Category: WCHA

WCHA category only shows posts related to the WCHA conference.

Posted on Posted in Atlantic Hockey, ECAC, Hockey East, WCHA

The Division I women’s conference playoffs are in full swing so there’s no time like the present to cover the 2024-25 regular season conference champions. Below is a look at the five teams that ended the regular season on top of their respective conferences and the historical implications for each.

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Penn State – The name of the conference may have changed but the regular season champion remained the same. In the first season after College Hockey America rebranded to Atlantic Hockey America, Penn State completed its regular season three-peat. The Nittany Lions went an impressive 19-1 in conference play and finished with 52 points; 13 more than second place Mercyhurst. It’s the fourth regular season title in program history for PSU.

Cornell – The Big Red won the ECAC regular season title for the first time since 2020 and seventh time overall. Heading into the ECAC conference playoffs, the Big Red have not lost in regulation since January 11. The team also won its second Ivy League title in a row.

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UConn – The Huskies are back-to-back Hockey East regular season champions. It was a close race as UConn closed out the regular season with a win over Boston University and finished with 58 points – just one more than the Terriers. The team is looking to win its second Bertagna Trophy in a row after winning the Hockey East tournament for the first time last season.

LIU – It’s a three-peat for the Sharks as the team won another NEWHA regular season title. LIU is 62-12-8 within NEWHA play throughout those three years. The Sharks closed out the 2024-25 regular season with 57 points and 19 conference wins. Franklin Pierce was the last team not named LIU to win the NEWHA regular season back in 2021-22 as the Sharks finished second that year.

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Wisconsin – The Badgers won the WCHA regular season for the first time since 2021. It’s the 10th time overall; second most in conference history. Mark Johnson coached all ten Wisconsin teams that won conference regular season titles; the most for any coach in WCHA history. The Badgers may not have won the WCHA regular season since 2021 but that didn’t stop the team from winning an NCAA national championship in 2023.

Posted on Posted in Minnesota State Mavericks, NCHC, St. Cloud State Huskies, WCHA
CHH Relevant Rewind Header

A little over 50 years ago in St. Cloud, Minnesota, the Huskies hosted the hockey team from Mankato. The southern Minnesota team we currently know as the Minnesota State Mavericks were known as the Mankato State University Indians when this game occurred. St. Cloud State games at that time were played outdoors on campus. This January 1971 game took place towards the end of the outdoor game era in St. Cloud as they moved indoors to the Municipal Athletic Complex in the early 1970s. The two teams split the series in St. Cloud during the second-to-last weekend in January that year. The accompanying photo was taken at one point during these two games. In it, Paul Oberstar skates with the puck for the Huskies as the two teams look on in front of a snowy embankment. These two programs faced each other four times in a row at this point in the 1970-71 schedule with Mankato winning three. This game took place two years prior to the designation of Divisions within the NCAA. However, both of these teams at the time were effectively Division II-equivalent programs. St. Cloud State made the leap to Division I in 1987 and Minnesota State followed suit in 1996. St. Cloud State and Minnesota State were WCHA foes for 14 seasons before conference realignment in 2013. Up until now, they have never faced one another within the NCAA Division I National Tournament. That streak will end Thursday as they face off against each other in the first semifinal game of the 2021 Frozen Four. The Huskies and Mavericks are both looking for their first Division I men’s hockey championship.

Image courtesy of the St. Cloud State University Archives.