Significant changes to the membership and leadership of both the
Men's and Women's Northern Collegiate Athletic Association have
become official after a meeting of the league athletic
directors.
The Midwest Collegiate Athletic Associaiton, which added the St.
Norbert and St. Scholastica men's programs, will move forward as
the Northern Collegiate Athletic Association. The NCHA Men's
Conference will now consist of the following ten members:
ADRIAN COLLEGE
CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY WISCONSIN
FINLANDIA UNIVERSITY
LAKE FOREST COLLEGE
LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY
MARIAN UNIVERSITY
MILWAUKEE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
NORTHLAND COLLEGE
ST. NORBERT COLLEGE
COLLEGE OF ST. SCHOLASTICA
The landscape of the Men's Conference was drastically changed when
the University of Wisconsin state school members departed at the
end of the 2012-13 season.
The NCHA Women's Conference will continue to add to its storied
history and tradition as it drops the puck on its 14th
season. The conference will continue with the same members as
last year, minus the Wisconsin state schools that departed.
The NCHA Women's Conference will consist of the following seven
members:
ADRIAN COLLEGE
CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY WISCONSIN
FINLANDIA UNIVERSITY
LAKE FOREST COLLEGE
MARIAN UNIVERSITY
ST. NORBERT COLLEGE
COLLEGE OF ST. SCHOLASTICA
Both the Men's and Women's conferences will retain their NCAA
tournament automatic qualification status, meaning the conference
playoff champions will gain automatic entry into the NCAA
tournament.
Along with the changes in membership, the NCHA Men's and Women's
leagues will utilize common executive leadership while having
separate administrative structure, constitutions and bylaws.
Dr. G. Steven Larson will serve as Commissioner of both
conferences, having previously served as Commissioner of the
MCHA.
“We are very pleased to announce these changes as we are
moving into the transitional phases of our women’s and
men’s conferences,” Larson said. “It was very
important for us to respect and recognize the traditions of both
associations while simultaneously moving forward with a new
perspective to reflect the changes that have taken place. Needless
to say, this is a very exciting period of progression for member
institutions and our hockey programs.”
Jim Olson, who served as the Director of Officials for the MCHA, will now serve in the same role for both the NCHA Men's and Women's Conferences.
Chris Zills and Brian Monahan, who previously worked behind the
scenes for the MCHA and NCHA to publicize their respective leagues,
will be moving into similar, but different roles moving forward for
the NCHA. Monahan will serve in the role of Director of
Public Relations, taking an active role in promoting, social media,
blogging and other “faces” of the media. Zills
will be the Director of Sports Information, maintaining the
behind-the-scenes aspect of the communications department.
“Moving the eight current MCHA men’s programs forward
as the NCHA brings together our men and women under one
umbrella,” Adrian president & chair of the MCHA/NCHA
president's council Jeff Docking said. “We can now work on
promoting growth on both fronts, while keeping 30-plus years of
combined championship tradition alive.”
Speaking of championships, the regular season winner in both
conferences will now receive a trophy named after a significant
leader in the growth of hockey. The Peters Cup - formerly
given to the Men's NCHA playoff champion - will now be given to the
regular season champ. The Men's playoff champ will win the
Harris Cup, named after MSOE Director of Athletics Dan Harris, who
served as the first president of the MCHA and helped get the league
up and running.
The Women's playoff champion will be awarded the Slaats Cup, named in honor of Lake Forest College Director of Athletics Jackie Slaats, in recognition of her efforts and dedication in pioneering the formation of the Women’s NCHA. The regular-season champion will now receive the “Kronschnabel Cup”, named after Bill Kronschnabel, the commissioner of the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association from 2002-13. He served as the NCHA Supervisor of Officials from 1998 to 2005 and also played a role in the former MCHA as its Supervisor of Officials in its early stages.
“We felt it was very important to honor and recognize the individuals who were so important in pioneering and fostering the development of the MCHA and NCHA,” Larson said. “Their leadership and vision have been instrumental in the success of both associations.”
“I am really excited about the coming together of the two leagues and about both the synergy and energy that will result from having our men and women compete under the same name,” Slaats said. “I am also honored and humbled to have the new league playoff championship bear my name. It’s hard to believe how quickly, and how much, women’s hockey has grown since the initial formation of a women’s division in the spring of 2000. I honestly could not be happier or more proud of the outcome.”
“Those of us at Concordia University are very excited to
be a part of the new direction and strategic vision for our hockey
conference,” MCHA DASC Chair Rob Barnhill said. “The
level of competition in our new conference will be rigorous and the
student-athlete experience will be greatly enhanced by
participating with student-athletes from likeminded and
like-missioned institutions.”
The original Northern Collegiate Hockey Association dates back to
1980 and includes a lengthy history that consists of 12 NCAA
National Championships won by six different members. Herb
Brooks coached in the NCHA and Joel Otto played at Bemidji State
before going on to win a Stanley Cup with the Calgary Flames.
The MCHA dates back to the 1998-99 season and has taken great
strides in the past 15 years to rise to the level that is has
achieved.
The online home of both the NCHA Men's and Women's Conferences
will be www.nchahockey.org. Changes to the web site will
gradually take place in the coming months to reflect the exciting
changes aforementioned.