The United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) is the nation's largest junior amateur ice hockey league and the only league to span the continental United States and parts of Canada.
The National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC) is the highest level of play in the USPHL. The NCDC is the USPHL's Tier II Tuition-Free junior hockey division that features teams in the northeastern U.S. and the Rocky Mountain States. The NCDC is comprised of two conferences, NCDC West and NCDC East. The winners of their respective conferences will compete for a league championship and a chance to hoist the Dineen Cup.
The NCDC West offers a highly competitive level of Tier II hockey in front of packed arenas in some of the most beautiful locales in the United States. NCDC West teams have strong ownership groups, excellent facilities, and dedicated hockey staff for each player's on-and-off-ice development.
The NCDC is a non-import league and therefore teams have the ability to recruit elite players from around the globe and offer them a direct pathway toward an NCAA Division I career, as well as professional hockey. Players will have the opportunity to play in front of a multitude of scouts and college coaches during the NCDC regular season and playoffs.
There were more than 700 former players from the USPHL's top division skating with NCAA hockey teams during the 2022-23 season. More than 150 players committed to college hockey out of the 2021-22 NCDC season alone.
The NHL has also taken notice as the League saw three players selected directly out of the NCDC in the 2021-22 NHL Entry Draft, the best for any North American Tier II hockey league.
Alumni of USPHL organizations include players such as Jack Eichel, Charlie Coyle, John Marino, Jimmy Vesey, and Stanley Cup Champions Zach Sanford, Trevor Van Riemsdyk, Ross Colton, and Brian Dumoulin.
Most recently, at the 2023 Frozen Four NCAA tournament, five NCDC alumni helped Quinnipiac University win its first-ever Division I National Championship.
