2022 NCHC Tournament

The 2022 NCHC Tournament was the eighth tournament in league history. It was played between March 11 and 19, 2022. Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the final four matches were held at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. As the tournament winner, Minnesota Duluth earned the NCHC's automatic bid to the 2022 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

2022 NCHC Men's ice hockey tournament
Dates	March 11–19, 2022
Teams	8
Finals site	Xcel Energy Center Saint Paul, Minnesota
Champions	Minnesota Duluth (3rd title)
Winning coach	Scott Sandelin (3rd title)
MVP	Ryan Fanti (Minnesota Duluth)
NCHC Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments ← 2021 2023 →

Format

The first round of the postseason tournament featured a best-of-three games format. All eight conference teams participated in the tournament. Teams were 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 advanced to the Xcel Energy Center for the NCHC Frozen Faceoff. The Frozen Faceoff used a single-elimination format. Teams were re-seeded No. 1 through No. 4 according to the final regular season conference standings.^[1]

Standings

2021–22 National Collegiate Hockey Conference Standings v t e
	Conference record											Overall record
	GP	W	L	T	OTW	OTL	3/SW	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#1 Denver †	24	18	6	0	1	0	0	53	98	55		41	31	9	1	175	93
#9 North Dakota †	24	17	6	1	1	1	1	53	78	58		39	24	14	1	119	99
#6 Western Michigan	24	14	9	1	1	0	1	43	84	68		39	26	12	1	138	101
#11 St. Cloud State	24	10	10	4	1	2	1	36	84	69		37	18	15	4	133	97
#5 Minnesota Duluth *	24	10	10	4	1	1	2	36	61	56		42	22	16	4	109	93
Omaha	24	11	13	0	2	1	0	32	65	74		38	21	17	0	123	102
Colorado College	24	6	17	1	2	1	0	18	48	87		36	9	24	3	79	116
Miami	24	4	19	1	0	3	1	17	54	105		36	7	27	2	94	153
Championship: March 19, 2022 † indicates conference regular season champion (Penrose Cup) * indicates conference tournament champion (Frozen Faceoff Championship Trophy) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Bracket

Teams are reseeded for the Semifinals

	Quarterfinals March 11–13							Semifinals March 18					Championship March 19
	1	Denver	5	5	-
	8	Miami	2	1	-
								1	Denver	0
								5	Minnesota Duluth	2
	2	North Dakota	2	2	-
	7	Colorado College	1	1	-
													5	Minnesota Duluth	3
	(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
													3	Western Michigan	0
	3	Western Michigan	4	5*	-
	6	Omaha	2	4	-
								2	North Dakota	2
								3	Western Michigan	4
	4	St. Cloud State	2	3	-
	5	Minnesota Duluth	5	4*	-

* denotes overtime periods

Results

Quarterfinals

(1) Denver vs. (8) Miami

March 11, 2022 7:07 PM

Denver

5 – 2 (1–1, 2–0, 2–1)

Miami

Magness Arena Attendance: 4,255

Game reference
	Magnus Chrona	Goalies	Ludvig Persson	Referees: Mike Sheehan Sterling Egan Linesmen: John Grandt Erik Contino
	0–1 03:19 – PP – Chase Pletzke (7) (Savage, Gresock) (Brink, Benning) Cole Guttman (16) – PP – 07:25 1–1 (Wright, Webster) Jack Devine (3) – 22:05 2–1 (Lee, Mazur) McKade Webster (6) – GW – 22:36 3–1 (Rizzo, Benning) Brett Stapley (15) – PP – 47:37 4–1 4–2 51:11 – Chase Gresock (9) (Capstick, Barry) (Stapley) Shai Buium (3) – EN – 59:07 5–2
	18 min	Penalties	20 min
	38	Shots	22

March 12, 2022 6:07 PM

Denver

5 – 1 (1–0, 2–0, 2–1)

Miami

Magness Arena Attendance: 5,210

Game reference
	Magnus Chrona	Goalies	Ludvig Persson	Referees: Mike Sheehan Sterling Egan Linesmen: John Grandt Erik Contino
	(Guttman, Savoie) Mike Benning (14) – 09:16 1–0 (Mazur, Buium) Massimo Rizzo (11) – GW – 21:11 2–0 (Brink, Savoie) Cole Guttman (17) – PP – 24:36 3–0 (Guttman, Benning) Carter Mazur (14) – PP – 51:05 4–0 4–1 54:34 – Derek Daschke (9) (Fletcher, Clement) (Barrow, Behrens) Cole Guttman (18) – SH – 55:47 5–1
	19 min	Penalties	24 min
	44	Shots	25

Denver Won Series 2–0

(2) North Dakota vs. (7) Colorado College

March 11, 2022 7:07 PM

North Dakota

2 – 1 (0–0, 2–1, 0–0)

Colorado College

Ralph Engelstad Arena Attendance: 10,475

Game reference
	Zach Driscoll	Goalies	Matt Vernon	Referees: Brandon Schmitt Timm Walsh Linesmen: Justin Hills Tyler Liffrig
	(Caulfield, Schmaltz) Jake Sanderson (8) – 22:25 1–0 1–1 23:37 – Jordan Biro (6) (Cooley, McKown) (Jandric, Schmaltz) Tyler Kleven (7) – GW – 32:54 2–1
	2 min	Penalties	2 min
	23	Shots	16

March 12, 2022 6:07 PM

North Dakota

2 – 1 (0–0, 2–1, 0–0)

Colorado College

Ralph Engelstad Arena Attendance: 10,095

Game reference
	Zach Driscoll	Goalies	Matt Vernon	Referees: Brandon Schmitt Timm Walsh Linesmen: Justin Hills Tyler Liffrig
	(Albrecht, Moore) Matteo Costantini (8) – 21:28 1–0 1–1 23:10 – PP – Stanley Cooley (6) (Andrews, Gleason) (Sanderson, Caulfield) Riese Gaber (15) – GW PP – 34:57 2–1
	19 min	Penalties	8 min
	22	Shots	30

North Dakota Won Series 2–0

(3) Western Michigan vs. (6) Omaha

March 11, 2022 7:05 PM

Western Michigan

4 – 2 (1–2, 0–0, 3–0)

Omaha

Lawson Arena Attendance: 3,107

Game reference
	Brandon Bussi	Goalies	Isaiah Saville	Referees: Nick Krebsbach Joe Sullivan Linesmen: Dan Cohen Eric Frank
	(Hillebrand, Passolt) Luke Grainger (5) – 03:45 1–0 1–1 16:08 – PP – Matt Miller (10) (Berg) 1–2 18:01 – Taylor Ward (19) (Primeau, McManus) (Passolt) Luke Grainger (6) – 47:57 2–2 (Glover, Fulp) Luke Grainger (7) – GW – 55:38 3–2 (Gallant, Bussi) Ethen Frank (26) – 58:36 4–2
	6 min	Penalties	8 min
	28	Shots	31

March 12, 2022 7:05 PM

Western Michigan

5 – 4 (OT) (1–2, 3–1, 0–1, 1–0)

Omaha

Lawson Arena Attendance: 3,669

Game reference
	Brandon Bussi	Goalies	Isaiah Saville	Referees: Nick Krebsbach Joe Sullivan Linesmen: Dan Cohen Eric Frank
	0–1 10:05 – PP – Kevin Conley (10) (Tychonick, Weiss) (Passolt, Attard) Max Sasson (8) – PP – 16:17 1–1 1–2 17:36 – PP – Jonny Tychonick (2) (Conley, Weiss) 1–3 24:48 – Nolan Sullivan (19) (Bremer, Knoepke) (Sasson, Glover) Jason Polin (16) – 33:20 2–3 (Glover, Fulp) Ronnie Attard (13) – 33:54 3–3 (Attard, Frank) Drew Worrad (8) – 38:07 4–3 4–4 50:47 – Jack Randl (9) (Miller) (Frank) Drew Worrad (9) – GW – 64:42 5–4
	6 min	Penalties	6 min
	34	Shots	22

Western Michigan Won Series 2–0

(4) St. Cloud State vs. (5) Minnesota Duluth

March 11, 2022 7:07 PM

St. Cloud State

2 – 5 (1–1, 1–4, 0–0)

Minnesota Duluth

Herb Brooks National Hockey Center Attendance: 2,594

Game reference
	Jaxon Castor	Goalies	Ryan Fanti	Referees: Ryan Hersey Dan Dreger Linesmen: Jeff Schultz Dana Penkivech
	0–1 14:07 – Noah Cates (5) (Bender, Gallatin) (Miller, Peart) Kevin Fitzgerald (17) – 19:22 1–1 (Perbix, Brodzinski) Nolan Walker (9) – PP – 21:36 2–1 2–2 29:09 – Koby Bender (5) (Gotz, Gallatin) 2–3 29:39 – GW PP – Koby Bender (6) (Cates, Kaiser) 2–4 36:44 – Koby Bender (7) (Cates) 2–5 37:18 – Blake Biondi (16) (James, Olson)
	11 min	Penalties	8 min
	23	Shots	38

March 12, 2022 6:07 PM

St. Cloud State

3 – 4 (OT) (1–0, 1–0, 1–3, 0–1)

Minnesota Duluth

Herb Brooks National Hockey Center Attendance: 3,227

Game reference
	Jaxon Castor	Goalies	Ryan Fanti	Referees: Ryan Hersey Dan Dreger Linesmen: Jeff Schultz Dana Penkivech
	(Okabe, Trejbal) Nick Perbix (17) – 05:09 1–0 (Okabe, Bushy) Jami Krannila (15) – 21:38 2–0 2–1 40:56 – PP – Noah Cates (10) (Bender, Kaiser) 2–2 43:30 – PP – Dominic James (5) (Biondi, Kelley) (Kupka, Trejbal) Nick Perbix (6) – 43:41 3–2 3–3 57:03 – Tanner Laderoute (10) (Anderson, Jacques) 3–4 70:58 – GW – Noah Cates (11) (Roth, Gilling)
	6 min	Penalties	10 min
	41	Shots	41

Minnesota Duluth Won Series 2–0

Semifinals

(1) Denver vs. (5) Minnesota Duluth

March 18, 2022 4:00 PM

Denver

0 – 2 (0-1, 0–0, 0-1)

Minnesota Duluth

Xcel Energy Center Attendance: 10,253

Game reference
	Magnus Chrona	Goalies	Ryan Fanti	Referees: Nathan Wieler Joe Sullivan Linesmen: Justin Hills Erik Contino
	0–1 14:47 – GW – Blake Biondi (17) (Jacques) 0–2 59:40 – EN – Kobe Roth (16) (unassisted)
	6 min	Penalties	8 min
	30	Shots	31

(2) North Dakota vs. (3) Western Michigan

March 18, 2022 7:30 PM

North Dakota

2 – 4 (1–1, 1-2, 0-1)

Western Michigan

Xcel Energy Center Attendance: 10,253

Game reference
	Zach Driscoll	Goalies	Brandon Bussi	Referees: Timm Walsh Dan Dreger Linesmen: Jeff Schultz Dana Penkivech
	(Gaber, Ford) Judd Caulfield (11) – 11:45 1–0 1–1 13:38 – Ty Glover (7) (Sasson, Attard) 1–2 33:34 – PP – Ty Glover (8) (Joyaux, Worrad) 1–3 39:29 – GW – Hugh Larkin (3) (Worrad) (Senden) Nick Portz (2) – 39:53 2–3 2–4 58:27 – EN – Max Sasson (6) (unassisted)
	11 min	Penalties	12 min
	23	Shots	26

Championship

(3) Western Michigan vs. (5) Minnesota Duluth

March 19, 2022 7:30 PM

Western Michigan

0 - 3 (0-1, 0-1, 0-1)

Minnesota Duluth

Xcel Energy Center Attendance: 7,814

Game reference
	Brandon Bussi	Goalies	Ryan Fanti	Referees: Nick Krebsbach Ryan Hersey Linesmen: John Grandt Tyler Liffrig
	0-1 05:26 - GW - Dominic James (6) (unassisted) 0-2 25:59 - PP - Casey Gilling (8) (Kaiser, Bender) 0-3 49:12 - Wyatt Kaiser (2) (unassisted)
	6 min	Penalties	6 min
	19	Shots	25

Tournament awards

Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament Team

• F: Blake Biondi (Minnesota Duluth)
• F: Ty Glover (Western Michigan)
• F: Dominic James (Minnesota Duluth)
• D: Ronnie Attard (Western Michigan)
• D: Wyatt Kaiser (Minnesota Duluth)
• G: Ryan Fanti* (Minnesota Duluth)

* Most Valuable Player(s)

^[2]