National Collegiate Hockey Conference

The men's college ice hockey landscape was shaken on March 21, 2011, when the Big Ten Conference announced it would sponsor the sport following Penn State having fielding a team, bringing the number of Big Ten members with teams to six.^[2] The WCHA faced the loss of the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Wisconsin Badgers in the future, whereas the CCHA faced the loss of the Michigan Wolverines, the Michigan State Spartans, and Ohio State Buckeyes. Some of the remaining teams of the WCHA and CCHA began talks to form a league that would ensure their survival as financially strong and successful programs.

On July 9, 2011, the athletic directors of the six founding schools, Colorado College, the University of Denver, Miami University, the University of Minnesota Duluth, the University of Nebraska Omaha, and the University of North Dakota, confirmed these reports by announcing the conference officially and giving the date for a press conference for further information on July 13, 2011.^[3]

At the July 13, 2011 press conference, Brian Faison, athletic director of the University of North Dakota, and one of the main speakers said that the motivation for this conference was to put teams together that "have displayed a high level of competitiveness on the ice, [have] 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."^[4]

On September 22, 2011, St. Cloud State University and Western Michigan University accepted invitations to join the NCHC.^[5][6]

On March 7, 2013, the NCHC unveiled the logo for the inaugural season. It features a shield design with the colors red, white, and blue. Inside the shield are eight stars, presumably representing the eight inaugural members, and a hockey stick on the bottom left.

On May 12, 2022, Heather Weems was named third commissioner of the NCHC.^[7]

On July 5, 2023, a report came out that announced that Arizona State University would join the conference beginning in the 2024–25 season.^[8] The NCHC officially announced Arizona State's entry later that day.^[9]

Future member

Colorado College

Denver

Miami

Minnesota– Duluth

Omaha

North Dakota

St. Cloud State

Western Michigan

Arizona State

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Current (blue) and future (yellow) NCHC members

Penrose Cup

The Penrose Cup trophy has been awarded to the NCHC's regular-season champion since the conference's beginning in autumn 2013. The award honors Julie and Spencer Penrose, who created the El Pomar Foundation that played a major role in the establishment of the NCHC.^[11]

At the conclusion of each regular season schedule the coaches of each NCHC team vote which players they choose to be on the three All-Conference teams:^[12] first team, second team and rookie team. Additionally they vote to award the 10 individual trophies to an eligible player at the same time. The CCHA also awards Most Valuable Player in Tournament which is voted on at the conclusion of the conference tournament. All of the awards were created for the inaugural season (2013–14).

• Western Collegiate Hockey Association
• Central Collegiate Hockey Association
• Big Ten Conference
• Battle for the Gold Pan, a famous rivalry between Colorado's two NCHC schools

• NCHC Hockey Homepage