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NCHA logo 2013-present

The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association, or NCHA, is a league in NCAA Men's Division III and Women's Division III.

Origins of Conference[]

The men's conference was formed in 1980 out of the remnants of the International Collegiate Hockey Association when Bemidji State Beavers and Wiscosin-Superior Yellowjackets of the ICHA would join with the Mankato State Mavericks, St. Cloud State Huskies, Wisconsin-Eau Clair Blugolds, and Wisconsin River Falls Falcons.

  • On March 2. 2023 Finlandia University announced that the school would not be enrolling students for the fall of 2023 and would closing its' doors at the end of the 2022-23 academic year, thus ending both the men's and women's programs.[2]

Men's Membership[]

Team Location Arena
Adrian Bulldogs Adrian, Michigan Arrington Ice Arena
Aurora Spartans Aurora, Illinois Fox Valley Ice Arena
Concordia Falcons Mequon, Wisconsin Ozaukee Ice Center
Dubuque Spartans Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque Ice Center
Lake Forest Foresters Lake Forest, Illinois Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse
Lawrence Vikings Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton Arena
Marian Sabres Fond du Lac, Wisconsin Blue Line Ice Center
Milwaukee School of Engineering Raiders Milwaukee, Wisconsin Kern Center
St. Norbert Green Knights De Pere, Wisconsin Cornerstone Community Center
St. Scholastica Saints Duluth, Minnesota MARS Lakeview Arena
Trine Thunder Angola, Indiana Thunder Ice Arena

Former Members[]

Team Location Arena Tenure Fate
Finlandia Lions Hancock, Michigan Houghton County Arena 2003-2023 college closes
Northland Lumberjacks Ashland, Wisconsin Bay Area Civic Center 2013-2019 join Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

Women's Membership[]

Team Location Arena
Adrian Bulldogs Adrian, Michigan Arrington Ice Arena
Aurora Spartans Aurora, Illinois Fox Valley Ice Arena
Concordia Falcons Mequon, Wisconsin Ozaukee Ice Center
Dubuque Spartans Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque Ice Center
Lake Forest Foresters Lake Forest, Illinois Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse
Lawrence Vikings Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton Family Ice Center
Marian Sabres Fond du Lac, Wisconsin Blue Line Ice Center
Milwaukee School of Engineering Raiders Milwaukee, Wisconsin Kern Center
St. Norbert Green Knights De Pere, Wisconsin Cornerstone Community Center
Trine Thunder Angola, Indiana Thunder Ice Arena

Former Members[]

Team Location Arena Tenure Fate
Finlandia Lions Hancock, Michigan Houghton County Arena 2004-2023 university closes
Northland Lumberjills Ashland, Wisconsin Bay Area Civic Center 2017-2019 joins Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
St. Scholastica Saints Duluth, Minnesota MARS Lakeview Arena 2010-2021 joins Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

The Marian Sabres new women's team joined the NCHA for the 2009-10 season. The Adrian Bulldogs women's team, previously independent, joined the same season. Marian's and Adrian's men's teams played in the MCHA with Concordia and Finlandia.

The St. Norbert Green Knights and St. Scholastica Saints started up new women's teams that joined the NCHA for the 2010-2011 season.

The Aurora Spartans joined the men's conference in 2015 after playing as a Division III Independent for the 2014-15 season and as a club level ACHA program in 2012-13 and 2013-14.

On June 14, 2016; the conference announced that they were adding the women's programs for the Aurora Spartans and Northland Lumberjills to match the men's programs and that Trine University would be added to the conference in men's and women's ice hockey when they begin Division III play.  All four teams will join conference play for the 2017-18 season.

On April 5, 2018 Northland College announced that the Northland Lumberjacks and the Northland Lumberjills would be leaving the confernce after the 2018-19 season to join the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for the 2019-20 season.[5]

Merger with MCHA[]

The Lake Forest Foresters men's team left the NCHA for the MCHA after the 2008-09 season and returned when the two conferences merged for the 2013-14 season. The merger was started when the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference announced they were going start a men's ice hockey conference beginning with the 2013-14 season, with it's five members that sponsored the sport, all of which played in the NCHA this left the conference with only two remaining members. The Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association at this point had 8 members (5 of which already had women's teams in the NCHA and the other 3 did not have women's programs).

Tie-Break Procedure[]

If two or more teams are tied in points at the end of the regular season, ties shall be broken as follows:
1 - Head-to-Head competition
2 - Goal differential in games played between the tied teams only
3 - Goal differential in all NCHA games

Men's Conference Seasons[]

Season Regular Season Champion Harris Cup Champion
1981-82 Bemidji State Beavers No Tournament
1982-83 Bemidji State Beavers No Tournament
1983-84 Bemidji State Beavers No Tournament
1984-85 Bemidji State Beavers No Tournament
1985-86 Bemidji State Beavers Bemidji State Beavers
1886-87 Mankato State Mavericks Bemidji State Beavers
1887-88 Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons
1988-89 Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers
1989-90 Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers
1990-91 Mankato State Mavericks Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers
1991-92 Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers
1992-93 Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers
1993-94 Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets
1994-95 Bemidji State Beavers Bemidji State Beavers
1995-96 Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons
1996-97 St. Norbert Green Knights Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets
1997-98 St. Norbert Green Knights St. Norbert Green Knights
1998-99 Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers St. Norbert Green Knights
1999-00 St. Norbert Green Knights Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets
2000-01 Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets
2001-02 St. Norbert Green Knights Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets
2002-03 St. Norbert Green Knights St. Norbert Green Knights
2003-04 St. Norbert Green Knights St. Norbert Green Knights
2004-05 St. Norbert Green Knights St. Norbert Green Knights
2005-06 St. Norbert Green Knights Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets
2006-07 Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons St. Norbert Green Knights
2007-08 St. Norbert Green Knights St. Norbert Green Knights
2008-09 Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets Wisconsin-Stout Blue Devils
2009-10 St. Norbert Green Knights St. Norbert Green Knights
2010-11 St. Norbert Green Knights St. Norbert Green Knights
2011-12 St. Norbert Green Knights St. Norbert Green Knights
2012-13 Wisconsin-Eau Claire Blugolds St. Norbert Green Knights
2013-14 St. Norbert Green Knights St. Norbert Green Knights
2014-15 Adrian Bulldogs Adrian Bulldogs
2015-16 Adrian Bulldogs (S)
St. Norbert Green Knights (N)
Adrian Bulldogs
2016-17 Adrian Bulldogs (S)
St. Norbert Green Knights (N)
St. Norbert Green Knights
2017-18 Adrian Bulldogs (S)
St. Norbert Green Knights (N)
St. Norbert Green Knights
2018-19 Adrian Bulldogs (S)
St. Norbert Green Knights (N)
St. Norbert Green Knights
2019-20 Adrian Bulldogs (S)
Marian Sabres (N)
Adrian Bulldogs
2020-21 Adrian Bulldogs (S)
Concordia Falcons (N)
Marian Sabres
2021-22 Adrian Bulldogs Adrian Bulldogs
2022-23 Aurora Spartans Adrian Bulldogs

Women's Conference Seasons[]

Season Regular Season Champion Slaats Cup Champion
2000-01 Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons
2001-02 Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers
2002-03 Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons
2003-04 Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers
2004-05 Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers
2005-06 Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers
2006-07 Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers
2007-08 Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets
2008-09 Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons
2009-10 Lake Forest Foresters Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons
2010-11 Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons Adrian Bulldogs
2011-12 Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons
2012-13 Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons
2013-14 Lake Forest Foresters Lake Forest Foresters
2014-15 Adrian Bulldogs Lake Forest Foresters
2015-16 Adrian Bulldogs Adrian Bulldogs
2016-17 Adrian Bulldogs Adrian Bulldogs
2017-18 Adrian Bulldogs Adrian Bulldogs
2018-19 Adrian Bulldogs Adrian Bulldogs
2019-20 Adrian Bulldogs Adrian Bulldogs
2020-21 St. Scholastica Saints (North) Adrian Bulldogs (South) Adrian Bulldogs
2021-22 Adrian Bulldogs Aurora Spartans
2022-23 Adrian Bulldogs Adrian Bulldogs

Women's Conference Timeline[]

References[]

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