St. Thomas Athletics announced Wednesday that the men’s hockey team will join the National Collegiate Hockey Conference starting in the 2026-27 season.

“St. Thomas’s institutional vision and commitment to nationally competitive hockey, as well as their central location in our footprint and new facility, make them an ideal fit,” NCHC commissioner Heather Weems said, according to a conference press release.

Men’s hockey finished this season with an overall record of 15-20-2, the team’s best in the Division I era, and 12-11-1 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Conference before falling in the first round of the Mason Cup Playoffs.

“We are excited about the significant investments St. Thomas has made in hockey in recent years. They have proven to be an institution deeply committed to future success in hockey, and a 10th NCHC member will provide balance to our membership and scheduling,” Dan Bartholomae, Western Michigan director of athletics and chair of the NCHC Athletics Council, said, according to the same press release.

St. Thomas joins schools like the University of Nebraska Omaha, the University of North Dakota and the University of Denver that it competes against in the Summit League in other sports. Arizona State University will be the ninth school in the conference starting July 1, 2024.

The NCHC also includes in-state St. Cloud State University and University of Minnesota Duluth.

St. Thomas Athletics Director Phil Esten said that after the NCHC leadership finished their spring meetings, the move “happened really quickly.”

“They asked the commissioner to do an assessment … of the landscape of college hockey, and whether or not a 10th member made sense; they thought a 10th member would make sense,” Esten said, “Commissioner Weems and I connected the following week.”

Men’s hockey coach Rico Blasi heard about the news just “a few days ago.”

“I had a chance to talk to all of the CCHA head coaches, my peers, who were very supportive. I respect them and the league that we’re in right now,” Blasi said.

Perry Laskaris, CCHA’s director of strategic communications and brand advancement, wrote in an email to TommieMedia that the conference was aware of St. Thomas’ departure.

“Although we are disappointed that St. Thomas has decided to leave the CCHA following the 2025-26 season, we wish them well. They have been a positive member of the conference since its reconstitution,” Laskaris wrote.

Esten said that the move was not because of anything negative with the CCHA.

“We’re not running at all from the CCHA, more so running to, eventually, the NCHC. The CCHA is a great conference,” Esten said.

Esten laid out three positives that he thinks the NCHC offers St. Thomas.

“All three members of the Summit League who play hockey are also in the NCHC, so it aligns well institutionally there. We think that it creates some additional rivalries which is good for us. And then it helps put us in markets across the country that we’re not in already,” Esten said.

Esten called the NCHC “arguably the best and most competitive hockey conference in all of college hockey.”

Esten also said that the next two years, especially the season in The Lee and Penny Anderson Arena, will allow the university to judge what it needs to support the program in a new conference.

“It lets us kind of assess the marketplace to determine what exactly do we need to resource that program to put them in a position to not just be in the NCHC, but to compete in the NCHC,” Esten said.

The arena is expected to open in the fall of 2025 for the team’s final season in the CCHA.

In the 11 seasons of the NCHC, its schools won six national championships, including Denver in 2024. Blasi says that this pedigree comes with high expectations.

St. Thomas’ first year in the conference will also be the first year the school is eligible for the NCAA Tournament.

“The reputation of the NCHC over the last decade is well known throughout college hockey, and you can look at the national championships that they’ve won and just understand it from that level. So, anybody that plays in that conference has a responsibility to play at a high level,” Blasi said.

Blasi said that the team was very excited to hear the news. He also said that being in a new conference is a useful recruiting tool.

“All of the recruits that we’ve had a chance to talk to yesterday — long day of phone calls — they’re super excited, and we’ve gotten some good traction already with some,” Blasi said.

Adam Mueller can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.