2021 NCHC Tournament

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.

2021 NCHC Men's ice hockey tournament
DatesMarch 12–16, 2021
Teams8
Finals siteRalph Engelstad Arena
Grand Forks, North Dakota
ChampionsNorth Dakota (1st title)
Winning coachBrad Berry (1st title)
MVPRiese Gaber (North Dakota)
NCHC Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments

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
2020–21 National Collegiate Hockey Conference Standings
Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL 3/SW PTS PT% GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#5 North Dakota †*24185121054.750944729226111457
#2 St. Cloud State24159033045.6257864312011010184
#3 Minnesota Duluth24139212143.597725428151128466
#13 Omaha24149140140.556796926141118581
Denver22912102131.470616024111316766
Western Michigan241011310133.458738425101237789
Colorado College22416202218.27335772341723679
Miami24517201018.25046832551824889
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

(1) North Dakota vs. (8) Miami
March 12, 2021
7:30 PM		North Dakota6 – 2
(4–1, 1–1, 1–0)		MiamiRalph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, North Dakota
Attendance: 2,763
Game reference
Adam ScheelGoaliesLudvig PerssonReferees:
Dan Dreger
Nick Krebsbach
Linesmen:
Tony Aronson
Dan Cohen
(Kawaguchi, Bernard-Docker) Collin Adams (10) – 00:141–0
(Senden, Hain) Louis Jamernik (1) – 05:272–0
(Kawaguchi, Frisch) Collin Adams (11) – GW – 05:363–0
3–111:14 – Phil Knies (3) (Gilling, Russell)
(Adams, Kawaguchi) Riese Gaber (9) – 14:244–1
(Sanderson, Adams) Jacob Bernard-Docker (3) – 29:505–1
5–237:02 – Rourke Russell (7) (Cassetti)
(Adams, Kawaguchi) Brendan Budy (4) – 45:106–2
6 minPenalties20 min
46Shots28

(2) St. Cloud State vs. (7) Colorado College
March 12, 2021
2:30 PM		St. Cloud State2 – 1
(0–0, 1–1, 1–0)		Colorado CollegeRalph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, North Dakota
Attendance: 1,923
Game reference
Dávid HrenákGoaliesMatt VernonReferees:
Joe Sullivan
Ryan Hersey
Linesmen:
Justin Hills
Dana Penkivech
0–122:08 – McKay Flanagan (1) (Berzolla)
(Kupka, Fitzgerald) Zach Okabe (5) – 38:591–1
(Fitzgerald, Donohue) Nick Perbix (6) – GW – 56:052–1
4 minPenalties17 min
44Shots7

(3) Minnesota Duluth vs. (6) Western Michigan
March 13, 2021
7:30 PM		Minnesota Duluth5 – 4 (OT)
(1–1, 1–2, 2–1, 1–0)		Western MichiganRalph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, North Dakota
Attendance: 2,167
Game reference
Ryan FantiGoaliesBrandon BussiReferees:
Nick Krebsbach
Joe Sullivan
Linesmen:
Dan Cohen
Dana Penkivech
(Roth, Anderson) Koby Bender (5) – 02:211–0
1–109:59 – Jason Polin (6) (Glover, Washe)
1–229:46 – PP – Ethen Frank (13) (Worrad, Joyaux)
(Laderoute, Koepke) Koby Bender (6) – PP – 05:272–2
2–339:22 – Cole Gallant (5) (Frank, Fulp)
(N. Cates, J. Cates) Kobe Roth (12) – PP – 44:273–3
(J. Cates) Cole Koepke (13) – 47:324–3
4–459:38 – EA – Jason Polin (7) (Passolt, Washe)
(unassisted) Connor Kelley (3) – GW – 66:245–4
8 minPenalties8 min
37Shots36

(4) Omaha vs. (5) Denver
March 13, 2021
2:30 PM		Omaha4 – 5
(2–1, 1–1, 1–3)		DenverRalph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, North Dakota
Attendance: 1,864
Game reference
Isaiah SavilleGoaliesMagnus ChronaReferees:
Ryan Hersey
Tom Sterns
Linesmen:
Justin Hills
Tyler Liffrig
0–108:25 – Hank Crone (5) (Heikkinen, Olischefski)
(Sullivan) Jason Smallidge (2) – 14:511–1
(Abate, Randl) Matt Miller (8) – 15:492–1
(Ward, Saville) Tyler Weiss (7) – 34:473–1
3–236:57 – PP – Bobby Brink (2) (Demin, Guttman)
3–340:42 – Mike Benning (2) (Guttman, Crone)
3–451:52 – PP – Mike Benning (3) (Brink, Guttman)
(Conley, Glynn) Nate Knoepke (4) – 53:104–4
4–554:57 – GW – Bo Hanson (1) (Caponi, Olischefski)
29 minPenalties25 min
28Shots38

(1) North Dakota vs. (5) Denver
March 15, 2021
8:00 PM		North Dakota2 – 1 (OT)
(0–0, 0–1, 1–0, 1–0)		DenverRalph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, North Dakota
Attendance: 2,509
Game reference
Adam ScheelGoaliesMagnus ChronaReferees:
Tom Sterns
Joe Sullivan
Linesmen:
Dana Penkivech
Justin Hills
0–125:52 – PP – Carter Savoie (13) (Brink, Benning)
(Pinto, Kiersted) Jasper Weatherby (12) – EA – 58:331–1
(Weatherby, Sanderson) Gavin Hain (5) – GW – 68:372–1
4 minPenalties4 min
32Shots18

(2) St. Cloud State vs. (3) Minnesota Duluth
March 15, 2021
3:00 PM		St. Cloud State3 – 2
(2–1, 1–1, 0–0)		Minnesota DuluthRalph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, North Dakota
Attendance: 1,957
Game reference
Dávid HrenákGoaliesRyan FantiReferees:
Nick Krebsbach
Dan Dreger
Linesmen:
Tyler Liffrig
Tony Aronson
(Okabe, Donohue) Jami Krannila (10) – 07:021–0
1–112:44 – PP – Kobe Roth (6) (J. Cates, Kaiser)
(Krannila, Meier) Kevin Fitzgerald (9) – PP – 17:522–1
2–232:54 – Koby Bender (13) (Roth)
(Hammer, Jaycox) Chase Brand (4) – SH GW – 37:083–2
10 minPenalties12 min
34Shots26

(1) North Dakota vs. (2) St. Cloud State
March 16, 2021
7:30 PM		North Dakota5 – 3
(1–2, 0–0, 4–1)		St. Cloud StateRalph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, North Dakota
Attendance: 3,000
Game reference
Adam ScheelGoaliesDávid HrenákReferees:
Nick Krebsbach
Ryan Hersey
Linesmen:
Tyler Liffrig
Justin Hills
0–102:06 – PP – Zach Okabe (6) (Trejbal, Krannila)
(Kawaguchi, Adams) Riese Gaber (10) – 12:401–1
1–216:46 – Seamus Donohue (1) (Meier, Kupka)
(Caulfield, Sanderson) Gavin Hain (6) – PP – 43:202–2
(Gaber, Adams) Jordan Kawaguchi (8) – 44:543–2
(Pinto, Kiersted) Riese Gaber (11) – PP GW – 45:224–2
4–347:10 – Sam Hentges (8) (Fitzgerald, Trejbal)
(Frisch, Scheel) Jordan Kawaguchi (9) – EN – 59:515–3
6 minPenalties10 min
35Shots33

Tournament awards

Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament Team
  • 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)

* Most Valuable Player(s)

[3]

References
  1. NCHC (February 8, 2021). "NCHC Announces Adjusted Postseason Format for 2021". National Collegiate Hockey Conference. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  2. "Format". Archived from the original on June 7, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  3. "North Dakota Wins 2021 Frozen Faceoff Championship". SB Nation. March 16, 2021. Retrieved April 18, 2021.


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