UWEC Athletic Director Scott KilgallonMadison, Eau Claire (WQOW) -- The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association's Peters Cup playoffs begin this weekend, but time is running out on the NCHA.
Wednesday, the WIAC announces that its five men's hockey-playing institutions will leave the NCHA effective the 2014-15 school year: UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stout, UW-Superior, UW-River Falls, and UW-Stevens Point. The NCHA was formed in 1980, with a women's conference added in 2000.
WIAC Commissioner Gary Karner issues a statement, in which he says the WIAC wanted to give sufficient notice to the other NCHA members. Karner adds, "it is our intention to engage in a dialogue over the next two years that will ensure the viability of Division III men's and women's ice hockey in the upper Midwest for many years to come."
UW-Eau Claire athletic director Scott Kilgallon says the WIAC hopes to attract other schools to join the conference for hockey. "We'd like to get seven men's and seven women's teams by that time [2014], and if that's not the case, the plan is in place to get your scheduling and get your non-conference scheduling going, so that our teams have a full schedule to play."
Kilgallon says Eau Claire's proximity to Minnesota should make it fairly easy to continue non-conference rivalries with schools from the MIAC.
