COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – With 51 student-athletes in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) hailing from the state of Minnesota, the NCHC announced on Wednesday, Oct. 30 it has entered into a partnership with Minnesota Hockey for the 2013-14 season.

The partnership will be beneficial to both sides as the NCHC will help grow the game of hockey in Minnesota while Minnesota Hockey will help develop the NCHC Championship, which takes place March 21-22 at Target Center in Minneapolis, into the best experience possible for both the participating student-athletes and the conference’s passionate fans.

“We are extremely excited to work with everyone at Minnesota Hockey to promote and grow the game in the state of Minnesota. This partnership will help Minnesota Hockey with their objectives and also help our conference create a great NCHC championship experience,” said NCHC Commissioner Josh Fenton. “We know Minnesotans are passionate about hockey and we are eager to help with their objectives and goals.”

Along with the 51 current players on NCHC team rosters who call Minnesota home, a total of 183 current Division I men’s hockey players across the NCAA come from Minnesota. That’s 40 more players than any other state as Michigan is second with 143. Among NCHC teams, Minnesota Duluth has the most Minnesota natives with 19, followed by St. Cloud State with 11. All eight teams have at least one Minnesotan on its roster, as Nebraska Omaha has seven, Colorado College has six,  and North Dakota has four, while Miami has two and Denver and Western Michigan each have one. Read more about the connection between Minnesota Hockey and college hockey here.

“We are very appreciative of the NCHC’s willingness to help grow the game of hockey across the state,” said Glen Andresen, Executive Director of Minnesota Hockey. “Kids growing up in Minnesota dream of playing college hockey, and this partnership will allow for more of our players to get a chance to see some of the best players and coaches in the country, many of whom are from our great state.”

Minnesota Hockey, which is an affiliate of USA Hockey, serves as the official governing body for youth and amateur hockey in the state of Minnesota while also being the premier developer of hockey players in the North Star State. With over 63,000 registered players, coaches and officials, Minnesota Hockey is the largest state governing body for amateur hockey in the United States and has developed more men’s and women’s Division I college hockey players than any other state.

The “NCHC March to Minneapolis” is already underway as four teams opened up league play with a historic weekend Oct. 18-19. The regular season concludes March 7-8 while the NCHC Tournament begins with the four quarterfinal series on campus sites (top four seeds hosting) March 14-16. The four winners from the best-of-three series then advance to Target Center in Minneapolis, where teams will compete for the inaugural NCHC Tournament title and an automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

All-Session tickets to the NCHC Championship are already on sale and can be purchased here.

--NCHCHockey--