# 2016 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

The 2016 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament was the national championship tournament for men's college ice hockey in the United States in 2016. The tournament involved 16 teams in single-elimination play to determine the national champion at the Division I level of the NCAA, the highest level of competition in college hockey. The tournament's Frozen Four – the semifinals and finals – were hosted by the University of Wisconsin and the Tampa Bay Sports Commission at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
North Dakota defeated Quinnipiac 5–1 to win the program's 8th NCAA title.
This is the first time in NCAA college hockey history that a first year coach, Brad Berry, won the NCAA title.

## Tournament procedure

The tournament consisted of four groups of four teams in regional brackets. The four regionals are officially named after their geographic areas. The following were the sites for the 2016 regionals:

### March 25–26

    Midwest Regional, US Bank Arena – Cincinnati (Host: Miami University)
    Northeast Regional, DCU Center – Worcester, Massachusetts (Host: Holy Cross)

### March 26–27

    East Regional, Times Union Center – Albany, New York (Host: ECAC Hockey)
    West Regional, Xcel Energy Center – St. Paul, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota)
The winner of each regional advanced to the Frozen Four:

### April 7–9

    Amalie Arena – Tampa, Florida (Host: University of Wisconsin)

## Qualifying teams

The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament were announced on March 20. Hockey East had six teams receive a berth in the tournament, NCHC had four teams receive a berth, ECAC Hockey had three teams receive a berth, and one team from the Big Ten Conference, Atlantic Hockey, and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) received a berth.
| Midwest Regional – Cincinnati | Midwest Regional – Cincinnati | Midwest Regional – Cincinnati | Midwest Regional – Cincinnati | Midwest Regional – Cincinnati | Midwest Regional – Cincinnati | Midwest Regional – Cincinnati | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid |
| 1 | North Dakota (3) | NCHC | 30–6–4 | At-large bid | 31st | 2015 | 1 | Providence (4) | Hockey East | 27–6–4 | At-large bid | 12th | 2015 |
| 2 | Michigan | Big Ten | 24–7–5 | Tournament champion | 36th | 2012 | 2 | Boston College | Hockey East | 26–7–5 | At-large bid | 35th | 2015 |
| 3 | Notre Dame | Hockey East | 19–10–7 | At-large bid | 8th | 2014 | 3 | Harvard | ECAC | 19–10–4 | At-large bid | 23rd | 2015 |
| 4 | Northeastern | Hockey East | 22–13–5 | Tournament champion | 5th | 2009 | 4 | Minnesota-Duluth | NCHC | 18–15–5 | At-large bid | 10th | 2015 |
| East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | West Regional – Saint Paul | West Regional – Saint Paul | West Regional – Saint Paul | West Regional – Saint Paul | West Regional – Saint Paul | West Regional – Saint Paul | West Regional – Saint Paul |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid |
| 1 | Quinnipiac (1) | ECAC | 29–3–7 | Tournament champion | 5th | 2015 | 1 | St. Cloud State (2) | NCHC | 31–8–1 | Tournament champion | 12th | 2015 |
| 2 | UMass Lowell | Hockey East | 24–9–5 | At-large bid | 7th | 2014 | 2 | Denver | NCHC | 23–9–6 | At-large bid | 26th | 2015 |
| 3 | Yale | ECAC | 19–8–4 | At-large bid | 8th | 2015 | 3 | Boston University | Hockey East | 21–12–5 | At-large bid | 34th | 2015 |
| 4 | RIT | Atlantic Hockey | 18–14–6 | Tournament champion | 3rd | 2015 | 4 | Ferris State | WCHA | 19–14–6 | Tournament champion | 4th | 2014 |
Number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.

## Tournament bracket

| Regional semifinals March 25–26 | Regional semifinals March 25–26 | Regional semifinals March 25–26 | Regional Finals March 26–27 | Regional Finals March 26–27 | Regional Finals March 26–27 | Semifinals April 7 | Semifinals April 7 | Semifinals April 7 | | Championship April 9 | Championship April 9 | Championship April 9 |
| 1 | Quinnipiac (1) | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | RIT | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | RIT | 0 | 1 | Quinnipiac | 4 | | | | | | | |
| Albany, New York – Sat/Sun | Albany, New York – Sat/Sun | Albany, New York – Sat/Sun | 1 | Quinnipiac | 4 | | | | | | | |
| Albany, New York – Sat/Sun | Albany, New York – Sat/Sun | Albany, New York – Sat/Sun | 2 | UMass Lowell | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 2 | UMass Lowell | 3* | 2 | UMass Lowell | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Yale | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Yale | 2 | | | | E1 | Quinnipiac | 3 | | | | |
| | | | | | | NE2 | Boston College | 2 | | | | |
| 1 | Providence (4) | 1 | | | | | | | NE2 | Boston College | 2 | | | | |
| 4 | Minnesota–Duluth | 2** | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Minnesota–Duluth | 2** | 4 | Minnesota–Duluth | 2 | | | | | | | |
| Worcester, Massachusetts – Fri/Sat | Worcester, Massachusetts – Fri/Sat | Worcester, Massachusetts – Fri/Sat | 4 | Minnesota–Duluth | 2 | | | | | | | |
| Worcester, Massachusetts – Fri/Sat | Worcester, Massachusetts – Fri/Sat | Worcester, Massachusetts – Fri/Sat | 2 | Boston College | 3 | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Boston College | 4 | 2 | Boston College | 3 | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Harvard | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Harvard | 1 | | | | | | | | E1 | Quinnipiac | 1 |
| | | | | | | | | | | MW1 | North Dakota | 5 |
| 1 | St. Cloud State (2) | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | MW1 | North Dakota | 5 |
| 4 | Ferris State | 5* | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Ferris State | 5* | 4 | Ferris State | 3 | | | | | | | |
| St. Paul, Minnesota – Sat/Sun | St. Paul, Minnesota – Sat/Sun | St. Paul, Minnesota – Sat/Sun | 4 | Ferris State | 3 | | | | | | | |
| St. Paul, Minnesota – Sat/Sun | St. Paul, Minnesota – Sat/Sun | St. Paul, Minnesota – Sat/Sun | 2 | Denver | 6 | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Denver | 7 | 2 | Denver | 6 | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Boston University | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Boston University | 2 | | | | W2 | Denver | 2 | | | | |
| | | | | | | MW1 | North Dakota | 4 | | | | |
| 1 | North Dakota (3) | 6 | | | | | | | MW1 | North Dakota | 4 | | | | |
| 4 | Northeastern | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Northeastern | 2 | 1 | North Dakota | 5 | | | | | | | |
| Cincinnati – Fri/Sat | Cincinnati – Fri/Sat | Cincinnati – Fri/Sat | 1 | North Dakota | 5 | | | | | | | |
| Cincinnati – Fri/Sat | Cincinnati – Fri/Sat | Cincinnati – Fri/Sat | 2 | Michigan | 2 | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Michigan | 3* | 2 | Michigan | 2 | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Notre Dame | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

## Results
### National Championship – Tampa, Florida

Scoring summary :
| Period | Team | Goal | Assist(s) | Time | Score |
| 1st | UND | Shane Gersich (9) | Ausmus and Boeser | 11:56 | 1–0 UND |
| 1st | UND | Brock Boeser (27) – GW SH | unassisted | 14:16 | 2–0 UND |
| 1st | QUI | Tim Clifton (19) – PP | C. Clifton and St. Denis | 18:53 | 2–1 UND |
| 2nd | None | None | None | None | None |
| 3rd | UND | Drake Caggiula (24) | Schmaltz and Boeser | 41:21 | 3–1 UND |
| 3rd | UND | Drake Caggiula (25) | Boeser and LaDue | 43:41 | 4–1 UND |
| 3rd | UND | Austin Poganski (10) | Gardner and Ausmus | 50:41 | 5–1 UND |
| Penalty summary ||||||
| Period | Team | Player | Penalty | Time | PIM |
| 1st | UND | Bryn Chyzyk | Slashing | 09:57 | 2:00 |
| 1st | QUI | Travis St. Denis | Slashing | 09:57 | 2:00 |
| 1st | UND | Paul LaDue | Tripping | 13:19 | 2:00 |
| 1st | UND | Drake Caggiula | Cross-Checking | 18:41 | 2:00 |
| 1st | UND | Troy Stecher | Cross-Checking | 18:50 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | UND | Drake Caggiula | High-Sticking | 22:13 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | UND | Christian Wolanin | Roughing | 25:02 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | QUI | Sam Anas | Roughing | 25:02 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | QUI | Tommy Schutt | Hooking | 30:45 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | QUI | Derek Smith | Cross-Checking | 46:36 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | UND | Joel Janatuinen | Roughing | 57:34 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | QUI | Connor Clifton | Roughing | 57:34 | 2:00 |
Shots by period :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
| Quinnipiac | 13 | 9 | 11 | 33 |
| North Dakota | 16 | 9 | 11 | 36 |
Goaltenders :
| Team | Name | Saves | Goals against | Time on ice |
| QUI | Michael Garteig | 31 | 5 | 60:00 |
| UND | Cam Johnson | 32 | 1 | 60:00 |

## Record by conference

| Conference | # of Bids | Record | Win % | Regional Finals | Frozen Four | Championship Game | Champions |
| Hockey East | 6 | 3–6 | .333 | 2 | 1 | - | - |
| NCHC | 4 | 7–3 | .700 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| ECAC Hockey | 3 | 3–3 | .500 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
| WCHA | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | - | - | - |
| Big Ten | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | - | - | - |
| Atlantic Hockey | 1 | 0–1 | .000 | - | - | - | - |

## Media
### Television

ESPN has US television rights to all games during the tournament for the twelfth consecutive year. ESPN will air every game, beginning with the regionals, on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPNU, or ESPN3 and will stream them online via WatchESPN.
In Canada, the tournament is broadcast by TSN and streamed on TSN Go.

#### Broadcast Assignments

Regionals
* Midwest Regional: Allen Bestwick & Colby Cohen – Cincinnati, Ohio
* Northeast Regional: John Buccigross, Barry Melrose & Quint Kessenich – Worcester, Massachusetts
* East Regional: Kevin Brown & Billy Jaffe – Albany, New York
* West Regional: Clay Matvick & Sean Ritchlin – St. Paul, Minnesota
Frozen Four & Championship
* John Buccigross, Barry Melrose, & Quint Kessenich – Tampa, Florida

### Radio

Westwood One has exclusive radio rights to the Frozen Four and will air both the semifinals and the championship.
* Sean Grande, Cap Raeder, & Shireen Saski

## All-Tournament team
### Frozen Four

* G: Cam Johnson (North Dakota)
* D: Troy Stecher (North Dakota)
* D: Connor Clifton (Quinnipiac)
* F: Drake Caggiula* (North Dakota)
* F: Brock Boeser (North Dakota)
* F: Travis St. Denis (Quinnipiac)
* Most Outstanding Player(s)