Western Collegiate Hockey League

Conference| ACHA
Founded| 2012
Commissioner| Chris Perry
Sports fielded|

* Ice hockey
* men's: yes
* women's: no

Division| Division I
No. of teams| 10
Region| Western United States
Official website| http://www.westernchl.com/

The Western Collegiate Hockey League (WCHL) is a Division 1 collegiate ice hockey league in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA), which is the highest non-varsity Club Level for college hockey. The ACHL is made up of ten teams from the Western United States.

## History

[edit]

In 2012, the WCHL was created and played its first season in the ACHA in 2013-14 with six founding member teams.[1] Arizona, Arizona State, Central Oklahoma, and Oklahoma joined the league after competing as ACHA D-1 Independent programs. Those four teams, joined Colorado and Colorado State, who made the transition to from ACHA D-2 to ACHA D-1.[1][2]

In the WCHL's first two years of competition, they won back-to-back ACHA D-1 National Championships, which was hosted at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas, for the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

In 2013–14, Arizona State defeated Robert Morris for the 2013–14 ACHA D-1 National Championship. And in 2014–15, Central Oklahoma defeated Stony Brook for the 2014–15 ACHA D-1 National Championship.

During the 2014 season, Arizona State announced their departure from the WCHL D-1 Club Level and established a formal NCAA D-1 ice hockey program for the 2015–16 season. This move left the WCHL with five members until the league announced the additions of Arkansas who created a new ACHA D-1 hockey club after years of success at the ACHA D-3 level, and Missouri State who moved up from the ACHA D-2 level on January 12, 2015.[3]

Not to be confused, Arizona State's NCAA D-1 team is the only Independent men's hockey team in the country, but ASU also maintains both ACHA Club Level teams with our WCHL D-1 Sun Devils, and the PAC-8 D-2 Sun Devils, respectively.

In 2017, Central Oklahoma won their 2nd ACHA D-1 National Championship after defeating Ohio University.

Subsequently, Arkansas left the WCHL after the 2018–19 season, and (currently) no longer has a D-1 hockey club.

## Expansion

[edit]

In September 2019, the WCHL expanded from seven to ten teams with the addition of University of Utah, UNLV, and Grand Canyon University for the 2020–21 season.

## Format

[edit]

With ten member schools in the conference, beginning in the 2020–21 season, the WCHL is now divided into two geographic divisions for conference play. Each WCHL team will play a home-and-home series against every conference member within its division, as well as one home series and one road series against conference members from the opposite division, for a total of 20 WCHL conference games per season.

## Potential expansion candidates

[edit]

The West Division: BYU Hockey, if they're willing to part ways with the Mountain West Collegiate Hockey League and elevate to D-1 competition. And Utah State University, if Grand Canyon decides to dropped down to D-2 competition.

The East Division: The University of Northern Colorado who are the 2017, 2018, and 2019 champions of the Big Mountain Hockey Conference at the ACHA D-2 level.

## Conference divisions

[edit]

The West  | The East

|

Arizona  | Colorado
Arizona State  | Colorado State
Grand Canyon  | Missouri State
UNLV  | Oklahoma
Utah  | Central Oklahoma

## Current Teams

[edit]

School  | Location  | Founded  | Affiliation  | Enrollment  | Nickname  | NCAA Conference  | Colors

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

University of Arizona | Tucson, AZ | 1885  | Public  | 38,057  | Wildcats | Big 12 (D-I)  |
Arizona State University | Tempe, AZ | 1885  | Public  | 69,317  | Sun Devils | Big 12 (D-I)  |
University of Central Oklahoma | Edmond, OK | 1890  | Public  | 17,101  | Bronchos | MIAA (D-II)  |
University of Colorado | Boulder, CO | 1876  | Public  | 29,884  | Buffaloes | Big 12 (D-I)  |
Colorado State University | Fort Collins, CO | 1870  | Public  | 24,875  | Rams | Mountain West (D-I)  |
Grand Canyon University | Phoenix, AZ | 1949  | Private For-Profit
(Non-denominational)  | 20,500  | Antelopes | WAC (D-I)  |
Missouri State University | Springfield, MO | 1905  | Public  | 22,385  | Bears | MVC (D-I)  |
University of Nevada-Las Vegas | Las Vegas, NV | 1957  | Public  | 30,704  | Rebels | Mountain West (D-I)  |
University of Oklahoma | Norman, OK | 1890  | Public  | 29,721  | Sooners | SEC (D-I)  |
University of Utah | Salt Lake City, UT | 1850  | Public  | 33,058  | Utes | Big 12 (D-I)  |

## Conference Arenas

[edit]

School  | Hockey Arena  | Capacity

|
|

Arizona  | Tucson Convention Center | 6,791
Arizona State  | New Multi-Purpose Arena (2022)  | 5,000
Central Oklahoma  | Arctic Edge Ice Arena  | 700
Colorado  | CU Student Rec Center | 700
Colorado State  | Edora Pool Ice Center (EPIC)  | 700
Grand Canyon  | AZ Ice Arcadia  | 200
Missouri State  | Jordan Valley Ice Park | 700
Oklahoma  | Artic Edge Ice Arena  | 700
UNLV  | City National Arena; Henderson Event Center, (2022)  | 600; 6,000
Utah  | Salt Lake City Sports Complex  | 2,500

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Western Collegiate Hockey League To Begin Play in 2013-2014". ACHA. November 14, 2012. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
2. ^ "Four New Teams Join Men's Division 1 for 2013-2014". ACHA. October 2012. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
3. ^ "WCHL ADDS MISSOURI STATE AND ARKANSAS FOR 2015-2016". WCHL. January 12, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2014.

## External links

[edit]

* Official WCHL website
* Arizona Wildcats
* Arizona State Sun Devils
* Central Oklahoma Bronchos
* Colorado Buffaloes
* Colorado State Rams
* Grand Canyon Antelopes
* Missouri State Ice Bears
* Oklahoma Sooners
* UNLV Rebels
* Utah Utes

## See also

[edit]

* American Collegiate Hockey Association
* List of ice hockey leagues

* v
* t
* e

American Collegiate Hockey Association Division 1

* College Hockey Mid-America (CHMA)
* Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association (ECHA)
* Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL)
* Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League (GLCHL)
* Midwest College Hockey (MCH)
* Northeast Collegiate Hockey League (NECHL)
* Western Collegiate Hockey League (WCHL)
* Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC)

* Central States Collegiate Hockey League (CSCHL)

* ACHA
* List of champions

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template