The 2024 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the national championship tournament for men's college ice hockey in the United States held from March 28 to April 13, 2024. 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 University of Minnesota at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Denver defeated Boston College 2-0 to win the national championship, becoming the first program to win 10 NCAA titles.
The 2024 Frozen Four was the first Frozen Four held in the state of Minnesota without a team from Minnesota since 1991. It was also the first Frozen Four held in Minnesota to not have the national champion be from Minnesota since 1994.
Tournament procedure
The tournament is composed of four groups of four teams in regional brackets. The four regionals are named after their geographic areas. The following were the sites for the 2024 regionals:
Regional semifinals and finals March 28 & 30 Northeast Regional, MassMutual Center – Springfield, Massachusetts (Hosts: University of Massachusetts, Amherst, American International College and Western MA Sports Commission) West Regional, Denny Sanford Premier Center – Sioux Falls, South Dakota (Hosts: University of Nebraska Omaha and Sioux Falls Sports Authority) March 29 & 31 East Regional, Amica Mutual Pavilion – Providence, Rhode Island (Host: Brown University) Midwest Regional, Centene Community Ice Center – Maryland Heights, Missouri (Hosts: Lindenwood University and St. Louis Sports Commission)
National semifinals and championship (Frozen Four and championship) April 11 & 13 Xcel Energy Center – Saint Paul, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota)
Qualifying teams
The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament were announced on March 24, 2024, on ESPNU at 6:30 pm ET.
The Big Ten, Hockey East and NCHC each received four bids to the tournament. ECAC received two while Atlantic Hockey and the CCHA both received one berth.
East Regional – ProvidenceNortheast Regional – Springfield SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeAppearanceLast bidSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeAppearanceLast bid1Boston College (1)Hockey East31–5–1Tournament champion37th20211Denver (3)NCHC28–9–3Tournament champion31st20232Wisconsin (8)Big Ten26–11–2At-large bid27th20212Maine (5)Hockey East23–11–2At-large bid19th20123Quinnipiac (9)ECAC26–9–2At-large bid10th20233Cornell (12)ECAC21–6–6Tournament champion24th20234Michigan Tech (16)CCHA19–14–6Tournament champion16th20234Massachusetts (14)Hockey East20–13–3At-large bid5th2022Midwest Regional – Maryland HeightsWest Regional – Sioux FallsSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeAppearanceLast bidSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeAppearanceLast bid1Michigan State (4)Big Ten24–9–3Tournament champion28th20121Boston University (2)Hockey East26–9–2At-large bid39th20232North Dakota (6)NCHC26–11–2At-large bid35th20222Minnesota (7)Big Ten22–10–5At-large bid41st20233Michigan (10)Big Ten21–14–3At-large bid41st20233Omaha (11)NCHC24–13–4At-large bid5th20214Western Michigan (13)NCHC21–15–1At-large bid9th20234RIT (15)Atlantic Hockey27–10–2Tournament champion4th2016 Number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.
Bracket
Number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament. * denotes overtime period
Results Note: All game times are local.
East Region – Providence, Rhode Island Regional semifinals
Game summaryThe game began with the teams exchanging rushes up the ice. After Tech lost control of the puck in front of the Eagle's net, Oskar Jellvik skated up the ice and passed the puck to Cutter Gauthier, who had gotten behind the Huskies defense on a partial break away. The nation's leading goal scorer fired the puck between Blake Pietila's legs for the opening goal. BC kept the pressure on and got several more scoring chances afterwards but Pietila had settled down and kept Tech in the game. The Huskies weren't able to establish any extended zone time until about the 8-minute mark but even then BC's speed kept Tech to the outside. About a minute later, a BC turnover in their own end resulted in two glorious scoring chances for Tech but the pipe helped to keep the puck out of the goal. As Tech started warming to the task, they got another chance after the Eagles iced the puck; MTU won the ensuing faceoff and crashed in on Jacob Fowler. The puck ended up getting past the BC goalie but bounced just to the side of the cage. Michigan Tech continued to circle and got another scoring chance a few second later but the Jack Malone blocked the shot. A further chance went wide and the puck ended up coming to Colby Ambrosio who charged down the ice on a break away. Chase Pietila managed to just catch him from behind and hook Ambrosio as he was shooting to eliminate the scoring chance. Rather than awarding Ambrosio a penalty shot, the referees handed Pietila a minor penalty. half-way through the kill, BC turned over the puck at center ice and Tech broke towards Fowler on a 2-on-0. Max Koskipirtti kept the puck and, right when he got to the faceoff dot, he fired a shot right over Fowler's glove for Tech's second short-handed goal on the season. The Huskies captured the momentum afterwards and began generating scoring opportunities in the BC zone. Now it was Fowler's turn to hold the fort and the young netminder matched Pietila save-for-save. Towards the end of the period BC regained its footing and play evened out the score remained tied at the buzzer.
Both teams picked up in the second right where they left off and got on the attack. BC turned the puck over several times in the first two minutes, giving Tech multiple scoring chances. The best went to Kash Rasmussen who found himself completely alone in front of the BC net but his shot went wide. A few seconds later, a loose puck bounced right to Koskipirtti for shot from the slot but Fowler got in the way. Eventually, the Eagles began to calm down and get into the offensive zone around the 5th minute. Jellvik got a solid scoring chance but his shot was deflected off the post by Blake Pietila. The Eagles continued to press and Ryan Leonard rushed the puck up the ice. Pietila stopped his initial shot, as well as the rebound from Aidan Hreschuk. Jack Malone found the loose puck and shuffled it over to an open Leonard who fired into a half-open cage for BC's second lead of the night. Play tilted towards Boston College afterwards but the Eagles continued to make sloppy plays and turn the puck over in dangerous areas. Tech got a few good looks at the net but the puck refused to cooperate and several chanced went by the wayside. Right off of a faceoff, Leonard broke in on Pietila and nearly tucked the puck into the goal but the Tech defense was able to turn him aside without taking a penalty. Scant second later, Gabe Perreault hit Tyrone Bronte in the head and received a match penalty. Boston College needed their #1 penalty kill to come through and it did. Michigan Tech got a few chances on Fowler, much of their time was spent trying to set up in the offensive zone and the Huskies were unable to convert on the man-advantage. BC was able to carry their narrow lead to the end of the period but they would have to finish the game missing one of their top scorers.
Michigan Tech started the third by joining BC in bad habits and committed two bad turnovers that led to chances for the Eagles. Pietila managed to keep the puck out of the net and the disjointed play continued for both sides. Eventually, BC was able to set up in the offensive zone and Connor Joyce got lost behind the net. When he popped out in front, Jack Malone found him for an easy tap in goal. Less than a minute later, BC cleared the puck into the Tech end. When Blake Pietila went behind the goal to gain possession, the rubber hit the referee in the backside and deflected into the net. However, the rule (83.6) stipulated that a goal cannot be scored due to direct interference from the officials so the goal was waved off. The reprieve for Tech didn't last long and just a minute later Will Smith got the puck to Jellvik on a break away and he put BC up by three. After the succeeding faceoff, Ryland Mosley took a run at Ryan Leonard at center ice and a melee broke out. Mosley received a match penalty while all other infractions cancelled out. A minute into the power play, Ryan Leonard netted his second goal off of a rush and the route was on. Gauthier ended the power play with his second of the game after a drop-pass in the slot from Jellvik. BC continued to press afterwards, looking for another goal, but the intensity was muted. Both teams played like they knew the game was over and soon enough it was.
Game summary
Regional final
Game summaryBoth teams started the game quickly, alternating rushes up the ice. The first good scoring chance went to BC's Ryan Leonard who skated through the Bobcat defense and got the puck behind Vinny Duplessis after following up his rebound. Fortunately for Quinnipiac, their defense was first on the loose puck and cleared it out of the zone. Neither team was particularly sound with the puck with both committing turnovers. The Eagles began to get the offense going in the middle part of the first but Quinnipiac's defense was quick to respond. During one of the counter rushes towards the BC net, Gabe Perreault hooked an otherwise wide-open Christophe Fillion and gave the bobcats the first power play of the game. Quinnipiac set up in the Boston College zone and fired a barrage of shots on goal. Jacob Fowler and the defense managed to turn aside several good shots and melt down a handful of other potential chances. Aram Minnetian got control of the puck right when Perreault was coming out of the box and got the winger on a breakaway. Perreault ended up getting three shots on goal from right in front of the next but Duplessis stood strong and stopped the all. During the play that followed, Zach Tupker was called for a minor penalty in front of the BC net to give the Eagles a chance with the man-advantage. Within 30 seconds, Cutter Gauthier was set up with a glorious redirect in front but Duplessis made a highlight-reel save with his left pad. Boston College continued to press and got a few more good chances until Jack Malone knocked a rebound into the net. The referee immediately waved off the goal for being hit with a high stick and the call stood after a review. The Eagles kept their foot on the gas and put a great deal of pressure on the Bobcat defense and ended up forcing C. J. McGee into a hooking penalty. The nation's #2 power play had trouble getting set up in the Quinnipiac zone thanks to solid checking. Near the end of the power play and period, Will Smith cross-checked Victor Czerneckianair and was handed a minor penalty.