum 2,000
    Maine Alfond Arena 5,641
    Merrimack J. Thom Lawler Arena 3,000
    New Hampshire Whittemore Center Arena 6,501
    Northeastern Matthews Arena 4,666
    Providence Schneider Arena 3,030
    Vermont Gutterson Fieldhouse 4,003

    Individual Awards

    The award for the top WHEA player each year is the Cammy Granato Award, awarded since 2009. The NCAA Division I Women's Ice Hockey Player of the year, the Patty Kazmeier Award, has been won by WHEA players Alexa Campbell (Boston College) in 2015 and Kendall Coyne (Northeastern) in 2016.

    Team Awards

    The most recent WHEA Champion (2016) was Boston College, with a 5-0 win over Boston University in the WHEA Tournament Championship game. BC also had a perfect (24-0-0) mark in regular season league play.[5]

    No WHEA team has won the National Championship, but WHEA teams have appeared in the Championship game in 3 of the last 6 years.

    References

    1. ↑ "About Hockey East". Hockey East. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
    2. ↑ He Could Go All the Way, U.S. College Hockey Online, retrieved 2016-12-01
    3. ↑ "Hockey East Women :: Conference :: USCHO.com :: U.S. College Hockey Online". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
    4. ↑ "About Hockey East". HockeyEastOnline.com. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
    5. ↑ "Boston College Schedule". HockeyEastOnline.com. Retrieved 2016-12-01.

    External links

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