The league was formed by Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton and Yale as a way of determining which team, among the oldest ice hockey programs, was the best.
At the height of the depression, while many programs were in danger of ending, the ice hockey teams at four of the wealthiest institutions in the United States were able to stabilize their schedules by forming the Quadrangular League, an outgrowth of the previous Triangular Hockey League.
[1] The four team league remained in place until 1943 when both Harvard and Princeton suspended their ice hockey programs due to America's participation in World War II.
The Cadets left the league after two seasons and were promptly replaced by Brown.
† both Army and Dartmouth have changed their athletic team names in the years since the Pentagonal League was dissolved.