St. Cloud State won the inaugural season of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, with North Dakota hoisting the Penrose Cup this year. But beyond that, which teams are making their mark as frontrunners in the NCHC and which programs are quickly headed in the wrong direction?
For comparison’s sake, I have the teams ranked in order of their average league finish (2013-14 and 2014-15). There was one tie (Denver finished 6th and 4th over the past two seasons; Miami, 8th and 2nd), and I settled that by looking at the combined conference record for both schools.
Season and combined records are for conference games only.
| Team | 2014-15 record | 2014-15 finish | 2013-14 record | 2013-14 finish | Combined record | Average finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota | 16-6-2-0 | 1st | 15-9-0-0 | 2nd | 31-15-2-0 | 1.5 |
| Nebraska-Omaha | 12-8-4-3 | 3rd | 13-9-2-1 | 3rd | 25-17-6-4 | 3.0 |
| St. Cloud State | 11-12-1-0 | 6th | 15-6-3-0 | 1st | 26-18-4-0 | 3.5 |
| Minnesota-Duluth | 12-9-3-0 | 5th | 11-11-2-2 | 4th | 23-20-5-2 | 4.5 |
| University of Denver | 13-10-1-1 | 4th | 10-11-3-2 | 6th | 23-21-4-3 | 5.0 |
| Miami University | 14-9-1-1 | 2nd | 6-17-1-1 | 8th | 20-26-2-2 | 5.0 |
| Western Michigan | 6-13-5-4 | 7th | 11-11-2-2 | 5th | 17-24-7-6 | 6.0 |
| Colorado College | 2-19-3-1 | 8th | 6-13-5-1 | 7th | 8-32-8-2 | 7.5 |
What stands out to you? Who are North Dakota’s biggest rivals, year in and year out? Which conference series do you most look forward to? And who do you expect to make the biggest jump next season?