The Air Force–Army men's ice hockey rivalry is a

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the go ...

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

between the

Air Force Falcons men's ice hockey The Air Force Falcons men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I college ice hockey program that represents the United States Air Force Academy. The Falcons are a member of Atlantic Hoc ...

and

Army Black Knights men's ice hockey The Army Black Knights men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the United States Military Academy. The Black Knights are members of Atlantic Hockey America ...

programs. The first official meeting between the two occurred on January 26, 1976 but didn't become an annual event until 1989.

History

Army was one of the first college teams in the country, playing their first games in 1904. Air Force didn't start play until more than 60 years later but, due to the vast distance between the two campuses, the teams didn't play one another for several seasons. When the NCAA reorganized into numerical divisions in 1973, Army was dropped down to Division II in part because they still used an open-air rink as their home facility. The

Smith Rink The Smith Rink was an outdoor ice rink on the campus of the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. The rink served as the home for the Army ice hockey program for 55 years and was the last outdoor venue used for Division I hock ...

served as Army's home from 1930 to 1985 but, once the program began to build the more modern

Tate Rink Tate Rink is a 2,648-seat hockey rink in West Point, New York. It is home to the men's ice hockey team of the United States Military Academy. It is also home to the Army's youth hockey team, the West Point Jr. Black Knights. It was built in as pa ...

, the program was allowed back into top division. Army then played as a part-time member of

ECAC Hockey ECAC Hockey is one of the six conferences that compete in NCAA Division I college ice hockey, ice hockey. The conference used to be affiliated with the Eastern College Athletic Conference, a consortium of over 300 colleges in the eastern United ...

until the late 1980s, after which, the team played as an independent. This coincided with Army and Air Force beginning an annual rivalry. For the first decade of play between the two service academies, the teams alternated hosting duties. That trend continued once they both joined

College Hockey America College Hockey America (CHA) was a college ice hockey conference in the United States. It participated in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. The conference's final membership featured six women's teams, with three in Pennsylvani ...

in 2000, however, Army left after just one season to join the MAAC, an east coast conference. Air Force remained with the CHA for several years before following in Army's footsteps, joining the MAAC successor,

Atlantic Hockey The Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) was an NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey conference which operates primarily in the northeastern United States. It participated in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference. Unlike several other ...

in 2007. Over the span of 15 years, Air Force and Army have met 5 times in the conference tournament with the Falcons winning every series.

Game results

Full game results for the rivalry, with rankings beginning in the 1998–99 season.

Series facts

References

External links

Air Force Falcons men's ice hockey

Army Black Knights men's ice hockey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Air Force-Army men's ice hockey rivalry College ice hockey rivalries in the United States Air Force Falcons ice hockey Army Black Knights men's ice hockey