I thought that this would be interesting to post. I have taken it from the
 WCHA Media Guide (1990-91) and it is copied here without permission.
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE WCHA by Andrew K. Finnie and Doug Spencer
 
      The Western Collegiate Hockey Association, or 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 Collegiate Hockey League, which was the first forerunner of
 the WCHA was founded in 1951 by Colorado College, Denver, Michigan, Michigan
 State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota and North Dakota. It was formed out of a
 desire for more formal competition among the seven schools that were
 considered to have "major" hockey programs in the midwest at that time.
 
      Colorado College won the first MIHL title with the Minnesota Golden
 Gophers taking the title in 1952-53. In 1953, the league changed its name to
 the Western Intercollegiate Hockey League to better reflect the location of
 its membership. At the same time, the league began keeping detailed team and
 individual scoring and goaltending statistics which were issued to the public
 each week.
 
     Throughout the 1950's, the WIHL was very successful in winning NCAA
 titles. Except for 1949 and 1954, all of the NCAA crowns were won by WIHL
 teams. Michigan alone won six titles.
 
     In 1958, the WIHL broke up over charges of recruiting irregularities.
 Minnesota and the Michigan schools charged that Denver, Colorado College, and
 North Dakota had recruited overage Canadians, 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 or, as they called it, an "association". Thus the Western Collegiate
 Hockey Association was born.
 
      Because of the previous recruiting problem, the seven members decided the
 WCHA would be a less formal organization. Members 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.
 
      The WCHA began play in 1959 and for the first seven years it was all
 Denver and Michigan Tech as two of the most legendary coaches in college
 hockey squared off. Murray Armstrong directed Denver while John MacInnes
 guided Tech. In what became a long duel, the Pioneers won four of the first
 seven crowns and Michigan Tech won the other three.
 
      In 1966, Minnesota-Duluth became the first team to be added to the
 league, followed by Wisconsin in 1969 and Notre Dame in 1971.
 
     Denver and Michigan Tech continued to dominate league play but other
 teams, notably Minnesota, also began to receive attention. Wisconsin's entry
 into the WCHA in 1969-70 was most noticed when the Badgers finished fourth in
 the regular season, captured the western section of the league playoffs over
 Denver and received a berth in the NCAA championships.
 
      As they had done throughout the 1950's, WCHA members captured most of the
 national ice hockey championships during the 1960's and 1970's. Except for
 1967, 1971-72, and 1978, the national champion trophy remained in the display
 case of a WCHA team.
 
      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.
 
     Since then, the WCHA has grown stronger despite some small setbacks, In
 the summer of 1979, the league voted to split into two divisions, a move that
 was rescinded just three months later. The plan had been originally submitted
 in order to reduce spiralling 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.
 
     Yet, despite having a membership of only six teams, the WCHA remained
 strong through the early 1980's.
 
 .......to be continued tomorrow.
 
 Carol
 U of M
 Go Gophers!!!