 | |
| Conference | ACHA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2012 |
| Commissioner | Chris Perry |
| Sports fielded |
|
| Division | Division I |
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Region | Western United States |
| Official website | https://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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
| The West | The East |
|---|---|
| Arizona | Colorado |
| Arizona State | Colorado State |
| Grand Canyon | Missouri State |
| UNLV | Oklahoma |
| Utah | Central Oklahoma |
| 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) | |
| 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 |