National Collegiate Hockey Conference

The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) is an NCAA men's division I hockey conference formed on July 9, 2011. The league began playing for the 2013–14 season, the same season that the Big Ten Conference began competition, as a combination of six previous members of the WCHA and two of the CCHA. The league is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado.[1] Josh Fenton has served as conference commissioner since July 1, 2013.[2][3]

Not to be confused with National Collegiate Hockey Association.
National Collegiate Hockey Conference
Established2011 (began play in 2013)
AssociationNCAA
DivisionDivision I
Members8
Sports fielded
RegionMidwestern United States
Western United States
HeadquartersColorado Springs, Colorado
CommissionerJosh Fenton
WebsiteNCHCHockey.com
Locations

History
See also: 2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment: Men's ice hockey

The men's college ice hockey landscape was shaken on March 21, 2011 when the Big Ten Hockey Conference was announced, with Penn State having added a hockey team to bring the number of Big Ten members with men's hockey teams to six.[4] The WCHA faced the loss of the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Wisconsin Badgers in the future, whereas the CCHA faced the loss of the Michigan Wolverines, the Michigan State Spartans, and Ohio State Buckeyes. Some of the remaining teams of the WCHA and CCHA began talks to form a league that would ensure their survival as financially strong and successful programs.

On July 9, 2011, the athletic directors of the six founding schools, Colorado College, the University of Denver, Miami University, the University of Minnesota Duluth, the University of Nebraska Omaha, and the University of North Dakota, confirmed these reports by announcing the conference officially and giving the date for a press conference for further information on July 13, 2011.[5]

At the July 13, 2011 press conference, Brian Faison, athletic director of the University of North Dakota, and one of the main speakers said that the motivation for this conference was to put teams together that "have displayed a high level of competitiveness on the ice, [have] an institutional commitment to compete at the highest level within Division I, provide a national platform for exposure, and have wonderful history and tradition within their institution and hockey programs."[6]

On September 22, 2011, St. Cloud State University and Western Michigan University accepted invitations to join the NCHC.[7][8]

On March 7, 2013 the NCHC unveiled the logo for the inaugural season. It features a shield design with the colors red, white, and blue. Inside the shield are eight stars, presumably representing the eight inaugural members, and a hockey stick on the bottom left.

Members
Institution Location Founded Former conference Type Enrollment Nickname Colors NCAA
championships		 Primary conference
Colorado College Colorado Springs, Colorado 1874 WCHA Private 1,950 Tigers           2 SCAC (D-III)
University of Denver Denver, Colorado 1864 WCHA 11,842 Pioneers           8 Summit League
Miami University Oxford, Ohio 1809 CCHA Public 15,726 RedHawks           0 MAC
University of Minnesota Duluth Duluth, Minnesota 1902 WCHA 10,500 Bulldogs           3 Northern Sun (D-II)
University of Nebraska Omaha Omaha, Nebraska 1908 WCHA 14,903 Mavericks           0 Summit League
University of North Dakota Grand Forks, North Dakota 1883 WCHA 15,250 Fighting Hawks           8 Summit League
St. Cloud State University St. Cloud, Minnesota 1869 WCHA 17,073 Huskies           0 Northern Sun (D-II)
Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan 1903 CCHA 25,045 Broncos           0 MAC
Current NCHC members

Champions
SeasonRegular SeasonNCHC TournamentNCAA National
2013–14St. Cloud StateDenverNone
2014–15North Dakota MiamiNone
2015–16North DakotaSt. Cloud StateNorth Dakota
2016–17DenverMinnesota DuluthDenver
2017–18St. Cloud StateDenverMinnesota Duluth
2018–19St. Cloud StateMinnesota DuluthMinnesota Duluth
2019–20North DakotaNone* None*

(*) = On March 12, 2020, The NCAA announced the rest of the collegiate winter and springs sports would be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2019-2020 NCHC Tournament (Frozen Faceoff) was supposed to be held March 20 & 21 but was cancelled as well.

NCHC Tournament champions
Main article: List of NCHC Tournament champions

Conference arenas
The Ralph Engelstad Arena is one of the largest arenas in college hockey.
School Hockey arena Year built Capacity
Colorado College Broadmoor World Arena 1998 7,750
Denver Magness Arena 1999 6,026
Miami University Goggin Ice Center 2006 3,200
Minnesota Duluth AMSOIL Arena 2010 6,732
North Dakota Ralph Engelstad Arena 2001 11,640
Omaha Baxter Arena 2015 7,898
St. Cloud State Herb Brooks National Hockey Center 1989 5,763
Western Michigan Lawson Arena 1974 3,667

Membership timeline
Western Michigan UniversitySt. Cloud State UniversityUniversity of North DakotaUniversity of Nebraska OmahaUniversity of Minnesota DuluthMiami UniversityUniversity of DenverColorado College

Awards

At the conclusion of each regular season schedule the coaches of each NCHC team vote which players they choose to be on the three All-Conference Teams:[9] first team, second team and rookie team. Additionally they vote to award the 10 individual trophies to an eligible player at the same time. The CCHA also awards Most Valuable Player in Tournament which is voted on at the conclusion of the conference tournament. All of the awards were created for the inaugural season (2013–14).

See also

References
  1. "Conference". USCHO. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  2. NCHC Staff (July 1, 2013). "Josh Fenton Named New Commissioner". Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  3. Drew, David. "National Collegiate Hockey Conference officially hires Jim Scherr as commissioner". Kalamazoo Gazette. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  4. "Big Ten Officially Announces Hockey Conference". College Hockey News. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
  5. "Collegiate Hockey Conference Joint Statement". North Dakota Fighting Sioux. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
  6. "New National Collegiate Hockey Conference Announced With Six Top College Programs as Founding Members". PRnewswire. Retrieved 2011-07-13.
  7. "St. Cloud State will join NCHC". Star Tribune. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  8. "WMU To Join National Collegiate Hockey Conference". WMU. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  9. "NCHC announces All-Conference players, All-Rookie Team". Alaska Nanooks. 2013-03-22. Retrieved 2013-07-23.
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