GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Last month, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s athletics directors held an emergency meeting to discuss the admission of the University of St. Thomas.
While there had been a general sentiment that St. Thomas would eventually leave the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and join the NCHC — especially considering its other athletic programs are in the Summit League with NCHC members UND, Omaha and Denver — the topic had been on the back burner.
It was not an urgent discussion point when league members gathered in Naples, Fla., two weeks earlier for their annual meetings. But seemingly out of nowhere, the NCHC expedited discussions, held a vote and announced the Tommies would become the NCHC’s 10th member beginning in 2026-27.
It happened so fast that few of the league’s coaches were even aware until right before the official announcement.
Why the urgency?
Both St. Thomas and the NCHC believed the CCHA was within 48 hours of voting to increase exit fees significantly. The NCHC acted fast enough that St. Thomas will avoid paying any exit fee altogether. According to CCHA bylaws, there was no exit fee if a team gave the league a two-year notice. The Tommies did that.
CCHA members were furious about the quick exit, and the fallout might not be over.
There is a belief among some at St. Thomas that the CCHA is preparing to kick the Tommies out of the league after this season, leaving them as an independent in 2025-26.
It’s a longshot that the NCHC would bring the Tommies a year early. It would require major re-arranging from the NCHC, which has already finalized its league schedule for 2025-26. Some teams even have nonconference scheduling done, too, including UND.
In a recent interview with The Rink Live, CCHA commissioner Don Lucia was noncommittal about how the league would handle the Tommies’ departure.
Lucia said: “Our next step is to get a handle collectively, take a breath and evaluate how we want this to move forward over the next couple of years with St. Thomas.”
The CCHA is already set with an even number of teams for the future.
Augustana will become a full-schedule member in 2025-26. The Vikings will spend 2024-25 playing a partial CCHA schedule.
St. Thomas will play a full CCHA schedule in 2024-25 and will move to the NCHC in 2026-27. Figuring out 2025-26 is the next step.
Around the NCHC
Arizona State’s top assistant and recruiter Albie O’Connell is leaving the Sun Devils to be an NHL scout. O’Connell, a former head coach at Boston University, was a key recruiter for the Sun Devils.
St. Cloud State assistant Dave Shyiak is expected to be a candidate for the head coaching position at Northern Michigan. Shyiak spent a decade as an assistant at Northern Michigan before becoming the head coach at Alaska Anchorage. He’s also served as an assistant at Western Michigan. As a player, he was a member of Northern Michigan’s 1991 NCAA national championship team.
The NCHC is close to finalizing a new rule that would wipe out travel roster limits. Right now, teams can only travel with 23 players for conference games. Once finalized, teams will be able to travel and play everyone.
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