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2021 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament facts for kids

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2021 NCAA Men's Division I
Ice Hockey Tournament
NCAA 2021 Men's Frozen Four logo.svg
Teams 16
Finals site
Champions Massachusetts Minutemen (1st title)
Runner-up St. Cloud State Huskies (1st title game)
Semifinalists
  • Minnesota State Mavericks (1st Frozen Four)
  • Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (8th Frozen Four)
Winning coach Greg Carvel (1st title)
MOP Bobby Trivigno (Massachusetts)
Attendance 3,963 (Championship)
11,283 (Frozen Four)
16,985 (Tournament)
  • ← 2020 
  • NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments
  • 2022 →

The 2021 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament was the national championship tournament for men's college ice hockey in the United States, scheduled for March 26–April 10, 2021. The tournament involved 16 teams in single-elimination play to determine the national champion at the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the highest level of competition in college hockey. The first two rounds took place at four regional sites on March 26–28, and the tournament's Frozen Four – the semifinals and finals – was hosted by Robert Morris University at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh from April 8 to 10.

The SNHU Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire was selected to host the Northeast Region, but pulled out on January 26, 2021, due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. The Times Union Center in Albany, New York was selected as a replacement site.

This year's tournament featured, as of 2021, the longest game in NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament history, when the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs defeated the North Dakota Fighting Hawks by a score of 3–2 in five overtimes, totaling 142:13 minutes of play, in the West Regional Final.

This tournament's Frozen Four teams were also notable for a number of reasons. First, it was just the second time in NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament history in which three of the final four teams came from one state. This first occurred in 1992, when the Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans, and Lake Superior State Lakers, all from Michigan, made the Frozen Four. In this year’s tournament, three teams came from Minnesota, these teams being the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, St. Cloud State Huskies, and Minnesota State Mavericks. Also, this year's tournament was only the third time since 1992, when Regional Tournaments were first conducted, that no teams ranked no. 1 in their respective Regional Tournament advanced to the Frozen Four. This also occurred in the 1998 and 2007 tournaments.

Tournament procedure

The tournament is composed of four groups of four teams in regional brackets. The four regionals are officially named after their geographic areas.

Regional Semifinals and Finals

  • March 26–27
East Regional, Webster Bank Arena – Bridgeport, Connecticut (Hosts: Sacred Heart and Yale)
Midwest Regional, Scheels Arena – Fargo, North Dakota (Host: North Dakota)
  • March 27–28
Northeast Regional, Times Union Center – Albany, New York (Hosts: ECAC)
West Regional, Budweiser Events Center – Loveland, Colorado (Host: Denver)

National Semifinals and Championship (Frozen Four and Championship)

  • April 8 and April 10
PPG Paints Arena – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Host: Robert Morris University)

Qualifying teams

Main page: 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season

The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament were announced on March 21, 2021.

Typically, teams are seeded according to their PairWise rankings (PWR); however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing a severe lack of inter-conference games among the league, using the PWR would not be a reliable representation of overall NCAA standings. As a result, the NCAA Selection Committee awarded seeds manually based on varying factors, including perceived strength of conference and performance against the best teams in conference. Once seeds were determined, matchups were adjusted to prevent teams from the same conference meeting in the first round, as well as minimize the amount of traveling required due to the pandemic.

The NCHC and Big Ten each had four teams receive a berth in the tournament, Hockey East and WCHA each had three teams receive a berth, and one team from Atlantic Hockey and the ECAC each received a berth.

ECAC Tournament champions St. Lawrence earned an autobid but were forced to withdraw from the tournament as a result of a positive COVID-19 test among the team's coaching staff. Quinnipiac was selected to replace St. Lawrence as ECAC's autobid.

On March 25, it was announced that Notre Dame would be forced to withdraw from the tournament due to COVID protocols. As a result, their matchup with Boston College was ruled a no-contest and the Eagles automatically advanced to the Northeast Regional Final. Similarly, on March 26, the NCAA announced Michigan was forced to withdraw as well due to COVID protocols. As a result, Minnesota–Duluth automatically advanced to the Midwest Regional Final.

Midwest Regional – Fargo East Regional – Bridgeport
Seed School Conference Record Berth type Appearance Last bid Seed School Conference Record Berth type Appearance Last bid
1 North Dakota (1) NCHC 21–5–1 Tournament Champion 33rd 2017 1 Wisconsin (4) Big Ten 20–9–1 At-Large bid 26th 2014
2 Michigan Big Ten 15–10–1 At-Large bid 38th 2018 2 Massachusetts Hockey East 16–5–4 Tournament Champion 3rd 2019
3 Minnesota Duluth NCHC 14–10–2 At-Large bid 14th 2019 3 Lake Superior State WCHA 19–6–3 Tournament Champion 11th 1996
4 American International Atlantic Hockey 15–3–0 Tournament Champion 2nd 2019 4 Bemidji State WCHA 15–9–3 At-Large bid 5th 2010
West Regional – Loveland Northeast Regional – Albany
Seed School Conference Record Berth type Appearance Last bid Seed School Conference Record Berth type Appearance Last bid
1 Minnesota (3) Big Ten 23–6–0 Tournament Champion 38th 2017 1 Boston College (2) Hockey East 17–5–1 At-Large bid 36th 2016
2 Minnesota State WCHA 20–4–1 At-Large bid 7th 2019 2 St. Cloud State NCHC 17–10–0 At-Large bid 15th 2019
3 Quinnipiac ECAC 17–7–4 Replacement Autobid 7th 2019 3 Boston University Hockey East 10–4–1 At-Large bid 37th 2018
4 Omaha NCHC 14–10–1 At-Large bid 4th 2015 4 Notre Dame Big Ten 14–13–2 At-Large bid 12th 2019

Number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.

Tournament bracket

  Regional Semifinals
March 26–27		 Regional Finals
March 27–28		 Semifinals
April 8		 Championship
April 10
                                     
1  North Dakota (1) 5  
4  American International 1  
  1  North Dakota (1) 2  
Midwest – Fargo – Fri/Sat
  3  Minnesota–Duluth 3****  
2  Michigan† –
3  Minnesota–Duluth –  
  MW3  Minnesota–Duluth 2  
  E2  Massachusetts 3  
1  Wisconsin (4) 3  
4  Bemidji State 6  
  4  Bemidji State 0
East – Bridgeport – Fri/Sat
  2  Massachusetts 4  
2  Massachusetts 5
3  Lake Superior State 1  
  E2  Massachusetts 5
  NE2  St. Cloud State 0
1  Minnesota (3) 7  
4  Omaha 2  
  1  Minnesota (3) 0
West – Loveland – Sat/Sun
  2  Minnesota State 4  
2  Minnesota State 4
3  Quinnipiac 3  
  W2  Minnesota State 4
  NE2  St. Cloud State 5  
1  Boston College (2) –  
4  Notre Dame† –  
  1  Boston College (2) 1
Northeast – Albany – Sat/Sun
  2  St. Cloud State 4  
2  St. Cloud State 6
3  Boston University 2  

* denotes overtime period
† Michigan and Notre Dame were removed from the tournament due to positive COVID-19 test results.

Results

Midwest Region – Fargo, North Dakota

Regional Semifinals

March 26, 2021
7:30 PM		 (1) North Dakota 5 – 1
(4–0, 0–0, 1–1)		 (4) American International Scheels Arena, Fargo, North Dakota
Attendance: 1,435
March 26, 2021 (2) Michigan No contest
 (3) Minnesota–Duluth

Regional Final

March 27, 2021
6:30 PM		 (1) North Dakota 2 – 3 (5OT)
(0–0, 0–0, 2–2, 0–0, 0–0, 0–0, 0–0, 0–1)		 (3) Minnesota–Duluth Scheels Arena, Fargo, North Dakota
Attendance: 1,494

Northeast Region – Albany, New York

Regional Semifinals

March 27, 2021 (1) Boston College No contest
 (4) Notre Dame
March 27, 2021
1:00 PM		 (2) St. Cloud State 6 – 2
(0–0, 3–2, 3–0)		 (3) Boston University Times Union Center, Albany, New York
Attendance: 1,136

Regional Final

March 28, 2021
5:30		 (1) Boston College 1 – 4
(1–0, 0–3, 0–1)		 (2) St. Cloud State Times Union Center, Albany, New York
Attendance: 1,136

West Region – Loveland, Colorado

Regional Semifinals

March 27, 2021
8:00 PM		 (1) Minnesota 7 – 2
(3–1, 3–0, 1–1)		 (4) Omaha Budweiser Events Center, Loveland, Colorado
Attendance: 125
March 27, 2021
2:00 PM		 (2) Minnesota State 4 – 3 (OT)
(0–2, 1–0, 2–1, 1–0)		 (3) Quinnipiac Budweiser Events Center, Loveland, Colorado
Attendance: 101

Regional Final

March 28, 2021
6:00		 (1) Minnesota 0 – 4
(0–2, 0–0, 0–2)		 (2) Minnesota State Budweiser Events Center, Loveland, Colorado
Attendance: 175

East Region – Bridgeport, Connecticut

Regional Semifinals

March 26, 2021
1:00 PM		 (1) Wisconsin 3 – 6
(0–2, 1–2, 2–2)		 (4) Bemidji State Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport, Connecticut
Attendance: 0
March 26, 2021
6:30 PM		 (2) Massachusetts 5 – 1
(1–1, 2–0, 2–0)		 (3) Lake Superior State Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport, Connecticut
Attendance: 100

Regional Final

March 27, 2021
4:00 PM		 (2) Massachusetts 4 – 0
(2–0, 1–0, 1–0)		 (4) Bemidji State Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport, Connecticut
Attendance: 0

Frozen Four – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

National Semifinal

April 8, 2021
5:00 PM		 (W2) Minnesota State 4 – 5
(1–2, 2–1, 1–2)		 (NE2) St. Cloud State PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 3,660
April 8, 2021
9:00 PM		 (E2) Massachusetts 3 – 2 (OT)
(1–1, 0–1, 1–0, 1–0)		 (MW3) Minnesota Duluth PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 3,660

2021 National Championship

(E2) Massachusetts vs. (NE2) St. Cloud State

April 10, 2021
7:00 PM		 (E2) Massachusetts 5 – 0
 (NE2) St. Cloud State PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 3,963
Scoring summary
Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score
1st UMA Aaron Bohlinger (1) – GW Sullivan and Farmer 7:26 1–0 UMA
UMA Reed Lebster (2) Kiefiuk 18:56 2–0 UMA
2nd UMA Philip Lagunov (6) – SH unassisted 25:10 3–0 UMA
UMA Matthew Kessel (10) – PP Chau and Gaudet 33:45 4–0 UMA
3rd UMA Bobby Trivigno (11) Lebster 46:00 5–0 UMA
Penalty summary
Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM
1st UMA Anthony Del Gaizo Slashing 15:27 2:00
2nd STC Seamus Donohue Tripping 20:24 2:00
UMA Ryan Sullivan Tripping 23:57 2:00
UMA Jake Gaudet Elbowing 30:31 2:00
STC Bench (served by Zach Okabe) Too Many Men 32:35 2:00
3rd None

All-Tournament Team

  • G: Filip Lindberg (Massachusetts)
  • D: Zac Jones (Massachusetts)
  • D: Matthew Kessel (Massachusetts)
  • F: Nathan Smith (Minnesota State)
  • F: Bobby Trivigno* (Massachusetts)
  • F: Nolan Walker (St. Cloud State)

* Most Outstanding Player(s)

Record by conference

Conference Bids Record Win % Regional Finals Frozen Four Championship Game Champions
NCHC 4 5–4 .556 3 2 1 –
Big Ten 4 1–2 .333 1 – – –
Hockey East 3 4–2 .667 2 1 1 1
WCHA 3 3–3 .500 2 1 – –
Atlantic Hockey 1 0–1 .000 – – – –
ECAC Hockey 1 0–1 .000 – – – –

Note: Two regional semifinal games were declared 'No Contest' and the four teams involved were not credited with a win or a loss in those games.

Media

Television

ESPN had US television rights to all games during the tournament for the sixteenth consecutive year. ESPN aired every game, beginning with the regionals, on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPNU, and ESPN3, which were streamed online via WatchESPN.

Broadcast assignments

Regionals

  • East Regional: John Buccigross, Barry Melrose, and Colby Cohen – Bridgeport, Connecticut
  • Midwest Regional: Leah Hextall and Dave Starman – Fargo, North Dakota
  • Northeast Regional: Kevin Brown and Sean Ritchlin – Albany, New York
  • West Regional: Ben Holden and Fred Pletsch – Loveland, Colorado

Frozen Four

  • John Buccigross, Barry Melrose, Colby Cohen, and Quint Kessenich – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Radio

Westwood One had exclusive radio rights to the Frozen Four and broadcast both the semifinals and the championship.

  • Brian Tripp and Dave Starman
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