History
Until the autumn of 2005, Rochester was the largest media market in the nation without Division I NCAA athletics. This changed when RIT began its first Division I hockey season in October, 2005. A rough first season was highlighted with a win against nationally-ranked ![[WWW]](https://rocwiki.org/wiki/eggheadbeta/img/sycamore-www.png){kind=small}
St. Lawrence on October 28th, 2005. Despite a poor record, all games were hard fought by a team that largely was recruited to compete in Division III. The program quickly improved with RIT being the regular season champions in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, and an appearance in the Frozen Four in 2010. The head coach of the RIT Tigers is Wayne Wilson.
RIT is a member of the Atlantic Hockey Association. In this conference, RIT regularly faces teams such as the Air Force Academy, Niagara, Mercyhurst, Holy Cross, Bentley, Robert Morris, Canisius, American International, Sacred Heart, and Army. Regular matchups are also expected with out of conference teams, such as ![[ithaca]](https://rocwiki.org/wiki/eggheadbeta/img/inter.png){kind=small}
Cornell_University, St. Lawrence, Bowling Green, and other regional rivals.
Since 2007 the annual Atlantic Hockey conference championships have been held on neutral ice at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester - an event that annually draws thousands to the city. Rochester was chosen for its central geographic location in the conference, its facilities, and its hockey tradition.
The Tigers can typically be heard live on the RIT Tigers Sports Network, which includes flagship WITR 89.7FM and home games broadcast live on Time Warner Cable's Channel 1026.
Arena
RIT Hockey plays at the Gene Polisseni Center on campus. Opened for the 2014-15 season, this facility seats just over 4,000 fans for hockey and is among the best facilities in the conference. Amenities include a Club Lounge section, which features a buffet and cash bar, as well as seating behind the home player's bench. Multiple concession options are also available. Blue Cross Arena also serves as the venue for RIT's Brick City Homecoming game. The team's former arena, Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena, remains on campus and is used for public ice skating as well as intramural and High School sports.
Fans
The Tigers hockey team also enjoys the best fanbase in the conference, only rivaled in size by Army's. The student section at hockey games - the Corner Crew - is a large, loud sea of orange and black. The Corner Crew is situated in the corner opposite of the concession stands and the season ticket holder section. In 2011, the Corner Crew started a Pep Band section.
April 6, 2010, was proclaimed "RIT Tiger Hockey Day" by Mayor Robert Duffy and County Executive Maggie Brooks.
RIT Hockey Tradition
NCAA Tournament Champions
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Division II: 1983
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Division III: 1985
NCAA Tournament Frozen Four
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Division II: 1983
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Division III: 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1996, 1999, 2001
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Division I: 2010
NCAA Tournament Appearances
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Division II: 1983
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Division III: 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
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Division I: 2010, 2015, 2016
Conference Tournament Champions
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Division III (ECAC West): 1984, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
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Division I (Atlantic Hockey): 2010, 2015, 2016
Conference Regular Season Champions
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Division III (ECAC West): 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
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Division I (Atlantic Hockey): 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11
Links RIT Athletics Atlantic Hockey Association RIT Corner Crew on facebook
