The 2025 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the national championship tournament for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men's Division I college ice hockey in the United States. Held from March 27 to April 12, 2025, the tournament involved 16 teams in single-elimination play to determine the national champion for the top level of play. Western Michigan won their first national championship in program history.
This year's tournament was the first since 2019 to feature multiple programs (Connecticut and Bentley) making their first appearance in the NCAA hockey playoffs.
This year's Frozen Four, at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri, also featured multiple teams, Western Michigan and Penn State, making their first appearance. This last occurred in 2013, when Massachusetts-Lowell, Quinnipiac and St. Cloud State all made their first Frozen Four appearances. Western Michigan also became the first team since Lake Superior State in 1988 to win a championship in their first Frozen Four appearance.
The semifinal matchup between Denver and Western Michigan was the first Frozen Four game to require multiple overtime periods since a 1996 semifinal game between Vermont and Colorado College. With Western Michigan's 3-2 win over Denver in double overtime, they became the first team in NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament history to play in, and win, two multiple-overtime games in the same tournament.
Tournament procedure
The tournament was composed of four groups of four teams in regional brackets. The four regionals are named after the cities in which they take place. The following are the sites for the 2025 regionals:
Regional Semifinals and Finals March 27 & 29 Toledo Regional, Huntington Center – Toledo, Ohio (Hosts: Bowling Green State University and SMG - Huntington Center) Fargo Regional, Scheels Arena – Fargo, North Dakota (Host: University of North Dakota) March 28 & 30 Allentown Regional, PPL Center – Allentown, Pennsylvania (Hosts: Pennsylvania State University and Spectra) Manchester Regional, SNHU Arena – Manchester, New Hampshire (Host: University of New Hampshire)
National semifinals and championship (Frozen Four and championship) April 10 & 12 Enterprise Center – St. Louis, Missouri (Hosts: University of Vermont and St. Louis Sports Commission)
Qualifying teams
The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament were announced on March 23, 2025, on ESPNU at 3:00 pm ET.
Hockey East received six bids to the tournament while the Big Ten received four. Both ECAC Hockey and NCHC received two bids while Atlantic Hockey America and the CCHA each received one.
Manchester RegionalToledo Regional SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeAppearanceLast bidSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeAppearanceLast bid1Boston College (1)Hockey East26–7–2At-large38th20241Michigan State (2)Big Ten26–6–4Tournament champion29th20242Providence (8)Hockey East21–10–5At-large16th20192Boston University (7)Hockey East21–13–2At-large40th20243Denver (9)NCHC29–11–1At-large32nd20243Ohio State (10)Big Ten24–13–2At-large11th20234Bentley (16)AHA23–14–2Tournament champion1stNever4Cornell (15)ECAC Hockey18–10–6Tournament champion25th2024Allentown RegionalFargo RegionalSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeAppearanceLast bidSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeAppearanceLast bid1Maine (3)Hockey East24–7–6Tournament champion20th20241Western Michigan (4)NCHC30–7–1Tournament champion10th20242Connecticut (6)Hockey East22–11–4At-large1stNever2Minnesota (5)Big Ten25–10–4At-large42nd20243Quinnipiac (12)ECAC Hockey24–11–2At-large11th20243Massachusetts (11)Hockey East20–13–5At-large6th20244Penn State (13)Big Ten20–13–4At-large4th20234Minnesota State (14)CCHA27–8–3Tournament champion10th2023 Number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.
Bracket
Results Note: All game times are local.
Manchester Region Regional semifinals
Game summaryThe game started with BC being able to get the puck in deep while the Falcons could barely get over the blueline. While neither team was able to establish any real zone time, the Eagles were able to get several shots on Connor Hasley in the first few minutes. On one such exchange around the 4-minute mark, Hasley was unable to freeze the puck but got a lucky break when the ref lost sight of the puck and blew the whistle erroneously. Around the same time, Ryan Leonard ran into Hasley after being knocked down and the two forced the net off its moorings. On a later play, Hasley was able to push the net out of place with his leg, continuing an issue that the ice crew had been dealing with since before the start of the match. The game was paused for several minutes to give the maintenance team time to try and reset the pegs. On the ensuing play, Bentley appeared to commit two separate infractions, at least according to the BC faithful, but the referees disagreed. With the Eagles unable to buy a questionable call, Boston College started trying to push Bentley around after the whistle to see if they could goad one of the Falcons into making a mistake. While BC attempted to plant that seed, they persisted with the offensive pressure. The Eagles were able to tilt the ice towards the Falcons' end and set up in the offensive zone and besieged Hasley for several minutes in the middle of the period. A further potential Bentley penalty went uncalled by the referees who appeared to have decided to just let the two teams play. In spite of the lack of power plays, BC led in shots 10–0 halfway through the period. Bentley got a break when BC committed an icing call, giving the Falcons their first offensive zone draw of the game with 9 minutes to play. BC won the faceoff but then immediately iced the puck a second time. The second draw was a little closer but BC still managed to clear the zone. Moments later, the first penalty of the game was on Aidan Hreschuk for crosschecking. Many in the crowd were in disbelief with the borderline call after the earlier plays that had been let go. BC went on the attack during the disadvantage and was able to get a disjointed break on the Benley goal. After the Falcons regain possession they were able to set up their power play and get their first two shots of the match. While he had not seen any action to that point, Jacob Fowler was equal to the task. Once even strength play resumed, BC tried to get right back to their dominant play. Bentley, however, was able to built off their failed power play and finally break through the Boston College defense. Play evened out in the later part of the period but a bad turnover at the far blueline led to a rush up the ice by BC. Leonard found Gabe Perreault open down low and the winger moved around Hasley and slipped the puck into the net. Undaunted, Bentley went on the attack to try and get the goal back but they were unable to get a good shot on goal. With about a minute to play, the BC goal had trouble staying in position so the game was paused for a second time to fix the problem. When play resumed for a second time, BC's upped their offensive pressure. Hasley was forced to scramble but managed to keep the puck out until the horn sounded.
The second began with the two teams exchanging chances off the rush and, after a minute, the net behind Hasley was knocked from its mooring. On the ensuing play, BC was able to halt a Bentley rush but Lukas Gustafsson took a tripping minor in doing so. The Falcons had trouble setting up in the offensive zone but when they were finally able to do so, Ethan Leyh got two solid shots on goal, the second of which beat Fowler. After the ensuing faceoff, BC was able to finally draw it first power play with Jake Black grabbed James Hagens twice. The BC man-advantage was able to get several good looks at the goal but Bentley was able to block several shots while the rest either went wide or were stopped by Hasley. After Bentley iced the puck, the Falcon net was knocked out of place for the third time and the game paused once again to try and resolve the issue. After what was essentially an extra TV timeout, Bentley was able to clear the puck and relieve the pressure. Boston College remained in control for long stretches with occasional counters by Bentley. Near the middle of the period, Hasley bobbled a glove save but with no Eagle nearby the goaltender was able to smother the puck for a faceoff. By the midway point of the game it was apparent that Boston College was the better of the two and Bentley was only in the match thanks to a herculean defensive effort. Even, so, the game was tied and Nik Armstrong-Kingkade nearly gave the Falcons the lead when he hit the post on a solo rush. Just seconds later, the Falcons made a bad line change and were called for too many men. Boston College's second power play appeared to work to perfection and Perreault had a half-open cage but the puck was on edge and his shot went high and wide. Afterwards, the teams took matching minors that didn't change the makeup of the game but did take two of the top players off of the ice. When play resumed, the net behind Hasley was knocked off for the fourth time on the night and the problem was becoming as much of a story in the game as the players. The stoppage helped to kill off the rest of the BC power play as well as slow down the pace of play. The two teams carried the puck up and down the ice but neither was able to generate a good scoring chance for several minutes. With under 3 minutes to play, Bentley got on the attack but hit the post with another shot. The waning moments saw both team trying and failing to break through the defenses and the period ended with the two squads knotted at one.