By Owen Kitzan – Sports Editor

Over the past couple years, the BU men’s hockey program has made the jump into the Collegiate Hockey Federation (CHF) where they had the chance to play 15 games through their first two seasons.

With a record of nine wins and one loss last season, the national championships seemed locked in. However, sadly, they did not meet the league’s minimum number of games required, which sits at 16.

Prior to this upcoming season, the team has played games as a part of the Upper New York College Hockey Conference League, or the UNYCHL. Due to long travel distances for some teams and the necessity to play all conference members as well as meet the minimum game requirement of 16 games, it was decided that they should look into a move out of the UNYCHL.

Because of that,  BU Men’s Hockey has decided to join the New England Independent Hockey Conference, otherwise known as the NEIHC, for their 2023-24 campaign. The conference is based out Massachusetts and facilitates travel. They offer a smaller conference with only five teams. This allows the team to play competition from other conferences as well to test themselves. The NEIHC features Babson College, a school of 2500 students based out of Wellesley, Massachusetts; Anna Maria College with roughly 1000 students in Paxton, Massachusetts; and Stonehill College, a school of about 2500 students in Easton, Massachusetts. The final team featured in the conference is the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, a team that BU faced off twice with last year. The Academy was the only loss BU Men’s Hockey has suffered in its first two years in the league. Massachusetts Maritime Academy is a school out of Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts with a student body of nearly 1500 students.

With this move, the team looks forward to an exciting new season and aims to capitalize on their early success in the league. With the focus set on nationals and a chip on the teams shoulders going into the year, there is much to be proven. Stay on the lookout for a schedule to be released as well as an official roster finalization following tryouts.