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NCAA Hockey: Comprehensive Tournament Preview

By Rohan Yaradi

ST PAUL, MN - APRIL 7: A Frozen Four banner is hung outside of the Xcel Energy Center prior to the Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship held on April 7, 2018 in St Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
ST PAUL, MN - APRIL 7: A Frozen Four banner is hung outside of the Xcel Energy Center prior to the Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship held on April 7, 2018 in St Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) /
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NCAA Hockey
Photo by Michael Tureski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images /

The NCAA Hockey postseason is starting up! Learn more about the teams, players, and games to watch over the next few weeks.

The NHL regular season may still be winding down, but the NCAA Hockey regular season was wrapped up last weekend when conference tournaments across the country were decided. That means that all that is left in the college hockey season is the national tournament.

While college sports fans are undoubtedly more concerned right now with the spectacle of March Madness, to overlook the NCAA Hockey tournament would be a mistake. These young men play with as much passion as the professionals in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

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If this will be your first time following the tournament, here is a brief background. The tournament consists of 16 teams (much smaller than in basketball), including the winners of the six conferences and the other top ten teams in the country, who receive “at-large” bids.

The first two rounds of the tournament will take place this weekend, from Friday, March 29th to Sunday the 31st. Each of the four bracket “quadrants” have a unique schedule, but each quadrant will complete their three matches (two first-round and one second-round) on back-to-back days.

While this may seem odd considering that the Stanley Cup playoffs almost never has the same team playing on back-to-back days, it is important to note that most college hockey teams play on Fridays and Saturdays, meaning they are used to playing two, or sometimes three days in a row.

The winner of each quadrant qualifies for the Frozen Four, which will take place in Buffalo’s Keybank Arena. The semis will take place on Friday, April 11th, followed by the finals on Sunday, April 13th. Over all four rounds, every game will be broadcast on an ESPN channel.

With that background out of the way, let us now take a look at each quadrant and each team in closer detail. Be sure to chime in with your thoughts on the NCAA Hockey tournament. Let’s get to it!

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