2021 NCHC Men's ice hockey tournament | |
---|---|
Dates | March 12–16, 2021 |
Teams | 8 |
Finals site | Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota |
Champions | North Dakota (1st title) |
Winning coach | Brad Berry (1st title) |
MVP | Riese Gaber (North Dakota) |
NCHC Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments |
The 2021 NCHC Tournament was the eighth tournament in league history. Typically the tournament is scheduled across two separate weekends in mid-march with quarterfinal games hosted on campus locations, while the final four games are played at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. However, on February 8, 2021, NCHC announced that the tournament would be played entirely in Grand Forks.[1] By winning the tournament, North Dakota earned NCHC's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
Format
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, changes to the traditional tournament format were made for this season. All games will be single-elimination as opposed to a best-of-three games quarterfinals, and no third-place game will occur. 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 quarterfinals round series will advance to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff. Teams are re-seeded No. 1 through No. 4 according to the final regular season conference standings.[2]
Standings
Conference record | Overall record | |||||||||||||||||
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GP | W | L | T | OTW | OTL | 3/SW | PTS | PT% | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | ||
#5 North Dakota †* | 24 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 54 | .750 | 94 | 47 | 29 | 22 | 6 | 1 | 114 | 57 | |
#2 St. Cloud State | 24 | 15 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 45 | .625 | 78 | 64 | 31 | 20 | 11 | 0 | 101 | 84 | |
#3 Minnesota Duluth | 24 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 43 | .597 | 72 | 54 | 28 | 15 | 11 | 2 | 84 | 66 | |
#13 Omaha | 24 | 14 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 40 | .556 | 79 | 69 | 26 | 14 | 11 | 1 | 85 | 81 | |
Denver | 22 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 31 | .470 | 61 | 60 | 24 | 11 | 13 | 1 | 67 | 66 | |
Western Michigan | 24 | 10 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 33 | .458 | 73 | 84 | 25 | 10 | 12 | 3 | 77 | 89 | |
Colorado College | 22 | 4 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 18 | .273 | 35 | 77 | 23 | 4 | 17 | 2 | 36 | 79 | |
Miami | 24 | 5 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | .250 | 46 | 83 | 25 | 5 | 18 | 2 | 48 | 89 | |
Championship: March 16, 2021 † indicates conference regular season champion (Penrose Cup) * indicates conference tournament champion (Frozen Faceoff Championship Trophy) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll |
Bracket
Teams are reseeded for the Semifinals
Quarterfinals March 12–13 | Semifinals March 15 | Championship March 16 | ||||||||||||
1 | North Dakota | 6 | ||||||||||||
8 | Miami | 2 | ||||||||||||
1 | North Dakota | 2* | ||||||||||||
5 | Denver | 1 | ||||||||||||
2 | St. Cloud State | 2 | ||||||||||||
7 | Colorado College | 1 | ||||||||||||
1 | North Dakota | 5 | ||||||||||||
2 | St. Cloud State | 3 | ||||||||||||
3 | Minnesota-Duluth | 5* | ||||||||||||
6 | Western Michigan | 4 | ||||||||||||
2 | St. Cloud State | 3 | ||||||||||||
3 | Minnesota-Duluth | 2 | ||||||||||||
4 | Omaha | 4 | ||||||||||||
5 | Denver | 5 |
* denotes overtime periods
Results
Quarterfinals
(1) North Dakota vs. (8) Miami
March 12, 2021 7:30 PM | North Dakota | 6 – 2 (4–1, 1–1, 1–0) | Miami | Ralph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, North Dakota Attendance: 2,763 |
Game reference | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adam Scheel | Goalies | Ludvig Persson | Referees: Dan Dreger Nick Krebsbach Linesmen: Tony Aronson Dan Cohen | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6 min | Penalties | 20 min | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
46 | Shots | 28 |
(2) St. Cloud State vs. (7) Colorado College
March 12, 2021 2:30 PM | St. Cloud State | 2 – 1 (0–0, 1–1, 1–0) | Colorado College | Ralph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, North Dakota Attendance: 1,923 |
Game reference | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dávid Hrenák | Goalies | Matt Vernon | Referees: Joe Sullivan Ryan Hersey Linesmen: Justin Hills Dana Penkivech | ||||||||
| |||||||||||
4 min | Penalties | 17 min | |||||||||
44 | Shots | 7 |
(3) Minnesota Duluth vs. (6) Western Michigan
March 13, 2021 7:30 PM | Minnesota Duluth | 5 – 4 (OT) (1–1, 1–2, 2–1, 1–0) | Western Michigan | Ralph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, North Dakota Attendance: 2,167 |
Game reference | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ryan Fanti | Goalies | Brandon Bussi | Referees: Nick Krebsbach Joe Sullivan Linesmen: Dan Cohen Dana Penkivech | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 min | Penalties | 8 min | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
37 | Shots | 36 |
(4) Omaha vs. (5) Denver
March 13, 2021 2:30 PM | Omaha | 4 – 5 (2–1, 1–1, 1–3) | Denver | Ralph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, North Dakota Attendance: 1,864 |
Game reference | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Isaiah Saville | Goalies | Magnus Chrona | Referees: Ryan Hersey Tom Sterns Linesmen: Justin Hills Tyler Liffrig | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
29 min | Penalties | 25 min | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
28 | Shots | 38 |
Semifinals
(1) North Dakota vs. (5) Denver
March 15, 2021 8:00 PM | North Dakota | 2 – 1 (OT) (0–0, 0–1, 1–0, 1–0) | Denver | Ralph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, North Dakota Attendance: 2,509 |
Game reference | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adam Scheel | Goalies | Magnus Chrona | Referees: Tom Sterns Joe Sullivan Linesmen: Dana Penkivech Justin Hills | ||||||||
| |||||||||||
4 min | Penalties | 4 min | |||||||||
32 | Shots | 18 |
(2) St. Cloud State vs. (3) Minnesota Duluth
March 15, 2021 3:00 PM | St. Cloud State | 3 – 2 (2–1, 1–1, 0–0) | Minnesota Duluth | Ralph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, North Dakota Attendance: 1,957 |
Game reference | |||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dávid Hrenák | Goalies | Ryan Fanti | Referees: Nick Krebsbach Dan Dreger Linesmen: Tyler Liffrig Tony Aronson | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
10 min | Penalties | 12 min | |||||||||||||||
34 | Shots | 26 |
Championship
(1) North Dakota vs. (2) St. Cloud State
March 16, 2021 7:30 PM | North Dakota | 5 – 3 (1–2, 0–0, 4–1) | St. Cloud State | Ralph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, North Dakota Attendance: 3,000 |
Game reference | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adam Scheel | Goalies | Dávid Hrenák | Referees: Nick Krebsbach Ryan Hersey Linesmen: Tyler Liffrig Justin Hills | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6 min | Penalties | 10 min | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
35 | Shots | 33 |
Tournament awards
- F: Collin Adams (North Dakota)
- F: Gavin Hain (North Dakota)
- F: Riese Gaber* (North Dakota)
- D: Nick Perbix (St. Cloud State)
- D: Jake Sanderson (North Dakota)
- G: Adam Scheel (North Dakota)
References
- ^ NCHC (February 8, 2021). "NCHC Announces Adjusted Postseason Format for 2021". National Collegiate Hockey Conference. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
- ^ "Format". Archived from the original on June 7, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ "North Dakota Wins 2021 Frozen Faceoff Championship". SB Nation. March 16, 2021. Retrieved April 18, 2021.