Central Collegiate Hockey Association

The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) is a college athletic conference in the Midwestern United States that participates in NCAA Division I as a hockey-only conference. The current CCHA began play in the 2021–22 season; a previous iteration, 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 of Michigan, with three in Minnesota and one each in Ohio and South Dakota. It has also had teams located in Alaska, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and Nebraska over the course of its existence.

The CCHA was disbanded after the 2012–13 season as the result of a conference realignment stemming from the Big 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 formed National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC), Hockey East, and the Western 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 the 2013 CCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, where Notre Dame beat Michigan 3–1 to win the Mason 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, and Augustana, a newly sponsored hockey program, joined two years later.

History

Foundation

The CCHA began in 1971 as an NCAA conference composed of Bowling Green, Ohio, Ohio State and Saint Louis. After adding Lake 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 of Western Michigan and the return of Ohio State.

NCAA acceptance

Up until 1976 the NCAA had only offered bids to the tournament from teams in either ECAC Hockey or the WCHA. Because those were the only two Division 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 the 1977 Championship the NCAA allowed itself the freedom to add up to four additional teams to the tournament with the understanding that the CCHA tournament champion would receive one of the additional bids. Bowling Green won the first tournament game for the conference but it was not until Northern Michigan reached the championship game in 1980 that the league began to gain acceptance.

WCHA defectors

The 1981 season saw a major shift in college ice hockey, as four teams from the WCHA defected 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 in 1984.

National prominence

Bill Beagan served as commissioner of the CCHA from 1985 to 1998. He implemented a pre-season training camp for referees, despite the officials going on strike in protest. He developed a working relationship with the NHL to develop future officials in collegiate hockey.

He sought to have CCHA games televised as a game-of-the-week, He brought in cable television partners which included the Pro Am Sports System and Fox Sports Net. He was credited with coining the phrase, "Road to the Joe", in reference to end-of-year tournament culminating at the Joe Louis Arena. Lake Superior State would continue its NCAA success by winning both the 1992 and 1994 NCAA ice hockey championships and finishing as the national runner-up in 1993. Just over a month earlier, then-commissioner Tom Anastos publicly stated that the CCHA would strongly consider adding Penn State as the conference's 12th member. 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. Joining the existing CCHA members were the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin from the WCHA, as well as Penn State. Western Michigan accepted an invitation to join the new league just over two months later on September 22.

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, followed by Alaska, Ferris State and Lake Superior State on August 26 and Bowling Green on October 4.

Notre Dame accepted an invitation to the Hockey East Association in a press conference on October 5, 2011.

Revival

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 and Alaska–Anchorage, all geographic outliers in the WCHA, were notably absent. On February 18, 2020, these seven schools announced they would begin competing in a new CCHA in 2021–22. Later that year, the University 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.

Don Lucia, a former head coach at Alaska, Colorado College, and Minnesota, was named as commissioner of the new CCHA on June 17, 2020. A new league logo was introduced shortly thereafter.

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. The Vikings 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.

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. This will return the league to eight member schools.

Current members

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! Augustana University

| Sioux Falls, South Dakota

| Vikings

| 1860

| Private/Lutheran (ELCA)

| 2,570

| 2023

| align=center | N/A

| align=center | NSIC

| style="text-align:right;" |

! Bemidji State University

| Bemidji, Minnesota

| Beavers

| 1919

| Public

| 3,926

| 2021

| align=center | WCHA

| align=center | NSIC

| style="text-align:right;" |

! Bowling Green State University

| Bowling Green, Ohio

| Falcons

| 1910

| Public

| 17,594

| 2021

| align=center| N/A

| align=center | WCHA

| align=center | MAC

| style="text-align:right;" |

! Ferris State University

| Big Rapids, Michigan

| Bulldogs

| 1884

| Public

| 9,959

| 2021

| align=center| N/A

| align=center | WCHA

| align=center | GLIAC

| style="text-align:right;" |

! Lake Superior State University

| Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

| Lakers

| 1946

| Public

| 1,567

| 2021

| align=center| N/A

| align=center | WCHA

| align=center | GLIAC

| style="text-align:right;" |

! Michigan Technological University

| Houghton, Michigan

| Huskies

| 1885

| Public

| 7,429

| 2021

| align=center| N/A

| align=center | WCHA

| align=center | GLIAC

| style="text-align:right;" |

! Minnesota State University

| Mankato, Minnesota

| Mavericks

| 1868

| Public

| 15,251

| 2021

| align=center | WCHA

| align=center | NSIC

| style="text-align:right;" |

! Northern Michigan University

| Marquette, Michigan

| Wildcats

| 1899

| Public

| 7,409

| 2021

| align=center| N/A

| align=center | WCHA

| align=center | GLIAC

| style="text-align:right;" |

|-bgcolor=#ffa0a0

| align=center | University of St. Thomas

| Saint Paul, Minnesota

| Tommies

| 1885

| Private/Catholic (diocesan)

| 9,445

| 2021

| align=center | WCHA

| align=center| MIAC

| align=center | Summit

| style="text-align:right;" |

Former members

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

!scope=row|

| Fairbanks, Alaska

| Nanooks

| 1917

| Public

| 1995

| 2013

|align=center| WCHA

|align=center| Independent

!scope=row|

| Chicago, Illinois

| Flames

| 1946

| Public

| 1982

| 1996

|align=center colspan=2| dropped program as school sponsored sport

!scope=row| Kent State University

| Kent, Ohio

| Golden Flashes

| 1910

| Public

| 1992

| 1994

|align=center colspan=2| dropped program as school sponsored sport

!scope=row| Miami University

| Oxford, Ohio

| RedHawks

| 1809

| Public

| 1980

| 2013

|align=center colspan=2| NCHC

!scope=row|

| Ann Arbor, Michigan

| Wolverines

| 1817

| Public

| 1981

| 2013

|align=center colspan=2| Big Ten

!scope=row| Michigan State University

| East Lansing, Michigan

| Spartans

| 1855

| Public

| 1981

| 2013

|align=center colspan=2| Big Ten

!scope=row|

| Omaha, Nebraska

| Mavericks

| 1908

| Public

| 1999

| 2010

|align=center| WCHA

|align=center| NCHC

!scope=row|

| Notre Dame, Indiana

| Fighting Irish

| 1842

| Private/Catholic

| 1981 1992

| 1983 2013

| align=center | Dropped to club status Hockey East

| align=center | Big Ten

!scope=row| Ohio University

| Athens, Ohio

| Bobcats

| 1804

| Public

| 1971

| 1973

|align=center colspan=2| dropped program as school sponsored sport

!scope=row| Ohio State University

| Columbus, Ohio

| Buckeyes

| 1870

| Public

| 1971 1975

| 1973 2013

| align=center | Independent Big Ten

| align=center | Big Ten

!scope=row| Saint Louis University

| St. Louis, Missouri

| Billikens

| 1818

| Private/Catholic

| 1971

| 1979

|align=center colspan=2| dropped program as school sponsored sport

!scope=row| Western Michigan University

| Kalamazoo, Michigan

| Broncos

| 1903

| Public

| 1975

| 2013

|align=center colspan=2| NCHC

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20

Period = from:1971 till:2029

TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal

PlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5

Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7)

id:line value:black

id:bg value:white

PlotData=

width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s

bar:1 color:powderblue from:1971 till:2013 text:Bowling Green (1971–2013, 2021–)

bar:1 color:powderblue from:2021 till:end

bar:2 color:powderblue from:1971 till:1973 text:Ohio (1971–1973)

bar:3 color:powderblue from:1971 till:1973 text:Ohio State (1971–1973, 1975–2013)

bar:3 color:powderblue from:1975 till:2013

bar:4 color:powderblue from:1971 till:1979 text:Saint Louis (1971–1979)

bar:5 color:powderblue from:1972 till:2013 text:Lake Superior State (1972–2013, 2021–)

bar:5 color:powderblue from:2021 till:end

bar:6 color:powderblue from:1975 till:2013 text:Western Michigan (1975–2013)

bar:7 color:powderblue from:1977 till:1984 text:Northern Michigan (1977–1984, 1997–2013, 2021–)

bar:7 color:powderblue from:1997 till:2013

bar:7 color:powderblue from:2021 till:end

bar:8 color:powderblue from:1978 till:2013 text:Ferris State (1978–2013, 2021–)

bar:8 color:powderblue from:2021 till:end

bar:9 color:powderblue from:1980 till:2013 text:Miami (1980–2013)

bar:10 color:powderblue from:1981 till:2013 text:Michigan State (1981–2013)

bar:11 color:powderblue from:1981 till:1984 text:Michigan Tech (1981–1984, 2021–)

bar:11 color:powderblue from:2021 till:end

bar:12 color:powderblue from:1981 till:2013 text:Michigan (1981–2013)

bar:13 color:powderblue from:1981 till:1983 text:Notre Dame (1981–1983, 1992–2013)

bar:13 color:powderblue from:1992 till:2013

bar:14 color:powderblue from:1982 till:1996 text:UIC (1982–1996)

bar:15 color:powderblue from:1992 till:1994 text:Kent State (1992–1994)

bar:16 color:powderblue from:1995 till:2013 text:Alaska (1995–2013)

bar:17 color:powderblue from:1999 till:2010 text:Nebraska–Omaha (1999–2010)

bar:18 color:powderblue from:2021 till:end text:Bemidji State (2021–)

bar:19 color:powderblue from:2021 till:end text:Minnesota State (2021–)

bar:20 color:powderblue from:2021 till:2026 text:St. Thomas (2021–2026)

bar:21 color:powderblue from:2023 till:end text:Augustana (2023–)

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1975

TextData =

fontsize:L

textcolor:black

pos:(175,30) # tabs:(0-center)

text:"Central Collegiate Hockey Association membership history"

</timeline>

Championships

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"

! School

! data-sort-type="number" scope="col" |

| Augustana

| Bemidji State

| 1

| 5

| 7

| 3

| Bowling Green

| 1

| 2

| 10

| 7

| 5

| Ferris State

| 1

| 4

| 3

| 1

| Lake Superior State

| 3

| 1

| 4

| 11

| 4

| 5

| Michigan Tech

| 3

| 4

| 10

| 16

| 7

| 12

| Minnesota State

| 1

| 2

| 10

| 6

| Northern Michigan

| 1

| 3

| 8

| 3

| 5

| St. Thomas

Regular-season champions

1972 Ohio State/Saint Louis
1973 Saint Louis
1974 Lake Superior State/Saint Louis
1975 Saint Louis
1976 Bowling Green
1977 Saint Louis
1978 Bowling Green
1979 Bowling Green
1980 Northern Michigan
1981 Northern Michigan
1982 Bowling Green
1983 Bowling Green
1984 Bowling Green
1985 Michigan State
1986 Michigan State
1987 Bowling Green
1988 Lake Superior State
1989 Michigan State
1990 Michigan State
1991 Lake Superior State
1992 Lake Superior State
1993 Miami

1994 Michigan
1995 Michigan
1996 Lake Superior State/Michigan
1997 Michigan
1998 Michigan State
1999 Michigan State
2000 Michigan
2001 Michigan State
2002 Michigan
2003 Ferris State
2004 Michigan
2005 Michigan
2006 Miami
2007 Notre Dame
2008 Michigan
2009 Notre Dame
2010 Miami
2011 Michigan
2012 Ferris State
2013 Miami
2022 Minnesota State
2023 Minnesota State
2024 Bemidji State
2025 Minnesota State
2026 Minnesota State

Conference records

Team's records against current conference opponents. (As of the end of the 2020–21 season.)

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width=95%

!rowspan="2" style=";" width=8% |School

!colspan="3" style=";" width=9%|Bemidji State Beavers men's ice hockey|

!colspan="3" style=";" width=9%|Bowling Green Falcons men's ice hockey|

!colspan="3" style=";" width=9%|Ferris State Bulldogs men's ice hockey|

!colspan="3" style=";" width=9%|Lake Superior State Lakers men's ice hockey|

!colspan="3" style=";" width=9%|Michigan Tech Huskies men's ice hockey|

!colspan="3" style=";" width=9%|Minnesota State Mavericks men's ice hockey|

!colspan="3" style=";" width=9%|Northern Michigan Wildcats men's ice hockey|

!colspan="3" style=";" width=9%|St. Thomas Tommies (Minnesota) men's ice hockey|

!colspan="4" style=";" width=9%|Total

|align=left style=";" |Bemidji State Beavers men's ice hockey|

|bgcolor=dddddd|13

|bgcolor=dddddd|15

|bgcolor=dddddd|3

|16

|12

|bgcolor=dddddd|33

|bgcolor=dddddd|36

|bgcolor=dddddd|6

|18

|16

|bgcolor=dddddd|61

|bgcolor=dddddd|62

|bgcolor=dddddd|21

|15

|bgcolor=dddddd|24

|bgcolor=dddddd|3

|bgcolor=dddddd|1

|bgcolor=eeeeee|180

|bgcolor=eeeeee|152

|bgcolor=eeeeee|48

|bgcolor=eeeeee|

|align=left style=";" |Bowling Green Falcons men's ice hockey|

|15

|13

|bgcolor=dddddd|

|76

|60

|13

|bgcolor=dddddd|86

|bgcolor=dddddd|78

|bgcolor=dddddd|13

|19

|bgcolor=dddddd|9

|bgcolor=dddddd|17

|bgcolor=dddddd|3

|57

|53

|10

|bgcolor=dddddd|0

|bgcolor=eeeeee|263

|bgcolor=eeeeee|241

|bgcolor=eeeeee|47

|bgcolor=eeeeee|

|align=left style=";" |Ferris State Bulldogs men's ice hockey|

|12

|16

|bgcolor=dddddd|60

|bgcolor=dddddd|76

|bgcolor=dddddd|13

|bgcolor=dddddd|57

|bgcolor=dddddd|77

|bgcolor=dddddd|15

|16

|24

|bgcolor=dddddd|8

|bgcolor=dddddd|29

|bgcolor=dddddd|2

|31

|69

|bgcolor=dddddd|2

|bgcolor=dddddd|0

|bgcolor=eeeeee|186

|bgcolor=eeeeee|291

|bgcolor=eeeeee|42

|bgcolor=eeeeee|

|align=left style=";" |Lake Superior State Lakers men's ice hockey|

|36

|33

|bgcolor=dddddd|78

|bgcolor=dddddd|86

|bgcolor=dddddd|13

|77

|57

|15

|bgcolor=dddddd|

|25

|49

|bgcolor=dddddd|3

|bgcolor=dddddd|25

|bgcolor=dddddd|1

|48

|75

|13

|bgcolor=dddddd|1

|bgcolor=dddddd|0

|bgcolor=eeeeee|268

|bgcolor=eeeeee|325

|bgcolor=eeeeee|56

|bgcolor=eeeeee|

|align=left style=";" |Michigan Tech Huskies men's ice hockey|

|16

|18

|bgcolor=dddddd|19

|bgcolor=dddddd|5

|24

|16

|bgcolor=dddddd|49

|bgcolor=dddddd|25

|bgcolor=dddddd|8

|bgcolor=dddddd|23

|bgcolor=dddddd|43

|bgcolor=dddddd|10

|76

|13

|bgcolor=dddddd|10

|bgcolor=dddddd|3

|bgcolor=dddddd|1

|bgcolor=eeeeee|217

|bgcolor=eeeeee|200

|bgcolor=eeeeee|44

|bgcolor=eeeeee|

|align=left style=";" |Minnesota State Mavericks men's ice hockey|

|62

|61

|21

|bgcolor=dddddd|18

|bgcolor=dddddd|10

|bgcolor=dddddd|3

|29

|bgcolor=dddddd|25

|bgcolor=dddddd|3

|bgcolor=dddddd|1

|43

|23

|10

|bgcolor=dddddd|

|18

|bgcolor=dddddd|16

|bgcolor=dddddd|9

|bgcolor=dddddd|2

|bgcolor=eeeeee|198

|bgcolor=eeeeee|131

|bgcolor=eeeeee|42

|bgcolor=eeeeee|

|align=left style=";" |Northern Michigan Wildcats men's ice hockey|

|15

|bgcolor=dddddd|53

|bgcolor=dddddd|57

|bgcolor=dddddd|10

|69

|31

|bgcolor=dddddd|75

|bgcolor=dddddd|48

|bgcolor=dddddd|13

|76

|13

|bgcolor=dddddd|6

|bgcolor=dddddd|18

|bgcolor=dddddd|3

|bgcolor=dddddd|0

|bgcolor=eeeeee|287

|bgcolor=eeeeee|245

|bgcolor=eeeeee|51

|bgcolor=eeeeee|

|align=left style=";" |St. Thomas Tommies (Minnesota) men's ice hockey|

|24

|bgcolor=dddddd|0

|bgcolor=dddddd|1

|bgcolor=dddddd|0

|10

|bgcolor=dddddd|9

|bgcolor=dddddd|16

|bgcolor=dddddd|2

|bgcolor=dddddd|

|bgcolor=eeeeee|15

|bgcolor=eeeeee|53

|bgcolor=eeeeee|4

|bgcolor=eeeeee|

Conference arenas

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|style=""|Augustana (South Dakota) Vikings men's ice hockey| || Midco Arena || Sioux Falls, South Dakota || 3,082

|style=""|Bemidji State Beavers men's ice hockey| || Sanford Center || Bemidji, Minnesota || 4,373

|style=""|Bowling Green Falcons men's ice hockey| || Slater Family Ice Arena || Bowling Green, Ohio || 5,000

|style=""|Ferris State Bulldogs men's ice hockey| || Robert L. Ewigleben Arena || Big Rapids, Michigan || 2,500

|style=""|Lake Superior State Lakers men's ice hockey| || Taffy Abel Arena || Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan || 4,000

|style=""|Michigan Tech Huskies men's ice hockey| || MacInnes Student Ice Arena || Houghton, Michigan || 4,466

|style=""|Minnesota State Mavericks men's ice hockey| || Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center || Mankato, Minnesota || 4,832

|style=""|Northern Michigan Wildcats men's ice hockey| || Berry Events Center || Marquette, Michigan || 3,800

|-bgcolor=pink

|style=""|St. Thomas Tommies (Minnesota) men's ice hockey| || Lee & Penny Anderson Arena || St. Paul, Minnesota || 4,000

Awards

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: 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. 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.

All-Conference Teams

{| class="wikitable"

|First Team

|1972–73

|Second Team

|1972–73

|Rookie Team

|1988–89

|All-Tournament Team

|1972

Individual awards

Current

{| class="wikitable"

|Player of the Year

|1976–77

|Forward of the Year

|2021–22

|Defenseman of the Year

|2021–22

|Goaltender of the Year

|2000–01

|Rookie of the Year

|1978–79

|Best Defensive Forward

|1989–90

|Best Defensive Defenseman

|1989–90

|Coach of the Year

|1975–76

|Most Valuable Player in Tournament

|1972

Former

{| class="wikitable"

|Best Offensive Defenseman

|1989–90

|Terry Flanagan Memorial Award

|1992–93

|Mike and Marian Ilitch Humanitarian Award

|2000–01

|Perani Cup

|2002–03

|Scholar-Athlete of the Year

|2004–05

All-Decade Teams

1970s All-Decade Team

First Team

F Steve Bozek, 1978–81, Northern Michigan
F Bill Joyce, 1976–80, Northern Michigan
F John Markell, 1975–79, Bowling Green
D Tom Laidlaw, 1976–80, Northern Michigan
D Ken Morrow, 1975–79, Bowling Green
G Mike Liut, 1973–77, Bowling Green

Second Team

F Bob Dobek, 1972–75, Bowling Green
F Rick Kennedy, 1971–75, Saint Louis
F Mark Wells, 1975–79, Bowling Green
D Roger Archer, 1971–75, Bowling Green
D Tom Davies, 1970–74, D, Lake Superior State
D Don Waddell, 1976–80, Northern Michigan
G Steve Weeks, 1976–1980, Northern Michigan

1980s All-Decade Team

First Team

F T. J. Hensick, 2003–07, Michigan
F Chris Kunitz, 1999–03, Ferris State
F Kevin Porter, 2004–08, Michigan
D Andy Greene, 2002–06, Miami
D John-Michael Liles, 1999–03, Michigan State
G Ryan Miller, 1999–02, Michigan State

Second Team

F Ryan Jones, 2004–08, Miami
F Andy Miele, 2007–11, Miami
F Scott Parse, 2003–07, Omaha
D Brad Fast, 1999–03, Michigan State
D Greg Zanon, 1999–03, Omaha
G Cody Reichard, 2008–12, Miami

References

External links

Official CCHA site