2021 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament facts for kids
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| Teams | 16 |
|---|---|
| Finals site | |
| Champions | Massachusetts Minutemen (1st title) |
| Runner-up | St. Cloud State Huskies (1st title game) |
| Semifinalists |
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| Winning coach | Greg Carvel (1st title) |
| MOP | Bobby Trivigno (Massachusetts) |
| Attendance | 3,963 (Championship) 11,283 (Frozen Four) 16,985 (Tournament) |
The 2021 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament was a big championship event for college ice hockey teams in the United States. It happened from March 26 to April 10, 2021. Sixteen teams competed in a knockout style tournament. This means if a team lost, they were out! The goal was to find the best college hockey team at the Division I level.
The first two rounds of games took place at four different locations. The final rounds, called the "Frozen Four," happened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the PPG Paints Arena. The Frozen Four includes the semifinal games and the championship game.
Originally, one of the regional games was supposed to be in Manchester, New Hampshire. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the location had to be changed. The games were moved to the Times Union Center in Albany, New York instead.
This tournament had a super long game! The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs played against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks. The game went into five overtimes and lasted over 142 minutes! Minnesota Duluth won 3–2. This was the longest game ever in the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament at that time.
The teams in the Frozen Four were also special for a few reasons. For only the second time in history, three of the four final teams came from the same state. This year, the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, St. Cloud State Huskies, and Minnesota State Mavericks all came from Minnesota. Also, for only the third time since 1992, none of the top-ranked teams in their regional tournaments made it to the Frozen Four.
Contents
How the Tournament Worked
The tournament started with 16 teams. They were divided into four groups of four teams. Each group played in a different regional area.
Regional Games
The first games were the Regional Semifinals and Finals. They happened from March 26 to 28.
- East Regional: Played in Bridgeport, Connecticut, at the Webster Bank Arena.
- Midwest Regional: Played in Fargo, North Dakota, at the Scheels Arena.
- Northeast Regional: Played in Albany, New York, at the Times Union Center.
- West Regional: Played in Loveland, Colorado, at the Budweiser Events Center.
Frozen Four and Championship
The best four teams then moved on to the "Frozen Four."
- These final games took place on April 8 and April 10.
- They were held at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Teams That Played
The teams that got to play in the tournament were announced on March 21, 2021. Usually, teams are ranked using a system called PairWise rankings. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, teams didn't play many games against teams from other conferences. So, the NCAA committee decided the rankings manually. They looked at things like how strong a team's conference was and how well they played against other top teams.
To avoid teams from the same conference playing each other in the first round, and to reduce travel, some matchups were changed.
Several college hockey conferences had teams in the tournament:
- The NCHC and Big Ten each had four teams.
- Hockey East and WCHA each had three teams.
- Atlantic Hockey and ECAC each had one team.
Sadly, some teams had to drop out due to COVID-19. The St. Lawrence team won their conference tournament, but a positive COVID-19 test among their coaches meant they couldn't play. Quinnipiac took their place. Also, Notre Dame and Michigan had to withdraw because of COVID-19 protocols. This meant their opponents automatically moved on to the next round.
Tournament Bracket and Results
| Regional Semifinals March 26–27 |
Regional Finals March 27–28 |
Semifinals April 8 |
Championship April 10 |
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| 1 | North Dakota (1) | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | American International | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | North Dakota (1) | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Midwest – Fargo – Fri/Sat | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Minnesota–Duluth | 3**** | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | |
– | ||||||||||||||||
| 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 | |
– | ||||||||||||||||
| 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.
Regional Semifinals and Finals Overview
- Midwest Region (Fargo):
- North Dakota beat American International 5–1.
- Minnesota Duluth advanced automatically because Michigan withdrew.
- In the Regional Final, Minnesota Duluth won against North Dakota 3–2 in an epic five-overtime game.
- Northeast Region (Albany):
- Boston College advanced automatically because Notre Dame withdrew.
- St. Cloud State defeated Boston University 6–2.
- In the Regional Final, St. Cloud State beat Boston College 4–1.
- West Region (Loveland):
- Minnesota won against Omaha 7–2.
- Minnesota State beat Quinnipiac 4–3 in overtime.
- In the Regional Final, Minnesota State defeated Minnesota 4–0.
- East Region (Bridgeport):
- Bemidji State upset Wisconsin 6–3.
- Massachusetts won against Lake Superior State 5–1.
- In the Regional Final, Massachusetts shut out Bemidji State 4–0.
Frozen Four Semifinals
The four teams that made it to Pittsburgh were Minnesota Duluth, Massachusetts, Minnesota State, and St. Cloud State.
- Minnesota State vs. St. Cloud State:
- St. Cloud State won a close game against Minnesota State with a score of 5–4.
- Massachusetts vs. Minnesota Duluth:
- Massachusetts defeated Minnesota Duluth 3–2 in overtime. This was another exciting game!
2021 National Championship Game
The final game was between the Massachusetts Minutemen and the St. Cloud State Huskies.
- Massachusetts vs. St. Cloud State:
- Massachusetts won the championship game with a strong 5–0 victory over St. Cloud State.
- This was the first national title for the Massachusetts Minutemen!
| 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 | ||||
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All-Tournament Team
After the tournament, a special team was chosen. These players were considered the best at their positions during the championship.
- Goalie: Filip Lindberg (Massachusetts)
- Defense: Zac Jones (Massachusetts)
- Defense: Matthew Kessel (Massachusetts)
- Forward: Nathan Smith (Minnesota State)
- Forward: Bobby Trivigno* (Massachusetts)
- Forward: Nolan Walker (St. Cloud State)
- Most Outstanding Player: Bobby Trivigno from Massachusetts was named the most outstanding player of the tournament.
Conference Performance
This table shows how well the different college hockey conferences did in the tournament:
| Conference | Teams in Tournament | Record (Wins–Losses) | Win Percentage | Teams in Regional Finals | Teams in Frozen Four | Teams in 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' because teams withdrew due to COVID-19. Those games are not counted as wins or losses.
Media Coverage
You could watch and listen to the tournament in different ways.
Television
ESPN showed all the games in the U.S. for the sixteenth year in a row. Games were on channels like ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPNU, and ESPN3. You could also stream them online using WatchESPN.
Radio
Westwood One had the radio rights for the Frozen Four. They broadcast both the semifinal games and the championship game.
- The announcers were Brian Tripp and Dave Starman.
