Excerpts from an article by Andrew Finnie and Doug Spencer (WCHA
Public Relations Director) in the the 1991-92 WCHA Yearbook:
 
    "[The WCHA] is the oldest of the five [?] Division I leagues
    recognized by the NCAA. It was formed in 1959 as an outgrowth of
    two earlier associations, the Midwest Collegiate Hockey League and
    the Western Intercollegiate Hockey League...
 
    The Midwest league was founded in 1951 by Colorado College, Denver,
    Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota, and North
    Dakota. ...
 
    In 1953, the league changed its name to the Western Intercollegiate
    Hockey League...
 
    in 1958, the league broke up over charges of recruiting
    irregularities. Minnesota and the Michigan schools charged that
    Denver, Colorado College and North Dakota had recruited overage
    Canadiens, a practice which, although legal at the time, was not in
    the spirit of league harmony. Tempers flared, and when Minnesota
    and its allies resigned in March, the WIHL was finished. ...
 
    There was no league play during the 1958-59 season, a situation
    which the seven schools eventually acknowledged hurt hockey in the
    region. After the bad blood had cooled down, the seven schools
    reconvened and decided to form a new league... thus the WCHA was
    born. ...
 
    Because of the previous recruiting problem, the seven members
    decided the WCHA would be a less formal organization. Member would
    enjoy more autonomy within the group and could schedule whichever
    teams they wanted. This provision allowed Minnesota to continue a
    ban on games with Denver for more than a decade after the
    recruiting problem had been settled. ...
 
    In 1966, Minnesota-Duluth became the first team to be added to the
    league, followed by Wisconsin in 1969 and Notre Dame in 1971.
    ...
 
    The association marked a turning point in 1973 when the members
    voted to make it a more formal organization. For the first time,
    scheduling was assumed by the league office and each team was
    required to play the same number of games against all of the other
    teams in the group. After 14 years, the WIHL hatchet was finally
    buried. ...
 
    In the summer of 1979, the league voted to split into two
    divisions, a move that was recinded just three months later. The
    plan had been intended to reduce spiraling travel costs. Just two
    years later, four of the WCHA schools -- Michigan, Michigan State,
    Michigan Tech and Notre Dame -- resigned and joined the more
    compact Central Collegiate Hockey Association. ...
 
    In 1984, the league ... reclaimed Michigan Tech and welcomed
    Northern Michigan from the CCHA. The league also joined the members
    of Hockey East in an interlocking schedule, the first of its kind
    in college sports history. The agreement, which carried for five
    seasons through 1988-89, had interlocking games counting in the
    standings of both Associations. ...
 
    In 1987-88, the league staged the first WCHA Playoff Championship
    at the St. Paul Civic Center ...
 
    With the onset of 1990-91, the league added a new member in St.
    Cloud State ...
 
    [and this year added Alaska-Anchorage, but I don't the yearbook]
 
whew! and I left out a lot of fluff about how great the league is...
 
        --david
 
 
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david parter                                         [log in to unmask]
university of wisconsin -- madison          voice: 608-262-0608/262-2389
computer sciences department                           fax: 608-262-9777