Color: | color:white; background:#b5121b; |
Color Text: | white |
Season: | 2020–21 |
Season: | 2020–21 |
Conference: | National Collegiate Hockey Conference |
Shortconference: | NCHC |
Division: | Division I |
Sport: | ice hockey |
Pixels: | 225 px |
Duration: | December 1, 2020– April 10, 2021 |
No Of Teams: | 8 |
Draft: | |
Top Pick: | Connor Kelley |
Picked By: | Chicago Blackhawks |
Regular Season: | |
Season Champs: | North Dakota |
Mvp: | Shane Pinto |
Mvp Link: | NCHC Player of the Year |
Top Scorer: | Jordan Kawaguchi |
Tournament: | |
Tournament Champs: | North Dakota |
Tournament Place: | St. Cloud State |
Mvp2: | Riese Gaber |
Mvp Link2: | Frozen Faceoff MVP |
Top Scorer2: | Collin Adams Jordan Kawaguchi |
Ncaa: | |
Bids: | 4 |
Conf Rec: | 5–4 |
Best: | Runner-Up |
Ncaa Team: | St. Cloud State |
Prevseason: | 2019–20 |
Nextseason: | 2021–22 |
Labelstyle: | background:#eeeeee; |
The 2020–21 NCHC season was the 8th season of play for National Collegiate Hockey Conference and took place during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The start of the season was delayed until December 1, 2020 and concluded on April 10, 2021.[1] St. Cloud State made its first championship appearance, finishing as the national runner-up.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all NCHC teams scrapped their non-conference schedules. The league ended up delaying the start to the season until the beginning of December, 2 months later than usual. All eight member teams began the year playing at the Baxter Arena in Omaha, Nebraska.[2] All games in the month of December were set at the Mavericks' home arena and the pattern for the remainder of the season was set. North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth lived up to their preseason billing while Denver and Western Michigan both eventually fell from the rankings. The later two were quickly replaced by St. Cloud State and Omaha. From the time the clubs returned home in January to the end of the season, very little movement was seen as far as their national rankings.
By the time the conference tournament began, the NCHC was all but guaranteed to receive 4 bids to the NCAA tournament. Even after Omaha was upset in the quarterfinals by Denver, they only fell from 12 to 14 and did end up with one of the final at-large bids. North Dakota, the #1 team for much of the season, received the top overall seed after winning the conference title and opened NCAA play against #16 American International. They did not, however, have the easiest path into the quarterfinals as Duluth ended up getting advanced due to a withdrawal by Michigan.
The NCHC proved to be the strongest conference by having the most teams in every round of the NCAA tournament. One of the biggest games, outside of the championship, was the quarterfinal match between North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth that set a new NCAA record for the longest game in tournament history. The match required 5 extra periods and went on so long that UMD starting goaltender Zach Stejskal had to be replaced due to cramping.[3] The Bulldogs did eventually win the game on a goal by Freshman Luke Mylymok and make their 4th consecutive Frozen Four. While St. Cloud State had a chance to extend the conference's championship run to five, they were defeated in the final by Massachusetts.[4]
Entering the season, Scott Sandelin needed 9 more wins to become 45th coach in NCAA history to record 400 victories for a career.
Team | Head coach | Season at school | Record at school | NCHC record |
---|---|---|---|---|
Colorado College | 7 | 63–136–20 | 31–95–19 | |
Denver | 3 | 45–21–11 | 22–19–8 | |
Miami | 2 | 8–21–5 | 5–16–3 | |
Minnesota Duluth | 21 | 391–321–89 | 94–60–15 | |
North Dakota | 6 | 116–57–23 | 67–41–13 | |
Omaha | 4 | 40–58–8 | 23–43–6 | |
St. Cloud State | 3 | 43–21–9 | 29–32–5 | |
Western Michigan | 10 | 157–144–40 | 70–83–15 | |
See main article: 2021 NCHC Tournament.
See main article: 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
After seeding, Michigan, Minnesota Duluth's opponent in the first round, was forced to withdraw due to COVID-19 positive tests. UMD was automatically advanced to the second round by a no-contest decision.
Scoring summary | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Period | Team | Goal | Assist(s) | Time | Score | |||
1st | align=center style=";" | UMA | Aaron Bohlinger (1) – GW | Sullivan and Farmer | align=center | 7:26 | align=center | 1–0 UMA |
align=center style=";" | UMA | Reed Lebster (2) | Kiefiuk | align=center | 18:56 | align=center | 2–0 UMA | |
2nd | align=center style=";" | UMA | Philip Lagunov (6) – SH | unassisted | align=center | 25:10 | align=center | 3–0 UMA |
align=center style=";" | UMA | Matthew Kessel (10) – PP | Chau and Gaudet | align=center | 33:45 | align=center | 4–0 UMA | |
3rd | align=center style=";" | UMA | Bobby Trivigno (11) | Lebster | align=center | 46:00 | align=center | 5–0 UMA |
Penalty summary | ||||||||
Period | Team | Player | Penalty | Time | PIM | |||
1st | align=center style=";" | UMA | Anthony Del Gaizo | Slashing | align=center | 15:27 | align=center | 2:00 |
2nd | align=center style=";" | STC | Seamus Donohue | Tripping | align=center | 20:24 | align=center | 2:00 |
align=center style=";" | UMA | Ryan Sullivan | Tripping | align=center | 23:57 | align=center | 2:00 | |
align=center style=";" | UMA | Jake Gaudet | Elbowing | align=center | 30:31 | align=center | 2:00 | |
align=center style=";" | STC | Bench (served by Zach Okabe) | Too Many Men | align=center | 32:35 | align=center | 2:00 | |
3rd | align=center colspan=5 | None | ||||||
Shots by period | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | ||||||
align=center style=";" | St. Cloud State | align=center | 3 | align=center | 12 | align=center | 10 | align=center | 25 | |
align=center style=";" | Massachusetts | align=center | 7 | align=center | 6 | align=center | 9 | align=center | 22 |
Goaltenders | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | Name | Saves | Goals against | Time on ice | |||||
align=center style=";" | STC | align=center | 17 | align=center | 5 | align=center | 60:00 | ||
align=center style=";" | UMA | align=center | 25 | align=center | 0 | align=center | 60:00 |
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes[5]
Minimum 1/3 of team's minutes played in conference games.
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
See main article: 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey rankings.
Colorado College | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | N/A | NR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Denver | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | N/A | NR |
Miami | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | N/A | NR |
Minnesota Duluth | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | N/A | 3 |
North Dakota | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | N/A | 5 |
Omaha | NR | NR | NR | NR | 18 | 17 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 | N/A | 13 |
St. Cloud State | NR | NR | NR | NR | 13 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | N/A | 2 |
Western Michigan | 18 | 17 | 17 | 17 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | N/A | NR |
Colorado College | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Denver | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 14 | NR | NR | 15 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
Miami | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
Minnesota Duluth | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 3 |
North Dakota | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
Omaha | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 14 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 14 |
St. Cloud State | NR | NR | NR | NR | 11 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 2 |
Western Michigan | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
Award | Recipient | ||
---|---|---|---|
Jordan Kawaguchi, North Dakota | |||
AHCA All-American Teams[8] | |||
West First Team | Pos | Team | |
align=center | Western Michigan | ||
align=center | North Dakota | ||
West Second Team | Pos | Team | |
align=center | D | North Dakota | |
align=center | F | North Dakota | |
Frozen Faceoff MVP | |||
---|---|---|---|
North Dakota | |||
Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament Team[12] | |||
Player | Pos | Team | |
North Dakota | |||
St. Cloud State | |||
North Dakota | |||
North Dakota | |||
North Dakota | |||
North Dakota |
See main article: 2021 NHL Entry Draft.
2 | 36 | Shai Buium† | Denver | Detroit Red Wings | |
2 | 54 | Jack Peart† | St. Cloud State | Minnesota Wild | |
2 | 61 | Sean Behrens† | Denver | Colorado Avalanche | |
3 | 70 | Carter Mazur† | Denver | Detroit Red Wings | |
3 | 80 | Brent Johnson† | North Dakota | Washington Capitals | |
4 | 109 | Jackson Blake† | North Dakota | Carolina Hurricanes | |
4 | 114 | Redmond Savage† | Miami | Detroit Red Wings | |
4 | 119 | Joaquim Lemay† | Omaha | Washington Capitals | |
4 | 125 | Cameron Berg† | Omaha | New York Islanders | |
6 | 182 | Nate Benoit† | North Dakota | Minnesota Wild | |
7 | 204 | Minnesota Duluth | Chicago Blackhawks |