2016 NCHC Tournament

2016 NCHC Men's ice hockey tournament
Dates	March 11–19, 2016
Teams	8
Finals site	Target Center Minneapolis, Minnesota
Champions	St. Cloud State Huskies (1st title)
Winning coach	Bob Motzko (1st title)
MVP	Mikey Eyssimont (St. Cloud State)
NCHC Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments ← 2015 2017 →

The 2016 NCHC Tournament was the third tournament in league history. It was played between March 11 and March 19, 2016. Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the final four games were played at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. By winning the tournament, St. Cloud State received the NCHC's automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Format

The first round of the postseason tournament features a best-of-three games format. All eight conference teams participate in the tournament. Teams are seeded No. 1 through No. 8 according to their final conference standing, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with an identical number of points accumulated. The top four seeded teams each earn home ice and host one of the lower seeded teams.

The winners of the first round series advance to the Target Center for the NCHC Frozen Faceoff. The Frozen Faceoff uses a single-elimination format. Teams are re-seeded No. 1 through No. 4 according to the final regular season conference standings.^[1]

Conference standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against

2015–16 National Collegiate Hockey Conference standings v t e
	Conference record									Overall record
	GP	W	L	T	SOW	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#1 North Dakota†	24	19	4	1	1	59	89	49		44	34	6	4	162	81
#4 St. Cloud State*	24	17	6	1	1	53	104	53		41	31	9	1	175	90
#6 Denver	24	17	5	2	0	53	74	52		41	25	10	6	134	96
#16 Minnesota–Duluth	24	11	10	3	1	37	64	44		40	19	16	5	107	82
Miami	24	9	13	2	2	31	54	65		36	15	18	3	86	97
Omaha	24	8	15	1	0	25	60	83		36	18	17	1	103	107
Western Michigan	24	5	18	1	1	17	56	103		36	8	25	3	80	142
Colorado College	24	4	19	1	0	13	47	99		36	6	29	1	71	145
Champions: St. Cloud State † indicates conference regular season champion; * indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll; updated March 13, 2016

Bracket

Teams are reseeded after the first round

	Quarterfinals March 11–13							Semifinals March 18					Championship March 19
	1	North Dakota	7	5	—
	8	Colorado College	1	1	—
								1	North Dakota	2
								4	Minnesota-Duluth	4
	2	St. Cloud State	4*	4	—
	7	Western Michigan	3	2	—
													2	St. Cloud State	3
	(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
													4	Minnesota-Duluth	1
	3	Denver	5	4**	—
	6	Omaha	2	3	—
								2	St. Cloud State	4			Third Place
								3	Denver	2
	4	Minnesota-Duluth	5	3	—								1	North Dakota	1
	5	Miami	4	1	—								3	Denver	1

* denotes overtime periods

Results

All times are local.

Quarterfinals

(1) North Dakota vs. (8) Colorado College

March 11	North Dakota		7 – 1		Colorado College	Ralph Engelstad Arena	Recap
(Poolman, LaDue) Luke Johnson - PP - 15:27 (Dowd, Kossila) Nick Schmaltz - GW - 19:38		First period			No scoring
(Poganski, LaDue) Joel Janatuinen - PP - 16:36		Second period			15:42 - PP - Tanner Ockey (Bergh, McCaskill)
(Wolanin, Wilkie) Coltyn Sanderson - 04:30 (Boeser, Stecher) Nick Schmaltz - PP - 13:35 (Caggiula, Schmaltz) Hayden Shaw - PP - 17:38 (Janatuinen, Sanderson) Shane Gersich - 18:32		Third period			No scoring
( 15 saves / 16 shots ) Cam Johnson		Goalie stats			Jacob Nehama ( 27 saves / 34 shots )

March 12	North Dakota		5 – 1		Colorado College	Ralph Engelstad Arena	Recap
(Thompson, Boeser) Nick Schmaltz - 03:55 (Simonson, Chyzyk) Joel Janatuinen - GW - 04:12 (Boeser, Schmaltz) Hayden Shaw - 13:36 (Schmaltz, Boeser) Drake Caggiula - 19:54		First period			No scoring
(Gardner, Johnson) Austin Poganski - 04:18		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			18:17 - Matt Hansen (Israel)
( 22 saves / 23 shots ) Cam Johnson		Goalie stats			Jacob Nehama ( 10 saves / 14 shots ) / Derek Shatzer ( 13 saves / 14 shots )

North Dakota won series 2–0

(2) St. Cloud State vs. (7) Western Michigan

March 11	St. Cloud State		4 – 3	OT	Western Michigan	Herb Brooks National Hockey Center	Recap
(Schuldt, Nevalainen) Jimmy Murray - PP - 16:10		First period			No scoring
(Benik, Murray) Will Borgen - 15:37		Second period			03:55 - Frederik Tiffels (Rebry, Dienes) 12:30 - Neal Goff (Rebry, Tiffels)
(Murray) Kalle Kossila - 05:03		Third period			13:55 - Colt Conrad (Novak, McKee)
(Schuldt, Papa) Patrick Newell - GW - 16:31		First overtime period			No scoring
( 27 saves / 30 shots ) Charlie Lindgren		Goalie stats			Lukas Hafner ( 41 saves / 45 shots )

March 12	St. Cloud State		4 – 2		Western Michigan	Herb Brooks National Hockey Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period			11:31 - Colt Conrad (Molino, Novak)
(Benson, Prow) Robby Jackson - 10:23 (unassisted) Jimmy Schuldt - 10:45 (Murray, Benik) David Morley - GW - 12:11		Second period			No scoring
(Borgen, Kossila) Patrick Russell - EN - 19:58		Third period			19:50 - EA - Chris Dienes (Molino, LaPorte)
( 23 saves / 25 shots ) Charlie Lindgren		Goalie stats			Lukas Hafner ( 40 saves / 43 shots )

St. Cloud State won series 2–0

(3) Denver vs. (6) Nebraska-Omaha

March 11	Denver		5 – 2		Nebraska-Omaha	Magness Arena	Recap
No Scoring		First period			No scoring
(Hammond) Trevor Moore - 00:48 (Hillman, Shore) Troy Terry - PP - 02:52 (Romig, VanVoorhis) Colin Staub - GW - 03:10		Second period			13:36 - PP - Jake Guentzel (Snuggerud, Ortega) 17:58 - Brian Cooper (Guentzel, Randolph)
(Butcher, Hammond) Danton Heinen - SH - 08:06 (unassisted) Danton Heinen - EN - 19:03		Third period			No scoring
( 29 saves / 31 shots ) Tanner Jaillet		Goalie stats			Kirk Thompson ( 15 saves / 19 shots )

March 12	Denver		4 – 3	2OT	Nebraska-Omaha	Magness Arena	Recap
(Zajac, Butcher) Quentin Shore - 05:29 (Zajac, Moore) Troy Terry - 17:14		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			11:17 - PP - Jake Guentzel (Ortega, Brady) 16:29 - SH - Austin Ortega (Klehr)
(Janssen, Jaillet) Danton Heinen - 01:31		Third period			03:57 - Austin Ortega (Guentzel, Vesel)
(Romig, Levin) Colin Staub - GW - 08:54		Second overtime period			No scoring
( 51 saves / 54 shots ) Tanner Jaillet		Goalie stats			Evan Weninger ( 46 saves / 50 shots )

Denver won series 2–0

(4) Minnesota–Duluth vs. (5) Miami

March 11	Minnesota–Duluth		5 – 4		Miami	AMSOIL Arena	Recap
(Decowski, Sampair) Austyn Young - 04:34		First period			12:17 - Zach LaValle (Morris, Greenberg)
(Kaskisuo) Andy Welinski - PP - 09:59		Second period			04:11 - Ryan Siroky (Lemirande) 10:17 - Anthony Louis (Gacek, Melnick) 13:16 - PP - Louie Belpedio (Louis, Sherwood)
(Corrin, Toninato) Adam Johnson - 04:54 (Corrin, Cameranesi) Neal Pionk - PP - 11:12 (Farley, Cameranesi) Carson Soucy - GW - 12:29		Third period			No scoring
( 18 saves / 22 shots ) Kasimir Kaskisuo		Goalie stats			Jay Williams ( 28 saves / 33 shots )

March 12	Minnesota–Duluth		3 – 1		Miami	AMSOIL Arena	Recap
(unassisted) Kyle Osterberg - SH - 01:31 (Thomas, Iafallo) Andy Welinski - GW - 16:51		First period			No scoring
(Kuhlman, Soucy) Tony Cameranesi - SH - 12:46		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			17:12 - Kevin Morris (Roslovic, Louis)
( 15 saves / 16 shots ) Kasimir Kaskisuo		Goalie stats			Jay Williams ( 16 saves / 19 shots )

Minnesota–Duluth won series 2–0

Semifinals

(1) North Dakota vs. (4) Minnesota–Duluth

March 18	North Dakota		2 – 4		Minnesota–Duluth	Target Center	Recap
(Caggiula, Boeser) Nick Schmaltz - 00:49		First period			No scoring
(Ausmus, Boeser) Troy Stecher - 15:00		Second period			00:28 - Dominic Toninato (Raskob) 03:46 - Alex Iafallo (Raskob, Johnson) 12:24 - GW - Austin Farley (Corrin, Cameranesi)
No scoring		Third period			14:02 - Dominic Toninato (Johnson, Iafallo)
( 22 saves / 26 shots ) Cam Johnson		Goalie stats			Kasimir Kaskisuo ( 22 saves / 24 shots )

(2) St. Cloud State vs. (3) Denver

March 18	St. Cloud State		4 – 2		Denver	Target Center	Recap
(Prow, Kossila) Joey Benik - PP - 07:45		First period			No scoring
(Benik, Murray) David Morley - 11:29		Second period			06:29 - Troy Terry (Hammond, Heinen)
(Kossila, Russell) Mikey Eyssimont - GW - 01:41 (unassisted) Jimmy Schuldt - EN - 18:43		Third period			02:13 - Evan Janssen (Terry, Shore)
( 17 saves / 19 shots ) Charlie Lindgren		Goalie stats			Tanner Jaillet ( 12 saves / 15 shots )

Third place

(1) North Dakota vs. (3) Denver

March 19	North Dakota		1 – 1		Denver	Target Center	Recap
(Caggiula, Boeser) Nick Schmaltz - 06:09		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			13:21 - Danton Heinen (Moore, Gambrell)
( 16 saves / 17 shots ) Cam Johnson		Goalie stats			Evan Cowley ( 26 saves / 27 shots )

Championship

(2) St. Cloud State vs. (4) Minnesota–Duluth

March 19	St. Cloud State		3 – 1		Minnesota–Duluth	Target Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period			13:03 - Carson Soucy (Raskob, Cameranesi)
(Prow, Russell) Mikey Eyssimont - 08:59 (Schuldt, Kossila) Mikey Eyssimont - GW - 19:24		Second period			No scoring
(Kossila, Lizotte) Patrick Russell - 05:09		Third period			No scoring
( 33 saves / 34 shots ) Charlie Lindgren		Goalie stats			Kasimir Kaskisuo ( 15 saves / 18 shots )

Tournament awards

Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament Team

• F Mikey Eyssimont* (St. Cloud State)
• F Dominic Toninato (Minnesota-Duluth)
• F Nick Schmaltz (North Dakota)
• D Ethan Prow (St. Cloud State)
• D Willie Raskob (Minnesota-Duluth)
• G Charlie Lindgren (St. Cloud State)

* Most Valuable Player(s) ^[2]

References

1. "Format". Archived from the original on June 7, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
2. "St. Cloud State Captures 2016 Frozen Faceoff Title". March 19, 2016.