College ice hockey tournament
| 2018 NCHC Men's ice hockey tournament | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 9–17, 2018 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Finals site | Xcel Energy Center Saint Paul, Minnesota |
| Champions | Denver Pioneers (2nd title) |
| Winning coach | Jim Montgomery (2nd title) |
| MVP | Tanner Jaillet (Denver) |
| NCHC Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments ← 2017 2019 → | |
The 2018 NCHC Tournament was the fifth tournament in league history. It was played between March 9 and March 17, 2018. Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the final four games were played at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. By winning the tournament, Denver received the NCHC's automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
Format
The first round of the postseason tournament features a best-of-three games format. All eight conference teams participate in the tournament. Teams are seeded No. 1 through No. 8 according to their final conference standing, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with an identical number of points accumulated. The top four seeded teams each earn home ice and host one of the lower seeded teams.
The winners of the first round series advance to the Xcel Energy Center for the NCHC Frozen Faceoff. The Frozen Faceoff uses a single-elimination format. Teams are re-seeded No. 1 through No. 4 according to the final regular season conference standings.
Conference standings
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against
| 2017–18 National Collegiate Hockey Conference standings | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conference record | Overall record | ||||||||||||||
| GP | W | L | T | SOW | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | ||
| #6 St. Cloud State † | 24 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 53 | 93 | 59 | 40 | 25 | 9 | 6 | 144 | 101 | |
| #5 Denver* | 24 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 46 | 76 | 53 | 41 | 23 | 10 | 8 | 135 | 86 | |
| #1 Minnesota–Duluth | 24 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 79 | 56 | 42 | 25 | 16 | 3 | 132 | 92 | |
| #17 North Dakota | 24 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 33 | 71 | 68 | 40 | 17 | 13 | 10 | 117 | 95 | |
| Omaha | 24 | 10 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 75 | 97 | 36 | 17 | 17 | 2 | 121 | 134 | |
| Western Michigan | 24 | 10 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 82 | 94 | 36 | 15 | 19 | 2 | 115 | 129 | |
| Colorado College | 24 | 8 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 31 | 63 | 85 | 37 | 15 | 17 | 5 | 99 | 121 | |
| Miami | 24 | 6 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 24 | 62 | 89 | 37 | 12 | 20 | 5 | 103 | 128 | |
| Championship: March 17, 2018 † indicates conference regular season champion; * indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll; updated March 5, 2018 | |||||||||||||||
Bracket
Teams are reseeded after the first round
| Quarterfinals March 9–11 | Semifinals March 16 | Championship March 17 | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | St. Cloud State | 5 | 2 | 4* | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Miami | 2 | 3* | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | St. Cloud State | 3* | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | North Dakota | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | Denver | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Colorado College | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | St. Cloud State | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Denver | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Minnesota-Duluth | 5 | 2 | — | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Western Michigan | 0 | 0 | — | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Denver | 3 | Third Place | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Minnesota-Duluth | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | North Dakota | 4 | 4* | — | 3 | Minnesota-Duluth | 1 | |||||||||
| 5 | Omaha | 0 | 3 | — | 4 | North Dakota | 4 | |||||||||
* denotes overtime periods
Results
All times are local.
Quarterfinals
(1) St. Cloud State vs. (8) Miami
| March 9 | St. Cloud State | 5 – 2 | Miami | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center | Recap | |||
| (Winiecki, Benson) Jack Ahcan - 06:02 | First period | 15:28 - Kiefer Sherwood (Hutton, Belpedio) | ||||||
| (Jackson, Brodzinski) Jimmy Schuldt - PP - 06:11 (unassisted) Blake Lizotte - GW - 15:14 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| (Jackson, Borgen) Easton Brodzinski - PP - 11:39 (Fitzgerald, Ahcan) Mikey Eyssimont - EN - 18:50 |
Third period | 04:26 - Gordie Green (Sherwood, Hutton) | ||||||
| ( 24 saves / 26 shots ) Dávid Hrenák | Goalie stats | Ryan Larkin ( 24 saves / 28 shots ) | ||||||
| March 10 | St. Cloud State | 2 – 3 | OT | Miami | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center | Recap | ||
| No Scoring | First period | 01:54 - Josh Melnick (Mahalak, Sherwood) 17:33 - Grant Hutton (Sherwood, Mahalak) | ||||||
| (Eyssimont, Jackson) Ryan Poehling - PP - 07:20 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| (Ahcan, B. Lizotte) Blake Winiecki - PP - 02:43 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 07:10 - GW - Grant Hutton (Belpedio, Knies) | ||||||
| ( 17 saves / 20 shots ) Dávid Hrenák | Goalie stats | Ryan Larkin ( 30 saves / 32 shots ) | ||||||
| March 11 | St. Cloud State | 4 – 3 | OT | Miami | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center | Recap | ||
| No Scoring | First period | 09:31 - Grant Hutton (Sherwood, Green) 16:22 - PP - Casey Gilling (Dornbrock, Mahalak) | ||||||
| (Jackson, Eyssimont) Jimmy Schuldt - 01:26 (Ahcan) Mikey Eyssimont - 18:13 |
Second period | 01:31 - Karch Bachman (LaValle) | ||||||
| (J. Lizotte, Borgen) Judd Peterson - PP - 14:08 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| (Newell, Ahcan) Mikey Eyssimont - GW - 08:14 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| ( 17 saves / 20 shots ) Dávid Hrenák | Goalie stats | Ryan Larkin ( 30 saves / 32 shots ) | ||||||
| St. Cloud State won series 2–1 | |
(2) Denver vs. (7) Colorado College
| March 9 | Denver | 0 – 2 | Colorado College | Magness Arena | Recap | |||
| No Scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 05:07 - GW PP - Westin Michaud (Blumenschein, Halloran) 09:27 - Mason Bergh (Bradley, McCaskill) | ||||||
| ( 21 saves / 23 shots ) Tanner Jaillet | Goalie stats | Alex Leclerc ( 37 saves / 37 shots ) | ||||||
| March 10 | Denver | 3 – 2 | Colorado College | Magness Arena | Recap | |||
| No Scoring | First period | 16:41 - SH - Trey Bradley (unassisted) | ||||||
| (Mitchell, Lukosevicius) Henrik Borgström - PP - 02:06 | Second period | 17:40 - Kristian Blumenschein (Bradley, Bergh) | ||||||
| (Lukosevicius, Borgström) Troy Terry - 02:17 (Mitchell, Hillman) Troy Terry - GW - 14:29 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| ( 25 saves / 27 shots ) Tanner Jaillet | Goalie stats | Alex Leclerc ( 46 saves / 49 shots ) | ||||||
| March 11 | Denver | 6 – 1 | Colorado College | Magness Arena | Recap | |||
| (Staub, Hillman) Logan O'Connor - 05:11 (Terry) Tariq Hammond - GW - 15:57 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| (Terry, Borgström) Jarid Lukosevicius - 06:33 (Terry) Henrik Borgström - 14:40 (Lukosevicius, Hammond) Liam Finlay - 14:58 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| (Terry, Borgström) Jarid Lukosevicius - 08:51 | Third period | 07:35 - Mason Bergh (Bradley, Williams) | ||||||
| ( 18 saves / 18 shots ) Tanner Jaillet / ( 9 saves / 10 shots ) Devin Cooley | Goalie stats | Alex Leclerc ( 25 saves / 29 shots ) / Alec Calvaruso ( 9 saves / 11 shots ) | ||||||
| Denver won series 2–1 | |
(3) Minnesota–Duluth vs. (6) Western Michigan
| March 9 | Minnesota–Duluth | 5 – 0 | Western Michigan | AMSOIL Arena | Recap | |||
| (Swaney, Samberg) Avery Peterson - GW PP - 04:55 (Anderson, Perunovich) Riley Tufte - PP - 14:08 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| (Anderson, Krieger) Scott Perunovich - 04:55 (Perunovich, Anderson) Peter Krieger - PP - 14:08 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| (Exell, Wolff) Blake Young - 17:54 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| ( 26 saves / 26 shots ) Hunter Shepard | Goalie stats | Austin Cain ( 8 saves / 12 shots ) / Ben Blacker ( 11 saves / 12 shots ) | ||||||
| March 10 | Minnesota–Duluth | 2 – 0 | Western Michigan | AMSOIL Arena | Recap | |||
| (Exell, Miller) Louie Roehl - GW - 02:24 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| (unassisted) Jared Thomas - EN - 00:52 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| ( 19 saves / 19 shots ) Hunter Shepard | Goalie stats | Ben Blacker ( 23 saves / 24 shots ) | ||||||
| Minnesota–Duluth won series 2–0 | |
(4) North Dakota vs. (5) Omaha
| March 9 | North Dakota | 4 – 0 | Omaha | Ralph Engelstad Arena | Recap | |||
| (Poganski, Poolman) Shane Gersich - GW - 13:52 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| (Gardner, Poolman) Christian Wolanin - PP - 01:00 (Shaw) Nick Jones - 12:39 (unassisted) Joel Janatuinen - 16:39 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| ( 25 saves / 25 shots ) Cam Johnson | Goalie stats | Evan Weninger ( 30 saves / 34 shots ) | ||||||
| March 10 | North Dakota | 4 – 3 | OT | Omaha | Ralph Engelstad Arena | Recap | ||
| (Smith, Simonson) Matt Kiersted - 10:13 (Olson, Wolanin) Dixon Bowen - 14:05 |
First period | 15:28 - Teemu Pulkkinen (Buchta, Spinner) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 05:25 - Teemu Pulkkinen (Vesel, Jones) | ||||||
| (Poolman, Shaw) Nick Jones - 10:14 | Third period | 05:41 - Jake Randolph (Alferd, Pope) | ||||||
| (Kawaguchi, Poolman) Nick Jones - GW - 00:53 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| ( 18 saves / 21 shots ) Cam Johnson | Goalie stats | Evan Weninger ( 29 saves / 33 shots ) | ||||||
| North Dakota won series 2–0 | |
Semifinals
(1) St. Cloud State vs. (4) North Dakota
| March 16 | St. Cloud State | 3 – 2 | OT | North Dakota | Xcel Energy Center | Recap | ||
| (Ahcan, B. Lizotte) Patrick Newell - 05:54 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| (unassisted) Easton Brodzinski - 05:53 | Second period | 04:39 - Nick Jones (Olson, Poolman) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 10:10 - PP - Jordan Kawaguchi (Olson, Jones) | ||||||
| (unassisted) Nick Poehling - GW - 01:47 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| ( 21 saves / 23 shots ) Dávid Hrenák | Goalie stats | Cam Johnson ( 31 saves / 34 shots ) | ||||||
(2) Denver vs. (3) Minnesota–Duluth
| March 16 | Denver | 3 – 1 | Minnesota–Duluth | Xcel Energy Center | Recap | |||
| (Mitchell, Terry) Henrik Borgström - 08:55 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| (O'Connor, Davies) Colin Staub - GW - 04:22 | Second period | 01:37 - Scott Perunovich (Anderson, Thomas) | ||||||
| (O'Connor) Adam Plant - PP EN - 19:11 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| ( 24 saves / 25 shots ) Tanner Jaillet | Goalie stats | Hunter Shepard ( 16 saves / 18 shots ) | ||||||
Third place
(3) Minnesota–Duluth vs. (4) North Dakota
| March 17 | Minnesota–Duluth | 1 – 4 | North Dakota | Xcel Energy Center | Recap | |||
| No Scoring | First period | 07:22 - Austin Poganski (Jones) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 07:22 - GW - Joel Janatuinen (Poolman) | ||||||
| (Samberg, Exell) Mikey Anderson - SH - 16:37 | Third period | 15:51 - PP - Shane Gersich (Hoff, Poganski) 19:04 - PP - Ludvig Hoff (Wolanin, Kawaguchi) | ||||||
| ( 27 saves / 31 shots ) Hunter Shepard | Goalie stats | Cam Johnson ( 27 saves / 28 shots ) | ||||||
Championship
(1) St. Cloud State vs. (2) Denver
| March 17 | St. Cloud State | 1 – 4 | Denver | Xcel Energy Center | Recap | |||
| No Scoring | First period | 04:24 - Kohen Olischefski (Barrow, Mitchell) 19:54 - GW - Jake Durflinger (O'Connor) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 02:06 - Ryan Barrow (Finlay, Olischefski) | ||||||
| (Fitzgerald) Ryan Poehling - 15:54 | Third period | 17:06 - Dylan Gambrell (unassisted) | ||||||
| ( 10 saves / 13 shots ) Dávid Hrenák / ( 13 saves / 14 shots ) Jeff Smith | Goalie stats | Tanner Jaillet ( 19 saves / 23 shots ) | ||||||
Tournament awards
Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament Team
- F Henrik Borgström (Denver)
- F Nick Poehling (St. Cloud State)
- F Logan O'Connor (Denver)
- D Ian Mitchell (Denver)
- D Jack Ahcan (St. Cloud State)
- G Tanner Jaillet* (Denver)
References
- "Format". Archived from the original on June 7, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- "Denver Wins 2018 Frozen Faceoff". NCHC. March 17, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
| NCHC Tournaments | |
|---|---|
| NCHC |
| 2018 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournaments | |
|---|---|
| Conference | |
| National | |