2025 NCHC Tournament

The 2025 NCHC Tournament was the 11th tournament in league history. It was played between March 14 and 22, 2025. Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the semifinal and championship matches were held at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. As the tournament winner, Western Michigan, earned the NCHC's automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament.^[1][2]

2025 NCHC Men's ice hockey tournament
Dates	March 14–22, 2025
Teams	8
Finals site	Xcel Energy Center Saint Paul, Minnesota
Champions	Western Michigan (1st title)
Winning coach	Pat Ferschweiler (1st title)
NCHC Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments ← 2024 2026 →

Format

The first round of the postseason tournament features a best-of-three games format. The top 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 uses a single-elimination format. Teams were re-seeded No. 1 through No. 4 according to the final regular season conference standings.^[3]

Standings

2024–25 National Collegiate Hockey Conference Standings v t e
	Conference record											Overall record
	GP	W	L	T	OTW	OTL	SW	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#1 Western Michigan †*	24	19	4	1	4	3	0	57	98	51		42	34	7	1	167	86
#16 Arizona State	24	14	9	1	2	5	1	47	91	69		37	21	14	2	136	103
#3 Denver	24	15	8	1	2	1	0	45	89	59		44	31	12	1	174	94
Omaha	24	14	9	1	1	1	1	44	82	69		36	18	17	1	105	99
#18 North Dakota	24	14	9	1	3	1	1	42	81	73		38	21	15	2	120	111
Colorado College	24	11	12	1	4	1	1	32	68	72		37	18	18	1	106	113
Minnesota Duluth	24	9	13	2	2	2	1	30	63	77		36	13	20	3	99	117
St. Cloud State	24	7	16	1	2	3	0	23	53	79		36	14	21	1	79	110
Miami	24	0	23	1	0	3	0	4	38	114		34	3	28	3	63	143
Championship: March 22, 2025 † 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 14–16							Semifinals March 21					Championship March 22
	1	Western Michigan	6	6	-
	8	St. Cloud State	2	2	-
								1	Western Michigan	4
								5	North Dakota	2
	2	Arizona State	4	6*	-
	7	Minnesota Duluth	3	5	-
													1	Western Michigan	4**
													3	Denver	3
	3	Denver	1	6	9
	6	Colorado College	3	3	2
								2	Arizona State	2
								3	Denver	4
	4	Omaha	2	2	-
	5	North Dakota	3	3	-

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Results

Note: All game times are local.

Quarterfinals

(1) Western Michigan vs. (8) St. Cloud State

March 14, 2025 7:00 pm

Western Michigan

6–2 (2–1, 3–0, 1–1)

St. Cloud State

Lawson Arena Attendance: 3,553

Game reference
	Hampton Slukynsky	Goalies	Isak Posch (out 40:00) James Gray (in 40:00)	Referees: Brian Hankes Andrew Wilk Linesmen: Troy Marrett Christopher Williams
	(Michaels, Bump) Matteo Costantini (7) – PP – 09:17 1–0 (Valente, Bump) Matteo Costantini (8) – 19:07 2–0 2–1 19:31 – Josh Luedtke (3) (Gardner, Thoreson) (Washe, Schingoethe) Iiro Hakkarainen (10) – GW – 22:34 3–1 (Nehring, G. Slukynsky) Tim Washe (12) – 34:58 4–1 (G. Slukynsky, Schingoethe) Iiro Hakkarainen (11) – 37:09 5–1 5–2 47:58 – PP – Verner Miettinen (7) (Burnevik, Wylie) (unassisted) Alex Bump (18) – 49:14 6–2
	8 min	Penalties	10 min
	41	Shots	27

March 15, 2025 6:00 pm

Western Michigan

6–2 (1–0, 1–0, 4–2)

St. Cloud State

Lawson Arena Attendance: 3,456

Game reference
	Hampton Slukynsky	Goalies	Isak Posch	Referees: Brian Hankes Andrew Wilk Linesmen: Troy Marrett Christopher Williams
	(Sjolund, Valente) Alex Bump (19) – PP – 07:38 1–0 (Knuble, Sharp) Garrett Szydlowski (3) – 37:06 2–0 (Kramer, Crusberg-Roseen) Tim Washe (13) – GW – 41:32 3–0 3–1 47:17 – PP – Tyson Gross (9) (Burnevik, Miettinen) (Washe, Hakkarainen) Wyatt Schingoethe (4) – 50:18 4–1 4–2 53:41 – EA – Verner Miettinen (8) (Wylie, Ingram) (Costantini, Drazner) Alex Bump (20) – EN – 54:20 5–2 (Hakkarainen, Sjolund) Tim Washe (14) – EN – 57:54 6–2
	10 min	Penalties	10 min
	38	Shots	20

Western Michigan wins series 2–0

(2) Arizona State vs. (7) Minnesota Duluth

March 14, 2025 7:00 pm

Arizona State

4–3 (2–1, 1–2, 1–0)

Minnesota Duluth

Mullett Arena Attendance: 5,236

Game reference
	Luke Pavicich	Goalies	Adam Gajan	Referees: Ryan Hersey Nathan Wieler Linesmen: Chase McGee Lucas Bisbee
	(Schimek, Shlaine) Ryan Kirwan (24) – 03:51 1–0 (unassisted) Charlie Schoen (4) – 06:44 2–0 2–1 12:37 – Max Plante (8) (Z. Plante, Shaugabay) 2–2 30:29 – Dominic James (6) (Menghini, Hanson) (Sillinger, Beck) Bennett Schimek (14) – 31:20 3–2 3–3 36:28 – Zam Plante (6) (Gallatin, M. Plante) (Smolen, T. Jackson) Anthony Dowd (2) – GW – 45:39 4–3
	8 min	Penalties	6 min
	23	Shots	31

March 15, 2025 6:00 pm

Arizona State

6–5 (OT) (0–3, 3–1, 2–1, 1–0)

Minnesota Duluth

Mullett Arena Attendance: 5,182

Game reference
	Luke Pavicich (out 20:00) Gibson Homer (in 20:00)	Goalies	Adam Gajan	Referees: Ryan Hersey Nathan Wieler Linesmen: Chase McGee Lucas Bisbee
	0–1 08:22 – Max Plante (9) (unassisted) 0–2 16:26 – Matthew Perkins (1) (Dubinsky, Pionk) 0–3 18:41 – Jayson Shaugabay (11) (Z. Plante, M. Plante) (Kirwan, Schoen) Artem Shlaine (15) – 21:04 1–3 (Beck, T. Jackson) Dylan Jackson (7) – 23:11 2–3 (Potter, Szmagaj) Noah Beck (5) – 25:01 3–3 3–4 18:41 – Jayson Shaugabay (12) (M. Plante, Pionk) (Boser, Kirwan) Artem Shlaine (16) – 49:35 4–4 4–5 51:06 – Dominic James (14) (Menghini) (T. Jackson, Lucius) Bennett Schimek (15) – PP – 53:21 5–5 (Schoen, Szmagaj) Ryan Kirwan (25) – GW – 66:08 6–5
	2 min	Penalties	4 min
	39	Shots	49

Arizona State wins series 2–0

(3) Denver vs. (6) Colorado College

March 14, 2025 7:00 pm

Denver

1–3 (0–0, 1–0, 0–3)

Colorado College

Magness Arena Attendance: 6,708

Game reference
	Matt Davis	Goalies	Kaidan Mbereko	Referees: Brandon Schmitt Nick Krebsbach Linesmen: Erik Contino Dylan Peper
	(King) Jack Devine (13) – PP – 33:38 1–0 1–1 27:44 – PP – Ty Gallagher (7) (Wisdom, Burkholder) 1–2 56:17 – GW – Brady Cleveland (1) (Link, Blais-Savoie) 1–3 59:23 – EN – Noah Laba (6) (Middleton, Scott)
	6 min	Penalties	8 min
	34	Shots	23

March 15, 2025 6:00 pm

Denver

6–3 (2–2, 3–1, 1–0)

Colorado College

Magness Arena Attendance: 6,743

Game reference
	Matt Davis (out 59:02) Freddie Halyk (in 59:02)	Goalies	Kaidan Mbereko (out 41:10) Carsen Musser (in 41:10)	Referees: Brandon Schmitt Nick Krebsbach Linesmen: Erik Contino Dylan Peper
	0–1 02:15 – Noah Laba (10) (Wisdom, Koering) (unassisted) Zeev Buium (9) – PP – 05:41 1–1 1–2 08:58 – Tommy Middleton (1) (Beck) (King) Aidan Thompson (18) – PP – 14:40 2–2 (Caponi, Fisher) Hagen Burrows (1) – 23:08 3–2 (Thompson) Zeev Buium (10) – GW PP – 26:39 4–2 4–3 32:09 – PP – Bret Link (7) (Veinbergs, Beckner) (Burrows) Connor Caponi (3) – 38:00 5–3 (Buckberger) Sam Harris (21) – 48:10 6–3
	10 min	Penalties	22 min
	36	Shots	23

March 16, 2025 6:00 pm

Denver

9–2 (2–1, 3–0, 4–1)

Colorado College

Magness Arena Attendance: 5,063

Game reference
	Matt Davis (out 47:44) Freddie Halyk (in 47:44)	Goalies	Carsen Musser (out 50:14) Henry Wilder (in 50:14)	Referees: Brandon Schmitt Nick Krebsbach Linesmen: Erik Contino Dylan Peper
	(Ashcroft, Brown) Samu Salminen (10) – 02:20 1–0 (Burrows, Ashcroft) Garrett Brown (2) – EA – 17:27 2–0 2–1 18:32 – Ty Gallagher (8) (Veremyev, Link) (Buium, Devine) Kent Anderson (1) – GW – 23:38 3–1 (Wright, Ashcroft) Kieran Cebrian (6) – 35:58 4–1 (unassisted) Carter King (19) – SH – 37:29 5–1 (Thompson, Devine) Carter King (20) – PP – 40:49 6–1 6–2 42:49 – SH – Ty Gallagher (9) (Laba) (Lorenz, Reeder) Boston Buckberger (8) – 43:38 7–2 (Devine, Buium) Eric Pohlkamp (9) – PP – 49:28 8–2 (Salminen, Buckberger) Rieger Lorenz (6) – PP – 50:14 9–2
	8 min	Penalties	14 min
	33	Shots	25

Denver wins series 2–1

(4) Omaha vs. (5) North Dakota

March 14, 2025 7:00 pm

Omaha

2–3 (2–1, 0–2, 0–0)

North Dakota

Baxter Arena Attendance: 6,068

Game reference
	Simon Latkoczy	Goalies	T. J. Semptimphelter	Referees: Stephen Reneau Sterling Egan Linesmen: Jeff Schultz Sam Rankin
	(Stange, Glynn) Harrison Israels (10) – PP – 00:30 1–0 1–1 07:09 – PP – Jayden Perron (10) (Schmaltz, Swanson) (Israels, Risk) Jacob Guévin (7) – 14:03 2–1 2–2 22:40 – Cade Littler (5) (Kunz, MacDonald) 2–3 23:03 – GW – Cade Littler (6) (MacDonald, Kunz)
	4 min	Penalties	8 min
	33	Shots	18

March 15, 2025 7:00 pm

Omaha

2–3 (1–0, 1–0, 0–3)

North Dakota

Baxter Arena Attendance: 6,068

Game reference
	Simon Latkoczy	Goalies	T. J. Semptimphelter	Referees: Stephen Reneau Sterling Egan Linesmen: Jeff Schultz Sam Rankin
	(Israels, Krenzen) Myles Hilman (6) – 14:49 1–0 (Krenzen, Broberg) Sam Stange (16) – 26:29 2–0 2–1 46:10 – PP – Carter Wilkie (10) (Boisvert, McLaughlin) 2–2 46:39 – Cade Littler (7) (Wiebe, Kunz) 2–3 58:24 – GW – Jayden Jubenvill (6) (Boisvert, MacDonald)
	12 min	Penalties	13 min
	34	Shots	31

North Dakota wins series 2–0

Semifinals

(1) Western Michigan vs. (5) North Dakota

March 21, 2025 7:30 pm

Western Michigan

4–2 (1–1, 0–0, 3–1)

North Dakota

Xcel Energy Center Attendance: 7,532

Game reference
	Hampton Slukynsky	Goalies	T. J. Semptimphelter	Referees: Nathan Wieler Ryan Hersey Linesmen: Tyler Liffrig Erik Contino
	(unassisted) Alex Bump (21) – 12:33 1–0 1–1 18:17 – PP – Sacha Boisvert (17) (McLaughlin, Berg) (Valente) Grant Slukynsky (9) – 47:23 2–1 (Nehring, Washe) Iiro Hakkarainen (12) – GW EN – 58:06 3–1 3–2 59:10 – Sacha Boisvert (14) (McLaughlin) (unassisted) Samuel Sjolund (4) – EN – 59:36 4–2
	4 min	Penalties	4 min
	41	Shots	25

(2) Arizona State vs. (3) Denver

March 21, 2025 4:00 pm

Arizona State

2–4 (0–2, 2–0, 0–2)

Denver

Xcel Energy Center Attendance: 7,532

Game reference
	Luke Pavicich	Goalies	Matt Davis	Referees: Sterling Egan Stephen Reneau Linesmen: Jeff Schultz Tony Aronson
	0–1 01:29 – Boston Buckberger (9) (Wright, Cebrian) 0–2 17:29 – PP – Sam Harris (14) (Thompson, King) (Sillinger, Beck) Ryan Kirwan (26) – PP – 27:52 1–2 (unassisted) Artem Shlaine (17) – 39:29 2–2 2–3 50:08 – GW – Aidan Thompson (19) (King, Devine) 2–4 58:57 – EN – Connor Caponi (4) (Devine)
	4 min	Penalties	4 min
	29	Shots	32

Championship

(1) Western Michigan vs. (3) Denver

March 22, 2025 7:30 pm

Western Michigan

4–3 (2OT) (0–0, 0–3, 3–0, 0–0, 1–0)

Denver

Xcel Energy Center Attendance: 5,853

Game reference
	Hampton Slukynsky	Goalies	Matt Davis	Referees: Brandon Schmitt Nick Krebsbach Linesmen: Eric Frank Christopher Williams
	0–1 25:46 – Jake Fisher (8) (Salminen, Brown) 0–2 29:05 – Eric Pohlkamp (10) (Lorenz, Wright) 0–3 30:27 – Zeev Buium (11) (unassisted) (Valente, G. Slukynsky) Zack Sharp (5) – 43:21 1–3 (Michaels) Alex Bump (22) – 53:19 2–3 (Hakkarainen, Väisänen) Tim Washe (15) – 56:20 3–3 (unassisted) Alex Bump (23) – GW – 80:22 4–3
	4 min	Penalties	4 min
	50	Shots	29

Tournament awards