Before the 2021-22 season begins in full, I thought it would be appropriate to toast and eulogize the WCHA men's league.
I'm not the first person to do so. And this isn't exactly my first attempt on the subject. For two years, the WCHA existed in a position where we all knew the end was near. Seven schools departed to form a new CCHA while the remaining three did not have enough schools to continue, culminating with the league quietly closing up 70 years of history with a Friday press release entering the holiday weekend.
It's important to honor that history and legacy.
Home to more men's national championships than any conference, the WCHA brought the hockey world Olympians, legends, all-time great teams, and Stanley Cup champions. It saw multiple eras where conference teams dominated the national landscape, beginning with a Michigan dynasty in the 1950s and ending with a Minnesota State powerhouse run.
Each person has their own memories of what the league was - older fans have a time when Notre Dame and Michigan were members while newer fans have an era with Bowling Green and Bemidji State. Each era showcases something unique as generations played for the same honor of winning the MacNaughton Cup.
No matter the era, the WCHA rose to the occasion.
One of those, the 2000s, was a special time for me with the WCHA Final Five becoming an annual March puck staple at Xcel Energy Center, a place where Upper Midwest fans from more than a half-dozen schools came together to tailgate, talk trash to one another, and sell out an NHL building.
The Final Five was the perfect event to capture the spirit of 2000s college hockey, which showcased itself in the 2005 Frozen Four featuring only conference schools much to the chagrin of WCHA fans. To experience Minnesota-North Dakota meant to experience a classic rivalry built to the tipping point on the backs of generations before.
That's a testament to the WCHA, which has been there for several different eras of college hockey, always evolving with an ever-changing sport. Always a place for schools - big and small, from Alaska to the Upper Midwest to even interlocking schedules with a young Hockey East - to call home. The W may stand for "western," but its reach was worldwide.
That's what made the WCHA stand out, no matter if the rivalry was between schools in Minnesota, the UP, Colorado, the Great Lakes, or (insert team here) and Wisconsin or North Dakota. It was home for schools that needed one. Those schools made it into something more.
And yet what made the WCHA work so well is also what made it open to being blown up. As much as the men's league evolved to the era, alliances of convenience remained a constant. (This remains true for the women's league, which thankfully still exists.) That was both part of its charm and a reason - disorganization, a large footprint, a lack of TV deals (or a few select teams having them), an imbalance of power - why teams leaving predate the WCHA leaving us. It predates the 21st Century.
Even in its final years, the WCHA men's league stuck to its principles being open to being home to those who needed one. The league found room for Bemidji State when the CHA went away, picked up the remnants of the pre-2013 CCHA, Alabama Huntsville, and even courting schools like Arizona State. That was what the WCHA did.
For the first time in 70 years, unfortunately not enough teams need a home. In this era, more regional teams and TV deals - the number of games broadcast in one weekend is 5x more than 10-20 years ago - take precedence. More schools mean fewer need an alliance of convenience, which can also be seen as a healthy sign. This isn't the 1950s where only six schools exist outside the Northeast.
The WCHA men's league may be gone for now, but that does mean, like the CCHA just did, it can rise again for the next era as college hockey continues to evolve and change. Since July 2019, two small Western schools - Augustana and St. Thomas - announced plans to sponsor men's hockey. They likely aren't alone.
For now, the WCHA's spirit lives on in the teams, the history, and the rivalries. I can't think of a more fitting conclusion than Minnesota State, who was invited to play in the WCHA Conference Tournament in the late 90s before joining, being the final dynasty while Alaska, Anchorage, and Alabama Huntsville - three schools always looking and needing a home - being the only ones who didn't leave.
No matter the teams or eras, the WCHA remained true.
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