 | |
| Association | NCAA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1971 |
| Commissioner | Don Lucia (since 2020) |
| Sports fielded |
|
| Division | Division I |
| No. of teams | 9 (8 in 2026) |
| Headquarters | Deephaven, Minnesota |
| Region | Midwestern United States |
| Official website | ccha |
TheCentral Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) is a college athletic conference in theMidwestern United States that participates inNCAADivision I as ahockey-only conference. The current CCHA began play in the 2021–22 season; a previous incarnation, which the current CCHA recognizes as part of its history, existed from 1971 to 2013. Four of its nine members are located in the state ofMichigan, with three inMinnesota and one each inOhio andSouth Dakota. It has also had teams located inAlaska,Illinois,Indiana,Missouri andNebraska over the course of its existence.
The CCHA was disbanded after the2012–13 season as the result of a conference realignment stemming from theBig Ten Conference (of which three CCHA schools; Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State, were primary members) choosing to sponsor Division I ice hockey beginning in the 2013–14 season. The remaining CCHA members received invitations to other conferences, such as the newly formedNational Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC),Hockey East, and theWestern Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA), which itself had been depleted by the Big Ten and NCHC. The conference's last game before its hiatus was the final of the2013 CCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament atJoe Louis Arena inDetroit, where Notre Dame beat Michigan 3–1 to win theMason Cup championship.
On February 18, 2020, seven schools who had applied to leave the WCHA announced they would form a new CCHA for the 2021–22 season, citing a more compact geographic footprint and a desire to improve regional alignment, among other reasons.St. Thomas, a former D-III school, joined them in the first season post-revival, andAugustana, a newly sponsored hockey program, joined two years later.
The CCHA began in 1971 as anNCAA conference composed ofBowling Green,Ohio,Ohio State andSaint Louis.[1] After addingLake Superior State for year two, both Ohio State and Ohio withdrew from the conference, leaving the CCHA with a scant 3 members. Despite the trouble, the three teams rode out the rough patch and the league began to grow with the addition ofWestern Michigan and the return of Ohio State.[2]
Up until 1976 the NCAA had only offered bids to the tournament from teams in eitherECAC Hockey or theWCHA. Because those were the only twoDivision I conferences for most years there was no controversy but, after the CCHA had proved to be more than just a flash in the pan, the tournament had to change. Beginning with the1977 Championship the NCAA allowed itself the freedom to add up to four additional teams to the tournament with the understanding that theCCHA tournament champion would receive one of the additional bids. Bowling Green won the first tournament game for the conference but it was not untilNorthern Michigan reached the championship game in1980 that the league began to gain acceptance.
1981 saw a major shift incollege ice hockey with four teams from the WCHA defecting to the CCHA. The move was done as a way to reduce travel costs as well as provide the new team with a better chance at making the NCAA Tournament (many of the CCHA teams were still seen as lesser programs).Michigan State made the tournament in its first three season of CCHA play but it was founding member Bowling Green that won the conference's first national championship in1984.[3]
Bill Beagan served as commissioner of the CCHA from 1985 to 1998.[4] He implemented a pre-season training camp for referees, despite the officials going on strike in protest.[5] He developed a working relationship with the NHL to develop future officials in collegiate hockey.[6]
He sought to have CCHA games televised as a game-of-the-week,[4] and signed the first national television contract for colleges in the United States.[7] He brought in cable television partners which included thePro Am Sports System andFox Sports Net.[6] He introducedinstant replay to the CCHA in 1993, to be used at its league championships, and arranged for theCCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament finals to be played atJoe Louis Arena.[8] He was credited with coining the phrase, "Road to the Joe", in reference to end-of-year tournament culminating at the Joe Louis Arena.[5]
Prior to Beagan's arrival, the CCHA had not been a profitable association. After 10 years as commissioner, the league had made $4 million.[7][4] Profits were shared with the schools, which were reinvested into hockey programs and new arenas.[4] On-ice results improved during his tenure, and CCHA teams won sixNCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament championships.[7][4] In addition, Beagan convinced theUniversity of Notre Dame to resurrect its hockey program in 1992.[4]
Building on Bowling Green State's national title in 1984, the CCHA established itself further as the Michigan State Spartans won their second national championship and first as a member of the CCHA in 1986, and the Lake Superior State Lakers won the1988 national championship, their first NCAA championship.[9] The Lake Superior State Lakers would continue their NCAA success by winning both the 1992 and 1994 NCAA ice hockey championships and finishing as the national runner-up in 1993.[9] In addition to the success of the Lakers and Spartans, theMichigan Wolverines began a streak of 22 consecutive tournament appearances in1991 and won national titles in 1996 and 1998.[9] While the conference and most of its teams were stable throughout the early 21st century, the CCHA suffered a mortal blow at the end of the decade.
Pennsylvania State University announced on September 17, 2010, the transition of its men's and women'sAmerican Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) programs to NCAA Division I status in 2012.[10] Just over a month earlier, then-commissionerTom Anastos publicly stated that the CCHA would strongly consider addingPenn State as the conference's 12th member.[11] Instead, the league was left to deal with the imminent departures of Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State when the Big Ten Conference disclosed on March 21, 2011, its intention to establish a men's ice hockey circuit to begin play in the 2013–14 season, as the conference now had enough hockey teams to earn an automatic bid in the NCAA tournament for its champion.[12] Joining the existing CCHA members were theUniversity of Minnesota and theUniversity of Wisconsin from theWCHA, as well as Penn State.[12]
The next school slated to leave the CCHA in 2013 wasMiami University which became a charter member of theNCHC on July 15, 2011.[13]Western Michigan accepted an invitation to join the new league just over two months later on September 22.[14]
The demise of the CCHA was further accelerated when five members decided to move to the WCHA following the 2012–13 campaign.Northern Michigan University, returning to the WCHA after leaving in 1997, was the first to make the announcement on July 20,[15] followed by Alaska, Ferris State and Lake Superior State on August 26[16] and Bowling Green on October 4.[17]
Notre Dame accepted an invitation to theHockey East Association in a press conference on October 5, 2011.[18]
On June 28, 2019, seven schools from the ten-member WCHA began the process of withdrawing from the conference, with the intent of forming a new conference for the 2021–22 season. These seven schools were Bemidji State, Bowling Green (who had retained the rights to the CCHA name), Ferris State, Lake Superior State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota State and Northern Michigan. The seven schools cited a more compact geographic footprint as one reason for the move; the remaining three WCHA members,Alabama-Huntsville,Alaska andAlaska–Anchorage, all geographic outliers in the WCHA, were notably absent.[19] On February 18, 2020, these seven schools announced they would begin competing in a new CCHA in 2021–22.[20] Later that year, theUniversity of St. Thomas, a former D-III school who had been granted a waiver by the NCAA earlier in the year to transition directly to D-I, was announced to be joining the new CCHA as a member on July 29, 2020, bringing the membership up to an even eight teams.[21]
Don Lucia, a former head coach at Alaska,Colorado College, andMinnesota, was named as commissioner of the new CCHA on June 17, 2020.[22] A new league logo was introduced shortly thereafter.[23]
On May 17, 2022,Augustana University was announced as the league's ninth member. They gained full membership in the conference in the 2024–25 season with a partial league schedule. TheVikings played with a partial league schedule in the 2023–24 and 2024–25 seasons, then began a full league schedule in the 2025–26 season.[24]
On May 15, 2024, St. Thomas announced they would leave the league following the 2025–26 season to become the tenth member of the NCHC.[25] This will return the league to eight member schools.
| School | NCAA championships | NCAA runner-up | NCAA Frozen Fours appearances | NCAA tournament appearances | Conference championships | Conference tournament championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Augustana | ||||||
| Bemidji State | 1 (2009) | 5 (2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2021) | 7 (2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2017, 2024) | 3 (2005, 2006, 2009) | ||
| Bowling Green | 1 (1984) | 2 (1978, 1984) | 10 (1977-79, 1982, 1984, 1987-90, 2019) | 7 (1976, 1978, 1979, 1982-84, 1987) | 5 (1973, 1977-79, 1988) | |
| Ferris State | 1 (2012) | 1 (2012) | 4 (2003, 2012, 2014, 2016) | 3 (2003, 2012, 2014) | 1 (2016) | |
| Lake Superior State | 3 (1988, 1992, 1994) | 1 (1993) | 4 (1988, 1992, 1993, 1994) | 11 (1985, 1988-96, 2021) | 4 (1974, 1988, 1991, 1996) | 5 (1991-93, 1995, 2021) |
| Michigan Tech | 3 (1962, 1965, 1975) | 4 (1956, 1960, 1974, 1976) | 10 (1956, 1960, 1962, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1974-76, 1981) | 16 (1956, 1960, 1962, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1974-76, 1981, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2022-24) | 7 (1962, 1966, 1969, 1971, 1974, 1976, 2016) | 12 (1960, 1962, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1974-76, 1981, 2017, 2018, 2024) |
| Minnesota State | 1 (2022) | 2 (2021, 2022) | 10 (2003, 2013-15, 2018, 2019, 2021-23, 2025) | 9 (2015, 2016, 2018-23, 2025) | 6 (2014, 2015, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2025) | |
| Northern Michigan | 1 (1991) | 1 (1980) | 3 (1980, 1981, 1991) | 8 (1980, 1981, 1989, 1991-93, 1999, 2010) | 3 (1980, 1981, 1991) | 5 (1980, 1981, 1989, 1991, 1992) |
| St. Thomas |
|
|
Team's records against current conference opponents.(As of the end of the 2020–21 season.)
| School | Bemidji State | Bowling Green | Ferris State | Lake Superior State | Michigan Tech | Minnesota State | Northern Michigan | St. Thomas | Total | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | W | L | T | W | L | T | W | L | T | W | L | T | W | L | T | W | L | T | W | L | T | W | L | T | Win% | |
| Bemidji State | 13 | 15 | 3 | 16 | 12 | 5 | 33 | 36 | 6 | 18 | 16 | 6 | 61 | 62 | 21 | 15 | 8 | 6 | 24 | 3 | 1 | 180 | 152 | 48 | .537 | |||
| Bowling Green | 15 | 13 | 3 | 76 | 60 | 13 | 86 | 78 | 13 | 19 | 19 | 5 | 9 | 17 | 3 | 57 | 53 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 263 | 241 | 47 | .520 | |||
| Ferris State | 12 | 16 | 5 | 60 | 76 | 13 | 57 | 77 | 15 | 16 | 24 | 1 | 8 | 29 | 2 | 31 | 69 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 186 | 291 | 42 | .399 | |||
| Lake Superior State | 36 | 33 | 6 | 78 | 86 | 13 | 77 | 57 | 15 | 25 | 49 | 8 | 3 | 25 | 1 | 48 | 75 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 268 | 325 | 56 | .456 | |||
| Michigan Tech | 16 | 18 | 6 | 19 | 19 | 5 | 24 | 16 | 1 | 49 | 25 | 8 | 23 | 43 | 10 | 76 | 76 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 217 | 200 | 44 | .518 | |||
| Minnesota State | 62 | 61 | 21 | 18 | 10 | 3 | 29 | 8 | 2 | 25 | 3 | 1 | 43 | 23 | 10 | 18 | 6 | 3 | 16 | 9 | 2 | 198 | 131 | 42 | .590 | |||
| Northern Michigan | 8 | 15 | 6 | 53 | 57 | 10 | 69 | 31 | 6 | 75 | 48 | 13 | 76 | 76 | 13 | 6 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 287 | 245 | 51 | .536 | |||
| St. Thomas | 3 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 53 | 4 | .236 | |||
At the conclusion of each regular season schedule the coaches of each CCHA team vote which players they choose to be on the three All-Conference Teams:[28] first team, second team and rookie team. Additionally they vote to award up to 9 of the 12 individual trophies to an eligible player at the same time (depending upon the year). The CCHA also awards a Perani Cup, a Humanitarian Award, which are awarded rather than voted upon, and a Most Valuable Player in Tournament which is voted on at the conclusion of the conference tournament. None of the individual awards conferred by the CCHA have been given for the entire existence of the conference. Only the Tournament MVP was awarded in the inaugural CCHA season, but that award was discontinued thereafter until 1982.[29][30][31] Several of the aforementioned awards were revived along with the league in 2021–22. The awards presented by the original CCHA for best offensive and defensive defenseman were merged into a single award for best defenseman, and the original CCHA's award for best defensive forward was folded into the award for best forward.[32]
1970s All-Decade Team[33]
First Team[edit]
| Second Team[edit]
|
1980s All-Decade Team[33]
First Team[edit]
| Second Team[edit]
|
1990s All-Decade Team[33]
First Team[edit]
| Second Team[edit]
|
2000-2013 All-Decade Team[34]
First Team[edit]
| Second Team[edit]
|
