List of NCAA Division I men's ice hockey seasons

Tournament play begins

Though U.S. colleges had been fielding men's ice hockey teams since 1895,^[1] the NCAA did not have a formal tournament in place to decide a champion until after World War II.^[2] Starting with the 1947-48 season, the NCAA tournament invited the four top-ranked teams to Colorado Springs, Colorado to compete for the NCAA Championship.

No.	Season	Tournament	No. of teams in tournament	Start	Finish	NCAA Champion (number)	Champion Conference	Champion Record	Championship Site
1	1947–48	1948	4^[a 1]		March 20	Michigan	None	(20–2–1)	Colorado Springs, Colorado
2	1948–49	1949	4^[a 2]		March 19	Boston College	None	(21–1–0)	Colorado Springs, Colorado
3	1949–50	1950	4		March 18	Colorado College	None	(18–5–1)	Colorado Springs, Colorado
4	1950–51	1951	4^[a 3]		March 17	Michigan (2)	None	(22–4–1)	Colorado Springs, Colorado
5	1951–52	1952	4		March 15	Michigan (3)	MCHL	(22–4–0)	Colorado Springs, Colorado
6	1952–53	1953	4		March 14	Michigan (4)	MCHL	(22–4–0)	Colorado Springs, Colorado
7	1953–54	1954	4		March 13	Rensselaer	Tri-State League	(18–5–0)	Colorado Springs, Colorado
8	1954–55	1955	4		March 12	Michigan (5)	WIHL	(18–5–1)	Colorado Springs, Colorado
9	1955–56	1956	4		March 17	Michigan (6)	WIHL	(20–2–1)	Colorado Springs, Colorado
10	1956–57	1957	4		March 16	Colorado College (2)	WIHL	(25–5–0)	Colorado Springs, Colorado

1. Tournament play begins with 4 independent Division I teams invited to participate. No formal conferences existed at this time.
2. A third-place game was instituted.
3. Ice hockey conferences begin to form, beginning with the Tri-State League^[3] and followed the next year by the Midwest Collegiate Hockey League (precursor to the WCHA).^[4]

Rotating tournaments

After spending 10 years at one location, the NCAA began to move the Division I ice hockey tournament to different sites. Over the next 14 years, the tournament was held in 11 different venues and, more importantly to the northeast teams, was held in New England eight times. While the rotations stopped briefly in 1972, they resumed after 1974 and the tournament has not been held in the same city for consecutive years since.

No.	Season	Tournament	No. of teams in tournament	Start	Finish	NCAA Champion (number)	Champion Conference	Champion Record	Championship Site
11	1957–58	1958	4		March 15	Denver	WIHL	(25–10–2)	Minneapolis, Minnesota
12	1958–59	1959	4		March 14	North Dakota	None	(20–10–1)	Troy, New York
13	1959–60	1960	4 ^[b 1]		March 19	Denver (2)	WCHA	(27–4–3)	Boston, Massachusetts
14	1960–61	1961	4		March 18	Denver (3)	WCHA	(30–1–1)	Denver, Colorado
15	1961–62	1962	4		March 17	Michigan Tech	WCHA	(29–3–0)	Utica, New York
16	1962–63	1963	4		March 16	North Dakota (2)	WCHA	(22–7–3)	Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
17	1963–64	1964	4		March 21	Michigan (7)	WCHA	(24–4–1)	Denver, Colorado
18	1964–65^[b 2]	1965	4		March 20	Michigan Tech (2)	WCHA	(24–5–2)	Providence, Rhode Island
19	1965–66	1966	4		March 19	Michigan State	WCHA	(16–13–0)	Minneapolis, Minnesota
20	1966–67	1967	4		March 18	Cornell	ECAC	(27–1–1)	Syracuse, New York
21	1967–68	1968	4		March 16	Denver (4)	WCHA	(28–5–1)	Duluth, Minnesota
22	1968–69	1969	4		March 15	Denver (5)	WCHA	(26–6–0)	Colorado Springs, Colorado
23	1969–70	1970	4		March 21	Cornell (2)	ECAC	(29–0–0)^[b 3]	Lake Placid, New York
24	1970–71	1971	4		March 20	Boston University	ECAC	(28–2–1)	Syracuse, New York
25	1971–72	1972	4		March 18	Boston University (2)	ECAC	(26–4–1)	Boston, Massachusetts
26	1972–73	1973	4^[b 4]		March 17	Wisconsin	WCHA	(29–9–2)	Boston, Massachusetts
27	1973–74^[b 5]	1974	4		March 16	Minnesota	WCHA	(22–11–6)	Boston, Massachusetts
28	1974–75	1975	4		March 15	Michigan Tech (3)	WCHA	(32–10–0)	St. Louis, Missouri
29	1975–76	1976	4		March 27	Minnesota (2)	WCHA	(28–14–2)	Denver, Colorado

1. Two games were played between eastern teams to determine tournament participants. Neither game is considered as part of the NCAA or ECAC tournaments.
2. ECAC Hockey reorganized its conference membership, dividing the teams into upper- and lower-tiers. The lower tier teams were placed into ECAC 2, creating the first formal divisions for college ice hockey.
3. The 1969–70 Cornell Big Red are thus far the only NCAA Division I men's ice hockey champion to complete a perfect season since tournament play began.
4. The University of Denver's participation in the 1973 tournament was later vacated by the NCAA committee on infractions.^[5]
5. The NCAA reclassified the Divisions from University and College to the current numerical format in the summer of 1973, making 1973–74 the first official Division I season.

Quarterfinals expansion

For the 30th season of the tournament, which had become the de facto possession of the WCHA and ECAC, the NCAA instituted a new rule by which they were able to add up to four additional teams to the tournament if they saw fit. This policy essentially became a vehicle allowing the CCHA champion to play with the lone exception coming in 1978. For the 1981 tournament the NCAA altered the rule to guarantee a full quarterfinal round and started including true 'at large' teams for the first time. Between 1981 and 1987 the quarterfinals consisted of two games where the team that scored the most goals in the two games would advance to the "Frozen Four". Between 1977 and 1987 Detroit, Michigan and Providence, Rhode Island would each host the tournament 4 separate times.

No.	Season	Tournament	No. of teams in tournament	Start	Finish	NCAA Champion (number)	Champion Conference	Champion Record	Championship Site
30	1976–77	1977	5		March 26	Wisconsin (2)	WCHA	(37–7–1)	Detroit, Michigan
31	1977–78	1978	6		March 25	Boston University (3)	ECAC	(30–2–0)	Providence, Rhode Island
32	1978–79	1979	5		March 24	Minnesota (3)	WCHA	(32–11–1)	Detroit, Michigan
33	1979–80	1980	5		March 29	North Dakota (3)	WCHA	(31–8–1)	Providence, Rhode Island
34	1980–81	1981	8		March 28	Wisconsin (3)	WCHA	(27–14–1)	Duluth, Minnesota
35	1981–82^[c 1]	1982	8		March 27	North Dakota (4)	WCHA	(35–12–0)	Providence, Rhode Island
36	1982–83	1983	8		March 26	Wisconsin (4)	WCHA	(33–10–4)	Grand Forks, North Dakota
37	1983–84	1984	8		March 24	Bowling Green	CCHA	(34–8–2)	Lake Placid, New York
38	1984–85^[c 2]	1985	8		March 30	Rensselaer (2)	ECAC	(35–2–1)	Detroit, Michigan
39	1985–86	1986	8		March 29	Michigan State (2)	CCHA	(34–9–2)	Providence, Rhode Island
40	1986–87	1987	8		March 28	North Dakota (5)	WCHA	(40–8–0)	Detroit, Michigan

1. Four teams leave the WCHA and join the more geographically concentrated CCHA. Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan Tech and Notre Dame (Michigan Tech would rejoin the WCHA 3 years later).
2. Six teams leave the ECAC over disagreements about the length of the conference schedule. Boston College, Boston University, Maine, New Hampshire, Northeastern and Providence leave to form the Hockey East conference in 1984 and are joined by Division II Lowell (now known as UMass Lowell).

Additional expansion

With 4 major conferences and a myriad of independent programs competing at the Division I level, the tournament was expanded to 12 teams beginning with the 1987-88 season. The first round followed the same pattern as the quarterfinals with teams playing two games against a single opponent and the one with a higher goal total after the series advancing. The rest of the tournament retained the earlier format. One year later the goal-total format was abandoned and replaced by a best-of-three series for the opening round and quarterfinals. In 1992 the entire tournament was switched to a single-elimination format and divided into two regional locations that would feed into the "Frozen Four". For the first time, in 1999, the championship was held in a region without a local Division I program when the championship round was awarded to Anaheim, California.

No.	Season	Tournament	No. of teams in tournament	Start	Finish	NCAA Champion (number)	Champion Conference	Champion Record	Championship Site
41	1987–88	1988	12		April 2	Lake Superior State	CCHA	(33–7–6)	Lake Placid, New York
42	1988–89	1989	12		April 1	Harvard	ECAC	(31–3–0)	St. Paul, Minnesota
43	1989–90	1990	12^[d 1]		April 1	Wisconsin (5)	WCHA	(36–9–1)	Detroit, Michigan
44	1990–91	1991	12		March 30	Northern Michigan	WCHA	(38–5–4)	St. Paul, Minnesota
45	1991–92	1992	12^[d 2]		April 4	Lake Superior State (2)	CCHA	(30–9–4)	Albany, New York
46	1992–93	1993	12		April 3	Maine	Hockey East	(42–1–2)	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
47	1993–94	1994	12		April 2	Lake Superior State (3)	CCHA	(31–10–4)	St. Paul, Minnesota
48	1994–95	1995	12		April 1	Boston University (4)	Hockey East	(31–6–3)	Providence, Rhode Island
49	1995–96	1996	12		March 30	Michigan (8)	CCHA	(34–7–2)	Cincinnati, Ohio
50	1996–97	1997	12		March 29	North Dakota (6)	WCHA	(31–10–2)	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
51	1997–98	1998	12		April 4	Michigan (9)	CCHA	(34–11–1)	Boston, Massachusetts
52	1998–99	1999	12	October 3	April 3	Maine (2)	Hockey East	(31–6–4)	Anaheim, California
53	1999–00	2000	12	October 1	April 8	North Dakota (7)	WCHA	(31–8–5)	Providence, Rhode Island
54	2000–01	2001	12	October 6	April 7	Boston College (2)	Hockey East	(33–8–2)	Albany, New York
55	2001–02	2002	12	October 5	April 6	Minnesota (4)	WCHA	(32–8–4)	St. Paul, Minnesota

1. The third-place game was discontinued.
2. The University of Wisconsin's participation in the 1992 tournament was later vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions.

Further expansion and commercialization

After the addition of two more conferences around the turn of the century (MAAC and CHA, neither of which now sponsors men's hockey) bringing up the total number to 6, and with each receiving an at-large bid starting in 2001 and 2003 respectively, the tournament was again expanded by 4 teams. Two additional regional groups were added (Northeast and Midwest) and byes into the quarterfinals were eliminated. Additionally the "Frozen Four" was seen as a vehicle to increase both revenue and the popularity of college hockey, as such the apex of the tournament began to move around to non-traditional college hockey areas, usually in the buildings of NHL teams.

The first decade of the 21st century saw significant changes to hockey's conference landscape. After the 2002–03 season, the MAAC hockey programs split from the league to form Atlantic Hockey. CHA stopped sponsoring men's hockey after the 2009–10 season, but still operates as a women's league.

No.	Season	Tournament	No. of teams in tournament	Start	Finish	NCAA Champion (number)	Champion Conference	Champion Record	Championship Site
56	2002–03	2003	16	October 4	April 12	Minnesota (5)	WCHA	(28–8–9)	Buffalo, New York
57	2003–04	2004	16^[e 1]	October 3	April 10	Denver (6)	WCHA	(27–12–5)	Boston, Massachusetts
58	2004–05	2005	16	October 3	April 9	Denver (7)	WCHA	(32–9–2)	Columbus, Ohio
59	2005–06	2006	16	October 7	April 8	Wisconsin (6)	WCHA	(30–10–3)	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
60	2006–07	2007	16	October 6	April 7	Michigan State (3)	CCHA	(26–13–3)	St. Louis, Missouri
61	2007–08	2008	16	October 7	April 12	Boston College (3)	Hockey East	(25–11–8)	Denver, Colorado
62	2008–09	2009	16	October 10	April 11	Boston University (5)	Hockey East	(35–6–4)	Washington, D.C.
63	2009–10	2010	16	October 8	April 10	Boston College (4)	Hockey East	(29–10–3)	Detroit, Michigan^[e 2]
64	2010–11	2011	16^[e 3]	October 2	April 9	Minnesota–Duluth	WCHA	(26–10–6)	St. Paul, Minnesota
65	2011–12	2012	16	October 1	April 7	Boston College (5)	Hockey East	(33–10–1)	Tampa, Florida
66	2012–13	2013	16	October 6	April 13	Yale	ECAC	(22–12–3)	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1. The MAAC's hockey programs break away to form Atlantic Hockey.
2. The Frozen Four was held at Ford Field in Detroit. This was the first championship in NCAA ice hockey history held at a venue designed for field sports.
3. College Hockey America ceases sponsoring men's hockey after all of its four remaining programs either joined other conferences or went independent. The conference remains in operation to this day as a women's-only league.

Conference realignment and dissolution

In 2010, Terry Pegula, an alumnus of Pennsylvania State University, donated $102 million to his alma mater for the express purpose of building a brand-new hockey arena and to fund the upgrade of both the men's and women's ice hockey programs from club level to Division I.^[6] This began a chain of events that caused a massive amount of conference realignment, the founding of two new conferences, and the ending of one of the oldest conferences in the NCAA. Penn State's rise to the D-I ranks gave the Big Ten its sixth university that sponsored varsity men's ice hockey, a number significant for two reasons. First, Big Ten bylaws dictate that the conference can only sponsor a sport if it has at least six participating members. More significantly, NCAA rules on conference formation dictate that at least six teams must be present for a conference to receive an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. In short order the other five teams announced their intention to leave their conferences (WCHA and CCHA). In response several members of the WCHA, including traditional powerhouses Denver and North Dakota, split to form a new conference, the NCHC. The NCHC quickly grew to 8 member teams, leaving the WCHA with only 4 remaining schools and the CCHA with 6. Five of the remaining CCHA schools then proceeded to join the WCHA, along with the Independent Alabama-Huntsville, bringing the WCHA up to 10 member schools. The remaining CCHA team, Notre Dame, joined Hockey East. In essence all of the universities that changed conferences were not significantly harmed by the upheaval because no team was left without a conference by the start of the 2013–14 season. However, the shift did create one more automatic qualifier for the tournament, reducing the chance to receive an at-large bid for all schools across the nation.^[7]

In November 2019, the seven Midwestern schools among the 10 members of the men's WCHA jointly announced they would leave the league after the 2020–21 season, citing the league's extended geographic footprint as a reason for this move.^[8] On February 18, 2020, these seven schools announced they would start play in a new CCHA in the 2021–22 season.^[9] In July of that year, the revived CCHA announced that St. Thomas, which had just received NCAA approval to move directly from Division III to Division I starting in July 2021, would join the league upon its arrival in D-I.^[10]

The 2020 tournament was cancelled on March 12, 2020, just before the start of most conference postseason tournaments, due to concerns from the COVID-19 pandemic.^[11]

No.	Season	Tournament	No. of teams in tournament	Start	Finish	NCAA Champion (number)	Champion Conference	Champion Record	Championship Site
67	2013–14	2014	16^[f 1]	October 4	April 12	Union	ECAC Hockey	(30–6–4)	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
68	2014–15	2015	16	October 4	April 13	Providence	Hockey East	(26–13–2)	Boston, Massachusetts
69	2015–16	2016	16	October 3	April 9	North Dakota (8)	NCHC	(34–6–4)	Tampa, Florida
70	2016–17	2017	16	October 1	April 8	Denver (8)	NCHC	(33–7–4)	Chicago, Illinois
71	2017–18	2018	16	October 1	April 7	Minnesota–Duluth (2)	NCHC	(25–16–3)	St. Paul, Minnesota
72	2018–19	2019	16	October 6	April 13	Minnesota–Duluth (3)	NCHC	(29–11–2)	Buffalo, New York
73	2019–20	2020	Tournament canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic^[11]						Detroit, Michigan
74	2020–21	2021	16	November 14	April 10	Massachusetts	Hockey East	(20–5–4)	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
75	2021–22	2022	16	October 2	April 9	Denver (9)	NCHC	(31–9–1)	Boston, Massachusetts
76	2022–23	2023	16	October 1	April 8	Quinnipiac	ECAC Hockey	(34–4–3)	Tampa, Florida

1. Major conference realignment shook the Division I men's hockey landscape, with the following changes:
   • The Big Ten became the first Division I all-sports conference to sponsor men's ice hockey since the MAAC ceased sponsorship of the sport in 2003. Before 2013–14, the six Big Ten hockey schools consisted of three WCHA members, two CCHA members, and one independent.
   • Five WCHA members and one CCHA member announced in 2011 that they would form the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, with play to start in 2013–14. Several months after the NCHC was formed, two more schools joined, one from the CCHA and one from the WCHA.
   • The original CCHA folded at the end of the 2012–13 season. In addition to the previously mentioned conference moves, one school (Notre Dame) joined Hockey East (becoming that conference's first non-New England member) and five either joined or rejoined the WCHA.
   • In addition to the five former CCHA members, the WCHA added former independent Alabama–Huntsville.

Conference timeline

Chronological Statistical Leaders^[12]

Since 1947-48, as of 2022

Single Season Points Points Player Pos School Year Set Years Held 62 Gordon McMillan F Michigan 1947–48 1 78 Bill Riley F Dartmouth 1948–49 1 84 Jack Garrity F Boston University 1949–50 5 89 Bill Cleary F Harvard 1954–55 4 90 Phil Latreille C Middlebury 1958–59 1 96 Phil Latreille C Middlebury 1959–60 1 108 Phil Latreille C Middlebury 1960–61 24 108 Dave Taylor RW Clarkson 1976–77 8 109 Bill Watson RW Minnesota−Duluth 1984–85 2 116 Tony Hrkac C North Dakota 1986–87 35

Career Points Points Player Pos School Year Set Years Held 62 Gordon McMillan F Michigan 1947–48 1 131 Bill Riley F Dartmouth 1948–49 2 196 Gil Burford RW Michigan 1950–51 4 218 John Mayasich C Minnesota 1953–54 1 298 John Mayasich C Minnesota 1954–55 6 346 Phil Latreille C Middlebury 1960–61 61

Single Season Goals Goals Player Pos School Year Set Years Held 32 Gordon McMillan F Michigan 1947–48 1 37 Bill Riley F Dartmouth 1948–49 1 51 Jack Garrity F Boston University 1949–50 2 55 Frank Chiarelli F Rensselaer 1951–52 7 57 Phil Latreille C Middlebury 1958–59 1 77 Phil Latreille C Middlebury 1959–60 1 80 Phil Latreille C Middlebury 1960–61 61

Career Goals Goals Player Pos School Year Set Years Held 32 Gordon McMillan F Michigan 1947–48 1 67 Bill Riley F Dartmouth 1948–49 2 103 Gil Burford RW Michigan 1950–51 1 112 Ron Hartwell RW Colorado College 1951–52 4 126 Frank Chiarelli F Rensselaer 1953–54 1 155 Frank Chiarelli F Rensselaer 1954–55 5 170 Phil Latreille C Middlebury 1959–60 1 250 Phil Latreille C Middlebury 1960–61 61

Single Season Wins† Wins Player School Year Set Years Held 20 Jack McDonald Michigan 1947–48, 1948–49 4 20 Bernie Burke Boston College 1948–49 3 20 Hal Downes Michigan 1950–51 1 22 Willard Ikola Michigan 1951–52 4 22 Jim Mattson Minnesota 1952–53 3 23 Eddie MacDonald Clarkson 1955–56 2 24 Rodney Schneck Denver 1957–58 2 27 George Kirkwood Denver 1959–60 1 30 George Kirkwood Denver 1960–61 18 32 Wally Charko Bowling Green 1978–79 6 33 Rick Kosti Minnesota–Duluth 1984–85 3 34 Robb Stauber Minnesota 1987–88 33 34 Marty Turco Michigan 1995–96 25 38 Dryden McKay Minnesota State 2021–22 1 † Most individual goaltending statistics were not recorded before 1960

Career Wins‡ Wins Player School Year Set Years Held 20 Jack McDonald Michigan 1947–48 1 40 Jack McDonald Michigan 1948–49 1 50 Jack McDonald Michigan 1949–50 6 50 Jim Mattson Minnesota 1953–54 2 65 Bill Sloan St. Lawrence 1955–56 13 76 Ken Dryden Cornell 1968–69 4 76 Gerry Powers Denver 1968–69 4 82 Ron Grahame Denver 1972–73 15 88 Gary Kruzich Bowling Green 1987–88 6 111 Steve Shields Michigan 1993–94 4 127 Marty Turco Michigan 1997–98 24 ‡ prior to 1970 NCAA rules limited players to 3 varsity seasons

Single Season Goals Against Average* GAA Player School Year Set Years Held 1.72 Robert O'Connor Princeton 1947–48 10 1.27 Bob Peters North Dakota 1957–58 45 1.20 David LeNeveu Cornell 2002–03 1 1.19 Jimmy Howard Maine 2003–04 17 1.17 Yaniv Perets Quinnipiac 2021–22 1 * At least 1/3 of team's minutes played

Career Goals Against Average^ GAA Player School Year Set Years Held 2.38 Robert O'Connor Princeton 1948–49 12 2.20 George Kirkwood Denver 1960–61 2 1.93 Godfrey Wood Harvard 1962–63 6 1.59 Ken Dryden Cornell 1968–69 34 1.29 David LeNeveu Cornell 2002–03 16 ^ Minimum 30 games played

See also

• List of NCAA Division I men's ice hockey champions

References

1. "Yale Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
2. "NCAA Division I Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
3. "History of the Tri-State League". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
4. "History of the WCHA". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
5. "NCAA Puts Denver on Two Year Probation". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
6. "Penn State Makes it Official: Varsity Programs on the Way". USCHO.com. September 17, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
7. "The CCHA is going away, but its history will have a final resting place". USCHO.com. March 6, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
8. "Statement Regarding Hockey League Affiliation" (Press release). Bowling Green Falcons. June 28, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
9. Johnson, Randy (February 18, 2020). "CCHA will be new name for seven teams leaving WCHA in 2021-22". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
10. "St. Thomas men's team moves to Division I, will join new CCHA for 2021-22 season". USCHO.com. July 29, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
11. Solari, Chris. "NCAA cancels March Madness, Frozen Four, all other championships; Big Ten halts all sports". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
12. "NCAA - All-time season". Elite Prospects. Retrieved May 6, 2018.

External links

• USCHO.com
• College Hockey Historical Archives