The Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL) was a collegiate hockey conference at the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division I level. The league was created in 2017 and is made up of eight teams located in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.
During the 2024âÂÂ25 season, Delaware, Stony Brook, Syracuse, and Pittsburgh announced they would be leaving the ESCHL for the newly formed ACCHL Men's Division 1 subsection. This left only Drexel and Rhode Island. With the conference no longer having a sufficient amount of teams for a meaningful in-conference season, both Drexel and Rhode Island departed for the ECHA in the summer of 2025.
League teams play a 20-game league schedule consisting of 2 games against each of the other league teams. League playoffs are held in February with the top 4 teams qualifying for the playoffs. ESCHL Champions receive an automatic bid to the ACHA Men's Division I National Tournament.
Penn State University won the first two playoff championships over the University of Delaware in both 2008 and 2009. The regular season title was shared by Penn State, Delaware, and the University of Rhode Island in the 2008âÂÂ2009 with each team finishing with 25 points in the standings. Navy and Drexel left the conference to join the Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association and Robert Morris University joined the conference beginning in the 2010âÂÂ11 season. In September 2010, prior to the start of the 2010âÂÂ11 season, Penn State left the conference in 2011 during the program's transition to NCAA Division I. Robert Morris left the league to join College Hockey Mid-America(CHMA) but was replaced by Rutgers in the 2012âÂÂ13 season. Rutgers left for NECHL in 2018. Drexel joined the league from ECHA before the 2020âÂÂ2021 season. Niagara & Pitt joined the conference from the NECHL and CHMA for the 2022âÂÂ23 season.