By: Anthony Gulizia, News Staff

One of the most rigorous Division 1 men’s hockey conferences in the country just got tougher as Notre Dame, the nation’s top-ranked team, will join the Hockey East in the 2013-14 season, Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna announced yesterday.

“This is an exciting chapter in the storied history of Hockey East,” Northeastern Director of Athletics Peter Roby said in a statement issued Tuesday. “We have, for many years, considered our league to be the best in the country, and with the addition of the University of Notre Dame we have only served to strengthen that distinction. Notre Dame brings a commitment to excellence in hockey and academics, and its program is followed closely by loyal fans. Hockey East arenas, including our own historic Matthews Arena, will be excited to welcome the team and their fans starting in 2013.”

The conference, with the new addition of the Irishmen, consists of the Huskies, defending-national champion Boston College, Boston University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Massaschusetts Lowell, University of Maine, Merrimack College, University of New Hampshire, Providence College and the University of Vermont.

“It is not an overstatement to say that this is one of the most significant days in the history of our conference,” Bertagna said. “The addition of new institutions is always exciting, but Notre Dame brings a unique set of qualities and circumstances to the continued growth of our league. We are proud to welcome Notre Dame into the fold and we look forward to getting to the many details that come with this announcement.”

Notre Dame is currently a member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) and won two regular season and tournament titles in 2007 and 2009.

Hockey East will be the third Division I conference that the Irish will have belonged to. They started in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) from 1971-81, then moved to the CCHA from 1981-83 and again from 1992-2013. Notre Dame also played as a Division I independent from 1968-71 and 1984-92.

“We are honored and pleased to join Hockey East for the 2013-14 season,” Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson said. “The exposure for our players and team in a major media and NHL market will be second to none. Hockey East’s commitment to playing a smaller league schedule will allow us to enhance our home and non-conference schedule with traditional western and Big Ten rivals. This will allow us to bring a lot of great games to the Compton Family Ice Arena and create a more diverse, nationally televised schedule. We are grateful to Joe Bertagna and the Hockey East conference members for this tremendous opportunity.”

Hockey East teams have faced off against Notre Dame 69 times dating back to 1970/ Most recently, the Fighting Irish eliminated both Merrimack and New Hampshire from the 2011 NCAA Tournament at the Northeast Regional at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, N.H. to advance to the their second appearance in the Frozen Four.

Northeastern will travel to South Bend, Ind., for a two-game series Dec. 2-3.