# 2018 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

The 2018 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament was the national championship tournament for men's college ice hockey in the United States. The tournament involved 16 teams in single-elimination play to determine the national champion at the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the highest level of competition in college hockey. The tournament's Frozen Four – the semifinals and final – were hosted by the University of Minnesota at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota from April 5–7, 2018.
Minnesota-Duluth defeated Notre Dame 2–1 to win the program's 2nd NCAA title.

## Tournament procedure

The tournament is composed of four groups of four teams in regional brackets. The four regionals are officially named after their geographic areas. The following are the sites for the 2018 regionals:

### March 23–24

    East Regional, Webster Bank Arena – Bridgeport, Connecticut (Host: Fairfield and Yale)
    West Regional, Premier Center – Sioux Falls, South Dakota (Host: North Dakota)

### March 24–25

    Northeast Regional, DCU Center – Worcester, Massachusetts (Host: Holy Cross)
    Midwest Regional, PPL Center – Allentown, Pennsylvania (Host: Penn State)
The winner of each regional will advance to the Frozen Four:

### April 5–7

    Xcel Energy Center – St. Paul, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota)

## Qualifying teams

The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament were announced on March 18. The Big Ten had four teams receive a berth in the tournament, the NCHC, Hockey East, and ECAC Hockey each had three teams receive a berth, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) had two teams receive a berth, and one team from Atlantic Hockey received a berth.
| East Regional – Bridgeport | East Regional – Bridgeport | East Regional – Bridgeport | East Regional – Bridgeport | East Regional – Bridgeport | East Regional – Bridgeport | East Regional – Bridgeport | West Regional – Sioux Falls | West Regional – Sioux Falls | West Regional – Sioux Falls | West Regional – Sioux Falls | West Regional – Sioux Falls | West Regional – Sioux Falls | West Regional – Sioux Falls |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid |
| 1 | Notre Dame (2) | Big Ten | 25–9–2 | Tournament champion | 10th | 2017 | 1 | St. Cloud State (1) | NCHC | 25–8–6 | At-large bid | 13th | 2016 |
| 2 | Providence | Hockey East | 23–11–4 | At-large bid | 14th | 2017 | 2 | Minnesota State | WCHA | 29–9–1 | At-large bid | 5th | 2015 |
| 3 | Clarkson | ECAC | 23–10–6 | At-large bid | 21st | 2008 | 3 | Minnesota–Duluth | NCHC | 21–16–3 | At-large bid | 12th | 2017 |
| 4 | Michigan Tech | WCHA | 22–16–5 | Tournament champion | 13th | 2017 | 4 | Air Force | Atlantic Hockey | 22–14–5 | Tournament champion | 7th | 2017 |
| Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Midwest Regional – Allentown | Midwest Regional – Allentown | Midwest Regional – Allentown | Midwest Regional – Allentown | Midwest Regional – Allentown | Midwest Regional – Allentown | Midwest Regional – Allentown |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid |
| 1 | Cornell (3) | ECAC | 25–5–2 | At-large bid | 21st | 2017 | 1 | Ohio State (4) | Big Ten | 24–9–5 | At-large bid | 8th | 2017 |
| 2 | Michigan | Big Ten | 20–14–3 | At-large bid | 37th | 2016 | 2 | Denver | NCHC | 20–9–8 | Tournament champion | 28th | 2017 |
| 3 | Northeastern | Hockey East | 23–9–5 | At-large bid | 6th | 2016 | 3 | Penn State | Big Ten | 18–14–5 | At-large bid | 2nd | 2017 |
| 4 | Boston University | Hockey East | 21–13–4 | Tournament champion | 36th | 2017 | 4 | Princeton | ECAC | 19–12–4 | Tournament champion | 4th | 2009 |
Number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.

## Tournament bracket

| Regional semifinals March 23–24 | Regional semifinals March 23–24 | Regional semifinals March 23–24 | Regional Finals March 24–25 | Regional Finals March 24–25 | Regional Finals March 24–25 | Semifinals April 5 | Semifinals April 5 | Semifinals April 5 | | Championship April 7 | Championship April 7 | Championship April 7 |
| 1 | St. Cloud State (1) | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Air Force | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Air Force | 4 | 4 | Air Force | 1 | | | | | | | |
| Sioux Falls – Fri/Sat | Sioux Falls – Fri/Sat | Sioux Falls – Fri/Sat | 4 | Air Force | 1 | | | | | | | |
| Sioux Falls – Fri/Sat | Sioux Falls – Fri/Sat | Sioux Falls – Fri/Sat | 3 | Minnesota–Duluth | 2 | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Minnesota State | 2 | 3 | Minnesota–Duluth | 2 | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Minnesota–Duluth | 3* | | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Minnesota–Duluth | 3* | | | | W3 | Minnesota-Duluth | 2 | | | | |
| | | | | | | MW1 | Ohio State (4) | 1 | | | | |
| 1 | Ohio State (4) | 4 | | | | | | | MW1 | Ohio State (4) | 1 | | | | |
| 4 | Princeton | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Princeton | 2 | 1 | Ohio State (4) | 5 | | | | | | | |
| Allentown – Sat/Sun | Allentown – Sat/Sun | Allentown – Sat/Sun | 1 | Ohio State (4) | 5 | | | | | | | |
| Allentown – Sat/Sun | Allentown – Sat/Sun | Allentown – Sat/Sun | 2 | Denver | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Denver | 5 | 2 | Denver | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Penn State | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Penn State | 1 | | | | | | | | W3 | Minnesota-Duluth | 2 |
| | | | | | | | | | | E1 | Notre Dame (2) | 1 |
| 1 | Cornell (3) | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | E1 | Notre Dame (2) | 1 |
| 4 | Boston University | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Boston University | 3 | 4 | Boston University | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Worcester – Sat/Sun | Worcester – Sat/Sun | Worcester – Sat/Sun | 4 | Boston University | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Worcester – Sat/Sun | Worcester – Sat/Sun | Worcester – Sat/Sun | 2 | Michigan | 6 | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Michigan | 3 | 2 | Michigan | 6 | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Northeastern | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Northeastern | 2 | | | | NE2 | Michigan | 3 | | | | |
| | | | | | | E1 | Notre Dame (2) | 4 | | | | |
| 1 | Notre Dame (2) | 4* | | | | | | | E1 | Notre Dame (2) | 4 | | | | |
| 4 | Michigan Tech | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Michigan Tech | 3 | 1 | Notre Dame (2) | 2 | | | | | | | |
| Bridgeport – Fri/Sat | Bridgeport – Fri/Sat | Bridgeport – Fri/Sat | 1 | Notre Dame (2) | 2 | | | | | | | |
| Bridgeport – Fri/Sat | Bridgeport – Fri/Sat | Bridgeport – Fri/Sat | 2 | Providence | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Providence | 1 | 2 | Providence | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Clarkson | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period

## Results
### 2018 National Championship
#### (E1) Notre Dame vs. (W3) Minnesota–Duluth

Scoring summary :
| Period | Team | Goal | Assist(s) | Time | Score |
| 1st | UMD | Karson Kuhlman (13) | Miller | 9:06 | 1–0 UMD |
| 1st | UMD | Jared Thomas (11) – GW | Kuhlman | 18:39 | 2–0 UMD |
| 2nd | ND | Andrew Oglevie (15) – PP | Morrison and Evans | 27:40 | 2–1 UMD |
| 3rd | None | None | None | None | None |
| Penalty summary ||||||
| Period | Team | Player | Penalty | Time | PIM |
| 1st | ND | Mike O'Leary | Hooking | 19:42 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | ND | Jordan Gross | Tripping | 22:19 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | UMD | Louie Roehl | Interference | 24:35 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | UMD | Scott Perunovich | Interference | 27:08 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | ND | Colin Theisen | Kneeing | 30:02 | 2:00 |
Shots by period :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
| Minnesota–Duluth | 10 | 18 | 7 | 35 |
| Notre Dame | 7 | 8 | 5 | 20 |
Goaltenders :
| Team | Name | Saves | Goals against | Time on ice |
| UMD | Hunter Shepard | 19 | 1 | 59:26 |
| ND | Cale Morris | 33 | 2 | 58:32 |

## All-Tournament team

* G: Hunter Shepard (Minnesota–Duluth)
* D: Scott Perunovich (Minnesota–Duluth)
* D: Jordan Gross (Notre Dame)
* F: Karson Kuhlman* (Minnesota–Duluth)
* F: Jared Thomas (Minnesota–Duluth)
* F: Andrew Oglevie (Notre Dame)
* Most Outstanding Player(s)

## Record by conference

| Conference | # of Bids | Record | Win % | Regional Finals | Frozen Four | Championship Game | Champions |
| Big Ten | 4 | 7-4 | .636 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - |
| NCHC | 3 | 5-2 | .714 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Hockey East | 3 | 2-3 | .400 | 2 | - | - | - |
| ECAC Hockey | 3 | 0-3 | .000 | - | - | - | - |
| WCHA | 2 | 0-2 | .000 | - | - | - | - |
| Atlantic Hockey | 1 | 1-1 | .500 | 1 | - | - | - |

## Media
### Television

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

#### Broadcast assignments

Regionals
* East Regional: John Buccigross, Barry Melrose and Quint Kessenich – Bridgeport, Connecticut
* West Regional: Clay Matvick and Sean Ritchlin – Sioux Falls, South Dakota
* Northeast Regional: Joe Beninati and Billy Jaffe – Worcester, Massachusetts
* Midwest Regional: Kevin Brown and Colby Cohen – Allentown, Pennsylvania
Frozen Four
* John Buccigross, Barry Melrose and Quint Kessenich – St. Paul, Minnesota

### Radio

Westwood One has exclusive radio rights to the Frozen Four and will air both the semifinals and the championship.
* Brian Tripp, Pat Micheletti, & Shireen Saski