The Western Collegiate Club Hockey Association is excited to announce the addition of Gustavus Adolphus College and St. John's University as full members beginning the 2019-2020 season.

Following a competitive membership review, Gustavus Adolphus and St. John's accepted an invitation to join the WCCHA, growing league membership to a record 14 teams. St. John's, based in Collegeville, MN, will enter play in the Northwest Division, while Gustavus Adolphus, located in St. Peter, MN, will compete in the Southeast Division.

"We are extremely honored by the interest we received this year from prospective members, and are very pleased to be adding two strong programs to our already competitive league," said Commissioner Ryan Donovan. "In many ways, the addition of Gustavus Adolphus and St. John's is the culmination of years of work the league and our teams have put in to build collegiate club hockey in our geographic footprint.

"Both teams have emerged from schools and programs that until recently supported NCAA JV hockey, and the transition to club provides numerous students the opportunity to continue their competitive hockey career at their school of choice. With Gustavus and SJU having natural rivalries within our current league and strong geographic connections, we look forward to continuing to build upon our competitive base both within the league and the greater Central region."

In their first year as an ACHA program after 30+ years as an NCAA JV team, Gustavus Adolphus has made an immediate impact, currently occupying the #5 spot in the Central Region rankings. The Gusties look forward to the structure and competition provided by the WCCHA. From General Manager Brett Peterson: "We are very excited to be joining the WCCHA next year and we look forward to working with WCCHA Commissioner Ryan Donovan and all member schools for years to come."

Not to be outdone, St. John's entered competitive play this season with a splash, earning an eye-opening 6-1 victory over future Northwest Division Champions St. Cloud State. SJU has since shown well against other WCCHA opponents in their first competitive season. Next year, the Johnnies will be ready for the step up and what the league will bring to their burgeoning program. President Ryan Copeland said: "We are thrilled to join the WCCHA next season because it is highly competitive and allows us to not only establish rivalries by playing many of the same teams each year, but it also allows us to compete for the Carla Berg Cup."

With the inclusion of two new teams, the league will have two-7 team divisions. Each league team will play 6 divisional series (3 home, 3 away) in a full-round robin, with 2 additional interdivisional series scheduled (1 home, 1 away). In total, WCCHA members are guaranteed 16 league games as they battle for the 8 spots at the 2020 WCCHA Tournament. Qualification for the WCCHA postseason will remain the same, with the top 3 from each division earning automatic qualification and the final two wildcard spots earned via the league-wide KRACH Rankings.

Originally published at: http://wccha.pointstreaksites.com/view/wccha/news-1617/news_513245