It began competing in the Intercollegiate Hockey Association (IHA), which included only 4 teams (the other three being Yale, Brown and Columbia), in 1898–99.

Early years were plagued by the lack of a local rink which forced the program to be suspended multiple times.

Penn's hockey program was resurrected in the 1950s as a club team and became gradually more competitive until eventually reaching the varsity level in 1965.

The university began to tighten the team's budget, which made recruiting more difficult and caused the level of play to decline.

A 4-day sit-in resulted in an agreement between students and administration to preserve some of the cut programs, but not the varsity hockey team.

Today, the team competes in the ACHA Division II and continues to call the Class of 1923 Arena its home.