2019 Frozen Four

The 2019 NCAA Men's Division I 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 finals – were hosted by the MAAC at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York from April 11-13, 2019. This was the second Frozen Four in the city of Buffalo, as it previously hosted in 2003.
This was the first championship since 2007 to have multiple programs make their first NCAA tournament appearance (American International and Arizona State).
Bowling Green State University made their first appearance in the NCAA tournament in 29 years. While for the first time since 1992 an Independent program (Arizona State) made the tournament.
==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 2019 regionals:
https://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/article/2017-04-18/2019-2022-future-di-ncaa-championship-sites
;March 29–30 
:Northeast Regional, SNHU Arena – Manchester, New Hampshire (Host: New Hampshire)
:West Regional, Scheels Arena – Fargo, North Dakota (Host: North Dakota)
;March 30–31
:East Regional, Dunkin' Donuts Center – Providence, Rhode Island (Host: Brown)
:Midwest Regional, PPL Center – Allentown, Pennsylvania (Host: Penn State)
The winner of each regional will advance to the Frozen Four:
;April 11/13
:KeyBank Center – Buffalo, New York (Host: MAAC)
==Qualifying teams==
The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament were announced on March 24. Teams were seeded according to their PairWise rankings (PWR) 1 thru 16 then matchups were adjusted to prevent teams from the same conference meeting in the first round. After the four groups were decided they were placed in regions as close, geographically, to the top seed as possible. The ECAC Hockey had four teams receive a berth in the tournament, the NCHC and Hockey East each had three teams receive a berth, the WCHA and Big Ten had two teams receive a berth, while one team from Atlantic Hockey received a berth. For the first time since 1992 an independent program, Arizona State, also received a tournament berth.
West Regional – Fargo 	West Regional – Fargo 	West Regional – Fargo 	West Regional – Fargo 	West Regional – Fargo 	West Regional – Fargo 	West Regional – Fargo 	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 	St. Cloud State (1) 	NCHC 	30–5–3 	At Large 	14th 	2018 	1 	Minnesota–Duluth (2) 	NCHC 	25–11–2 	Tournament Champion 	13th 	2018
2 	Denver 	NCHC 	22–11–5 	At-Large 	28th 	2018 	2 	Quinnipiac 	ECAC Hockey 	25–9–2 	At-Large 	6th 	2016
3 	Ohio State 	Big Ten 	20–10–5 	At-Large 	9th 	2018 	3 	Arizona State 	Independent 	21–12–1 	At-Large 	1st 	Never
4 	American International 	Atlantic Hockey 	22–16–1 	Tournament champion 	1st 	Never 	4 	Bowling Green 	WCHA 	25–10–5 	At-Large 	10th 	1990
East Regional – Providence	East Regional – Providence	East Regional – Providence	East Regional – Providence	East Regional – Providence	East Regional – Providence	East Regional – Providence	Northeast Regional – Manchester	Northeast Regional – Manchester	Northeast Regional – Manchester	Northeast Regional – Manchester	Northeast Regional – Manchester	Northeast Regional – Manchester	Northeast Regional – Manchester
Seed 	School 	Conference 	Record 	Berth type 	Appearance 	Last bid 	Seed 	School 	Conference 	Record 	Berth type 	Appearance 	Last bid
1 	Minnesota State (3) 	WCHA 	32–7–2 	Tournament Champion 	6th 	2018 	1 	Massachusetts (4) 	Hockey East 	28–9–0 	At-Large 	2nd 	2007
2 	Northeastern 	Hockey East 	27–10–1 	Tournament champion 	7th 	2018 	2 	Clarkson 	ECAC Hockey 	26–10–2 	Tournament Champion 	22nd 	2018
3 	Cornell 	ECAC Hockey 	20–10–4 	At-Large 	22nd 	2018 	3 	Notre Dame 	Big Ten 	22–13–3 	Tournament Champion 	11th 	2018
4 	Providence 	Hockey East 	22–11–6 	At-Large 	15th 	2018 	4 	Harvard 	ECAC Hockey 	19–10–3 	At-Large 	25th 	2017
Number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.
== Tournament bracket ==
Note: * denotes overtime period
==Results==
===West Region – Fargo, North Dakota===
====Regional Semifinal====
====Regional Final====
===Midwest Region – Allentown, Pennsylvania===
====Regional Semifinal====
====Regional Final====
===East Region – Providence, Rhode Island===
====Regional Semifinal====
====Regional Final====
===Northeast Region – Manchester, New Hampshire===
====Regional Semifinal====
====Regional Final====
===Frozen Four – KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York===
====National Semifinal====
===2019 National Championship===
====(MW1) Minnesota–Duluth vs. (NE1) Massachusetts====
Scoring summary	Scoring summary	Scoring summary 	Scoring summary 	Scoring summary	Scoring summary
Period 	Team 	Goal 	Assist(s) 	Time 	Score
1st 	UMD 	Parker Mackay (16) – GW PP	Anderson and Tufte 	3:51 	1–0 UMD
2nd 	UMD 	Mikey Anderson (6) 	Mackay and Richards 	35:48 	2–0 UMD
3rd 	UMD 	Jackson Cates (8) 	Laderoute and Anderson	57:18 	3–0 UMD
Penalty summary	Penalty summary	Penalty summary 	Penalty summary 	Penalty summary	Penalty summary
Period 	Team 	Player 	Penalty 	Time 	PIM
1st 	UMA 	Marc Del Gaizo 	Interference 	2:31 	2:00
1st 	UMD 	Scott Perunovich 	Holding 	12:23 	2:00
1st 	UMA 	Jake Gaudet 	Elbowing 	18:37 	2:00
2nd 	UMD 	Noah Cates 	Roughing 	36:59 	2:00
2nd 	UMA 	Cale Makar 	Interference 	39:41 	2:00
3rd 	UMD 	Kobe Roth 	Elbowing 	46:47 	2:00
3rd 	UMD 	Peter Krieger 	holding 	54:58 	2:00
3rd 	UMA 	Kurt Keats 	Roughing 	58:15 	2:00
Shots by period 	Shots by period	Shots by period	Shots by period	Shots by period
Team 	1 	2 	3 	T
Massachusetts 	5 	7 	6 	18
Minnesota–Duluth	14 	11 	6 	31
Goaltenders	Goaltenders 	Goaltenders	Goaltenders 	Goaltenders
Team 	Name 	Saves 	Goals against	Time on ice
UMA 	Filip Lindberg	28 	3 	60:00
UMD 	Hunter Shepard	18 	0 	59:53
==All-Tournament Team==
*G: Hunter Shepard (Minnesota–Duluth)
*D: Mikey Anderson (Minnesota–Duluth)
*D: Marc Del Gaizo (Massachusetts)
*F: Parker Mackay* (Minnesota–Duluth)
*F: Justin Richards (Minnesota–Duluth)
*F: Billy Exell (Minnesota–Duluth)
* Most Outstanding Player(s)
==Record by conference==
Conference 	# of Bids	Record	Regional Finals	Frozen Four	Championship Game	Champions
ECAC Hockey 	4 	2-4 	2 	- 	- 	-
NCHC 	3 	6-2 	2 	2 	1 	1
Hockey East 	3 	5-3 	2 	2 	1 	-
Big Ten 	2 	1-2 	1 	- 	- 	-
WCHA 	2 	0-2 	- 	- 	- 	-
Atlantic Hockey	1 	1-1 	1 	- 	- 	-
Independent 	1 	0-1 	- 	- 	- 	-
==Media==
===Television===
ESPN had US television rights to all games during the tournament for the fifteenth consecutive year. ESPN aired every game, beginning with the regionals, on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPNU, and ESPN3, which were streamed online via WatchESPN.
In Canada, the tournament was broadcast by TSN and streamed on TSN Go.
In the UK, the tournament was broadcast by BT Sport ESPN.
====Broadcast assignments====
Regionals
*Northeast Regional: John Buccigross, Barry Melrose, Colby Cohen and Quint Kessenich – Manchester, New Hampshire
*West Regional: Clay Matvick and Dave Starman – Fargo, North Dakota
*East Regional: Leah Hextall and Billy Jaffe – Providence, Rhode Island
*Midwest Regional: Kevin Brown and Fred Pletsch – Allentown, Pennsylvania
Frozen Four
*John Buccigross, Barry Melrose, Colby Cohen and Quint Kessenich – Buffalo, New York
===Radio===
Westwood One had exclusive radio rights to the Frozen Four and broadcast both the semifinals and the championship.
*Brian Tripp, Pat Micheletti, & Shireen Saski
==References==
Category:NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
Category:2019 in hockey