MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- The American Collegiate Hockey Association, the governing body for non-varsity collegiate hockey in the United States, announced Tuesday that it has selected St. Louis as the site for the ACHA National Championships in 2025, 2027 and 2028. The ACHA will also have an option to bring the event to St. Louis in 2026.
The ACHA had previously selected St. Louis as the site for the 2024 event, and it will once again be held at the Centene Community Ice Center for the second time in three years.
The ACHA will also once again use Maryville University Hockey Center in Chesterfield for overflow of games and practices.
Centene Community Ice Center hosted the 2022 ACHA National Championships.
The culminating event of the ACHA season will be hosted by the St. Louis Sports Commission and the St. Louis Blues.
The 2024 ACHA National Championships will be held March 7-17, 2024. The 2025 ACHA National Championships will be played March 13-25, 2025 at the Centene Community Ice Center. The dates for each of the remaining ACHA National Championships events in St. Louis, including the option year of 2026, are as follows:
* 2026 ACHA National Tournament (option year) March 12-24, 2026
* 2027 ACHA National Tournament March 11-23, 2027
* 2028 ACHA National Tournament March 9-21, 2028
"Based on discussions with team representatives at the recent ACHA annual meeting regarding locations for our National Championships for 2025 and beyond, our members clearly enjoyed the hospitality and convenience afforded by St. Louis," ACHA executive director Craig Barnett said in a statement. "It just made perfect sense to seek a longer-term commitment in St. Louis at the Centene Community Ice Center. The St. Louis Sports Commission and the St. Louis Blues are committed to hosting the ACHA’s marquee event, and we trust ACHA student-athletes, coaches, and fans will have a tremendous experience on and off the ice in the Heartland of Hockey."
The Centene Community Ice Center, which opened in September 2019 and is managed by the St. Louis Legacy Ice Foundation, is the practice facility for the Blues as well as the home of Lindenwood University’s NCAA Division I men’s and women’s hockey programs.
"A tremendous partnership has developed with the ACHA, St. Louis Blues, St. Louis Sports Commission, and our two outstanding venues to make the St. Louis region a recurring, popular host of the ACHA National Championships," St. Louis Sports Commission senior vice president Chris Roseman said. "Along with the local hockey community, the Centene Community Ice Center, and Maryville University Hockey Center, we are proud to welcome the ACHA back to the Heartland of Hockey in 2025 and beyond, and we will deliver a first-class experience for these excellent men’s and women’s collegiate hockey clubs to compete for a national title in St. Louis."
Players from 82 teams across all five ACHA divisions—men’s division I, II, and III and women’s divisions I and II—will converge upon the suburban St. Louis area to compete in 121 games over the course of the ACHA’s premier event.
"The unprecedented decision of the ACHA to bring its annual National Championships back to St. Louis and the Centene Community Ice Center for as many as six times in seven years is further evidence of the excellence of our region as a host for the biggest amateur hockey events in North America," Blues president and CEO of business operations Chris Zimmerman said. "In partnership with the St. Louis Sports Commission, we are working with leaders throughout St. Louis to position our region at the center of the North American amateur hockey universe. We are committed to continue building on that success to attract major international hockey events here and we thank the ACHA for its ongoing collaboration and contributions to the development of hockey at the grassroots level across the St. Louis region."
