Northern Collegiate Hockey Association

Northern Collegiate Hockey Association
Established	1981
Association	NCAA
Division	Division III
Members	10
Sports fielded	Ice hockey (men's: 10 teams; women's: 7 teams)
Region	Midwestern United States
Commissioner	G. Steven Larson (since 2013)
Website	www.nchahockey.org
Locations

The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin in the midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division III as a hockey-only conference.

The conference was founded in 1980 as a loose association of six schools in Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. The league was formalized the next year.^[1]

In the summer of 2012, the five schools in the University of Wisconsin System announced that they would leave the conference to begin playing hockey in their all-sports conference, the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.^[2][3] The move would have left only two men's teams in the NCHA, leading St. Norbert and St. Scholastica to join the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association (MCHA).^[4] In April 2013, the NCHA and MCHA announced a merger, where the NCHA would absorb the MCHA's teams (of the MCHA's 10 schools, all 7 who also sponsored women's hockey played in the NCHA).^[5] The men's and women's sides will retain separate administrative structures, as well as their automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament.^[6]

Members

Current

School	Location (Population)	Nickname	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Year Joined	Primary Conference
Adrian College	Adrian, Michigan (21,133)	Bulldogs	1859	Private	1,400	Men: 2013 Women: 2009	Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Aurora University	Aurora, Illinois (199,963)	Spartans	1893	Private	4,400	Men: 2015 Women: 2017	Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference
Concordia University Wisconsin	Mequon, Wisconsin (23,132)	Falcons	1880	Private/Lutheran (LCMS)	1,600	Men: 2013 Women: 2007	Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference
Finlandia University	Hancock, Michigan (4,634)	Lions	1896	Private/Lutheran (ELCA)	550	Men: 2013 Women: 2003	Men: Independent Women: Great South Athletic Conference
Lake Forest College	Lake Forest, Illinois (19,375)	Foresters	1857	Private	1,417	Men: 1992–2009, 2013 Women: 2000	Midwest Conference
Lawrence University	Appleton, Wisconsin (72,623)	Vikings	1847	Private	1,469	Men: 2013	Midwest Conference
Marian University	Fond du Lac, Wisconsin (43,021)	Sabres	1936	Private/Catholic	1,411	Men: 2013 Women: 2009	Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference
Milwaukee School of Engineering	Milwaukee, Wisconsin (594,833)	Raiders	1903	Private	2,300	Men: 2013	Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference
Northland College	Ashland, Wisconsin (8,216)	Lumberjacks	1906	Private/United Church of Christ	700	Men: 2013 Women: 2016	Upper Midwest Athletic Conference
St. Norbert College	De Pere, Wisconsin (23,800)	Green Knights	1898	Private/Catholic	2,015	Men: 1994 Women: 2010	Midwest Conference
The College of St. Scholastica	Duluth, Minnesota (86,283)	Saints	1912	Private/Catholic	3,309	Men: 1983–1991, 1994 Women: 2010	Upper Midwest Athletic Conference

Former

School	Location	Nickname	Founded	Affiliation	Teams	Year Joined	Year Left	Subsequent Conference	Current Conference
Bemidji State University	Bemidji, Minnesota	Beavers	1919	Public	Men	Men: 1981	Men: 1999	CHA (D-I)	WCHA (D-I)
Minnesota State University, Mankato	Mankato, Minnesota	Mavericks	1868	Public	Men	Men: 1981	Men: 1992	D-II Independent	WCHA (D-I)
St. Cloud State University	St. Cloud, Minnesota	Huskies	1868	Public	Men	Men: 1981	Men: 1987	D-I Independent	NCHC (D-I)
University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire	Eau Claire, Wisconsin	Blugolds	1916	Public	Both	Men: 1981 Women: 2000	Men: 2013 Women: 2013	WIAC
University of Wisconsin–River Falls	River Falls, Wisconsin	Falcons	1874	Public	Both	Men: 1981 Women: 2000	Men: 2013 Women: 2013	WIAC
University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point	Stevens Point, Wisconsin	Pointers	1894	Public	Both	Men: 1987 Women: 2000	Men: 2013 Women: 2013	WIAC
University of Wisconsin–Stout	Menomonie, Wisconsin	Blue Devils	1891	Public	Both	Men: 1996	Men: 2013	WIAC
University of Wisconsin–Superior	Superior, Wisconsin	Yellowjackets	1893	Public	Both	Men: 1981 Women: 2000	Men: 2013 Women: 2013	WIAC

Membership timeline

Champions

Men

Season	Regular Season	Tournament
1981–82	Bemidji State	—
1982–83	Bemidji State	—
1983–84	Bemidji State^	—
1984–85	Bemidji State	—
1985–86	Bemidji State Mankato State	Bemidji State^
1986–87	St. Cloud State Mankato State	Bemidji State
1987–88	UW–River Falls	UW–River Falls^
1988–89	UW–Stevens Point	UW–Stevens Point^
1989–90	UW–Stevens Point	UW–Stevens Point^
1990–91	Bemidji State Mankato State	UW–Stevens Point^
1991–92	UW–Stevens Point	UW–Stevens Point
1992–93	UW–Stevens Point	UW–Stevens Point^
1993–94	UW–Superior	UW–Superior^
1994–95	Bemidji State	Bemidji State
1995–96	UW–River Falls	UW–River Falls
1996–97	St. Norbert	UW–Superior
1997–98	St. Norbert	St. Norbert
1998–99	St. Norbert	St. Norbert
1999–2000	UW–Stevens Point	UW–Superior
2000–01	UW–Superior	UW–Superior
2001–02	St. Norbert	UW–Superior^
2002–03	St. Norbert	St. Norbert
2003–04	St. Norbert	St. Norbert
2004–05	St. Norbert	St. Norbert
2005–06	St. Norbert	UW–Superior
2006–07	St. Norbert UW–River Falls UW–Stout	St. Norbert
2007–08	St. Norbert	St. Norbert^
2008–09	UW–Superior	UW–Stout
2009–10	St. Norbert	St. Norbert
2010–11	St. Norbert	St. Norbert^
2011–12	St. Norbert	St. Norbert^
2012–13	UW–Eau Claire	St. Norbert
2013-14	St. Norbert	St. Norbert^
2014-15	Adrian

Women

Season	Regular Season	Tournament
2000–01	UW–Superior	UW–River Falls
2001–02	UW–Stevens Point	UW–Stevens Point
2002–03	UW–River Falls	UW–River Falls
2003–04	UW–Superior	UW–Stevens Point
2004–05	UW–Stevens Point	UW–Stevens Point
2005–06	UW–Stevens Point	UW–Stevens Point
2006–07	UW–Superior	UW–Stevens Point
2007–08	UW–Superior	UW–Superior
2008–09	UW–River Falls	UW–River Falls
2009–10	Lake Forest	UW–River Falls
2010–11	UW–River Falls	Adrian
2011–12	UW–River Falls	UW–River Falls
2012–13	UW–River Falls	St. Norbert
2013–14	Lake Forest	Lake Forest
2014-15	Adrian

^ Won National Championship

Arenas

School	Arena	Capacity
Adrian	Arrington Ice Arena	500
Concordia Wisconsin	Ozaukee Ice Center	1,000
Finlandia	Houghton County Arena	1200
Lake Forest	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse	1,000
Lawrence	Appleton Family Ice Center	1,200
Marian	Blue Line Family Ice Center	2,000
Milwaukee Engineering	Kern Center	800
Northland	Bay Area Civic Center	1,000
St. Norbert	Cornerstone Community Center	2,000
St. Scholastica	Mars Lakeview Arena	1,500

References

1. "A History of the NCHA". Northern Collegiate Hockey Association. Archived from the original on May 22, 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
2. Hodkiewicz, Weston (February 15, 2012). "Wisconsin state schools' move away from NCHA 'a shock to the system,' St. Norbert coach says". USCHO.com. Archived from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
3. Staff (April 24, 2012). "WIAC schools to leave NCHA after 2012-13 season". USCHO.com. Archived from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
4. Staff (June 20, 2012). "St. Norbert, St. Scholastica moving to MCHA for 2013-14 season". USCHO.com. Archived from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
5. Carito, Katie (April 24, 2013). "NCHA is reborn". USCHO.com. Archived from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
6. "MCHA Renamed NCHA | New Structure Approved". Press release. Northern Collegiate Hockey Association. April 22, 2013. Archived from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved June 8, 2013.

External links

• Official web site