National Collegiate Hockey Conference

National Collegiate Hockey Conference
Established 2011 (began play in 2013)
Association NCAA
Division Division I
Members 8
Sports fielded Men's ice hockey
Region Midwestern United States
Western United States
Headquarters Colorado Springs, Colorado
Commissioner Josh Fenton
Website NCHCHockey.com
Locations

The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) is an NCAA men's division I hockey conference formed on July 9, 2011. The league, a combination of six previous members of the WCHA and two of the CCHA, began conference play for the 2013–2014 season, the same season that the Big Ten Conference began competition. The league is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado.[1] Josh Fenton has served as conference commissioner since July 1, 2013.[2][3]

History

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

These talks were first revealed by Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald on July 1, 2011, leading to speculation over what teams would be considered and what the impact of this league was on the rest of the college hockey landscape.[5] 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.[6]

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."[7]

On September 22, 2011, St. Cloud State University and Western Michigan University accepted invitations to join the NCHC.[8][9]

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 Gold & Black
         		 2 SCAC (D-III)
University of Denver Denver, Colorado 1864 WCHA Private 11,842 Pioneers Crimson & Gold
         		 7 Summit League
Miami University Oxford, Ohio 1809 CCHA Public 15,726 RedHawks Red & White
         		 0 MAC
University of Minnesota Duluth Duluth, Minnesota 1902 WCHA Public 10,500 Bulldogs Maroon & Gold
         		 1 Northern Sun (D-II)
University of Nebraska Omaha Omaha, Nebraska 1908 WCHA Public 14,903 Mavericks Crimson & Black
         		 0 Summit League
University of North Dakota Grand Forks, North Dakota 1883 WCHA Public 15,250 Fighting Hawks Kelly Green, Black, & White
              		 8 Big Sky
St. Cloud State University St. Cloud, Minnesota 1869 WCHA Public 17,073 Huskies Cardinal Red & Black
         		 0 Northern Sun (D-II)
Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan 1903 CCHA Public 25,045 Broncos Brown & Gold
         		 0 MAC

Champions

Season Regular season Tournament Venue
2013–14 St. Cloud State Denver Target Center
2014–15 North Dakota Miami (Ohio) Target Center
2015-16 North Dakota St. Cloud State Target Center

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 (Ohio) Goggin Ice Center 2006 3,200
Minnesota Duluth AMSOIL Arena 2010 6,732
Nebraska-Omaha Baxter Arena 2015 7,898
North Dakota Ralph Engelstad Arena 2001 11,640
St. Cloud State Herb Brooks National Hockey Center 1989 5,763
Western Michigan Lawson Arena 1974 3,667

Membership timeline

Western Michigan University St. Cloud State University University of North Dakota University of Nebraska Omaha University of Minnesota Duluth Miami University University of Denver Colorado 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:[10] 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).

All-Conference Teams

Award Inaugural Year
First Team 2013–14
Second Team 2013–14
Rookie Team 2013–14

Individual Awards

Award Inaugural Year
Player of the Year 2013–14
Rookie of the Year 2013–14
Goaltender of the Year 2013–14
Herb Brooks Coach of the Year 2013–14
Forward of the Year 2013–14
Defensive Forward of the Year 2013–14
Defenseman of the Year 2013–14
Offensive Defenseman of the Year 2013–14
Scholar-Athlete of the Year 2013–14
Sportsmanship Award 2013–14
NCHC Tournament MVP 2014

See also

References

  1. ↑ "NCHC to be Headquartered in Colorado Springs". Northland's NewsCenter.
  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. ↑ "UND weighs Hockey league options". Grand Forks Herald. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
  6. ↑ "Collegiate Hockey Conference Joint Statement". North Dakota Fighting Sioux. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
  7. ↑ "New National Collegiate Hockey Conference Announced With Six Top College Programs as Founding Members". PRnewswire. Retrieved 2011-07-13.
  8. ↑ "St. Cloud State will join NCHC". Star Tribune. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  9. ↑ "WMU To Join National Collegiate Hockey Conference". WMU. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  10. ↑ "NCHC announces All-Conference players, All-Rookie Team". Alaska Nanooks. 2013-03-22. Retrieved 2013-07-23.
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