The 2018
NCHC Tournament was the fifth
tournament
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
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
Xcel Energy Center (also known as "The X") is a multipurpose arena in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Completed in 2000, it is named for its locally based corporate sponsor Xcel Energy. With an official capacity of 17,954, the arena has four ...
in
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...
. By winning the tournament,
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
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
Xcel Energy Center (also known as "The X") is a multipurpose arena in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Completed in 2000, it is named for its locally based corporate sponsor Xcel Energy. With an official capacity of 17,954, the arena has four ...
for the NCHC Frozen Faceoff. The Frozen Faceoff uses a
single-elimination
A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
format. Teams are re-seeded No. 1 through No. 4 according to the final regular season conference standings.
Conference standings
''Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against''
Bracket
Teams are reseeded after the first round
* denotes overtime periods
Results
All times are local.
Quarterfinals
(1) St. Cloud State vs. (8) Miami
(2) Denver vs. (7) Colorado College
(3) Minnesota–Duluth vs. (6) Western Michigan
(4) North Dakota vs. (5) Omaha
Semifinals
(1) St. Cloud State vs. (4) North Dakota
(2) Denver vs. (3) Minnesota–Duluth
Third place
(3) Minnesota–Duluth vs. (4) North Dakota
Championship
(1) St. Cloud State vs. (2) Denver
Tournament awards
Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament Team
*F
Henrik Borgström
Kurt Henrik Mikael Borgström (born 6 August 1997) is a Finnish professional ice hockey player who is currently playing with the Hershey Bears in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract with the Washington Capitals in the National ...
(Denver)
*F
Nick Poehling (St. Cloud State)
*F
Logan O'Connor
Logan O'Connor (born August 14, 1996) is an American and Canadian professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). O'Connor won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2022. He has b ...
(Denver)
*D
Ian Mitchell (Denver)
*D
Jack Ahcan
Jack Anthony Ahcan ( born May 18, 1997) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman currently playing for the Colorado Eagles in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League ( ...
(St. Cloud State)
*G
Tanner Jaillet*
(Denver)
* Most Valuable Player(s)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:NCHC Tournament, 2017
NCHC Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
Ice hockey in Minnesota
College sports in Minnesota
2018 in sports in Minnesota
March 2018 sports events in the United States