The women’s WCHA will present a new regular-season championship trophy named in honor of longtime women’s hockey advocate Julianne Bye.
The Julianne Bye Cup will be awarded yearly to the winner of the WCHA regular-season championship, beginning with the 2018-19 season.
“For 20 years, I have watched the highly-skilled and competitive teams of the WCHA women’s hockey league,” Bye said in a news release. “In my opinion, the WCHA is the premier women’s college hockey league. Winning the regular-season championship should be celebrated with joy and pride. The perpetual trophy recognizes this amazing accomplishment.”
Bye was instrumental in the launch of the women’s hockey program at Minnesota and has been one of the WCHA’s biggest boosters since the women’s league was founded in 1999.
“We are thrilled that our regular-season championship trophy will now bear the name of one of strongest supporters of the WCHA and women’s hockey,” WCHA women’s commissioner Katie Million said in a statement. “The Julianne Bye Cup will become one of the most coveted trophies in the women’s game.”
