OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (January 12, 2015) - The Western Collegiate Hockey League (“WCHL”) announces that the Missouri State University (Springfield, MO) Ice Bears and the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, AR) Razorbacks have been admitted as members of the WCHL beginning with the 2015-2016 season.
Missouri State currently has two teams that play in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (“ACHA”), one at the Division 2 level and another at the Division 3 level. Arkansas presently plays in the ACHA’s Division 3. Missouri State’s D2 program and Arkansas’ program recently applied and were granted admission to play at the ACHA Division 1 level, starting with the 2015-2016 season. Missouri State and Arkansas have each expressed their intent to field teams at both the ACHA D1 and D3 levels next season.
After successfully gaining admission to ACHA D1, Missouri State and Arkansas applied for admission to the WCHL. During the WCHL’s Winter Meeting on January 3, 2015, the applications of Missouri State and Arkansas were unanimously approved by the WCHL membership.
The WCHL is currently in its second season of play and is comprised of six charter member schools: the University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ), Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ), the University of Central Oklahoma (Edmond, OK), the University of Colorado (Boulder, CO), Colorado State University (Fort Collins, CO) and the University of Oklahoma (Norman, OK). Five WCHL teams are presently ranked in the ACHA D1 Top 25: No. 1 Arizona State, No. 2 Central Oklahoma, No. 6 Oklahoma, No. 20 Arizona and No. 22 Colorado with Colorado State lurking just outside the Top 25.
Arizona State University is the current ACHA D1 National Champion and the inaugural WCHL Champion. On November 18, 2014, ASU announced that it was elevating its ACHA D1 program to NCAA D1 status in 2015-2016, which would have left the WCHL with five member schools for next season. However, with the addition of Missouri State and Arkansas, the WCHL will now compete in 2015-2016 as a seven-team league. WCHL teams will play an unbalanced league schedule next season, with each team having between 14 and 22 league games.
Follow the WCHL on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WesternCHL, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WesternCHL and online at www.WesternCHL.com.
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Media Contact:
Chris Perry, WCHL Commissioner
Phone: (405) 488-4048
Fax: (405) 604-2704
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