2018 NCHC Tournament

2018 NCHC Men's ice hockey tournament
2018 NCHC Men's ice hockey tournament
Dates	March 9–17, 2018
Teams	8
Finals site	Xcel Energy Center ; Saint Paul, Minnesota
Champions	Denver Pioneers (2nd title)
Winning coach	Jim Montgomery (2nd title)
MVP	Tanner Jaillet (Denver)
	NCHC Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments ← 2017 2019 →

Last updated March 23, 2024

The 2018 NCHC Tournament was the fifth tournament in league history. It was played between March 9 and March 17, 2018. Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the final four games were played at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. By winning the tournament, Denver received the NCHC's automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Format

The first round of the postseason tournament features a best-of-three games format. 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 first round series advance to the Xcel Energy Center for the NCHC Frozen Faceoff. The Frozen Faceoff uses a single-elimination format. Teams are re-seeded No. 1 through No. 4 according to the final regular season conference standings.^[1]

Conference standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against

2017–18 National Collegiate Hockey Conference standings v t e
	Conference record								Overall record
	GP	W	L	T	SOW	PTS	GF	GA	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#6 St. Cloud State †	24	16	4	4	1	53	93	59	40	25	9	6	144	101
#5 Denver*	24	12	6	6	4	46	76	53	41	23	10	8	135	86
#1 Minnesota–Duluth	24	13	11	0	0	39	79	56	42	25	16	3	132	92
#17 North Dakota	24	8	10	6	3	33	71	68	40	17	13	10	117	95
Omaha	24	10	13	1	0	31	75	97	36	17	17	2	121	134
Western Michigan	24	10	13	1	0	31	82	94	36	15	19	2	115	129
Colorado College	24	8	12	4	3	31	63	85	37	15	17	5	99	121
Miami	24	6	14	4	2	24	62	89	37	12	20	5	103	128
Championship: March 17, 2018 † indicates conference regular season champion; * indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll; updated March 5, 2018

Bracket

Teams are reseeded after the first round

Quarterfinals March 9–11					Semifinals March 16			Championship March 17

1	St. Cloud State	5	2	4*

8	Miami	2	3*	3
					1	St. Cloud State	3*

					4	North Dakota	2
2	Denver	0	3	6

7	Colorado College	2	2	1
								1	St. Cloud State	1
(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
								2	Denver	4
3	Minnesota-Duluth	5	2	—

6	Western Michigan	0	0	—
					2	Denver	3	Third Place

					3	Minnesota-Duluth	1
4	North Dakota	4	4*	—				3	Minnesota-Duluth	1

5	Omaha	0	3	—				4	North Dakota	4

* denotes overtime periods

Results

All times are local.

Quarterfinals

(1) St. Cloud State vs. (8) Miami

March 9	St. Cloud State		5 – 2	Miami	Herb Brooks National Hockey Center	Recap
(Winiecki, Benson) Jack Ahcan - 06:02		First period		15:28 - Kiefer Sherwood (Hutton, Belpedio)
(Jackson, Brodzinski) Jimmy Schuldt - PP - 06:11 (unassisted) Blake Lizotte - GW - 15:14		Second period		No scoring
(Jackson, Borgen) Easton Brodzinski - PP - 11:39 (Fitzgerald, Ahcan) Mikey Eyssimont - EN - 18:50		Third period		04:26 - Gordie Green (Sherwood, Hutton)
( 24 saves / 26 shots ) Dávid Hrenák		Goalie stats		Ryan Larkin ( 24 saves / 28 shots )

March 10	St. Cloud State		2 – 3	OT	Miami	Herb Brooks National Hockey Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period			01:54 - Josh Melnick (Mahalak, Sherwood) 17:33 - Grant Hutton (Sherwood, Mahalak)
(Eyssimont, Jackson) Ryan Poehling - PP - 07:20		Second period			No scoring
(Ahcan, B. Lizotte) Blake Winiecki - PP - 02:43		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		First overtime period			07:10 - GW - Grant Hutton (Belpedio, Knies)
( 17 saves / 20 shots ) Dávid Hrenák		Goalie stats			Ryan Larkin ( 30 saves / 32 shots )

March 11	St. Cloud State		4 – 3	OT	Miami	Herb Brooks National Hockey Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period			09:31 - Grant Hutton (Sherwood, Green) 16:22 - PP - Casey Gilling (Dornbrock, Mahalak)
(Jackson, Eyssimont) Jimmy Schuldt - 01:26 (Ahcan) Mikey Eyssimont - 18:13		Second period			01:31 - Karch Bachman (LaValle)
(J. Lizotte, Borgen) Judd Peterson - PP - 14:08		Third period			No scoring
(Newell, Ahcan) Mikey Eyssimont - GW - 08:14		First overtime period			No scoring
( 17 saves / 20 shots ) Dávid Hrenák		Goalie stats			Ryan Larkin ( 30 saves / 32 shots )

St. Cloud State won series 2–1

(2) Denver vs. (7) Colorado College

March 9	Denver		0 – 2	Colorado College	Magness Arena	Recap
No Scoring		First period		No scoring
No scoring		Second period		No scoring
No scoring		Third period		05:07 - GW PP - Westin Michaud (Blumenschein, Halloran) 09:27 - Mason Bergh (Bradley, McCaskill)
( 21 saves / 23 shots ) Tanner Jaillet		Goalie stats		Alex Leclerc ( 37 saves / 37 shots )

March 10	Denver		3 – 2	Colorado College	Magness Arena	Recap
No Scoring		First period		16:41 - SH - Trey Bradley (unassisted)
(Mitchell, Lukosevicius) Henrik Borgström - PP - 02:06		Second period		17:40 - Kristian Blumenschein (Bradley, Bergh)
(Lukosevicius, Borgström) Troy Terry - 02:17 (Mitchell, Hillman) Troy Terry - GW - 14:29		Third period		No scoring
( 25 saves / 27 shots ) Tanner Jaillet		Goalie stats		Alex Leclerc ( 46 saves / 49 shots )

March 11	Denver		6 – 1	Colorado College	Magness Arena	Recap
(Staub, Hillman) Logan O'Connor - 05:11 (Terry) Tariq Hammond - GW - 15:57		First period		No scoring
(Terry, Borgström) Jarid Lukosevicius - 06:33 (Terry) Henrik Borgström - 14:40 (Lukosevicius, Hammond) Liam Finlay - 14:58		Second period		No scoring
(Terry, Borgström) Jarid Lukosevicius - 08:51		Third period		07:35 - Mason Bergh (Bradley, Williams)
( 18 saves / 18 shots ) Tanner Jaillet / ( 9 saves / 10 shots ) Devin Cooley		Goalie stats		Alex Leclerc ( 25 saves / 29 shots ) / Alec Calvaruso ( 9 saves / 11 shots )

Denver won series 2–1

(3) Minnesota–Duluth vs. (6) Western Michigan

March 9	Minnesota–Duluth		5 – 0	Western Michigan	AMSOIL Arena	Recap
(Swaney, Samberg) Avery Peterson - GW PP - 04:55 (Anderson, Perunovich) Riley Tufte - PP - 14:08		First period		No scoring
(Anderson, Krieger) Scott Perunovich - 04:55 (Perunovich, Anderson) Peter Krieger - PP - 14:08		Second period		No scoring
(Exell, Wolff) Blake Young - 17:54		Third period		No scoring
( 26 saves / 26 shots ) Hunter Shepard		Goalie stats		Austin Cain ( 8 saves / 12 shots ) / Ben Blacker ( 11 saves / 12 shots )

March 10	Minnesota–Duluth		2 – 0	Western Michigan	AMSOIL Arena	Recap
(Exell, Miller) Louie Roehl - GW - 02:24		First period		No scoring
No scoring		Second period		No scoring
(unassisted) Jared Thomas - EN - 00:52		Third period		No scoring
( 19 saves / 19 shots ) Hunter Shepard		Goalie stats		Ben Blacker ( 23 saves / 24 shots )

Minnesota–Duluth won series 2–0

(4) North Dakota vs. (5) Omaha

March 9	North Dakota		4 – 0	Omaha	Ralph Engelstad Arena	Recap
(Poganski, Poolman) Shane Gersich - GW - 13:52		First period		No scoring
(Gardner, Poolman) Christian Wolanin - PP - 01:00 (Shaw) Nick Jones - 12:39 (unassisted) Joel Janatuinen - 16:39		Second period		No scoring
No scoring		Third period		No scoring
( 25 saves / 25 shots ) Cam Johnson		Goalie stats		Evan Weninger ( 30 saves / 34 shots )

March 10	North Dakota		4 – 3	OT	Omaha	Ralph Engelstad Arena	Recap
(Smith, Simonson) Matt Kiersted - 10:13 (Olson, Wolanin) Dixon Bowen - 14:05		First period			15:28 - Teemu Pulkkinen (Buchta, Spinner)
No scoring		Second period			05:25 - Teemu Pulkkinen (Vesel, Jones)
(Poolman, Shaw) Nick Jones - 10:14		Third period			05:41 - Jake Randolph (Alferd, Pope)
(Kawaguchi, Poolman) Nick Jones - GW - 00:53		First overtime period			No scoring
( 18 saves / 21 shots ) Cam Johnson		Goalie stats			Evan Weninger ( 29 saves / 33 shots )

North Dakota won series 2–0

Semifinals

(1) St. Cloud State vs. (4) North Dakota

March 16	St. Cloud State		3 – 2	OT	North Dakota	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
(Ahcan, B. Lizotte) Patrick Newell - 05:54		First period			No scoring
(unassisted) Easton Brodzinski - 05:53		Second period			04:39 - Nick Jones (Olson, Poolman)
No scoring		Third period			10:10 - PP - Jordan Kawaguchi (Olson, Jones)
(unassisted) Nick Poehling - GW - 01:47		First overtime period			No scoring
( 21 saves / 23 shots ) Dávid Hrenák		Goalie stats			Cam Johnson ( 31 saves / 34 shots )

(2) Denver vs. (3) Minnesota–Duluth

March 16	Denver		3 – 1	Minnesota–Duluth	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
(Mitchell, Terry) Henrik Borgström - 08:55		First period		No scoring
(O'Connor, Davies) Colin Staub - GW - 04:22		Second period		01:37 - Scott Perunovich (Anderson, Thomas)
(O'Connor) Adam Plant - PP EN - 19:11		Third period		No scoring
( 24 saves / 25 shots ) Tanner Jaillet		Goalie stats		Hunter Shepard ( 16 saves / 18 shots )

Third place

(3) Minnesota–Duluth vs. (4) North Dakota

March 17	Minnesota–Duluth		1 – 4	North Dakota	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period		07:22 - Austin Poganski (Jones)
No scoring		Second period		07:22 - GW - Joel Janatuinen (Poolman)
(Samberg, Exell) Mikey Anderson - SH - 16:37		Third period		15:51 - PP - Shane Gersich (Hoff, Poganski) 19:04 - PP - Ludvig Hoff (Wolanin, Kawaguchi)
( 27 saves / 31 shots ) Hunter Shepard		Goalie stats		Cam Johnson ( 27 saves / 28 shots )

Championship

(1) St. Cloud State vs. (2) Denver

March 17	St. Cloud State		1 – 4	Denver	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period		04:24 - Kohen Olischefski (Barrow, Mitchell) 19:54 - GW - Jake Durflinger (O'Connor)
No scoring		Second period		02:06 - Ryan Barrow (Finlay, Olischefski)
(Fitzgerald) Ryan Poehling - 15:54		Third period		17:06 - Dylan Gambrell (unassisted)
( 10 saves / 13 shots ) Dávid Hrenák / ( 13 saves / 14 shots ) Jeff Smith		Goalie stats		Tanner Jaillet ( 19 saves / 23 shots )

Tournament awards

Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament Team

F Henrik Borgström (Denver)
F Nick Poehling (St. Cloud State)
F Logan O'Connor (Denver)
D Ian Mitchell (Denver)
D Jack Ahcan (St. Cloud State)
G Tanner Jaillet* (Denver)

* Most Valuable Player(s)

^[2]

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References

↑ "Format". Archived from the original on June 7, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
↑ "Denver Wins 2018 Frozen Faceoff". NCHC. March 17, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2018.

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[1] "Format". Archived from the original on June 7, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2017.

[2] "Denver Wins 2018 Frozen Faceoff". NCHC. March 17, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2018.

[1]

[2]

v t e NCHC Tournaments
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All-Tournament Team Frozen Faceoff MVP
NCHC

v t e 2018 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournaments
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