• 23 National Championships
• 11 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Winners
• 141 All-Americans
• 276 Olympians

The Western Collegiate Hockey Association, the top league in all of women's collegiate hockey, proudly celebrated its 27th season of competition in 2025-26

Founded in 1999, the WCHA has been at the forefront of growing and raising the profile of women's hockey nationwide as the league continues to churn out national champions, Patty Kazmaier winners, Olympians, and professional players. The league consists of eight premier institutions that offer the best in both educational and athletic environments.

The league welcomed its sixth Minnesota-based member with the University of St. Thomas (Tommies) joining for the 2021-22 campaign, rounding out the eight-team membership of Bemidji State (Beavers), University of Minnesota (Gophers), University of Minnesota Duluth (Bulldogs), Minnesota State University (Mavericks), The Ohio State University (Buckeyes), St. Cloud State University (Huskies), and University of Wisconsin (Badgers).

No women's hockey conference can top the impressive list of national accomplishments of the WCHA. Since 1998, member teams have earned a record 23 NCAA and AWCHA national championships while finishing as the national runner-up 12 times. Since the inception of the NCAA women's ice hockey championship in 2001, the WCHA has won 22 titles, landed at least one team in every Frozen Four, and iced two or more teams in 20 Frozen Fours.

The league has also produced 11 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winners, as well as an additional 31 student-athletes who were among the Top-3 finalists for the award.

WCHA student-athletes have made 276 appearances in the Olympic Games, with 44 earning Gold medals, since women's ice hockey made its first appearance in the Games in 2002 in Salt Lake City. Since 2002, every team to medal at the Olympics has had at least one player with WCHA ties on its roster.



At the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina, 54 players with ties to the WCHA competed, including 20 current student-athletes. There were also 11 with WCHA ties that held staff spots on the various rosters. A total of 37 with WCHA connections earned medals at the games, including 20 athletes and coaches who took home the gold with Team USA. There were 10 current WCHA athletes and coaches in the group of 20, as players Minnesota's Abbey Murphy, Ohio State's Joy Dunne, Wisconsin's Laila Edwards, Caroline Harvey, Ava McNaughton, Wisconsin, and Kirsten Simms, Wisconsin each claimed gold. Harvey was also named the MVP of the 2026 Winter Olympics as she had the most assists of any skater with seven and the most points of any defender with nine. Minnesota State Head Coach Shari Dickerman, St. Thomas Assistant Coach Alli Altmann, Wisconsin's Assistant Director of Sports Medicine Stefanie Arndt, and Minnesota Associate Director of Athletic Performance Cal Dietz were each on staff for Team USA. 

The silver medal-winning Team Canada featured 10 former WCHA stars in Minnesota Duluth's Jocelyne Larocque, Ohio State's Jennifer Gardiner, Sophie Jaques, Emma Maltais, Natalie Spooner, Wisconsin's Daryl Watts, Emily Clark, Blayre Turnbull, Ann-Renee Desbiens, and Sarah Nurse. Former Minnesota Duluth Bulldog Caroline Ouellette was also an assistant coach for Team Canada. 

Bronze medalist Switzerland boasted a roster that included five with WCHA connections, including one current WCHA skater in St. Cloud State's Laura Zimmerman. Zimmerman was joined by  Minnesota Duluth Lara Stalder, Ohio State's Andrea Braendli, and the former St. Thomas duo of Saskia Maurer and Nicole Vallario. Former Wisconsin Badger Cyndy Kenyon was also on staff for Team Switzerland. 

WCHA players also made history in Milano-Cortina as Team USA's Hilary Knight set the record for most career goals and points in U.S. women's Olympic hockey history. Wisconsin's Laila Edwards also became the first Black American to win an Olympic medal in ice hockey. 

WCHA players have been recognized as All-Americans 141 times in league history, including four-time selection Caroline Harvey and three-time selections Hannah Brandt, Natalie Darwitz, Brianna Decker, Jincy Dunne, Hilary Knight, Monique Lamoureux, Annie Pankowski, Noora Räty, Maria Rooth, Lee Stecklein, Daryl Watts, and Krissy Wendell. When it comes to coaching, WCHA teams and players have benefited from the expertise of some of the best minds in the game. Current bench boss Mark Johnson (Wisconsin) is the nation's winningest active coach with over 700 career wins.

WCHA coaches have won 12 of the 27 AHCA Women's Division I National Coach of the Year awards presented since the honor's inception in 1998.

The WCHA provides fans with the opportunity to watch league action throughout the season. Every game hosted by WCHA member institutions, along with the WCHA Final Faceoff, is streamed live and on demand exclusively on B1G+. In addition, numerous games throughout the WCHA season are featured regionally on FOX9+ and nationally on the Big Ten Network.

With eight high-quality institutions producing leaders and champions on and off the ice and playing in front of the sport's best fans, this much is certain: The WCHA - as it has for over a quarter century - will remain elite on the ice, while growing the game by providing an exemplary student-athlete and fan experience.