The MacNaughton Cup is a

trophy A trophy is a tangible, decorative item used to remind of a specific achievement, serving as recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are most commonly awarded for sports, sporting events, ranging from youth sports to professional level athlet ...

awarded annually to the regular season conference champion of the

Central Collegiate Hockey Association The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) is a college athletic conference in the Midwestern United States that participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. The current CCHA began play in the 2021–22 season; a previ ...

(CCHA). The trophy is named after James MacNaughton of

Calumet, Michigan Calumet ( or ) is a Village (United States), village in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The village is located within Calumet Charter Township, Michigan, Calumet Township, Houghton County, Michiga ...

, who was a supporter of amateur ice hockey. The Cup is hand crafted of pure silver and stands almost three-feet high and weighs nearly 40 pounds.

History

In 1913, MacNaughton purchased a cup trophy for $2,000 (equivalent to $ in ) and donated it to the President of the American Hockey Association, which was to be awarded to the league's champion at the end of the season. The MacNaughton Cup remained with the American Hockey Association until 1932. From 1933 to 1950, the Cup was given to semi-pro and intermediate hockey teams in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

's Copper Country. In 1951, the MacNaughton family arranged to have the Cup awarded to the newly founded Midwest Collegiate Hockey League (MCHL), a precursor to the WCHA. The MCHL was composed of

Michigan Tech Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Uppe ...

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University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

, and

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (UND) is a Public university, public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. It was established by the Dakota Territory, Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishm ...

. Michigan Tech became the trustee for the Cup. In the original spirit of the trophy, the league decided to award the trophy to its regular season champion. In 1953, the MCHL became the Western Intercollegiate Hockey League (WIHL). The Cup remained a part of the WIHL until the league was disbanded in March 1958. There was no league play for the 1958–59 season, and for the 1959–60 season the seven teams resumed competition under the new name of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. From the 1961–62 through the 1964–65 seasons, the Cup was awarded to the WCHA's playoff tournament champion instead of the regular season champion, but the WCHA resumed awarding the Cup to the regular season champion again for the start of the 1965–66 season through the 1981–82 season. Michigan Tech left the WCHA to join the

(CCHA) for the 1981–82 season. Since Michigan Tech is the trustee of the Cup, the Cup went to the CCHA. The

Broadmoor Trophy The Broadmoor Trophy is a trophy that was awarded to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) playoff champion from 1985 until its discontinuation in 2018. The trophy itself dates to 1981, when it was awarded to the WCHA regular season c ...

was created as a replacement and awarded to the regular season champion until Michigan Tech returned to the WCHA for the start of the 1984–85 season. The MacNaughton Cup also returned and continued to be awarded to the regular season champion through the final WCHA men's season in 2020–21. On May 18, 2021, it was announced that the trophy would be returning to the re-formed CCHA, beginning with the 2021–22 season.

Champions

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

's 14 MacNaughton Cups led the WCHA.

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

and

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

are tied for second, with 13 MacNaughton Cups.

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was the first school to win the cup 3 straight times. They were later supplanted by Minnesota State, who had 6 consecutive wins through 2023.

Winners

Wins by team (college era)

: shared title : * Currently compete in CCHA

References

{{Western Collegiate Hockey Association men's navbox Central Collegiate Hockey Association Western Collegiate Hockey Association College ice hockey trophies and awards in the United States

History

Champions

Winners

Wins by team (college era)

See also

References