Merrimack traveled to Grand Forks for the first series of the 2009-10 hockey season for both the Warriors and Fighting Sioux. North Dakota held a WCHA Regular Season Champion banner raising prior to the initial puck drop. The Sioux kept the atmosphere high by scoring five times with five different players scoring the goals. Eleven North Dakota players scored at least one point in the 5 to 2 win. All four lines contributed to the scoring. The following night was a closer game. Mike Cichy broke a 1-1 tie a little more than seven minutes into the second period that proved to be the game winner. North Dakota hung on to a 3 to 2 win and earned a season-opening sweep.
Jump ahead nearly seventeen years and Merrimack just won the Hockey East tournament for the first time. It was also the first time an eight seed won the tournament. Merrimack is slated to face North Dakota in the opening round of the tournament. The game in the Sioux Falls Regional will be just the third one between the programs and first since that early-season October series in 2009. Merrimack is looking to win its first game against North Dakota, but it will be worth the wait if it happens on the big stage.
The regular season is in the books so let’s take a look at this season’s Division I men’s conference champions and the history behind these regular season titles.
Atlantic Hockey America: for the first time ever, Bentley won a Division I regular season title. The Falcons had two Division III regular season titles but this is a first since moving up to top tier hockey in 1999. Last season, Bentley won the conference tournament and earned a trip to the national tournament for the first time. The program looks to repeat that feat for the second year in a row.
Big Ten: Three regular season titles in a row for Michigan State. It’s the first three-peat for a program that dates back to 1921. The Spartans finished two points ahead of rival Michigan; ensuring the Wolverines remain the only Big Ten hockey program yet to win a regular season title.
CCHA: Minnesota State won the McNaughton Cup for the second year in a row and 10th time in the past 12 seasons dating back to the Mavericks’ WCHA days. The CCHA crown came down to the last weekend when the tightest race in hockey saw five teams finish within two points of one another.
ECAC: Quinnipiac won an impressive sixth regular season title in a row after finishing three points ahead of both Dartmouth and Cornell. The Bobcats have now won 10 ECAC regular season titles with all of them taking place since 2013. The Cleary Cup has set up an almost-permanent residence in Hamden, Connecticut, yet the Bobcats are still looking for the program’s first conference tournament championship during this six-peat.
Hockey East: Providence College earned its first outright regular season title within Hockey East. The Friars were co-champions with Boston College in 2016. Providence won a program-record 18 Hockey East games this season and are looking to win its first Hockey East tournament since 1996.
NCHC: For the seventh time in 13 years of NCHC play, North Dakota is the regular season champion. The Penrose Cup is a common sight for the team from Grand Forks as the Fighting Hawks have won more NCHC regular season titles than the rest of the NCHC teams combined.
Independents: It’s also worth noting that the five Independent Division I men’s teams pooled together this year to host the first-ever United Collegiate Hockey Cup in Maryland Heights, Missouri. Alaska was awarded the only bye as the team had the best record throughout the regular season. The Nanooks went on to win the weekend tournament after defeating Lindenwood 4-3 in overtime to be crowned the first-ever United Collegiate Hockey Cup champion.
The regular season is in the books so let’s take a look at this season’s Division I women’s conference champions and the history behind these regular season titles.
Atlantic Hockey America: for the fourth season in a row, Penn State ended up on top of the AHA standings; and it wasn’t even close. The Nittany Lions finished the regular season campaign with 68 conference points; 19 more than second place Mercyhurst.
ECAC: co-champions were crowned in the ECAC this season. Two Ivy League schools in Yale and Princeton ended the regular season with 46 conference points apiece. While the schools were technically co-champions, Yale earned the number one seed in the conference tournament due to the head-to-head tiebreaker. It was the second regular season title for the Bulldogs (2023) and first-ever for the Tigers.
Hockey East: Northeastern finished the regular season on top of Hockey East by 12 points. The last time the Huskies finished first in Hockey East was during the 2022-23 season when the team made it to the Frozen Four in Duluth.
NEWHA: Franklin Pierce earned its second-ever regular season title (2022) and snapped LIU’s bid for a four-peat. The Ravens have won the NEWHA regular season title twice in the seven years since joining Division I.
WCHA: Wisconsin secured back-to-back regular seasons titles after barely edging out Ohio State by two points. This is the Badgers 11th regular season title that puts the program in a tie with Minnesota for most-ever in the WCHA.
The fifth men’s Beanpot tournament was notable because the final included Boston College and Boston University for the first time. It was also the first time Harvard did not make it to the championship game, after the Terriers handed them a loss in the opening game. The Eagles were riding a six-game winning streak against the Terriers with the last loss against Boston University taking place February 13, 1953.
In the Beanpot title game that was played at Boston Garden the evening of February 5, 1957, the Terriers controlled most of the game and held five different leads throughout the contest. Sarge Kinlin of Boston University netted a hat trick. Hank Levin made several standout saves throughout the game, but the Eagles Ned Bunyon slipped one by him with only 53 seconds left in regulation to tie the game 4-4 and send it to overtime. Then in the extra period, Joseph Celata scored in front of 4,052 spectators to win the second Beanpot in a row for Boston College, and third in the past four years. The Terriers would end up winning the program’s first Beanpot in the following season’s tournament.
Jump ahead 69 years and the same two teams will play for the men’s Beanpot tonight at TD Garden in a repeat of last year’s title game. It coincidentally will be the 300th game in the historic Boston College and Boston University men’s hockey series that dates back to February 6, 1918. Boston University is looking to repeat as men’s Beanpot champions tonight. Boston College is looking to win its first men’s Beanpot since 2016 when it blanked the Terriers 1-0 in an overtime game.
Maine hosted Massachusetts during a late January weekend in 1979. It was the first time these two programs had ever met on the ice. At the time, both schools played hockey within Division II. The teams were on different trajectories, however. Going into the series, the Maine men boasted a 12-6 record while UMass was sitting at 1-5. The two-game series played out as expected without any upsets. On Friday the 26th, Maine won 8-3. The Minutemen scored three goals the following night as well, but Maine upped the ante and scored double digit goals with 13. By the end of the 1978-79 season, Maine finished with a 25-8-1 record and lost in the ECAC 2 semifinal game to Salem State. The Minutemen, on the other hand, would not win another game the remainder of the season, finishing at 1-18-1. This coincidentally was the last season within the Division II hockey world for both programs. The Black Bears made the leap to ECAC‘s top hockey conference in Division I the next season. UMass decided to end its hockey program for the foreseeable future. It would end up being 14 years before another team was fielded in Amherst. This time, the Minutemen would try their hand in Division I.
Both programs have flourished at different times throughout their respective Division I eras with multiple NCAA titles between the two. The first game the teams played within Division I was a Hockey East showdown in January 1995 when Maine traveled to Amherst for the first time. The Black Bears were the number one ranked team in the nation at the time, and UMass was able to split the series. Flash forward to today and the teams will play games 103 and 104 in the all-time series in Amherst this Thursday and Friday. Heading into the weekend, Maine leads the series 62-29-11.
Photo Credit: The Maine Campus, Feb. 2, 1979. Maine Campus Archives.
The four-year streak of a new NCAA men’s hockey team joining Division I was snapped this year. However, one conference expanded. Arizona State found a home in the NCHC during the 2024-25 season after spending nine seasons as a DI independent. The program won its first Division I conference game when the Sun Devils beat Omaha at home 3-2 on November 16, 2024. Later that month, the Sun Devils defeated Denver 3-2 to earn its first win over a top-ranked team in the nation. This win snapped Denver’s 21-game unbeaten streak in the process. Arizona State would later win its first conference playoff game and series after sweeping UMD in the opening round at home. The Sun Devils participated in the Frozen Faceoff and were defeated by Denver 4-2. The Pioneers, in turn, lost the following night when Western Michigan took down Denver in double overtime. Western Michigan won its first Frozen Faceoff title in the final NCHC championship game to take place in Saint Paul. Beginning next season, the entire NCHC playoffs will be played on campus.
The NCHC announced in the off-season that it would add another new member in St. Thomas in 2026-27. With the news of the Tommies’ future exit from its current conference, the CCHA, in turn, announced Augustana would become a full member in 2024-25; a year earlier than scheduled. Due to an unbalanced conference schedule for Augustana compared to the rest of the CCHA, the conference switched to points percentage this season to determine the standings. The Vikings finished second to Minnesota State in the standings. A unique situation occurred during the 2025 CCHA Mason Cup playoffs. When St. Thomas defeated Bowling Green in the semifinals, it ensured that the winner of the other semifinal between Minnesota State and Bemidji State would receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. This was because St. Thomas was not eligible for the tournament due to a mandatory four-year waiting period after transitioning from Division III to Division I. In a semifinal with unexpectedly high postseason ramifications, the Mavericks downed the Beavers 4-0 to earn the bid. The Mavericks put an exclamation point on the tournament the following week with a 4-2 win in the championship game, thus regaining the Mason Cup for the third time in four years.
The Lindenwood men’s hockey team defeated the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison October 11, 2024. It was the first program win over a top ten ranked opponent as well as its first win over a Big Ten team. Two weeks later in Indiana, LIU defeated Notre Dame for the program’s first road win over a ranked opponent. LIU finished the season with a record of 20-12-2; the first time the program hit the 20-win plateau in a season.
Denver hosted UNLV for a holiday-season exhibition game on December 28, 2024. UNLV, an ACHA Division I hockey program, shocked the hockey world by defeating the Pioneers in a shootout 7-6. Granted, Denver was without head coach, David Carle, and star defenseman, Zeev Buium, but this was historic. It’s safe to say this was the first time an ACHA (club) team defeated the defending Division I men’s hockey team who also owns the record for most NCAA Division I hockey titles. In April, the Skatin’ Rebels capped its historic season with the school’s first-ever ACHA Division I national hockey championship.
Two Division I men’s conference championship games went to double overtime. This was just the second time this ever happened in the same season; the only other occurrence took place in 2017. In addition to the aforementioned NCHC title game when Western Michigan outlasted Denver, the Michigan State Spartans defeated Ohio State in double overtime by a score of 4-3 to earn its second Big Ten tournament title in a row. Elsewhere, Bentley won the Atlantic Hockey America tournament. The Falcons hoisted the Riley Trophy for the first time, granting the program its first-ever berth in the NCAA hockey tournament. Within Hockey East, Maine won its first Hockey East tournament since 2004 after defeating UConn in the title game. UConn, however, earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament; its first time ever participating in the national tournament. Within the ECAC, Quinnipiac won the regular season title for the fifth season in a row. However, the Bobcats lost in the semifinals of the conference tournament. Quinnipiac has not won any of the five conference tournaments throughout this five-peat run.
During the 2025 NCAA Division I men’s tournament, Denver and Boston College met in the Manchester Regional Final for a rematch of the 2024 title game. Since 1949, there have been seven instances of a title game rematch happening in the following season’s tournament. In all seven instances, the runner up from the season before avenged the loss. History did not repeat itself in 2025 as Denver beat Boston College 3-1 to earn a trip back to the Frozen Four.
The men’s Frozen Four took place in St. Louis for the first time since 2007. Of the four teams that made it, two are considered college hockey blue bloods in Denver and Boston University and two are first-time participants in Western Michigan and Penn State. Western Michigan defeated Denver in double overtime in the early semifinal. It was the second time the Broncos defeated the Pioneers in double overtime in 21 days. Also, the only other time these two teams met in the NCAA tournament, that too ended in double overtime. But Denver was on the winning side of that 2011 first round contest. The late semifinal game saw Boston University defeat Penn State; thus, ending the Cinderella run for the 13th overall seed. Western Michigan defeated Boston University two days later and claimed the program’s first NCAA hockey title. It was the third time in five years that a first-time winner was crowned for the Division I men. The Broncos are also the first champion to win two double overtime games in the NCAA tournament en route to a title. Western Michigan is the first men’s team to pull off the trophy trifecta (conference regular season title, conference tournament title, NCAA title) since Union in 2014. A Michigan-based team has won all three Frozen Fours hosted in the city of St. Louis (Western Michigan in 2025, Michigan State in 2007, and Michigan Tech in 1975).
The women’s Frozen Four was held at Ridder Arena. It was the seventh time it took place on the University of Minnesota campus. Two WCHA powerhouses met in the championship game yet again. In fact, it was the third year in a row that Ohio State and Wisconsin faced off for the championship trophy; the first time that has ever happened in the NC women’s hockey tournament. Wisconsin won two years ago, and Ohio State won the previous season. The two previous title games were decided by one goal and this year wasn’t any different. Wisconsin tied the game on a Kirsten Simms penalty shot with just 19 seconds left in regulation. The Badgers then won the game 4-3 in overtime on another goal by Simms. It was the fourth championship trophy for the Badgers in six seasons. Wisconsin has now won the hockey championship in the last four odd-numbered years. The Badgers increased their lead in the overall title count by adding this eighth trophy. This was also the 22nd women’s hockey championship for the WCHA.
In Division III men’s hockey, Hobart completed a three-peat after defeating Utica 2-1 in overtime during the championship game of the 40th NCAA hockey tournament for Division III. The Statesmen have defeated three different teams in the three consecutive championship games. The last time there was a three-peat in Division III men’s hockey, Middlebury (Vermont) won three in a row from 2004 to 2006.
The longest women’s hockey game in Division III history took place during the MIAC tournament. Augsburg (Minnesota) defeated Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota by a score of 3-2 when Aunna Schulte scored eight minutes and six seconds into the fourth overtime. The field for the NCAA Division III women’s tournament was expanded from 11 to 12 teams this year. For the second year in a row the semifinals and title game were held in River Falls, Wisconsin. It was held there in 2024 because Wisconsin-River Falls was the highest remaining seed. However, it was chosen as a predetermined site prior to this 2024-25 season. But as luck would have it, Wisconsin-River Falls made another tournament run and ended up back in the championship game at home. The Falcons defeated Amherst 3-1 to claim back-to-back titles.
For more than five decades, if a hockey prospect played in one of the Major Junior leagues in Canada or even signed a contract with one of the teams, it rendered a player automatically ineligible from NCAA hockey. In fact, NCAA hockey did not accept players who had even played in a game against a professional player. However, this changed November 7, 2024, when a vote was passed that allowed NCAA Division I teams to recruit prospects who participated in Major Junior hockey or professional teams. The caveat was that the players must never have received payments more than the actual and necessary expenses as part of their participation on the team. Players who accepted additional expenses or gifts, or signed NHL contracts are still deemed ineligible in the eyes of the NCAA. It was determined that eligible players would be able to begin play within the 2025-26 season. Division III was excluded from this ruling. Braxton Whitehead was the first Canadian Hockey League player to commit to an NCAA team. Whitehead, an alternate captain for the Regina Pats of the WHL, verbally committed to Arizona State on September 13, 2024. He did so due to a class action suit filed against the NCAA to allow CHL players to be deemed eligible. The NCAA voted less than two months later to allow it. The fact that NCAA players currently earn scholarships and money from name, image, and likeness (NIL) helped fuel this change.
The 2025 Men’s Frozen Four begins Thursday. Both games have the same storyline of newcomer versus veteran. The Western Michigan Broncos will play the Denver Pioneers in the early game in an NCHC Championship Game rematch. The nightcap will be Penn State Nittany Lions versus Boston University Terriers in the first-ever meeting between these two teams.
With two NCHC teams playing one another, the NCHC is guaranteed it’ll be represented in the title game. This will be a staggering eighth time in the last nine years that an NCHC team will play in the NCAA Division I men’s championship game. The most recent time this happened is when Hockey East had at least one team in eight of nine championship games between 1993 and 2001.
On the other side of the bracket, a Big Ten or Hockey East team will advance. Hockey East is looking for its first champion since UMass won in 2021. The Nittany Lions are looking to win a hockey championship for the first time in school and conference history.
Western Michigan hosted Denver for the first time Nov. 25, 1983. Photo courtesy of the Western Herald.
All-Time Series: Denver leads 27-15-2
First meeting: Nov. 26, 1982 – Denver won 5-1
The first series between these teams took place in Denver in November 1982. The Pioneers swept the Broncos. The following season, the Broncos hosted the Pioneers in November 1983. Western Michigan earned its first win against Denver (pictured above) as well as its first sweep over the Pioneers. The teams didn’t play again until the opening round of the 2011 NCAA tournament.
This is the first-ever Frozen Four for Western Michigan. This is the 20th Frozen Four in program history for Denver and sixth time in the last nine seasons.
The Broncos won the program’s first-ever regular season title and Frozen Faceoff this year. The team is looking to pull off the trifecta this year with the NCAA trophy. The Pioneers did exactly that in 2005; however, with a share of the WCHA title with Colorado College.
Western Michigan is currently ranked #1 in the nation right now (USA Hockey Poll) for the first time in program history. The Broncos are also currently sitting at a program-record 32 wins on the season.
Denver is looking to win back-to-back hockey championships for the first time since 2004-2005 and fourth time overall.
The Pioneers are looking to be the first team to win three titles in four years since their own program did so in 1958, 1960, 1961.
This will be the third time a Big Ten and Hockey East school will face off in the Frozen Four (Boston University vs Minnesota in 2023 semifinal, Boston College vs Michigan in 2024 semifinal).
This is the first-ever Frozen Four for Penn State. This is the 25th Frozen Four in program history for Boston University and third in a row.
The last NCAA champion to come out of Hockey East did so by defeating an NCHC team in the title game (UMass over St. Cloud State). If the Terriers advance, the team would be guaranteed a game against an NCHC opponent.
The last time Penn State faced a Hockey East opponent was November 30, 2019, against UMass Lowell in a holiday tournament.
Jay Pandolfo, Boston University Head Coach, is the third Division I men’s hockey coach to reach the Frozen Four in each of his first three seasons as head coach (Doug Woog, Dave Hakstol).
In its last six NCAA tournaments, Boston University’s seasons were ended by either an NCHC (4) or Big Ten (2) team.
The last time Boston University played in St. Louis, the Terriers won the 2010 Ice Breaker Tournament, defeating Wisconsin and Notre Dame.
We can throw all the statistics in the world at you but there’s only one question that remains: will there be a champion crowned for the first time or will a team add to its storied history?
The Denver Pioneers will face the Boston College Eagles this Sunday in a rematch of last season’s NCAA Division I men’s championship game. The winner of this Regional Final game will earn a return trip to the 2025 Frozen Four in St. Louis.
In the seventy-seven-year history of the NCAA hockey tournament, there have only been seven other instances of a Division I men’s championship game rematch occurring in the tournament the following season. Of those seven games, the runner-up from the previous season won the rematch all seven times.
The first time this occurred was in the second-ever tournament in 1949 when Dartmouth defeated Michigan 4-2 in the semifinals. The Indians – as they were known as at the time – avenged a championship loss to the Wolverines from the inaugural tournament. The most recent occurrence took place in 2021 when UMD met UMass in the 2021 Frozen Four semifinals. The Bulldogs had defeated UMass in the 2019 championship game. However, the 2020 tournament was canceled due to COVID so the 2021 game counted as a next-tournament rematch. The Minutemen outlasted the Bulldogs 3-2 in overtime in that game.
Three of these rematches throughout the years took place in the championship game and one in the now defunct third place game. The full list of championship rematches are as follows:
1949: Dartmouth defeated Michigan 4-2 in the Semifinals
1976: Minnesota defeated Michigan Tech 6-4 in the Championship Game
1995: Boston University defeated Lake Superior State 6-2 in the Regional Final
2001: Boston College defeated North Dakota 3-2 in overtime in the Championship Game
2021: UMass defeated UMD 3-2 in overtime in the Semifinals
The Pioneers are the three seed in the Manchester Region while the Eagles are the number one overall seed in the tournament. Based on seeding alone, there’s a good chance this trend continues. But if there’s anything we’ve learned from the NCAA hockey tournament it’s that you can never count out a lower seed. And more importantly, you can never count out the program that leads all colleges in the number of hockey championship trophies.
We previously highlighted the Division I women’s regular season champions. Now that the Division I men’s conference playoffs are in motion, it’s time to cover the 2024-25 regular season conference champions. Below is a look at the seven teams that ended the regular season on top of the six conferences and the historical implications for each. (No, there was not a typo in that last sentence.)
Holy Cross – The Crusaders won the regular season title in the first season after the Atlantic Hockey Association rebranded to Atlantic Hockey America. This marked the first regular season crown for Holy Cross since 2006. Minnesota Gophers fans will never forget what Holy Cross did in the NCAA tournament that season.
Michigan State and Minnesota – For the first time in Big Ten Hockey history, there are co-champions for the regular season title. It came down to the final weekend and both teams ended up tied at 50 points. The Spartans became back-to-back champs – the team won the Big Ten for the first time in 2023-24. Minnesota’s most recent title before this was in 2023. This year’s feat is Minnesota’s conference-leading seventh time doing so. Fun Fact: Michigan is the only team yet to win a regular season Big Ten title, yet it leads the field in conference tournament wins with three.
Minnesota State – A year after the MacNaughton Cup traveled 269 miles north, it found its way back to Mankato this season. The Mavericks ended with a .781 points percentage and 56 points on the season. The conference tracked points percentage this season because Augustana – the newest member of the CCHA – had far fewer conference games compared to the other teams. The Vikings ended up in second place with 30 points – yet a .625 points percentage. This is an impressive seventh time Minnesota State has brought home the MacNaughton Cup in the last eight seasons. (Three in CCHA and four in the now-defunct WCHA men’s hockey conference.)
Quinnipiac – It’s a five-peat for the Bobcats. Yes, you read that right. Quinnipiac has dominated the ECAC in the past ten-plus seasons – winning the Cleary Cup nine times since 2012-13. In addition to the regular season titles, Quinnipiac won the Whitelaw Cup once for winning the conference tournament in 2016, a national championship in 2023, and was NCAA runner-up in 2013 and 2016.
Boston College– The Eagles won the Hockey East regular season title for the second time in a row. It was the 19th time in Boston College history. The Eagles finished the season on a tear, winning six in a row to close it out and 14-2-1 overall in the last 17 games. The team is looking to win the Hockey East men’s tournament again to sweep the titles for the second year in a row.
Western Michigan – The 50th season was the charm. Western Michigan’s first season in Division I was 1973-74 and this year the Broncos won its first regular season title. Western Michigan is only the fourth school to lift up the Penrose Trophy in the 12-year history of the NCHC. (Fighting Hawks, Pioneers, and Huskies are the other three.) Western Michigan looks to win its first NCHC Frozen Faceoff this year as well – the last one being held in Saint Paul.
It’s worth noting that of the five independent teams in Division I men’s hockey, LIU finished with the best record at 20-12-2. It’s the first time the Sharks have hit the 20-win plateau since the program began five years ago.
The Division I women’s conference playoffs are in full swing so there’s no time like the present to cover the 2024-25 regular season conference champions. Below is a look at the five teams that ended the regular season on top of their respective conferences and the historical implications for each.
Penn State – The name of the conference may have changed but the regular season champion remained the same. In the first season after College Hockey America rebranded to Atlantic Hockey America, Penn State completed its regular season three-peat. The Nittany Lions went an impressive 19-1 in conference play and finished with 52 points; 13 more than second place Mercyhurst. It’s the fourth regular season title in program history for PSU.
Cornell – The Big Red won the ECAC regular season title for the first time since 2020 and seventh time overall. Heading into the ECAC conference playoffs, the Big Red have not lost in regulation since January 11. The team also won its second Ivy League title in a row.
UConn – The Huskies are back-to-back Hockey East regular season champions. It was a close race as UConn closed out the regular season with a win over Boston University and finished with 58 points – just one more than the Terriers. The team is looking to win its second Bertagna Trophy in a row after winning the Hockey East tournament for the first time last season.
LIU – It’s a three-peat for the Sharks as the team won another NEWHA regular season title. LIU is 62-12-8 within NEWHA play throughout those three years. The Sharks closed out the 2024-25 regular season with 57 points and 19 conference wins. Franklin Pierce was the last team not named LIU to win the NEWHA regular season back in 2021-22 as the Sharks finished second that year.
Wisconsin – The Badgers won the WCHA regular season for the first time since 2021. It’s the 10th time overall; second most in conference history. Mark Johnson coached all ten Wisconsin teams that won conference regular season titles; the most for any coach in WCHA history. The Badgers may not have won the WCHA regular season since 2021 but that didn’t stop the team from winning an NCAA national championship in 2023.
First-ever hockey game between North Dakota and Merrimack. Oct 10, 2009 Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, North Dakota) Newspapers.com 
