Speaking recently as part of her State of the Conference address, NCHC commissioner Heather Weems rolled out the red carpet for the league’s 14th season.
Weems also noted that 14 is her lucky number.
She runs a conference that’s had plenty of luck. Eight of the last 10 NCAA Division I men’s hockey national champions were from NCHC member institutions, including from each of the last three years. Denver exploded late last season to rattle off 13 consecutive wins, including the Pioneers’ second national title in three years.
Western Michigan, resurgent in recent years under coach Pat Ferschweiler, won its first title in 2025.
Some would call Weems’s gig a dream job, such as these things go in the world of sports. It certainly seems that way in terms of the college hockey world, with five teams — literally half the league, with St. Thomas having officially joined this summer — in the national preseason top 15.
It’s widely known that college hockey is generally in a better state than it used to be. But right from the start, the NCHC has shown that it’s on a different level from some of its peers.
“College hockey has never been stronger,” Weems said. “The addition of CHL eligibility, the continued advancement of player development and the investments being made across the sport have brought an unprecedented combination of skill, speed, physicality and hockey IQ to the college game.
“That strength is especially evident in the NCHC, where our members continue to invest in program excellence, recruiting, student-athlete support, facilities and operations,” she continued. “Those commitments have made the NCHC a destination for many of the best players from across the United States and around the world.”
There of course are question marks, including one that’s heartbreaking to even have to think about trying to come up with an answer for. Arizona State is in the process of hiring an interim head coach, with longtime Sun Devils coach Greg Powers on paid administrative leave after Matthew Mayich, a 21-year-old defenseman who transferred from Clarkson over the offseason, was placed on life support following a recent outdoor team workout session. Assistant coach Mike Corbett is filling in behind the bench, but the school said it is continuing to look for an interim head coach.
“While the incident review continues, our foremost concern is for Matthew,” Weems said. “His family has asked for prayers, and I offer mine very sincerely. My heart is also with his parents and siblings, friends, teammates, the Arizona State community and so many others on whom he has made an impact and been a light.”
Regardless of how Arizona State’s situation unfolds, this stands to be a very different NCHC season. A Miami program that has struggled mightily in the last decade received votes in the national preseason poll and was fifth in the NCHC’s preseason media poll. A former RedHawks coach, Rico Blasi, is now behind the bench at the conference’s newest school, St. Thomas, whose addition was first announced in 2024.
“As an institution, St. Thomas continues to make significant investments in their campus programs, operations and facilities, and to grow their impact and reach across the country,” Weems said. “In their first five seasons of Division I competition, the Tommies established themselves as a CCHA contender and brought hockey to campus for the first time in program history, opening the new Lee and Penny Anderson (Arena) in fall 2025. With their current central location in our footprint, strong commitment to excellence and growing visibility in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market, we are excited to add Tommie purple to the National’s color palette.”
Gold is probably also on there somewhere. It almost should, considering the NCHC hogging the top of the mountain seemingly year after year.
“We are incredibly proud of what (last season’s Denver team) accomplished, and we also know that success was shaped by the competition they faced throughout the season,” Weems said. “We often say that iron sharpens iron. In the NCHC, our teams challenge one another every weekend, and that relentless competition helps prepare them to perform when the postseason arrives.”
NCHC
2025-26 regular season champion: North Dakota (17-6-1, 29-10-1 overall)
2025-26 tournament champion: Denver (No. 2 seed, defeated No. 4 Minnesota Duluth 4-3)
2025-26 NCAA tournament teams: Denver (AQ, beat Wisconsin 2-1 in NCAA championship game); North Dakota (at-large, lost to Wisconsin 2-1 in national semifinals); Minnesota Duluth (at-large, lost to Michigan 4-3 in Albany Regional final); Western Michigan (at-large, lost to Denver 6-2 in Loveland Regional final)
Preseason media poll No. 1: Denver (14 first-place votes)
Players to watch: Max Plante (Minnesota Duluth, Jr., F); Zam Plante (Minnesota Duluth, Jr., F); Cole Reschny (North Dakota, So., F); Ty Hanson (Minnesota Duluth, Jr., D); Johnny Hicks (Denver, So., G); Keaton Verhoeff (North Dakota, Jr., D); Jan Špunar (North Dakota, So., G)
USCHO 2026-27 PREDICTIONS:
Regular season champion: Denver
Playoff champion: North Dakota
Tournament teams: Denver, Minnesota Duluth, North Dakota, Western Michigan
Dark horses: Miami, St. Thomas