The Atlantic Hockey Board of Directors announced Thursday that the conference’s regular-season championship trophy will be renamed the Robert DeGregorio Trophy in honor of the retiring Atlantic Hockey commissioner.
The announcement was made Thursday evening as DeGregorio participated in a pre-game puck drop prior to the start of the Niagara-RIT game at Niagara’s Dwyer Arena.
“Bob DeGregorio has served Atlantic Hockey with distinction for two decades,” AHA board chairman and Mercyhurst assistant VP for athletics Bradley Davis said. “As a conference, we want to recognize that service in a lasting and meaningful way by naming our regular-season trophy in his honor.”
The only commissioner in Atlantic Hockey history, DeGregorio has guided the conference from its early beginnings when nine schools – American International, Army West Point, Bentley, Canisius, Connecticut, Holy Cross, Mercyhurst, Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart – joined together to form Atlantic Hockey in 2003.
The Winthrop, Mass., native steered the AHA through several rounds of expansion and contraction over the years and led the AHA through one of its toughest periods during the COVID-related shutdown of the 2019-20 season and the subsequent abbreviated 2020-21 campaign.
Atlantic Hockey players have earned All-America honors 17 times during his tenure while nine players have been tabbed CoSIDA Academic All-Americans. Additionally, the AHA has seen five of its players presented with the Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award while two have been recognized as Hockey Humanitarian Award winners during his tenure.
