July 19, 2005

With a noteworthy past that spans six decades and marks its 54th season overall in 2005-06, three characteristics that continue to define the Western Collegiate Hockey Association are history, tradition and success.

From the founding days as the Midwest Collegiate Hockey League (MCHL) from 1951-53, to the Western Intercollegiate Hockey League (WIHL) from 1953-58, and ultimately on to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in 1959, this prestigious athletic conference has developed and maintained a tradition of excellence that truly is second to none.

In fact, no collegiate conference - in any sport - can top the impressive list of national scale accomplishments of the WCHA and its member teams. Since 1951, teams representing the men's WCHA have earned a record 35 NCAA (national) championships, finished as the national runner-up another 27 times, and qualified for a berth in collegiate hockey's national championship round - the NCAA Men's Frozen Four - in 50 of 53 seasons overall. And since it's founding in 1999-2000, teams representing the women's WCHA have now captured six consecutive national championships in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005.

In addition to its successes in national championship tournament play over the years, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association owns an enviable reputation for producing outstanding coaches and student-athletes, with hundreds upon hundreds of its alumni moving on to successful professional and Olympic playing careers. On top of the more than 100 league alumni who have Olympic experience playing for the likes of the U.S., Canada, Italy, Norway, Austria and France, conference-member teams and players have also received additional international exposure on a regular basis since 1951. The WCHA has hosted touring teams from the USSR, Canada, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, Latvia, Germany, Italy, Finland, Norway, Switzerland, England and France. The league has also sent men's WCHA All-Star Teams to Europe in both 1998 (Switzerland) and 2000 (Norway) and is currently making plans for another international trip for an all-star team next year, while the women's WCHA has also regularly put together all-star teams, with the 2005-06 season bringing WCHA All-Star Team games against the U.S. National Team at both Xcel Energy Center and the Duluth Entertainment & Convention Center. In 2004-05, a total of 16 conference players participated in the annual women's IIHF World Championship in Sweden, including five on the Gold Medal-winning U.S. Team.

Just a few of the more than 330 past and present National Hockey Leaguer's who have roots in the WCHA include the likes of legendary goaltenders Tony Esposito, Eddio Mio and Glenn `Chico' Resch, defensemen Keith Magnuson, Lou Nanne and Curt Giles, and forwards Lou Angotti, Bill Masterton, Bill `Red' Hay, Red Berenson, Glenn Anderson and Mark Johnson. The current crop of WCHA stars playing in the NHL include the likes of Chris Chelios, Brett Hull, Dany Heatley, Mark Parrish, Jordan Leopold, Curtis Joseph, Greg Johnson, Sean Hill, Antti Laaksonen, Jason Blake, Tyler Arnason, Andy Sutton and Bret Hedican.

The WCHA also continues to lead the way in college hockey attendance - for both men and women - as member teams, who regularly play in some of the sport's finest facilities, regularly top the Div. I ranks in average home attendance. In 2004-05, the men's conference drew a total of 1,508,427, the second consecutive season in excess of 1.5 million fans and the 12th consecutive season in excess of one million while the women's WCHA marked its sixth straight season at the top of the national rankings.

Over the last decade, the WCHA has been able to showcase it's exciting brand of hockey to an ever-increasing number of fans, thanks to such impressive new facilities as Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, Colorado Springs World Arena, the Kohl Center in Madison, Magness Arena in Denver, Mariucci Arena and Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, and Midwest Wireless Civic Center in Mankato.

The conference's two annual playoff championships, known as the WCHA Final Five (men's) and the WCHA Playoff Championship (women's), continue to be among the most successful collegiate tournaments of their kind. Held at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, the WCHA Final Five has drawn in excess of 1,000,000 fans since it's inception in 1987 - including 77,746 in 2005. The WCHA Playoff Championship, currently held at Ridder Arena, continues to grow both in exposure and attendance.

Under the leadership and guidance of Commissioner Bruce M. McLeod and Associate Commissioner Sara R. Martin, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association will proudly celebrates it's 54th season of men's competition and seventh in women's competition in 2005-06.

2004-05 WCHA Men's and Women's Team Highlights

National Championships
The University of Denver and head coach George Gwozdecky claimed the 2005 NCAA Men's Frozen Four with a 4-1 victory over league-rival North Dakota before 17,155 at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio ... for the first time in the history of the Frozen Four, all four teams came from one conference - the WCHA - with Colorado College and Minnesota joining the Pioneers and Fighting Sioux for the championship round ... the national title was the 35th overall for a WCHA team since 1951, fourth straight, and fifth in the last six seasons ... the Minnesota Golden Gophers and head coach Laura Halldorson captured the 2005 NCAA Women's Frozen Four with a 4-3 victory over Harvard in Durham, N.H. on March 27 ... the national championship was the sixth consecutive for the WCHA, with the league having won the title every season since its founding in 1999-2000.

National Rankings
Four different WCHA men's teams were ranked No. 1 during course of 2004-05 season in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine weekly poll in Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota, Colorado College and Denver ... in the final poll issued April 12, Denver was No. 1, Colorado College was No. 2, North Dakota was No. 3, Minnesota was No. 4 and Wisconsin was No. 13 ... five WCHA teams ranked among the nation's top 15 teams in every week of the season except one - Feb 21-27 - when there were four ranked ... three WCHA women's teams finished the season ranked the among nation's top 10 in the final USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll, led by Minnesota at No. 1, Minnesota Duluth at No. 5, and Wisconsin at No. 6 ... Minnesota was No. 1 in both weekly polls the entire season ... throughout the 2004-05 campaign, five of the eight WCHA women's teams appeared in the national polls, also including Ohio State and Minnesota State.

Non-Conference Records
WCHA men's teams compiled a 53-17-14 non-conference record in 2004-05, for a .714 winning percentage, while WCHA women's teams compiled a 38-18-9 non-conference mark for a .654 winning percentage.

Winning Records
Five of our 10 men's teams - Denver (32-9-2), Colorado College (31-9-3), Minnesota (28-15-1), North Dakota (25-15-5) and Wisconsin (23-14-4) - wound up with winning records overall and five won at least 23 games ... three women's teams - Minnesota (36-2-2), Minnesota Duluth (26-6-2) and Wisconsin (28-9-1) - had winning records and won at least 26 games each overall while Ohio State went 17-17-3.

Most Improved
Six WCHA men's teams all improved their conference win and/or conference point totals of a year ago, led by Colorado College with a 16 point improvement ... the most improved women's team in 2004-05 was Minnesota Duluth, up 15 points from 2003-04 ... also showing improved league point totals were Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio State, St. Cloud State and Bemidji State.

One-goal Games
Competition in both the men's and women's WCHA was intense all season long ... a total of 60 men's conference games were decided by one goal or less while a total of 27 women's conference games were decided by one goal or less.

Attendance
Both our men's and women's leagues led the nation in Division 1 college hockey attendance again ... our total men's attendance for the season wound up at 1,508,427, the second straight time the league has drawn in excess of 1.5 million and the 12th straight year over 1,000,000 ... average per game for the men in 2004-05 was a record 7,194... the women's league has also been No. 1 in attendance now every season since 2000.

National Championships
The WCHA men's league claimed a record 35th national championship in the 53 years of it's existence when Denver won the Frozen Four over North Dakota in Columbus, Ohio ... it was the fourth straight NCAA title for the league and fifth in the last six years ... in addition, the WCHA became the first league in the 58-year history of the national championship to place all four teams in the field. Denver freshman goaltender Peter Mannino was named Most Outstanding Player ... the women's league also won the NCAA Frozen Four again, as Minnesota's national championship in New Hampshire marked the sixth straight season a WCHA team has claimed the top prize and was the Golden Gophers' second straight crown ... UM's Natalie Darwitz, who led the tournament in scoring with nine points, was named Most Outstanding Player.

Tournaments Won
On the men's side, Alaska Anchorage won the Nye Frontier Classic, Colorado College won the Ohio Hockey Classic, Denver won the Denver Cup, and Minnesota won the Dodge Holiday Classic ... and on the women's side, Minnesota and Wisconsin each won both of their games at the Harvard Shootout

Regular Season Championships
The 2004-05 men's WCHA regular season title and MacNaughton Cup was shared by Denver (coach George Gwozdecky) and Colorado College (coach Scott Owens), with each team winning on their home ice on the final weekend to clinch a share of the Cup ... the 2004-05 women's WCHA regular season title was won by Minnesota (coach Laura Halldorson) with a record-setting 25-1-2 record and 52 points ... during the season, Minnesota compiled a record 28-game unbeaten streak and allowed an average of just 0.93 goals per game.

Playoff Championships
Denver, Colorado College, Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota all earned home ice for the opening round of the WCHA playoffs and all moved on to the Final Five ... all five series were televised live ... the 2005 Red Baron WCHA Final Five drew 77,746 fans to the five games at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, the second highest total in history ... Denver won the Broadmoor Trophy with a 1-0 victory over CC in the title game ... and for the first time, all five games were televised live by Fox Sports Net North with the telecasts part of Fox's College Hockey Breakaway Weekend that saw the WCHA and CCHA tournaments reach into a a record 49 million homes ... all five games were also audiocast live via the league's web site at wcha.com ... the women's 2005 WCHA Playoff Championship was held at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis and was won the Golden Gophers with a spectacular 3-2 overtime win over Wisconsin in the championship game on March 5 ... over 1,500 fans attended the championship game and the league broadcast the game live for the first time via a webcast over wcha.com.

NCAA Tournaments
Five men's WCHA teams qualified for the 2005 NCAA championship tournament, with Denver, Colorado College and Minnesota all earning No. 1 regional seeds ... Denver won the Northeast Regional, North Dakota won the East Regional, Colorado College won the Midwest Regional and Minnesota won the West Regional at Mariucci Arena ... WCHA teams went 8-1-0 in the regionals, with Denver's Gabe Gauthier, CC's Trevor Frischmon, UND's Jordan Parise, and UM's Kellen Briggs all earning regional MVP awards ... Minnesota Duluth and Wisconsin joined WCHA regular season and playoff champion Minnesota in the 2005 NCAA Women's Tournament, to give the WCHA three teams in the newly-expanded, eight-team event.

2004-05 Men's and Women's Individual Highlights

The WCHA claimed both of college hockey's top individual awards for the first time in 2004-05 ... Colorado College's Marty Sertich earned the Hobey Baker Memorial Award while Minnesota's Krissy Wendell was named the Patty Kazmaier Award winner ... the WCHA has now won a record 11 Hobey Baker Memorial Awards overall - including four straight ... also among the 10 Hobey Baker finalists were CC's Brett Sterling and Michigan Tech's Colin Murphy while also among the Patty Kazmaier finalists were UM's Natalie Darwitz and Minnesota Duluth's Caroline Ouellette.

The WCHA Men's Player of the Year was Colorado College's Marty Sertich, the WCHA Student-Athlete of the Year was Minnesota State's Steven Johns, the WCHA Defensive Player of the Year was CC's Mark Stuart, the WCHA Rookie of the Year was Denver's Paul Stastny, and the WCHA Coach of the Year was George Gwozdecky ... Gwozdecky was also named the Division 1 Men's Coach of the Year by the American Hockey Coaches' Association.

The women's WCHA Player of the Year was UM's Krissy Wendell, the WCHA Student-Athlete of the Year was Minnesota Duluth's Caroline Ouellette, the WCHA Defensive Player of the Year was Wisconsin's Molly Engstrom, the WCHA Rookie of the Year was Minnesota's Bobbi Ross, and the WCHA Coach of the Year was Laura Halldorson.

A total of 89 men's players were named to the 2004-05 WCHA All-Academic Team, a gain of 16 overall from the 73 named in 2003-04, while a total of 60 women's players were named to the 2004-05 WCHA All-Academic Team.

All-Americans
Eight WCHA men's players were named to the 2004-05 JOFA/AHCA All-American teams, including five of the six first teamers ... first teamers were CC's Marty Sertich, Brett Sterling, Mark Stuart and Curtis McElhinney along with Denver's Matt Carle ... named to the All-American Second Team were Denver's Gabe Gauthier and Brett Skinner and Michigan Tech's Colin Murphy ... Sertich also led the nation in scoring both in total points with 64 and points per game at 1.49 ... the WCHA women's league also led the way nationally with eight All-Americans, including five first teamers ... named to the All-American First Team were Minnesota's Krissy Wendell, Natalie Darwitz and Lyndsay Wall, UMD's Caroline Ouellette, and UW's Molly Engstrom ... named Second Team All-Americans were UMD's Julianne Vashichek, UM's Jody Horak, and UW's Carla MacLeod ... Darwitz set a new single-season points record in NCAA Women's Ice Hockey with 114.

Exposure
Television: more than 210 WCHA mens' games were televised in 2004-05, including all five first round WCHA playoff series, all five WCHA Final Five games, all nine NCAA regional games, and all three national championship games ... on the women's side, CSTV televised the Ohio State at Wisconsin game live, a record number of regular season games were telecast throughout the league, the WCHA webcast the WCHA Playoff Championship live via wcha.com, and CSTV also televised the 2005 NCAA Women's Frozen Four.

WCHA Web Site
wcha.com, the league's official web site, continues to grow and expand, with more than 1,600,000 visitors this past season and a record number of releases and features being posted on both the men's and women's sides ... the league will be launching a completely-revamped wcha.com in the upcoming 2005-06 season.

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