MEN’S HOCKEY: CCHA to add 9th member; report links Augustana as addition

Raboin with AD, president 4 19 22.jpg — Augustana University director of athletics Josh Morton (left), Garrett Raboin and university president Stephanie Herseth Sandlin pose for photos after Raboin was named the Vikings' first men's hockey head coach on April 19, 2022, at the Augustana University Welcome Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.

By Pioneer Staff Report

May 16, 2022 at 2:48 PM

DEEPHAVEN -- The Central Collegiate Hockey Association is set to grow on Tuesday.

The CCHA will announce “plans for expansion” and will welcome a ninth member to the league at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 17, at a virtual press conference.

The league did not name what school will become the new member, but John Buccigross, an ESPN anchor and college hockey insider, tweeted that the addition will be Augustana.

The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) will announce plans for expansion as the league will welcome a ninth member tomorrow.
It will be Augustana. @AugustanaSD @GoAugie #cawlidgehawkey pic.twitter.com/TW6jfKWzdS
— Chicken Parm Esq (@Buccigross) May 16, 2022

The Vikings are on pace to play their first season in the fall of 2023. Construction has begun on campus for Midco Arena at a cost of $50 million.

In the course of less than a year, Augustana has gone from having no hockey team on campus to announcing in June 2021 that it would be adding men's hockey, breaking ground on a new arena in October and hiring Garrett Raboin to be the Vikings' first head coach in April.

The CCHA completed its first season as a revamped league in 2021-22 with eight league members: Bemidji State, Bowling Green, Ferris State, Lake Superior State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota State and St. Thomas.