The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a highly successful and arguably toughest conference in NCAA DI women’s hockey. Initially formed in 1951 for men’s hockey, the WCHA changed its name a few times and then opened itself to women’s play in 1999 when seven teams were admitted. The WCHA expanded when North Dakota joined with a women’s hockey team in 2004 and then prematurely folded the program in 2017, which returned the WCHA back to its original seven women’s teams. Members of this conference have won sixteen national titles, one American Women’s College Hockey Alliance and fifteen NCAA National Championships, and regularly dominate the national poll.
A Midseason Review of the WCHA
