Men’s hockey to change conference to CCHA

The men’s hockey team will leave the WCHA for the CCHA to start 2021-22 season

Andrew Neururer
Sports Editor

On Tuesday, officials announced a new conference called the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. This new action will take place at the start of the 2021-22 season, which means the Minnesota State Mavericks will be playing their final season in the WCHA next year.

There will be seven institutions that makeup the new CCHA, those include Minnesota State, Bemidji State University, Bowling Green State University, Ferris State University, Lake Superior State University, Michigan Technological University and Northern Michigan University.

In the current WCHA, there are 10 teams. The University of Alaska, Alaska Anchorage and Alabama Huntsville are three teams that will remain in the conference.

Dr. Morris Kurtz, consulting-athletics consultant, is leading this new transition. Kurtz is mainly working on the legal and financial parts of this new transition. 

“After extensive discussion and significant due diligence, it made sense to everyone involved to move in this direction.  The name conveys the current geographic alignment of our members and the CCHA brand has a tremendous amount of equity and goodwill associated with it.  What’s old is new again and we look forward to refreshing the brand and identity to fully capture the energy and passion of the institutions it represents,” Kurtz said on the reasoning to make this move.

The plan is for the CCHA to take place for the start of the 2021-22 season, as this move has been heading in the right direction.

The next step in the process for the CCHA is to create a new brand/logo and find a commissioner for the conference. Kurtz indicates that the goal is to have a new commissioner lined up to start operating by July 1.

Header photo: Minnesota State forward Charlie Gerard (9) skates with the puck during a game against University of Alaska Anchorage at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019 in Mankato, Minn. (Mansoor Ahmad/MSU Reporter)