The Lafayette College Ice Hockey Club was originally formed in the early 1930’s. For years, team members practiced and scrimmaged together, though Ice Hockey as a sport was not formally recognized at Lafayette.
The team eventually achieved varsity status during the 1940’s and 1950’s. Lafayette played competitively against many top colleges. Most of these contests were broadcast live on the radio. It is unclear what happened, but the team was eventually dropped back down to the club level.
In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s the club was rejuvenated, and dominated college hockey in the Lehigh Valley. Interest in the team had now hit a new high. The team’s talent level equaled this new interest level, and the club then submitted a proposal to become a varsity sport at Lafayette, though the proposal was denied. After the rejection of the Varsity proposal the team fell into disorganization, but like it has done in the past, Lafayette Ice Hockey bounced back.
The team competes as a highly competitive club at Lafayette College. It is the most competitive club sport at Lafayette, and was a member of the Mid Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association, and the American College Hockey Association. Lafayette Ice Hockey is continuing to take giant leaps in its strength and success in collegiate hockey as it has won back to back DVCHC titles in 2001 and 2002.
Today, the team competes in the Greater Northeast Collegiate Hockey Conference, which is also a part of the American College Hockey Association and consists of many teams as close to Lafayette as the Lehigh Valley and as far as the Philadelphia area and New Jersey. The team continues to attract young players and has a good standing relationship and reputation within the school.