2016-17 WCHA WEEKLY RELEASE WEEK ONE (SEPTEMBER 19-25, 2016) / wcha.com @wcha_whockey @wcha_whockey /WCHAWomensHockey Matt Hodson ● o: 952-818-8872 ● c: 612-801-2808 ●
[email protected] WESTERN COLLEGIATE OPENING FACE-OFF HOCKEY ASSOCIATION • Tradition Starts Here: The Women's League of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA), home to a record 16 • FOUNDED 1999 • national championships (including 15 NCAA Frozen Four crowns), six Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winners, 86 All- Minnesota State Univ., Mankato at Edina Americans and countless Olympic, national team and professional players, drops the puck on its 18th season this weekend. 7700 France Avenue South, Suite 360C • Polling Place: Five (5) of the WCHA's eight teams earned recognition in the preseason USCHO poll, including three teams Edina, MN 55435 ranked in the top-10. Wisconsin is the nation's preseason No. 1, as the reigning WCHA regular season and playoff champions 952-818-8869 return six of their top seven scorers and record-setting goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens. • Two-time defending NCAA champion Minnesota is No. 2, while perennial top-10 fixture North Dakota opens at No. 6. MEMBER TEAMS • Bemidji State, coming off a program-record 22 win campaign, and Minnesota Duluth, which upset the Beavers in the Bemidji State University 2016 WCHA Quarterfinals, are both receiving votes. University of Minnesota • Million Takes the Reigns: Katie Million, an experienced and visionary leader with a proven track record of accelerating University of Minnesota Duluth exposure, partnerships and revenue, was named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Vice President and Minnesota State University Women’s League Commissioner on July 21, 2016.