The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) playoffs concluded with the Minnesota State Mavericks winning the Mason Cup tournament. The Mason Cup champions received an automatic bid to the NCAA DI Men’s Ice Hockey tournament, but fell to Western Michigan in the first round.
CCHA out early in the national tournament
The Mavericks were the only CCHA team to make the 16-team NCAA tournament. The first two teams out of securing a spot were the CCHA’s No. 17 St. Thomas and No. 18 Augustana. No at-large bids were awarded to CCHA teams.
No. 14 Minnesota State was put up against the defending NCAA tournament champion Western Michigan for the first round of the tournament. The Broncos are one of four National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) teams to qualify.
The Broncos defeated Minnesota State 3-1 Friday. The two teams shared even first and third periods, but a 2-0 second period gave the edge to Western Michigan. Alex Zetterberg was the Mavericks’ lone goalscorer.
The Broncos were defeated by NCHC rival University of Denver 6-2 Sunday.
Looking to the 2026-2027 CCHA season
Minnesota State will leave the season as back-to-back defending Mason Cup champions. The Mavericks, however, will not have goaltender Alex Tracy as their leader moving forward. Tracy finished his senior season 21-11-7 with five shutouts. He was also named the Mason Cup tournament MVP.
Augustana goaltender Josh Kotai will also move forward to play professionally for the New York Islanders. He finished his junior year as CCHA Player of the Year.
There were two tiers of competition within the 2025-2026 CCHA season. Minnesota State, St. Thomas, Augustana, Michigan Tech, and Bowling Green were all close to one another in the final standings. No. 1 seeded Minnesota State finished with 51 points while No. 5 Bowling Green finished with 49 points.
The second tier consisted of Bemidji State, Lake Superior State, Ferris State, and Northern Michigan. Each of the teams finished with 36 points or less.
There is hope for the bottom four teams to earn home ice advantage for next season’s Mason Cup. Regardless, each team will qualify for the Mason Cup tournament. Northern Michigan has missed qualification in back-to-back seasons.
The St. Thomas Tommies will depart for the NCHC, evening out the CCHA to eight teams. The Tommies did not win the Mason Cup in their five years of CCHA competition.
