 | |
| Teams | 16 |
|---|---|
| Finals site | |
| Champions | Massachusetts Minutemen (1st title) |
| Runner-up | St. Cloud State Huskies (1st title game) |
| Semifinalists |
|
| Winning coach | Greg Carvel (1st title) |
| MOP | Bobby Trivigno (Massachusetts) |
| Attendance | 3,963 (Championship) 11,283 (Frozen Four) 16,985 (Tournament) |
The 2021 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament was the national championship tournament for men's college ice hockey in the United States. It took place between March 26 and 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 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.[1]
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.[2] The Times Union Center in Albany, New York, was selected as a replacement site.[3]
This year's tournament featured, as of 2024, 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.
- ^ "2019–22 NCAA Championship Sites". NCAA.com.
- ^ "New Hampshire, SNHU Arena withdraw from hosting 2021 Northeast Regional championship". College Hockey. January 27, 2021. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
- ^ Myers, Jess (February 22, 2021). "NCAA hockey chair: regional and Frozen Four attendance capped at 25% of building capacity". Brainerd Dispatch. Retrieved February 23, 2021.