National Collegiate Hockey Conference
The National Collegiate Hockey Conference is an NCAA men's Division I hockey conference. The league was formed on July 9, 2011, and 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.
History
The men's college ice hockey landscape was shaken on March 21, 2011, when the Big Ten Conference announced it would sponsor the sport following Penn State having fielding a team, bringing the number of Big Ten members with teams to six. 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.
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, 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."
On September 22, 2011, St. Cloud State University and Western Michigan University accepted invitations to join the NCHC.
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.
On May 12, 2022, Heather Weems was named third commissioner of the NCHC.
On July 5, 2023, a report came out that announced that Arizona State University would join the conference beginning in the 2024–25 season. The NCHC officially announced Arizona State's entry later that day.
On May 15, 2024 University of St. Thomas announced they would leave the CCHA to become the tenth member of the conference for the 2026–27 season.
Arizona State University officially became a member of the NCHC on July 1, 2024.
Conference Champions
Both teams tied in total points resulting in co-champions.Penrose Cup
The Penrose Cup trophy has been awarded to the NCHC's regular-season champion since the conference's inaugural season in 2013–14. The award honors Julie and Spencer Penrose, who created the El Pomar Foundation that played a major role in the establishment of the NCHC.| North Dakota | 6 | 2014–15, 2015–16, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2023–24 |
| St. Cloud State | 3 | 2013–14, 2017–18, 2018–19 |
| Denver | 3 | 2016–17, 2021–22, 2022–23 |
| Western Michigan | 1 | 2024–25 |
Conference arenas
Future member in gray.| [Arizona State Sun Devils men's ice hockey|] | Mullett Arena | 2022 | 5,000 |
| [Colorado College Tigers men's ice hockey|] | Ed Robson Arena | 2021 | 3,407 |
| [Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey|] | Magness Arena | 1999 | 6,026 |
| [Miami RedHawks men's ice hockey|] | Goggin Ice Center | 2006 | 3,200 |
| [Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey|] | AMSOIL Arena | 2010 | 6,732 |
| [North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's ice hockey|] | Ralph Engelstad Arena | 2001 | 11,640 |
| [Omaha Mavericks men's ice hockey|] | Baxter Arena | 2015 | 7,898 |
| [St. Cloud State Huskies men's ice hockey|] | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center | 1989 | 5,763 |
| [St. Thomas (Minnesota) Tommies men's ice hockey|] | Lee and Penny Anderson Arena | 2025 | 4,000 |
| [Western Michigan Broncos men's ice hockey|] | Lawson Arena | 1974 | 3,667 |
Membership timeline
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:650 height:auto barincrement:30
Period = from:2013 till:2029
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#
Colors = id:barcolor
id:line value:pink
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all
id:OtherC1 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two
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bar:4 color:Full from:2013 till:end text:Minnesota Duluth
bar:5 color:Full from:2013 till:end text:Omaha
bar:6 color:Full from:2013 till:end text:North Dakota
bar:7 color:Full from:2013 till:end text:St. Cloud State
bar:8 color:Full from:2013 till:end text:Western Michigan
bar:9 color:Full from:2024 till:end text:Arizona State
bar:10 color:Full from:2026 till:end text: St. Thomas
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