Dominating the Northeast 10 with eleven titles, Saint Anselm faces an uncertain shift to Division III as conference instability and NIL pave the way forward.
Saint Anselm is the most decorated Division II program in the Northeast 10. The Hawks have won a staggering 11 conference championships in 25 years. This includes the inaugural title in 2000 and four in a row from 2009-13. They nearly took home two more, but came up short in the finals each of the past two seasons to Saint Michael's and Assumption respectively
Will van der Veen is a recent professional player produced by the Hawks. The 6 foot 5, 229 pound defenseman spent 2023-25 at Saint Anselm before joining the SPHL's Evansville Thunderbolts. He and his squad captured the 2026 President's Cup, the second consecutive championship for Evansville. The Duxbury, MA native also received a four game call up to the ECHL's Tulsa Oilers.
After their quarter century of domination, it would appear that Saint Anselm has a new journey ahead. On April 26, 2026, the college announced it would be moving to the Division III NEWMAC for 2027-28 and going fully Division III by 2029-30.
“The NCAA landscape is changing rapidly, driven by Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) financial opportunities, a transfer portal that leads to team instability, and growing uncertainty among conferences," said Saint Anselm President Joseph A. Favazza, Ph.D. "After careful consideration, we have chosen a proactive path that aligns with our mission and allows the College to maintain control of its athletic future.”
However, a wrinkle to the change is that NEWMAC does not sponsor ice hockey. This, combined with Saint Anselm's back to back runner up finishes lead me to believe that the men's team will stay at Division II.
However, the women's program is a different story. Jim Van Hoof of Saint Anselm's College Board of Trustees, explained that the school will go forward in taking the women's program to Division III. "We take student-athlete in that order," said Van Hoof. A point of note is that NCAA Division II Women's hockey does not exist, only Division I and III. There is a Change.org Petition to keep Division I Women's hockey which at last count had over 2,000 signatures, to which Van Hoof responded saying, "I think transitions are always hard, especially ones where you have long traditions, and so we expect some bumps in the road, and it's OK."
It remains to be seen where the Hawks go from here. At the time of publication, Saint Anselm's 2026-27 schedule nor roster have not been posted. This is not uncommon for smaller schools, many of whom do not drop such information until the early fall. Given the rich history at Saint Anselm, men's and women's hockey will likely continue thriving in Manchester, regardless of their NCAA Division.
