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2018 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament facts for kids

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2018 NCAA Men's Division I
Ice Hockey Tournament
NCAA 2018 Men's Frozen Four logo.svg
2018 Frozen Four logo
Teams 16
Finals site
Champions Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs (2nd title)
Runner-up Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2nd title game)
Semifinalists
  • Michigan Wolverines (25th Frozen Four)
  • Ohio State Buckeyes (2nd Frozen Four)
Winning coach Scott Sandelin (2nd title)
MOP Karson Kuhlman (Minnesota-Duluth)
Attendance 18,303 (Championship)
54,535 (Frozen Four)
136,554 (Tournament)
  • ← 2017 
  • NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments
  • 2019 →

The 2018 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament was a big ice hockey competition in the United States. It was where college teams played to find out who was the best national champion.

Sixteen teams took part in this tournament. It was a knockout style competition, meaning if a team lost, they were out! The final games, called the "Frozen Four" (which included the semifinals and the championship game), happened in St. Paul, Minnesota. These exciting games were held at the Xcel Energy Center from April 5 to April 7, 2018.

In the end, the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs played against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Minnesota-Duluth won the game 2–1, earning their second national title in college ice hockey!

How the Tournament Worked

The tournament started with four groups of four teams. Each group played in a different part of the country, called a "regional" bracket. The winners of these regional tournaments then moved on to the "Frozen Four."

Here are the places where the regional games were played:

The four teams that won their regional tournaments then went to the Frozen Four:

Teams That Played

The 16 teams chosen for the tournament were announced on March 18. Teams could get into the tournament in two ways:

  • Tournament Champion: Winning their own conference's championship tournament.
  • At-large bid: Being chosen by the NCAA based on their overall season performance.

Here's a look at the teams that qualified for the 2018 tournament:

East Regional – Bridgeport West Regional – Sioux Falls
Seed School Conference Record How they got in Times in tourney Last time Seed School Conference Record How they got in Times in tourney Last time
1 Notre Dame (2) Big Ten 25–9–2 Conference Champion 10th 2017 1 St. Cloud State (1) NCHC 25–8–6 At-large bid 13th 2016
2 Providence Hockey East 23–11–4 At-large bid 14th 2017 2 Minnesota State WCHA 29–9–1 At-large bid 5th 2015
3 Clarkson ECAC 23–10–6 At-large bid 21st 2008 3 Minnesota–Duluth NCHC 21–16–3 At-large bid 12th 2017
4 Michigan Tech WCHA 22–16–5 Conference Champion 13th 2017 4 Air Force Atlantic Hockey 22–14–5 Conference champion 7th 2017
Northeast Regional – Worcester Midwest Regional – Allentown
Seed School Conference Record How they got in Times in tourney Last time Seed School Conference Record How they got in Times in tourney Last time
1 Cornell (3) ECAC 25–5–2 At-large bid 21st 2017 1 Ohio State (4) Big Ten 24–9–5 At-large bid 8th 2017
2 Michigan Big Ten 20–14–3 At-large bid 37th 2016 2 Denver NCHC 20–9–8 Conference Champion 28th 2017
3 Northeastern Hockey East 23–9–5 At-large bid 6th 2016 3 Penn State Big Ten 18–14–5 At-large bid 2nd 2017
4 Boston University Hockey East 21–13–4 Conference champion 36th 2017 4 Princeton ECAC 19–12–4 Conference Champion 4th 2009

The number in parentheses shows the team's overall rank in the tournament.

Tournament Path

This bracket shows how the teams played through the tournament. The winner of each game moved on to the next round.

  Regional Semifinals
March 23–24		 Regional Finals
March 24–25		 Semifinals
April 5		 Championship
April 7
                                     
1  St. Cloud State (1) 1  
4  Air Force 4  
  4  Air Force 1  
Sioux Falls – Fri/Sat
  3  Minnesota–Duluth 2  
2  Minnesota State 2
3  Minnesota–Duluth 3*  
  W3  Minnesota-Duluth 2  
  MW1  Ohio State (4) 1  
1  Ohio State (4) 4  
4  Princeton 2  
  1  Ohio State (4) 5
Allentown – Sat/Sun
  2  Denver 1  
2  Denver 5
3  Penn State 1  
  W3  Minnesota-Duluth 2
  E1  Notre Dame (2) 1
1  Cornell (3) 1  
4  Boston University 3  
  4  Boston University 3
Worcester – Sat/Sun
  2  Michigan 6  
2  Michigan 3
3  Northeastern 2  
  NE2  Michigan 3
  E1  Notre Dame (2) 4  
1  Notre Dame (2) 4*  
4  Michigan Tech 3  
  1  Notre Dame (2) 2
Bridgeport – Fri/Sat
  2  Providence 1  
2  Providence 1
3  Clarkson 0  

Note: * means the game went into overtime.

Key Results

The tournament was full of exciting games! Here's a quick summary of how the teams made it to the Frozen Four and the championship game.

Regional Winners

  • West Regional (Sioux Falls, South Dakota): Minnesota-Duluth won this regional by defeating Air Force 2–1 in the final.
  • East Regional (Bridgeport, Connecticut): Notre Dame won their regional, beating Providence 2–1 in a close game.
  • Northeast Regional (Worcester, Massachusetts): Michigan came out on top in this regional, winning against Boston University 6–3.
  • Midwest Regional (Allentown, Pennsylvania): Ohio State secured their spot in the Frozen Four by defeating Denver 5–1.

Frozen Four Semifinals

The four regional winners met in St. Paul for the Frozen Four:

  • Notre Dame vs. Michigan: Notre Dame won a very tight game against Michigan with a score of 4–3. The winning goal for Notre Dame was scored with only seconds left in the game!
  • Ohio State vs. Minnesota-Duluth: Minnesota-Duluth continued their strong run, beating Ohio State 2–1 to earn their spot in the championship.

National Championship Game

The final game was played between Notre Dame and Minnesota-Duluth at the Xcel Energy Center on April 7.



Scoring summary
Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score
1st UMD Karson Kuhlman (13) Miller 9:06 1–0 UMD
UMD Jared Thomas (11) – GW Kuhlman 18:39 2–0 UMD
2nd ND Andrew Oglevie (15) – PP Morrison and Evans 27:40 2–1 UMD
3rd None
Penalty summary
Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM
1st ND Mike O'Leary Hooking 19:42 2:00
2nd ND Jordan Gross Tripping 22:19 2:00
UMD Louie Roehl Interference 24:35 2:00
UMD Scott Perunovich Interference 27:08 2:00
ND Colin Theisen Kneeing 30:02 2:00

All-Tournament Team

After the tournament, some players were chosen for the "All-Tournament Team" because they played exceptionally well.

  • G: Hunter Shepard (Minnesota–Duluth)
  • D: Scott Perunovich (Minnesota–Duluth)
  • D: Jordan Gross (Notre Dame)
  • F: Karson Kuhlman* (Minnesota–Duluth)
  • F: Jared Thomas (Minnesota–Duluth)
  • F: Andrew Oglevie (Notre Dame)
  • Most Outstanding Player(s)

Conference Performance

This table shows how well the different college hockey conferences did in the tournament.

Conference Number of Teams Record (Wins-Losses) Win Percentage Teams in Regional Finals Teams in Frozen Four Teams in Championship Game Champions
Big Ten 4 7-4 .636 3 3 1 -
NCHC 3 5-2 .714 2 1 1 1
Hockey East 3 2-3 .400 2 - - -
ECAC Hockey 3 0-3 .000 - - - -
WCHA 2 0-2 .000 - - - -
Atlantic Hockey 1 1-1 .500 1 - - -

Watching the Games

The tournament games were shown on TV and streamed online so fans could watch all the action.

Television

In the United States, ESPN channels like ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, and ESPNU showed the games. You could also stream them online using WatchESPN.

For fans in Canada, TSN broadcast the tournament, and it was also available on TSN Go. In the UK, BT Sport ESPN showed the games.

Radio

Westwood One had the exclusive radio rights for the Frozen Four games, broadcasting both the semifinals and the championship.

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