NCHC Press Conference
Owens Interview
Ralph Interview
In a bold and exciting move that will launch Tiger Hockey into a new era two years from now, Colorado College announced jointly with five other high-profile programs on July 13 that it will become a founding member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference starting with the 2013-14 season.
Also uniting in the NCHC will be the University of Denver, Miami University, University of Minnesota Duluth, University of Nebraska Omaha and University of North Dakota.
The announcement came during a press conference at El Pomar's Penrose House in Colorado Springs. All six head coaches, as well as directors of athletics and other key personnel from the respective schools, were in attendance.
That included CC President Jill Tiefenthaler, Director of Athletics Ken Ralph, faculty athletics representative Ralph Bertrand and head hockey coach Scott Owens.
“When you look at the strength of the programs, the levels of success, the quality of the coaching, and the overall commitment to collegiate hockey, this new conference will showcase the sport at its best,” said Ralph, currently in his fifth year as AD. “We support our program in a manner consistent with the top programs in the country and we are thrilled to be able to launch a league that will set the standard for excellence nationwide.”
All but one of the schools in the new conference currently compete in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA), of which Colorado College is a co-founder. Miami is a member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA).
“This is an exciting time for Colorado College hockey,” said Owens, who owns a record of 281-169-41 (.614) in 12 seasons at the Tigers' helm. “I think our school, our players, staff and fans will be treated to a consistently excellent level of competition that will be both challenging and rewarding in the long run. Our program is proud to be a part of that and the formation of this new league.”
All six teams earned bids to the NCAA tournament last spring, when Minnesota Duluth claimed its first national championship, and all six will continue playing in their current leagues through the 2011-2012 and 2012-13 seasons.
“Personally speaking, I've been associated with the WCHA for over 21 years – as a player, assistant coach and head coach,” Owens said. “In many ways I have mixed feelings [about the move], but ultimately, I feel that it will be in the best interest of our program and I am excited about the future of Tiger Hockey.”
The new conference will begin immediate research of additional members with no specific, pre-determined limit on the final number of institutions.
A national search for the NCHC's first commissioner, as well as work on other organizational details, also will move forward immediately.
Formation of the NCHC resulted from ongoing discussions resulting from other developments in college hockey earlier this year, when two schools from the WCHA (Minnesota and Wisconsin) and three from the CCHA (Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State) announced that they would join new program Penn State in starting a Big Ten hockey conference in 2013-14.
“Original discussions centered on ways to strengthen the WCHA and to continue to move our programs in a positive direction,” said Ralph. “In the end, it was decided that the creation of a new league was the best way to protect the interests of the schools involved.”
