The MacNaughton Cup is a trophy awarded annually to the regular season conference champion of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). The trophy is named after James MacNaughton of Calumet, Michigan, 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'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, Colorado College, University of Denver, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, and University of North Dakota. 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 Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) for the 1981–82 season. Since Michigan Tech is the trustee of the Cup, the Cup went to the CCHA. The Broadmoor Trophy 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's 14 MacNaughton Cups led the WCHA and is the most MacNaughton Cups won by any team. Minnesota State has won the most MacNaughton Cups of any of the current CCHA members, with 10. Bowling Green was the first school to win the cup 3 straight times. They were later supplanted by Minnesota State, who had 6 consecutive wins from 2018 to 2023.

Winners Year Champion American Hockey Association champions 1913–14 Cleveland Athletic Club 1914–15 American Soo Hockey Club 1915–16 St. Paul Athletic Club 1917–1919 not awarded 1919–20 Canadian Soo Athletic Club 1920–21 Eveleth Minnesota Hockey Club 1921–22 Canadian Soo Athletic Club 1923–1926 not awarded 1926–27 Calumet Hawks 1927–28 Calumet Hawks 1928–29 Ironwood Rangers 1929–30 Hancock Hockey Club 1930–31 Hancock Eagles 1931–32 Soo Bulldogs Michigan's Western Upper Peninsula teams 1932–33 Calumet (Pine Street) Trojans 1933–34 Calumet Wolverine AC 1934–35 Painesdale Athletic Club 1935–36 Calumet Aristocrats 1936–37 Painesdale Panthers Athletic Club 1937–38 Calumet-Laurium Olympics 1938–39 Portage Lake Elks 1939–40 Calumet-Laurium Chevs 1940–41 Soo Indians 1942–1949 not awarded 1949–50 Soo Martins 1950–51 Calumet-Laurium-Keweenaw Radars Midwest Collegiate Hockey League regular season1951–52Colorado College 1952–53Minnesota/Michigan Western Intercollegiate Hockey League regular season1953–54Minnesota1954–55Colorado College1955–56Michigan 1956–57Colorado College1957–58North Dakota/Denver1958–59 not awarded Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular season1959–60Denver 1960–61Denver Western Collegiate Hockey Association tournament1961–62Michigan Tech 1962–63Denver1963–64Denver 1964–65Michigan Tech Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular season1965–66Michigan Tech1966–67North Dakota1967–68Denver 1968–69Michigan Tech 1969–70Minnesota 1970–71Michigan Tech 1971–72Denver 1972–73Denver 1973–74Michigan Tech 1974–75Minnesota 1975–76Michigan Tech 1976–77Wisconsin1977–78Denver 1978–79North Dakota 1979–80North Dakota 1980–81Minnesota Central Collegiate Hockey Association regular season 1981–82Bowling Green1982–83Bowling Green1983–84Bowling Green Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular season1984–85Minnesota-Duluth 1985–86Denver1986–87North Dakota 1987–88Minnesota 1988–89Minnesota 1989–90Wisconsin 1990–91Northern Michigan 1991–92Minnesota 1992–93Minnesota-Duluth 1993–94Colorado College 1994–95Colorado College 1995–96Colorado College 1996–97Minnesota/North Dakota 1997–98North Dakota 1998–99North Dakota 1999–2000Wisconsin 2000–01North Dakota 2001–02Denver2002–03Colorado College2003–04North Dakota2004–05Colorado College/Denver2005–06Minnesota 2006–07Minnesota 2007–08Colorado College 2008–09North Dakota 2009–10Denver2010–11North Dakota2011–12Minnesota2012–13St. Cloud/Minnesota2013–14Ferris State2014–15Minnesota State2015–16Minnesota State/Michigan Tech2016-17Bemidji State2017-18Minnesota State2018-19Minnesota State2019-20Minnesota State2020-21Minnesota State Central Collegiate Hockey Association regular season 2021-22Minnesota State2022-23Minnesota State2023-24Bemidji State2024-25Minnesota State2025-26Minnesota State Wins by team (college era) Team Wins Years North Dakota 14 1957–58, 1962–63, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1986–87, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2008–09, 2010–11 Denver 13 1957–58, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1967–68, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1977–78, 1985–86, 2001–02, 2004–05, 2009–10 Minnesota 13 1952–53, 1953–54, 1969–70, 1974–75, 1980–81, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1991–92, 1996–97, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2011–12, 2012–13 *Minnesota State 10 2014–15, 2015-16, 2017–18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2024-25, 2025-26 Colorado College 9 1951–52, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2007–08 *Michigan Tech 8 1961–62, 1964–65,1965–66, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1973–74, 1975–76, 2015-16 Wisconsin 3 1976–77, 1989–90, 1999–2000 *Bowling Green 3 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84 Michigan 2 1952–53, 1955–56 Minnesota–Duluth 2 1984–85, 1992–93 *Bemidji State 2 2016-17, 2023-24 *Northern Michigan 1 1990–91 St. Cloud State 1 2012–13 *Ferris State 1 2013–14

shared title * Currently compete in CCHA

See also Western Collegiate Hockey Association men's champions

References