Formed in 1950 by the six colleges, all located in the Northeast, the Tri-State League was named for the three states represented by the schools: Massachusetts with Williams, New York with Clarkson, Colgate, Rensselaer and St. Lawrence and Vermont with Middlebury.
The following year seven western teams formed the MCHL[2] and while it wasn't a direct rival to the Tri-State League it had several advantages over its eastern counterpart.
For one the MCHL contained the majority of the regional schools playing D-I ice hockey so its league champion would almost assuredly be invited to the NCAA tournament whereas the Eastern region had more than 30 schools playing at the top level, giving the Tri-State League a much smaller footprint.
[3] With the success of the three remaining New York schools, Middlebury was left far behind in the standings, winning only two games over a seven-year stretch before leaving the conference after 1958–59.
[4] The Tri-State League continued to award a trophy at the conclusion of the regular season for several years, even after changing its name to the ICAC (Independent College Athletic Conference), but even that was abandoned after 1971–72.