CCHA Launches ‘Search for Mason Cup Champions’

Courtesy of the CCHA

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich.– The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) today launched a “Search for Mason Cup Champions” to find all former CCHA players with their name engraved on the Mason Cup.

The trophy is awarded annually to the CCHA Playoff Champion and is named in honor of legendary Lake Superior, Bowling Green and Michigan State coach Ron Mason, whose name appears on the trophy a league-high 13 times.

The “Search for Mason Cup Champions” is part of the CCHA’s Celebrate the Legacy initiative to commemorate the league’s 42nd and final season in 2012-13.

The league’s website, ccha.com, will include a page to track the progress of finding members of each of the 41 Mason Cup championship teams, including their hometowns, highest level of hockey played and their current occupations.  The website pages will also include team photos, logos and player photos from each team’s championship season. In addition, ccha.com will feature stories throughout the season on the championship teams.

Players from the CCHA’s first playoff championship team, the 1972 Ohio State Buckeyes, have been located and the league is now looking for players from the rest of the Mason Cup championship teams from 1973-2011.  To aid in the search, the league will reach out to CCHA fans through Facebook (Facebook.com/CCHAhockey) and Twitter (@CCHAhockey).

The league also plans to invite all CCHA alumni, including the Mason Cup champions, to the final CCHA Championship weekend and Awards Show on the fourth weekend in March, 2013 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Details of special weekend events for fans and alumni will be announced at the beginning of this season.

“With the help of our member schools and fans, we are looking forward to finding our Mason Cup champions and making our final season and CCHA Championship a celebration of the league’s storied 42-year history,” said CCHA Commissioner Fred Pletsch.

Additional Celebrate the Legacy components include a video retrospective with interviews of key players, coaches and administrators from the CCHA’s history and the selection of a final CCHA All-Decade Team (2000-2013) to complete the All-Decade squads from the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s that were announced in 2001.