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Presidents Hockey
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Washington & Jefferson (W&J) hockey began in 1998 when a group of students got together and asked the school's administrators if they could form an ice hockey club. They organized a team and joined the Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Hockey Association (WPCHA). In 2001, the W&J Presidents joined the Eastern Collegiate Hockey League (ECHL) as they jumped up to the American Collegiate Hockey Association division 1 (ACHA D1) level. In 2003, the Presidents left the ECHL to compete as a Division 1 independent. Then at the beginning of this past season, W&J joined the newly formed Collegiate Hockey Mid-America (CHMA) conference in the ACHA D1. This new conference includes teams from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Duquesne University, Slippery Rock University,Youngstown State University, University of Pittsburgh, John Carroll University, and in the 2007-2008 season West Virginia University will join the CHMA.
All of W&J hockey's home games and practices are held at the Iceoplex at Southpointe. The arena is located approximately 15 minutes away from the Washington & Jefferson campus. The Presidents' have their own dedicated locker room in the arena where all of the players can store their equipment in their own individual locker. Also, they practice here three times a week and play their games on the weekend, either home at the Iceoplex or on the road. Although the players must provide their own transportation to the rink for practice and home games, they use charter buses as their transportation for most road games.
Even though W&J is a small liberal arts college, the hockey team goes up against some of the biggest schools in the nation with a lot of success. Some schools they play include Penn State University, University of Illinois, University of Maryland, University of Rhode Island, and West Virginia University. Playing these bigger universities has allowed the W&J hockey team to gain a lot of national recognition and respect.
2006-2007 Season
The Washington & Jefferson Presidents hockey team recently wrapped up their 9th season as a team. They finished the regular season with an outstanding 28-11-2 record and were ranked #14 in the nation. In their first season in the newly formed CHMA, W&J finished the regular season in first place with a 15-1-0 record in the conference, but they lost to Duquesne University in the CHMA Tournament finals. Their season did not end there, however. 
At the end of the regular season, the top 16 ranked teams earn a bid to the ACHA D1 National Tournament, and W&J found themselves ranked #14 and received an invite to nationals in Youngstown, Ohio. In the first round, they found themselves matched up against #3 ranked University of Illinois. W&J fought hard, but came up short in the end. In their final game of the season, they lost to Robert Morris University. When the final rankings poll for the ACHA D1 came out, the Presidents found themselves ranked #16 in the nation. This topped off the disappointing end to an otherwise great season. At their annual end of the year banquet, the Team MVP award was given to senior and Captain Bob Rose and the Rookie of the Year honors went to Ryne Savisky.
Their season was also highlighted by a match-up versus Robert Morris University's club hockey team at Mellon Arena in downtown Pittsburgh at the Pittsburgh College Hockey Showcase on January 5th, 2007. The Pittsburgh College Hockey Showcase matched up RMU vs. Notre Dame in NCAA D1 action as well as the ACHA D1 match-up of RMU vs. W&J. The Presidents won this exciting game 7-6 in a shootout despite blowing a 3 goal lead with less than ten minutes left in the third period. Senior Captain Bob Rose played an outstanding game scoring two goals during regulation, then scoring W&J's first goal in the shootout. Sophomore Mario Panucci scored the deciding goal in the shootout as the Presidents won the shoot-out 2-0 and won the game 7-6. Chad Talotta also scored twice and Dave Bean and Dave Crockett also scored a goal each to help power W&J to a victory over RMU.
An Inside Look at W&J Hockey
Based on an interview with a W&J hockey player on 4/16/2007
As a sophomore at Washington & Jefferson College, I just completed my second season with the W&J College Ice Hockey Club team. I have been playing hockey since I was a little kid with aspirations of making it to the NHL, and then played on my varsity team in high school. I knew there would be a difference between the level of play between high school and college hockey, but I was shocked at the difference in play. The speed of the game is much faster and the size of the players are a lot bigger. But the biggest suprise when I went 
on to the college level was the level of intensity during practices. The advice I would give to current high schoolers aspiring to play at the college level would be to make sure you train just as hard, if not harder during the offseason as you do during your actual season.
At W&J, our hockey team has a real hockey family feeling to it. With the amount of time we all spend together in the locker room, on the ice, and on the road (on the bus and in the hotels), everyone really bonds together. Also, everyone from the hockey team hangs out around campus and are there for you if you need advice on what classes to take and if you need help in a course. Through all of this, we create a lot of good memories and a ton of inside jokes among teammates.
This past season has been especially memoriable because our team made nationals and we got to play at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh. For me, the most memoriable part of the season was the game at Mellon Arena. Going to nationals was our goal all season and making it there was an amazing feat in itself, but after we got knocked out in the first round, that kind of put a damper on the memory. In my opinion, nothing beats getting to play at Mellon Arena, though. I have been there numerous times to watch my idols on my favorite NHL team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, play, and I have seen games from Mellon Arena on television. Actually getting the chance to play there had always been a dream of mine since I was a little kid, except back then I was dreaming of playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins and hoisting up the Stanley Cup in Mellon Arena at center ice in front of thousands of screaming fans. I may not have been playing for the Stanley Cup that day, but I don't think I could have been any more excited that day.
How to get involved
Washington & Jefferson College is always looking for new, young, outstanding student athletes. If you are a prospective student and are interested in playing hockey at the college level, then W&J's fast growing hockey program is perfect for you. The best way to get started is to go the W&J Hockey Unoffical site and click on the recruiting tab on the left side of the screen, then fill out the recruiting form by clicking on its link that pops up on the right side of the web site. After you fill out this form and submit it, it will be sent to the team manager and coach, and they will get back to you as soon as they can.