Two years ago, the Community College of Allegheny County had no hockey team.

This year, CCAC had a team that finished 19-4-1 and won the College Hockey Association championship.

Next year, the Northstars will have a new rink to call home, complete with their own locker room and coaches office. CCAC is moving from Neville Island to the Ice Connection in Valencia.

"I talked to five rinks about the possibility of taking our team on and he (Ice Connection owner Bob Simpson) was by far the nicest to us," CCAC athletic director Chuck Bell said. "He bent over backwards to accommodate us.

"We're looking forward to a long and healthy relationship there."

CCAC - which draws players from its North, Allegheny, Boyce, Airport and South campuses - played at Neville Island for five seasons. During a transition in coaches, it did not field a team in 2002-03.

Frank "Bud" Johnston was hired as coach in January of 2004 and quickly assembled a team of roughly 15 players that split a four-game schedule late last season.

"We had a corps of eight guys back for this year, held tryouts in September and kept 22 of the 26 who showed up," Johnston said. "And we had some pretty good talent."

Among that talent was Jiri Frkal, an exchange student from Czechoslovakia who excelled as the team's goaltender.

But the Northstars had trouble getting ice time for practice, played its home games after 10 p.m. and had no locker facility of their own.

Enter the Ice Connection.

"We were able to give them what they wanted and they were able to take what was previously dead ice for us at a good price," Simpson said. "It was a good fit."

CCAC will officially begin practicing at the Ice Connection Sept. 1. Johnston will have tryouts in September and the season will begin Oct. 1.

The Northstars will play 15 home games - Saturdays from 7 to 10 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. They will practice on weekday afternoons.

"We're expanding our office facility to accommodate them and we'll make a few cosmetic adjustments," Simpson said. "We're ready to give them a home."

NCAA rules dictate that the glass surrounding the rink must be eight feet high for fan protection. The Ice Connection's glass is only three feet high now, but will be replaced. The Northstars' logo will also be painted at center ice.

The Ice Connection is presently home to the Pine-Richland and Hampton high school teams and the Butler Valley youth amateur hockey program. Mars High School played its home games there last year, but moved to Warrendale Blade Runners this year.

Slippery Rock University and the University of Pittsburgh had inquired about playing home games at the Ice Connection in recent years.

"We just couldn't accommodate what they wanted," Simpson said. "I've owned this rink for 18 years and this is the first good fit for us and a college team."

CCAC charges admission to home games and has drawn as many as 500 fans. The hockey team will keep all gate revenue while the Ice Connection will keep its concession stand revenue.

Johnston said the team is planning on playing Army and Navy at home next season. Other teams on the schedule include Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia, Youngstown State, Robert Morris, Indiana (Pa.), California (Pa.) and Edinboro.

"The kids can't wait to get in there," the coach said. "We have 12 players coming back and the fact they have their own locker room, a place they can leave their equipment … That's huge.

"This is home and nobody can come in here and beat us. We're already preaching that to them."

Besides belonging to the CHA, the Northstars are members of American College Hockey Association Div. III and are joining the NJCAA next season.

"We've always had a strong program," Bell said. "This move (to the Ice Connection) is only going to make it stronger."

Simpson said it will make his facility stronger as well.

"You always want to increase reasons for people to come to your place," he said. "This is high quality hockey at affordable rates.

"Maybe the Penguins won't be playing, but we'll have good hockey right here."