The

Western Collegiate Hockey Association The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's ice hockey-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated a ...

gives awards at the conclusion of each season. The current awards include Player of the Year, Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Coach of the Year, as well as the league leaders in points scoring and goaltending. In addition, several WCHA players have won the

Hobey Baker Award The Hobey Baker Award is an annual award given to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association men's ice hockey player. It has been awarded 41 times. It is named for Hall of Famer Hobey Baker, who played college hockey at Princeton Univer ...

for the nation's best college hockey player. Past winners have included numerous

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

players, players in European professional leagues, NHL All-Stars, Olympic gold medalists,

Stanley Cup champions The Stanley Cup is a trophy awarded annually to the playoff champion club of the National Hockey League (NHL) ice hockey league. It was donated by the Governor General of Canada Lord Stanley of Preston in 1892, and is the oldest professional spo ...

, and Hockey Hall of Famers.

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

and

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

are the most successful teams, with 55 award winners and statistical leaders each. All current and former members of the conference are represented, with the exception of

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

. No player has been selected for the same award more than twice. Murray McLachlan of Minnesota was named Rookie of the Year and twice named Player of the Year, the only player to be selected for three awards. Minnesota's John Mayasich and Michigan Tech's

Tony Esposito Anthony James "Tony O" Esposito (April 23, 1943 – August 10, 2021) was a Canadian-American professional ice hockey goaltender, who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), 15 of those for the Chicago Black Hawks. He was one of ...

are the only players to lead the conference statistically in three seasons. John MacInnes of Michigan Tech was named Coach of the Year five times. The Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year is chosen by a vote of faculty athletic representatives, while the Defensive Player of the Year is chosen by the league's head coaches. All other award winners are selected by votes from coaches, players, sports information directors, and local media. All extant awards were discontinued in 2021 when the men's division of the WCHA was dissolved.

Hobey Baker Award

The

has been awarded annually since 1981 to the most outstanding player in NCAA ice hockey. In that time, 16 players have won the award while playing for WCHA schools.