In 1985, a year after downgrading all of their ice hockey programs from Division II to Division III, the SUNYAC teams began to hold an unofficial conference tournament. All of the programs were in the ECAC West at the time and still eligible to participate in that conference tournament so the SUNYAC championship was held just before the ECAC West Men's Tournament. In 1992 the SUNYAC conference began sponsoring ice hockey as a men's sport and all SUNYAC teams left the ECAC West to formally found the new ice hockey division. When the tournament became an official conference championship the format was changed to a two-game point system where teams would receive 2 points for a win and one point for a tie. If the teams remained tied after two games then a 20-minute mini-game would be played to