The National Collegiate Hockey Conference is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I ice hockey-only conference that was created during the 2014 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey conference realignment as a result of the formation of the Big Ten ice hockey conference.
The tournament began play in 2014 with an eight-team championship in three rounds. With the admission of Arizona State growing the NCHC to nine teams in the 2024–25 season, the team in ninth place in conference standings did not qualify for the tournament in 2024–25 or 2025–26 season.
The NCHC tournament features a first round round of best of three series hosted by the higher seed, with the four winners advancing to the Frozen Faceoff between 2014–2025.
The Frozen Faceoff was originally played at Target Center in Minneapolis, before moving to St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center beginning in 2018. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was cancelled in 2020 and hosted in its entirety by regular season champion North Dakota at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in 2021. The tournament's previously unnamed trophy was named the National Cup in September 2025.
The tournament moved entirely to campus sites starting in 2026. With St. Thomas' admission to the NCHC in 2026–27, all ten teams will once again make the tournament. Following first round best-of-three series, the re-seeded number four and five seeds will play at the site of the one seed, with the winner playing the one seed the following day.
Champions Year Winning team Coach Losing team Coach Score Location Venue Ref 2014 4–3 Minneapolis, Minnesota Target Center 2015 3–2 Minneapolis, Minnesota Target Center 2016 3–1 Minneapolis, Minnesota Target Center 2017 4–3 Minneapolis, Minnesota Target Center 2018 4–1 Saint Paul, Minnesota Xcel Energy Center 2019 3–2 (2OT) Saint Paul, Minnesota Xcel Energy Center 2020 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2021 5–3 Grand Forks, North Dakota Ralph Engelstad Arena 2022 3–0 Saint Paul, Minnesota Xcel Energy Center 2023 Brett Larson Kris Mayotte 3–0 Saint Paul, Minnesota Xcel Energy Center 2024 4–1 Saint Paul, Minnesota Xcel Energy Center 2025 4–3 (2OT) Saint Paul, Minnesota Xcel Energy Center 2026 David Carle Scott Sandelin4–3 (2OT)Denver, ColoradoMagness Arena
Championships by School 4 5 3 5 2 6 1 2 1 2 1 2 0 1 0 1
References