"Super League" No More: National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Formed

by Brian Favat on Jul 13, 2011 2:27 PM EDT in Boston College Hockey

If you could have one picture that sums up what it means to be a North Dakota Fighting Sioux hockey fan ... (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

On the bright side, we can stop referring to this thing as the "Super" anything ...

Athletic directors and coaches from the "Gang of Five" and Miami made it official on Wednesday, announcing the formation of college hockey's newest conference, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC), which will begin play in 2013-14:

"Colorado College, Denver, Miami, Minnesota Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha and North Dakota are the original members of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, with the possibility to add other schools. Each of the six conference members reached the NCAA Tournament in 2010-11."

I love how you can't get past two full paragraphs of the College Hockey Inc. press release without mention of the fact that all six of the "Super six" made the NCAA Tournament last season. I hope they aren't expecting that to happen going forward.

The league will continue to talk to Notre Dame to see if they want to join the new NCHC. I suppose the rumor about Western Michigan joining the new conference probably has legs, too.

As indicated in the press release, the WCHA and CCHA leftovers continue to explore ways to stay afloat. College Hockey, Inc. Executive Director Paul Kelly doesn't seem all that concerned.

"It's important not to underestimate the strength of our college hockey programs across the country. Many of these schools boast a rich history in the game, strong facilities and vibrant support from communities and alumni. College hockey will continue to thrive in those environments."

One of the major programs that is going to be affected by this realignment is Bowling Green, where Jerry York won his first National Championship in 1984. Even though the future of the CCHA seems bleak, at least Bowling Green's AD is staying committed to Division I hockey at this time.

Who knows how this will all shake out, but hopefully college hockey can find a home for Bowling Green, Alabama-Huntsville and Ferris State, among others. But this is just the first set of dominoes that will fall in what is shaping up to be a pretty wild college hockey offseason.

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Comments

What a bunch of bums...

calling themselves the “National Collegiate Hockey Conference.” They really cover the whole nation.

by D-Murph on Jul 13, 2011 6:41 PM EDT reply actions

“Conference USA” was already taken?

Editor, BC Interruption

by Brian Favat on Jul 13, 2011 6:51 PM EDT up reply actions

I’ve give you that it’s an awful, awful name for the conference, but it’s fairly difficult to name a conference when you have no idea the number of teams or who those programs will be (I know from experience of the SBN Conference Re-Draft).

Every existing college hockey conference has either a geographic reference or a reference to the number of teams in the conference:

ATLANTIC Hockey
Big TEN Hockey Conference
CENTRAL Collegiate Hockey Association
EASTERN College Athletic Conference Hockey
Hockey EAST
WESTERN Collegiate Hockey Association

This whole thing just seems incredibly half-assed and rushed. Not sure why they had to slap a brand on this new conference right away without knowing whether Notre Dame and/or Western Michigan would join up. Seems like a snap decision and we’re left with a pretty ‘meh’ branded college hockey conference.

Editor, BC Interruption

by Brian Favat on Jul 13, 2011 6:57 PM EDT up reply actions

That’s my biggest complaint. If they aren’t starting their conference until 2013 and they don’t know how many more teams that they will add, why name the conference now? Obviously, it helps to name it now for branding/advertisement money, but man, i dislike this name…

by D-Murph on Jul 13, 2011 7:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Alternative Names

I personally like the third suggestion in this list of alternative names…

http://insidecollegehockey.com/inch/2011/07/08/napkin-alternative-names-for-the-super-conference/

by D-Murph on Jul 13, 2011 7:51 PM EDT up reply actions

I’m a fan of the Norris Division.

The “Always Sunny Conference” is really, really dumb.

Editor, BC Interruption

by Brian Favat on Jul 13, 2011 7:53 PM EDT up reply actions

How about ...

The WHAC? The Western Hockey Athletic Conference.

Certainly less whack than the NCHC.

Editor, BC Interruption

by Brian Favat on Jul 13, 2011 7:54 PM EDT up reply actions

WHAC would be kind of close to the WCHA (but this conference may be gone by then anyways)…

Looking over the list again, the suggestions kind of sucked. Maybe the Middle America Hockey Association, which could then be abbreviated easily to MAHA (which is kind of fun to say). I cant think of anything good right now.

by D-Murph on Jul 13, 2011 7:59 PM EDT up reply actions