# 2014 NCHC Tournament

The 2014 NCHC Tournament was the first tournament in league history. It was played between March 13 and March 22, 2014. Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the final four games were played at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. By winning the tournament, Denver received the NCHC's automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

## Format

The tournament features three rounds of play. In the quarterfinals the first seed and eighth seed, the second seed and seventh seed, the third seed and sixth seed and the fourth seed and fifth seed play a best-of-three series with the winners advancing to the semifinals. After the opening round every series becomes a single-elimination game. In the semifinals, the highest and lowest remaining seeds and second highest and second lowest seeds are matched against one another with the winners advancing to the championship game and the loser advancing to the third place game. The tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

### Regular season standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SOW = Shootout Wins; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against
2013–14 National Collegiate Hockey Conference standingsvte :
| | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | SOW | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #8 St. Cloud State$^†$ | 24 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 48 | 87 | 64 | 38 | 22 | 11 | 5 | 136 | 107 |
| #13 North Dakota | 24 | 15 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 76 | 63 | 42 | 25 | 14 | 3 | 127 | 102 |
| Omaha | 24 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 42 | 82 | 69 | 37 | 17 | 18 | 2 | 117 | 120 |
| Minnesota–Duluth | 24 | 11 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 37 | 69 | 70 | 36 | 16 | 16 | 4 | 104 | 104 |
| Western Michigan | 24 | 11 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 37 | 66 | 69 | 40 | 19 | 16 | 5 | 103 | 106 |
| #17 Denver* | 24 | 10 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 35 | 60 | 58 | 42 | 20 | 16 | 6 | 112 | 98 |
| Colorado College | 24 | 6 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 24 | 52 | 72 | 37 | 7 | 24 | 6 | 74 | 121 |
| Miami | 24 | 6 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 56 | 80 | 38 | 15 | 20 | 3 | 111 | 115 |
| Championship: Denver † indicates conference regular season champion; * indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll; updated March 23, 2014 ||||||||||||||||

## Bracket

Teams are reseeded after the Quarterfinals
| Quarterfinals March 13–16 | Quarterfinals March 13–16 | Quarterfinals March 13–16 | Quarterfinals March 13–16 | Quarterfinals March 13–16 | | | Semifinals March 21 | Semifinals March 21 | Semifinals March 21 | Championship March 22 | Championship March 22 | Championship March 22 |
| 1 | St. Cloud State | 4 | 3 | — | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Miami | 5* | 4 | — | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Miami | 5* | 4 | — | | | 2 | North Dakota | 0 | | | |
| | | | | | | | 8 | Miami | 3 | | | |
| 2 | North Dakota | 4 | 2 | 4 | | | 8 | Miami | 3 | | | |
| 7 | Colorado College | 2 | 3* | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Colorado College | 2 | 3* | 3 | | | | | | 6 | Denver | 4 |
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | 6 | Denver | 4 |
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | 8 | Miami | 3 |
| 3 | Omaha | 4 | 1 | 0 | | | | | | | | | 8 | Miami | 3 |
| 6 | Denver | 2 | 5 | 2 | | | | | |
| 6 | Denver | 2 | 5 | 2 | | | 5 | Western Michigan | 3 | Third Place | Third Place | Third Place |
| | | | | | | | 6 | Denver | 4 |
| 4 | Minnesota-Duluth | 2 | 3 | — | | | 6 | Denver | 4 | 2 | North Dakota | 5 |
| 5 | Western Michigan | 3 | 4 | — | | | | | | 5 | Western Michigan | 0 |
* denotes overtime periods

## Results
### Quarterfinals
#### (1) St. Cloud State vs. (8) Miami

* Miami won series 2–0

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

* North Dakota won series 2–1

#### (3) Nebraska-Omaha vs. (6) Denver

* Denver won series 2–1

#### (4) Minnesota-Duluth vs. (5) Western Michigan

* Western Michigan won series 2–0

### Championship
#### (6) Denver vs. (8) Miami
## Tournament awards
### All-Tournament Team

* F Daniel Doremus* (Denver)
* F Ty Loney (Denver)
* F Anthony Louis (Miami)
* D Joey LaLeggia (Denver)
* D Nolan Zajac (Denver)
* G Sam Brittain (Denver)
* Most Valuable Player(s)