BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) – Officials from the University of Vermont and Hockey East are expected to announce Thursday that UVM will leave the ECAC and join their league.

Athletic directors from the schools in Hockey East met Tuesday at the league headquarters in Wakefield, Mass. UVM officials did not attend the meeting.

Hockey East Commissioner Joe Bertagna said the process consisted of presentation, deliberation, vote and notification.

“As you can imagine, we’re walking very carefully because of the sensitivities between the two leagues,” he said.

UVM athletic director Bob Corran said the school will make a major announcement about the hockey program on Thursday.

According to the Web site U.S. College Hockey Online the two sides will announce that Vermont is switching from the ECAC to Hockey East, as of the 2005-06 season.

Hockey East was born in the 1984-85 season after an acrimonious split from ECAC Division I. Since then, no team has switched leagues. Vermont was wooed by both sides at the time and elected to remain with ECAC.

Corran said UVM would like to begin playing in Hockey East during the 2005-06 season.

Last month UVM announced it had sent a letter of inquiry to Hockey East, saying it wanted to explore whether both sides would find a switch compatible.

Tuesday, Bertagna pointed out that while Hockey East has expanded from the original seven to nine teams, “This is really the first time a school sitting in a fellow conference has been involved.

“We’ve made it clear from the beginning that nothing started until Vermont initiated it,” said Bertagna, a longtime ECAC commissioner before he assumed the same duties with Hockey East.

Corran said UVM had not made a formal presentation to Hockey East but said Vermont had provided requested information, including history of the program and attendance figures.

“It was really a program profile,” Corran said.

AP-ES-01-07-04 1922EST