2021 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament

The 2021 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament was the national championship tournament for men's college ice hockey in the United States, scheduled for March 26–April 10, 2021. 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 first two rounds took place at four regional sites on March 26–28, and the tournament's Frozen Four – the semifinals and finals – was hosted by Robert Morris University at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh from April 8 to 10.
The SNHU Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire was selected to host the Northeast Region, but pulled out on January 26, 2021, due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. The Times Union Center in Albany, New York was selected as a replacement site.
This year's tournament featured, as of 2021, the longest game in NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament history, when the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs defeated the North Dakota Fighting Hawks by a score of 3–2 in five overtimes, totaling 142:13 minutes of play, in the West Regional Final.
This tournament's Frozen Four teams were also notable for a number of reasons. First, it was just the second time in NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament history in which three of the final four teams came from one state. This first occurred in 1992, when the Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans, and Lake Superior State Lakers, all from Michigan, made the Frozen Four. In this year’s tournament, three teams came from Minnesota, these teams being the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, St. Cloud State Huskies, and Minnesota State Mavericks. Also, this year's tournament was only the third time since 1992, when Regional Tournaments were first conducted, that no teams ranked no. 1 in their respective Regional Tournament advanced to the Frozen Four. This also occurred in the 1998 and 2007 tournaments.
==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.
Regional Semifinals and Finals
* March 26–27
: East Regional, Webster Bank Arena – Bridgeport, Connecticut (Hosts: Sacred Heart and Yale)
: Midwest Regional, Scheels Arena – Fargo, North Dakota (Host: North Dakota) 
* March 27–28 
: Northeast Regional, Times Union Center – Albany, New York (Hosts: ECAC)
: West Regional, Budweiser Events Center – Loveland, Colorado (Host: Denver) 
National Semifinals and Championship (Frozen Four and Championship)
* April 8 and April 10
: PPG Paints Arena – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Host: Robert Morris University)
==Qualifying teams==
The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament were announced on March 21, 2021.
Typically, teams are seeded according to their PairWise rankings (PWR); however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing a severe lack of inter-conference games among the league, using the PWR would not be a reliable representation of overall NCAA standings. As a result, the NCAA Selection Committee awarded seeds manually based on varying factors, including perceived strength of conference and performance against the best teams in conference. Once seeds were determined, matchups were adjusted to prevent teams from the same conference meeting in the first round, as well as minimize the amount of traveling required due to the pandemic. 
The NCHC and Big Ten each had four teams receive a berth in the tournament, Hockey East and WCHA each had three teams receive a berth, and one team from Atlantic Hockey and the ECAC each received a berth.
ECAC Tournament champions St. Lawrence earned an autobid but were forced to withdraw from the tournament as a result of a positive COVID-19 test among the team's coaching staff. Quinnipiac was selected to replace St. Lawrence as ECAC's autobid.
On March 25, it was announced that Notre Dame would be forced to withdraw from the tournament due to COVID protocols. As a result, their matchup with Boston College was ruled a no-contest and the Eagles automatically advanced to the Northeast Regional Final. Similarly, on March 26, the NCAA announced Michigan was forced to withdraw as well due to COVID protocols. As a result, Minnesota–Duluth automatically advanced to the Midwest Regional Final. 
Midwest Regional – Fargo	Midwest Regional – Fargo	Midwest Regional – Fargo	Midwest Regional – Fargo	Midwest Regional – Fargo	Midwest Regional – Fargo	Midwest Regional – Fargo	East Regional – Bridgeport 	East Regional – Bridgeport 	East Regional – Bridgeport 	East Regional – Bridgeport 	East Regional – Bridgeport 	East Regional – Bridgeport 	East Regional – Bridgeport
Seed 	School 	Conference 	Record 	Berth type 	Appearance 	Last bid 	Seed 	School 	Conference 	Record 	Berth type 	Appearance 	Last bid
1 	North Dakota (1) 	NCHC 	21–5–1 	Tournament Champion 	33rd 	2017 	1 	Wisconsin (4) 	Big Ten 	20–9–1 	At-Large bid 	26th 	2014
2 	Michigan 	Big Ten 	15–10–1 	At-Large bid 	38th 	2018 	2 	Massachusetts 	Hockey East 	16–5–4 	Tournament Champion 	3rd 	2019
3 	Minnesota–Duluth 	NCHC 	14–10–2 	At-Large bid 	14th 	2019 	3 	Lake Superior State 	WCHA 	19–6–3 	Tournament Champion 	11th 	1996
4 	American International 	Atlantic Hockey 	15–3–0 	Tournament Champion 	2nd 	2019 	4 	Bemidji State 	WCHA 	15–9–3 	At-Large bid 	5th 	2010
West Regional – Loveland	West Regional – Loveland	West Regional – Loveland	West Regional – Loveland	West Regional – Loveland	West Regional – Loveland	West Regional – Loveland	Northeast Regional – Albany	Northeast Regional – Albany	Northeast Regional – Albany	Northeast Regional – Albany	Northeast Regional – Albany	Northeast Regional – Albany	Northeast Regional – Albany
Seed 	School 	Conference 	Record 	Berth type 	Appearance 	Last bid 	Seed 	School 	Conference 	Record 	Berth type 	Appearance 	Last bid
1 	Minnesota (3) 	Big Ten 	23–6–0 	Tournament Champion 	38th 	2017 	1 	Boston College (2) 	Hockey East 	17–5–1 	At-Large bid 	36th 	2016
2 	Minnesota State 	WCHA 	20–4–1 	At-Large bid 	7th 	2019 	2 	St. Cloud State 	NCHC 	17–10–0 	At-Large bid 	15th 	2019
3 	Quinnipiac 	ECAC 	17–7–4 	Replacement Autobid 	7th 	2019 	3 	Boston University 	Hockey East 	10–4–1 	At-Large bid 	37th 	2018
4 	Omaha 	NCHC 	14–10–1 	At-Large bid 	4th 	2015 	4 	Notre Dame 	Big Ten 	14–13–2 	At-Large bid 	12th 	2019
Number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.
== Tournament bracket ==
* denotes overtime period† Michigan and Notre Dame were removed from the tournament due to positive COVID-19 test results.
==Results==
===Midwest Region – Fargo, North Dakota===
====Regional Semifinals====
====Regional Final====
===Northeast Region – Albany, New York===
====Regional Semifinals====
====Regional Final====
===West Region – Loveland, Colorado===
====Regional Semifinals====
====Regional Final====
===East Region – Bridgeport, Connecticut===
====Regional Semifinals====
====Regional Final====
===Frozen Four – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania===
====National Semifinal====
===2021 National Championship===
====(E2) Massachusetts vs. (NE2) St. Cloud State====
Scoring summary	Scoring summary	Scoring summary 	Scoring summary 	Scoring summary	Scoring summary
Period 	Team 	Goal 	Assist(s) 	Time 	Score
1st 	UMA 	Aaron Bohlinger (1) – GW 	Sullivan and Farmer	7:26 	1–0 UMA
1st 	UMA 	Reed Lebster (2) 	Kiefiuk 	18:56 	2–0 UMA
2nd 	UMA 	Philip Lagunov (6) – SH 	unassisted 	25:10 	3–0 UMA
2nd 	UMA 	Matthew Kessel (10) – PP 	Chau and Gaudet 	33:45 	4–0 UMA
3rd 	UMA 	Bobby Trivigno (11) 	Lebster 	46:00 	5–0 UMA
Penalty summary	Penalty summary	Penalty summary 	Penalty summary 	Penalty summary	Penalty summary
Period 	Team 	Player 	Penalty 	Time 	PIM
1st 	UMA 	Anthony Del Gaizo 	Slashing 	15:27 	2:00
2nd 	STC 	Seamus Donohue 	Tripping 	20:24 	2:00
2nd 	UMA 	Ryan Sullivan 	Tripping 	23:57 	2:00
2nd 	UMA 	Jake Gaudet 	Elbowing 	30:31 	2:00
2nd 	STC 	Bench (served by Zach Okabe)	Too Many Men 	32:35 	2:00
3rd 	None 	None 	None 	None 	None
Shots by period	Shots by period	Shots by period	Shots by period	Shots by period
Team 	1 	2 	3 	T
St. Cloud State	3 	12 	10 	25
Massachusetts 	7 	6 	9 	22
Goaltenders	Goaltenders 	Goaltenders	Goaltenders 	Goaltenders
Team 	Name 	Saves 	Goals against	Time on ice
STC 	Dávid Hrenák 	17 	5 	60:00
UMA 	Filip Lindberg	25 	0 	60:00
==All-Tournament Team==
*G: Filip Lindberg (Massachusetts)
*D: Zac Jones (Massachusetts)
*D: Matthew Kessel (Massachusetts)
*F: Nathan Smith (Minnesota State)
*F: Bobby Trivigno* (Massachusetts)
*F: Nolan Walker (St. Cloud State)
* Most Outstanding Player(s)
==Record by conference==
Conference 	Bids	Record	Win %	Regional Finals	Frozen Four	Championship Game	Champions
NCHC 	4 	5–4 	 	3 	2 	1 	–
Big Ten 	4 	1–2 	 	1 	– 	– 	–
Hockey East 	3 	4–2 	 	2 	1 	1 	1
WCHA 	3 	3–3 	 	2 	1 	– 	–
Atlantic Hockey	1 	0–1 	 	– 	– 	– 	–
ECAC Hockey 	1 	0–1 	 	– 	– 	– 	–
Note: Two regional semifinal games were declared 'No Contest' and the four teams involved were not credited with a win or a loss in those games.
==Media==
===Television===
ESPN had US television rights to all games during the tournament for the sixteenth consecutive year. ESPN aired every game, beginning with the regionals, on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPNU, and ESPN3, which were streamed online via WatchESPN.
====Broadcast assignments====
Regionals
*East Regional: John Buccigross, Barry Melrose, and Colby Cohen – Bridgeport, Connecticut
*Midwest Regional: Leah Hextall and Dave Starman – Fargo, North Dakota
*Northeast Regional: Kevin Brown and Sean Ritchlin – Albany, New York
*West Regional: Ben Holden and Fred Pletsch – Loveland, Colorado
Frozen Four
* John Buccigross, Barry Melrose, Colby Cohen, and Quint Kessenich – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
===Radio===
Westwood One had exclusive radio rights to the Frozen Four and broadcast both the semifinals and the championship.
* Brian Tripp and Dave Starman
==References==
 
Category:Ice hockey tournaments in the United States
Category:NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament