Six of the nation's top NCAA Division I men's ice hockey programs -- including the University of Minnesota Duluth -- have become founding members of the newly formed National Collegiate Hockey Conference which will begin competition for the 2013-14 season, the programs' athletic directors and head coaches announced today at historic Penrose House.
Video of press conference
The NCHC's founding members are Colorado College, University of Denver, Miami (Ohio) University, UMD, University of Nebraska Omaha and University of North Dakota.
"We're excited about the competition the new league will offer, and see it as a great opportunity for the university that will have a positive impact on our student athletes and the future of Bulldog men's hockey," said UMD athletic director Bob Nielson. "Specifically, we were drawn by the core principles of competitiveness and a commitment to hockey shared by each of the new member schools. Playing in this league will continue to give our hockey program a national presence, and we wanted to be proactive in addressing the changing climate of college athletics in general. This is a great investment for the future of UMD hockey."
“The motivation to create the National Collegiate Hockey Conference follow recent conference realignments that affected several of our founding teams,” said Brian Faison, director of athletics at North Dakota. “Our new conference was developed under the auspice of institutions 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. The conference will be comprised of not only highly competitive, committed and winning hockey programs, but will also showcase many of the best student-athletes on and off the ice in coming years.”
Dating back to the year 2000, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference boasts four NCAA National Champions, 14 NCAA Frozen Four appearances, 12 conference regular-season championships and nine conference tournament championships. All six founding members were participants in the NCAA Ice Hockey Championship tournament in 2011.
“The common thread among all institutions is a commitment to maintain a high quality level of college hockey,” said Denver head coach George Gwozdecky. “The conference will provide a known structure and framework in the foreseeable future, which each institution can use as stability moving forward in these challenging times with our sport. The conference realignment started to happen this past spring. We believe this provided an opportunity to assess the landscape and make decisions for what's in the best interest of each institution and college hockey as a whole.”
In addition to Faison and Gwozdecky, officials representing their respective hockey programs who have been actively involved with the formation of the conference include athletic directors Ken Ralph of Colorado College, Peg Bradley-Doppes of Denver, Brad Bates of Miami, Bob Nielson of UMD and Trev Alberts of Nebraska Omaha, associate athletic directors Ron Grahame of Denver and Josh Fenton of Miami and head coaches Scott Owens of Colorado College, Enrico Blasi of Miami, Scott Sandelin of Minnesota Duluth, Dean Blais of Nebraska Omaha and Dave Hakstol of North Dakota.
Five of the new NCHC's schools – 2011 NCAA Division I ice hockey national champion UMD, Colorado College, Denver, Nebraska Omaha and North Dakota – currently are members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Miami competes in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. All six schools will continue playing in their current conferences through the 2011-2012 and 2012-13 seasons.
"We're going to have a chance to face the other schools involved more often, which will benefit our program," said Bulldog head coach Scott Sandelin. "Competing in this league will be challenging -- something I like as a coach. As someone who played and coached in the WCHA it makes leaving that conference difficult, but I'm excited at the opportunity to start a new, competitive league."
The new conference will begin immediate research of additional members with no specific, pre-determined limit on the final number of institutions. In addition, the conference expects to have a broadcast package in place before launching its inaugural season, according to Faison. The Goldwater Group and Stafford Sports will serve as the conference consultant to initially assess additional members and the best possible media platforms.
“We anticipate the NCHC will provide the fans and stakeholders of our programs with great competition, contested rivalries and the establishment of proud, new traditions, all of which will have regional and national appeal,” Faison said.
A national search for the conference's first commissioner as well as work on other organizational details will move forward after today's announcement.
UMD, which will begin its 68th season of men's hockey this winter, has been a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association since 1965-66. Prior to that, the Bulldogs spent four seasons (1961-64) as an NCAA I independent and competed in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1949-61.
