NCHA Men's Tournament explained

Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Men's Tournament
Optional Subheader:	Conference hockey championship
Sport:	Ice hockey
Conference:	NCHA
Format:	Two-game aggregate, Modified Best of Three, Single-elimination
Years:	1986–Present

The NCHA men's tournament is an annual Division III conference tournament that has taken place since 1986. The winner of the tournament has received an automatic bit to the NCAA Tournament since they were first offered in 2000.

History

When the NCHA formed in 1981 the NCAA was already holding a preliminary tournament to help determine the bids for the NCAA Tournament. They continued to do so until 1985 after which the western conferences began playing their own postseason tournaments. For the first year the NCHA tournament format was a Two-game, total goal series for both rounds. That was changed to a point system the following year; the teams would play two games against one another and whoever had the most points would advance (2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie). If the two teams were tied after two games than a 20-minute 'mini-game' was played to determine the winner. In 1993 the tournament was expanded to include all 6 teams with all rounds following the same point system format. Two seasons later the tournament was expanded again, this time to 8 teams, before returning to a 6-team championship the following year. In 1997 Bemidji State was no longer eligible to participate in any Division III tournament but remained in the NCHA for three more seasons. The following year the 8-team tournament was restored. When Lake Forest left the conference in 2009 the tournament shifted to a 7-team format but was restored to an 8-team arrangement after membership was reshuffled in 2013.

In 2016 the conference standings were altered by splitting teams into two divisions, North and South. The tournament was also changed to include only six teams, three from each division, with the top teams advancing to the semifinal round. The remaining teams would play within their division for the quarterfinals and then the opposite divisions for the semifinals. Two years later the tournament was returned to an 8-team format, however, the teams would play both the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds within their divisions leaving the championship as the only interdivisional game.

1986

Seed	School	Conference record
1	Bemidji State	12–6–0
2	Mankato State	11–5–2
3	St. Scholastica	11–6–1
4	Wisconsin–River Falls	11–5–0

1987

Seed	School	Conference record
1	St. Cloud State	13–6–1
2	Mankato State	13–6–1
3	Bemidji State	12–7–1
4	Wisconsin–River Falls	15–5–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

1988

Seed	School	Conference record
1	Wisconsin–River Falls	20–4–0
2	Bemidji State	15–6–3
3	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	15–7–2
4	Mankato State	14–8–2

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

1989

Seed	School	Conference record
1	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	23–1–0
2	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	13–8–3
3	Bemidji State	12–10–2
4	Mankato State	11–10–3

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

1990

Seed	School	Conference record
1	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	19–2–3
2	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	15–8–1
3	Mankato State	13–9–2
4	Wisconsin–River Falls	11–10–3

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

1991

Seed	School	Conference record
1	Mankato State	16–3–5
2	Bemidji State	17–4–3
3	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	16–8–0
4	Wisconsin–Superior	13–11–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

1992

Seed	School	Conference record
1	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	14–4–2
2	Wisconsin–Superior	14–5–1
3	Mankato State	11–7–2
4	Bemidji State	9–8–3

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

1993

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	17–1–2	4	Wisconsin–Superior	9–11–0
2	Bemidji State	14–6–0	5	Lake Forest	5–15–0
3	Wisconsin–River Falls	10–9–1	6	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	3–16–1

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

1994

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	Wisconsin–Superior	13–4–3	4	Wisconsin–River Falls	10–6–4
2	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	13–6–1	5	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	3–15–2
3	Bemidji State	12–6–2	6	Lake Forest	2–16–2

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

1995

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	Bemidji State	16–3–1	5	Wisconsin–River Falls	10–6–4
2	Wisconsin–Superior	14–5–1	6	St. Norbert	6–12–2
3	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	10–5–5	7	Lake Forest	5–13–2
4	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	12–8–0	8	St. Scholastica	0–20–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

1996

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	Wisconsin–River Falls	16–3–1	4	St. Norbert	9–9–2
2	Bemidji State	13–5–2	5	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	7–12–1
3	Wisconsin–Superior	12–6–2	6	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	7–12–1

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

1997

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	St. Norbert	16–4–0	4	Wisconsin–River Falls	13–7–0
2	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	14–5–1	5	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	7–12–1
3	Wisconsin–Superior	13–6–1	6	Wisconsin–Stout	6–14–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

1998

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	St. Norbert	17–3–0	5	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	6–14–0
2	Wisconsin–River Falls	14–5–1	6	Lake Forest	5–13–2
3	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	14–6–0	7	Wisconsin–Stout	3–16–1
4	Wisconsin–Superior	14–6–0	8	St. Scholastica	1–19–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

1999

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	St. Norbert	12–2–2	5	Wisconsin–Stout	6–9–1
2	Wisconsin–River Falls	12–4–0	6	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	4–10–2
3	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	10–6–0	7	Lake Forest	4–12–0
4	Wisconsin–Superior	9–6–1	8	St. Scholastica	2–14–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2000

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	12–2–0	5	Lake Forest	7–7–0
2	St. Norbert	10–3–1	6	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	5–9–0
3	Wisconsin–Superior	10–4–0	7	Wisconsin–Stout	1–12–1
4	Wisconsin–River Falls	8–4–2	8	St. Scholastica	1–13–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2001

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	Wisconsin–Superior	11–3–0	5	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	7–7–0
2	Wisconsin–River Falls	10–4–0	6	St. Scholastica	3–10–1
3	St. Norbert	9–4–1	7	Lake Forest	3–11–0
4	Wisconsin–Stout	9–5–0	8	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	3–11–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2002

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	St. Norbert	12–0–2	5	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	7–6–1
2	Wisconsin–Superior	8–3–3	6	Lake Forest	4–10–0
3	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	8–4–2	7	Wisconsin–Stout	4–10–0
4	Wisconsin–River Falls	7–5–2	8	St. Scholastica	1–13–0

Note: As the top seed, St. Norbert's arena was used for the semifinal and championship rounds.Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2003

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	St. Norbert	12–1–1	5	Lake Forest	6–7–1
2	Wisconsin–Superior	11–2–1	6	St. Scholastica	2–11–1
3	Wisconsin–River Falls	11–2–1	7	Wisconsin–Stout	2–12–0
4	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	8–6–0	8	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	1–12–1

Note: As the top seed, St. Norbert's arena was used for the semifinal and championship rounds.Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2004

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	St. Norbert	11–2–1	5	Wisconsin–Stout	5–7–2
2	Wisconsin–River Falls	8–3–3	6	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	5–7–2
3	Wisconsin–Superior	7–4–3	7	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	4–9–1
4	Lake Forest	7–5–2	8	St. Scholastica	1–11–2

Note: As the top seed, St. Norbert's arena was used for the semifinal and championship rounds.Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2005

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	St. Norbert	12–0–2	5	Lake Forest	7–7–0
2	Wisconsin–Superior	9–2–3	6	Wisconsin–Stout	2–9–3
3	Wisconsin–River Falls	9–5–0	7	St. Scholastica	2–10–2
4	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	7–6–1	8	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	1–10–3

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2006

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	St. Norbert	10–2–2	5	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	6–6–2
2	Wisconsin–River Falls	9–4–1	6	St. Scholastica	6–7–1
3	Wisconsin–Superior	7–5–2	7	Wisconsin–Stout	6–8–0
4	Lake Forest	7–7–0	8	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	0–12–2

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2007

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	Wisconsin–River Falls	10–3–1	5	St. Scholastica	6–7–1
2	St. Norbert	10–3–1	6	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	3–10–1
3	Wisconsin–Stout	10–3–1	7	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	2–9–3
4	Wisconsin–Superior	9–4–1	8	Lake Forest	0–11–3

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2008

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	St. Norbert	10–0–4	5	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	6–7–1
2	Wisconsin–River Falls	8–5–1	6	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	5–6–3
3	Wisconsin–Stout	7–5–2	7	St. Scholastica	4–7–3
4	Wisconsin–Superior	6–4–4	8	Lake Forest	1–13–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2009

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	Wisconsin–Superior	11–1–2	5	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	6–7–1
2	Wisconsin–Stout	10–2–2	6	Wisconsin–River Falls	4–9–1
3	St. Scholastica	9–4–1	7	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	3–10–1
4	St. Norbert	8–5–1	8	Lake Forest	0–13–1

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2010

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	St. Norbert	14–2–2	5	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	6–12–0
2	St. Scholastica	11–3–4	6	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	4–10–4
3	Wisconsin–River Falls	9–7–2	7	Wisconsin–Superior	3–11–4
4	Wisconsin–Stout	6–8–4

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2011

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	St. Norbert	14–3–1	5	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	8–9–1
2	Wisconsin–Superior	10–8–0	6	Wisconsin–River Falls	7–10–1
3	Wisconsin–Stout	10–8–0	7	St. Scholastica	4–14–0
4	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	8–9–1

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2012

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	St. Norbert	12–4–2	5	Wisconsin–Superior	4–7–7
2	St. Scholastica	9–5–4	6	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	5–11–2
3	Wisconsin–River Falls	10–6–2	7	Wisconsin–Stout	4–13–1
4	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	8–6–4

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2013

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	14–3–1	5	Wisconsin–Superior	6–10–2
2	St. Norbert	13–4–1	6	Wisconsin–River Falls	5–9–4
3	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	8–9–1	7	Wisconsin–Stout	5–13–0
4	St. Scholastica	7–10–1

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2014

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	St. Norbert	16–2–0	5	Marian	10–7–1
2	Adrian	14–1–3	6	Concordia (WI)	7–9–2
3	St. Scholastica	10–5–3	7	MSOE	6–12–0
4	Lake Forest	11–7–0	8	Lawrence	5–12–1

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2015

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	Adrian	16–1–1	5	Marian	9–8–1
2	St. Norbert	13–4–1	6	St. Scholastica	8–8–2
3	Lake Forest	12–5–1	7	Lawrence	6–12–0
4	MSOE	11–7–0	8	Concordia (WI)	4–14–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2016

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
N1	St. Norbert	17–2–1	S1	Adrian	17–2–1
N2	St. Scholastica	12–7–1	S2	Marian	15–4–1
N3	Lawrence	8–9–3	S3	Concordia (WI)	7–10–3

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2017

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
N1	St. Norbert	15–4–1	S1	Adrian	17–3–0
N2	St. Scholastica	10–9–1	S2	Marian	12–7–1
N3	Northland	9–10–1	S3	Lake Forest	12–8–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2018

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
N1	St. Norbert	15–3–0	S1	Adrian	17–1–0
N2	Marian	12–6–0	S2	Concordia (WI)	12–6–0
N3	St. Scholastica	9–8–1	S3	Lake Forest	10–6–2
N4	Lawrence	8–9–1	S4	MSOE	7–10–1

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2019

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
N1	St. Norbert	14–3–1	S1	Adrian	13–4–1
N2	Marian	11–5–2	S2	Lake Forest	9–5–4
N3	Northland	9–7–2	S3	Aurora	8–9–1
N4	Finlandia	6–10–2	S4	MSOE	7–8–3

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2020

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
N1	Marian	13–7–0	S1	Adrian	15–3–2
N2	St. Norbert	11–7–2	S2	Lake Forest	14–4–2
N3	Lawrence	5–13–2	S3	Trine	10–7–3
N4	St. Scholastica	5–14–1	S4	Aurora	8–6–6

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2021

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
N1	Concordia (WI)	6–2–0–1–1–0	S1	Adrian	8–0–0–0–0–0
N2	Marian	5–3–0–0–0–0	S2	Aurora	4–4–0–1–1–0
N3	Lawrence	4–4–0–0–1–0	S3	MSOE	3–4–1–1–2–1
N4	St. Scholastica	4–4–0–1–1–0	S4	Trine	3–4–1–1–0–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2022

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	Adrian	18–0–0–0–0–0	5	Lawrence	8–8–2–0–0–1
2	St. Norbert	16–2–0–0–0–0	6	MSOE	8–9–1–0–0–1
3	Aurora	12–6–0–0–0–0	7	Marian	5–11–2–0–0–2
4	Trine	11–7–0–0–0–0	8	Lake Forest	5–11–2–0–0–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2023

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	Adrian	13–4–1–1–0–1	5	MSOE	9–9–0–1–2–0
2	Aurora	13–3–2–2–0–0	6	Marian	8–8–2–3–2–1
3	St. Norbert	12–5–1–0–2–0	7	Lake Forest	7–8–3–2–0–2
4	Trine	12–6–0–1–2–0	8	Concordia (WI)	4–13–1–1–2–0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

2024

Seed	School	Conference record	Seed	School	Conference record
1	Adrian	16–2–0–1–0–0	5	MSOE	8–9–1–1–2–1
2	St. Norbert	15–3–0–3–0–0	6	Lawrence	6–10–2–1–1–0
3	Trine	13–5–0–3–1–0	7	Marian	5–12–1–1–2–1
4	Aurora	12–6–0–1–0–0	8	Concordia (WI)	6–12–0–2–2–0

^[1] Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

Championships

Current Teams

School	Championships
	16
	5
	1

Former Teams

School	Championships
Wisconsin–Superior	6
Wisconsin–Stevens Point	5
Bemidji State	2
Wisconsin–River Falls	2
St. Cloud State	1
Wisconsin–Stout	1

Sources

Web site: College Hockey Stats . collegehockeystats.net . November 7, 2019.
Web site: Bemidji State Beavers Men's Ice Hockey 2012-13 Media Guide. Bemidji State Beavers. 2018-08-21.
Web site: Minnesota State Mavericks men's Hockey 2018-19 Record Book . Minnesota State Mavericks . April 12, 2018.
Web site: Lake Forest Men's Ice Hockey All Seasons Game-by-Game Results . Lake Forest Foresters . August 31, 2019.
Web site: St. Cloud State Men’s 2018-19 Hockey Media Guide . St. Cloud State Huskies . September 10, 2019.
Web site: St. Norbert 2018-19 Men's Hockey Yearbook . St. Norbert Green Knights . September 19, 2019.
Web site: St. Scholastica 2018-19 Men’s Hockey Record Book . St. Scholastica Saints . September 11, 2019.
Web site: Wisconsin–Eau Claire All Time Results . Wisconsin–Eau Claire Blugolds . September 11, 2019.
Web site: Wisconsin–River Falls Year-By-Year Results . Wisconsin–River Falls Falcons . September 10, 2019.
Web site: Wisconsin–Stevens Point Men's Hockey Past Seasons . Wisconsin–Stevens Point Pointers . September 13, 2019.
Web site: Wisconsin–Superior Yellowjacket Men’s Hockey History and Record Book. Wisconsin–Superior Yellowjackets . September 11, 2019.

Notes and References

News: St. Norbert wins Harris Cup Championship . NCHA . March 5, 2024.