NCAA Hockey Championships: Dates, Times, Results for Men’s College Hockey Championship

It’s championship weekend in college hockey.

All six NCAA conferences are in action this weekend in men’s hockey. By the end of Saturday’s festivities, six teams have been crowned conference champions.

This weekend is the first step in solidifying the field for the NCAA National Tournament, which is set to begin later this month. Following the conclusion of the conference championships on Saturday, the 16 teams in the running for a chance to advance to the Frozen Four will be announced on Sunday, March 16.

Many future NHL players will be playing this weekend. Notable names competing for a chance at a conference title include 2021 first-round pick Luke Hughes, 2022 first-rounders Logan Cooley and Jimmy Snuggerud, and 2023 top prospect Adam Fantilli.

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Which teams will qualify for the national tournament?

College Hockey has a different process for selecting teams for its national tournament. Only 16 teams will make the field, but six programs will lock in their spots this weekend as the conference championship winners all receive an automatic bid to the tournament.

The remaining 10 teams are selected at large by a committee and determine the Pairwise rankings. According to the 2022-23 championship handbook, a program must have a record of at least .500 and at least 20 teams. games against Division I competition to qualify for the tournament.

The committee also considers strength of schedule, student-athlete eligibility for the NCAA Championships and RPI when determining the final teams selected to play in the national tournament.

NCAA Hockey Conference Championship Schedules

Big Ten

A rematch of the 2022 Big Ten title game is on the cards for 2023, when Minnesota faces Michigan in the conference title game. The Wolverines knocked off the Golden Gophers 4-3 last year.

There is no shortage of star power in this matchup. Minnesota has Big Ten Player of the Year Matthew Knies, two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Brock Faber and conference co-scoring champions Logan Cooley and Jimmy Snuggerud.

Michigan counters with Adam Fantill, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, and All-Big Ten First Team selection Luke Hughes.

Ice hockey east

Hockey East plays its two semifinal games on Friday before the winner is decided on Saturday at TD Garden.

Providence will look to continue its Cinderella run against top seed Boston University. The Terriers have Hockey East Rookie of the Year in Lane Hutson and other Hockey East First Team All-Stars in Matt Brown and Domenick Fensore.

Merrimack will face UMass Lowell in the other semifinal. Merrimack’s Alex Jeffries was named a first-team All-Star and was the conference runner-up in scoring.

NCHC

Like Hockey East, the NCHC has its two semifinal games on Friday before Saturday’s championship game.

Colorado College will face defending NCHC champion and 2022 national champion Denver. The two teams have two of the best goaltenders in the conference, with the Pioneers having conference Goaltender of the Year Magnus Chrona and the Tigers having Goaltender of the Year and Rookie of the Year candidate Kaiden Mbereko.

In the other semifinal, St. Cloud State will face North Dakota. The St. Cloud State Huskies have Player of the Year finalist Jami Krannila at the helm, while Rookie of the Year winner Jackson Blake dominates the Fighting Hawks’ offense.

ECAC Hockey

ECAC Hockey also has the semifinals this weekend, taking place before the championship Saturday.

First up are Quinnipiac and Colgate. The Bobcats are backed by two-time ECAC Goalie of the Year Yaniv Perets. Quinnipiac also has conference Rookie of the Year Sam Lipkin and Collin Graf, who is second in the nation in scoring.

It’s an Ivy League matchup in the other semifinal with Harvard and Cornell. Sean Farrell led the conference in scoring with the Crimson and is third in the NCAA in points.

CCHA

Minnesota State will seek back-to-back wins in the CCHA as the Mavericks face the Northern Michigan Wildcats in the conference championship game.

Northern Michigan will struggle against No. 1 Minnesota State. The Mavericks have David Silye, the CCHA Offensive Player of the Year, and Jake Livingstone, the CCHA Defensive Player of the Year.

Atlantic Hockey

In Atlantic Hockey, only Canisius and Holy Cross are standing.

Canius’ Golden Griffins beat Army West Point and Niagara en route to the championship game. The Holy Cross Crusaders stunned the top two teams in the conference, RIT and American International, in their playoff run.