[3] In each of the first ten years two teams worth of players were voted on and usually assorted into a first- and second-team.
The format was changed for the 1957–58 season, creating an All-American team for both the East and West regions.
In the early years of this format the All-American teams were dominated by two conferences (the WCHA in the west and the ECAC in the east) as there were only two major conferences competing in NCAA hockey (the WCHA began play in 1959–60 followed by the ECAC two years later).
The ECAC would continue to dominate the eastern teams until an internal schism split the conference and Hockey East was formed in 1984–85.
[7] Due in part to an influx of member teams to fill the rolls of the four major conferences as well as increased inter-conference competition for recognition, the AHCA began to name two teams for each region (first- and second-teams) which it has continued to do since 1983–84.