The WCHA men's hockey league announced Tuesday it will implement a new on-campus playoff format beginning next season.
The "WCHA Playoffs" will feature four best-of-three quarterfinal round series hosted by the conference's top four regular-season finishers, followed by two best-of-three semifinal round series on the campus of the highest remaining seeds. The "WCHA Championship" will be a single game hosted by the highest seed.

"We wanted an atmosphere where the fans would be excited and for [the student-athletes] to play in front of larger crowds," WCHA commissioner Bill Robertson said. "We thought this would be a great step for the WCHA and revolutionary for us and for college hockey at the Division 1 level."
The new format, Robertson said, will also provide better financial stability for the 10-team conference, which includes Minnesota State Mankato and Bemidji State.
"We felt we had a better chance with this tournament to be successful from a financial perspective and understand our expenses and what the potential revenue could be moving forward," he added.
The move ends a 28-year tradition of hosting the conference tournament semifinals and championship game at a neutral site, most of which were in the Twin Cities.
The WCHA Final Five matured into the most-attended college hockey tournament in the country at Xcel Energy Center, but has struggled to fill seats after the sport's 2014 major realignment. The birth of Big Ten hockey and the NCHC left the WCHA with a new look and without its traditional power programs Minnesota, North Dakota and others.
In 2013, the final year before the WCHA was broken up, the tournament drew 87,295 fans for an average attendance of 17,459 per game at Xcel Energy Center.