The 2015 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament was the national championship tournament for men's college ice hockey in the United States in 2015. The tournament involved 16 teams in single-elimination play to determine the national champion at the Division I level of the NCAA, the highest level of competition in college hockey. The tournament's Frozen Four – the semifinals and final – were hosted by Hockey East at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
Providence defeated Boston University 4–3 to win the program's first NCAA title. Providence’s win, combined with Yale in 2013 and Union in 2014, completed a 3-year streak of first-time champions. This was the first time such a streak had occurred since the first three NCAA men’s ice hockey tournaments from 1948-1950, when Michigan, Boston College and Colorado College each won their first title.
The championship game is remembered for a gaffe goal that allowed Providence to tie the score with less than 10 minutes to play.
Tournament procedure
The tournament will feature four groups of four teams, organized into regional brackets. The four regionals are officially named after their geographic areas. The following are the sites for the 2015 regionals: March 27 and 28 West Regional, Scheels Arena – Fargo, North Dakota (Host: University of North Dakota) Northeast Regional, Verizon Wireless Arena – Manchester, New Hampshire (Host: University of New Hampshire)
March 28 and 29 East Regional, Dunkin' Donuts Center – Providence, Rhode Island (Host: Brown University) Midwest Regional, Compton Family Ice Arena – South Bend, Indiana (Host: University of Notre Dame)
The winner of each regional will advance to the Frozen Four:
April 9–11 TD Garden – Boston, Massachusetts (Host: Hockey East)
Qualifying teams The tournament’s at-large bids and team seeding were announced on March 22. The NCHC had six teams receive a berth in the tournament, ECAC Hockey and Hockey East each had three teams receive a berth, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) had two teams receive a berth, and one team from both the Big Ten Conference and Atlantic Hockey received a berth.
West Regional – Fargo Northeast Regional – ManchesterSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type AppearanceLast bidSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type AppearanceLast bid1 North Dakota (2) NCHC 27–9–3 At-large bid 30th 20141 Boston University (3) Hockey East 25–7–5 Tournament champion 33rd 20122 Michigan Tech WCHA 29–9–2 At-large bid 11th 19812 Minnesota–Duluth NCHC 20–15–3 At-large bid 9th 20123 St. Cloud State NCHC 19–18–1 At-large bid 11th 20143 Minnesota Big Ten 23–12–3 Tournament champion 36th 20144 Quinnipiac ECAC Hockey 23–11–4 At-large bid 4th 20144 Yale ECAC Hockey 18–9–5 At-large bid 7th 2013 Midwest Regional – South Bend East Regional – ProvidenceSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth typeAppearanceLast bidSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type AppearanceLast bid1 Minnesota State (1) WCHA 29–7–3 Tournament champion 4th 20141 Miami (4) NCHC 25–13–1 Tournament champion 12th 20132 Omaha NCHC 18–12–6 At-large bid 3rd 20112 Denver NCHC 23–13–2 At-large bid 25th 20143 Harvard ECAC Hockey 21–12–3 Tournament champion 22nd 20063 Boston College Hockey East 21–13–3 At-large bid 34th 20144 RIT Atlantic Hockey 19–14–5 Tournament champion 2nd 20104 Providence Hockey East 22–13–2 At-large bid 11th 2014
Number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.
Tournament bracket
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Results
Midwest Region – South Bend
Regional semifinal
Regional Final
West Region – Fargo
Regional semifinal
Regional Final
Northeast Region – Manchester
Regional semifinal
Regional Final
East Region – Providence
Regional semifinal
Regional Final
Frozen Four – Boston
Semifinal
National Championship – Boston
Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st PCAnthony Florentino (3)Acciari and Luke 09:25 1–0 PC BUAhti Oksanen (25)unassisted 12:50 1–1 BUDanny O'Regan (23)Eichel 12:54 2–1 BU 2nd PCMark Jankowski (8) – PPMingoia and Mauermann 24:29 2–2 BUCason Hohmann (11)Oksanen 31:36 3–2 BU 3rd PCTom Parisi (5)unassisted 51:24 3–3 PCBrandon Tanev (10) – GWRooney 53:43 4–3 PC Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st PCTom ParisiHolding the Stick 05:53 2:00 BUJohn MacLeodHooking 19:42 2:00 2nd BU John MacLeod Interference 22:33 2:00 3rd BUJack EichelHooking 44:33 2:00
Shots by period Team 1 2 3 T Providence 6 17 20 43 Boston University 18 22 12 52
Goaltenders Team Name Saves Goals against Time on ice PC Jon Gillies 49 3 59:51 BU Matt O'Connor 39 4 58:11
Record by conference Conference# of BidsRecordWin %Regional FinalsFrozen FourChampionship GameChampions NCHC 6 7–6 5 2 - - Hockey East 3 7–2 2 2 2 1 ECAC Hockey 3 0–3 - - - - WCHA 2 0–2 - - - - Atlantic Hockey 1 1–1 1 - - - Big Ten 1 0–1 - - - -
Media
Television ESPN has US television rights to all games during the tournament for the eleventh consecutive year. ESPN will air every game, beginning with the regionals, on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, or ESPN3 and will stream them online via WatchESPN. The Sports Network holds Canadian TV rights to all games. The games are across the network on all five feeds—TSN1, TSN2, TSN3, TSN4, and TSN5. Although they are broadcast under the TSN banner, it is actually a simulcast of the ESPN feed with the ESPN announcers.
Broadcast assignments Regionals West Regional: Clay Matvick & Sean Ritchlin – Fargo, North Dakota Northeast Regional: Dan Parkhurst & Billy Jaffe – Manchester, New Hampshire East Regional: John Buccigross, Barry Melrose & Quint Kessenich – Providence, Rhode Island Midwest Regional: Ben Holden & Blake Geoffrion – South Bend, Indiana
Frozen Four & Championship John Buccigross, Barry Melrose, & Quint Kessenich – Boston, Massachusetts
Radio Westwood One has exclusive radio rights to the Frozen Four and will air both the semifinals and the championship. Sean Grande, Cap Raeder, & Adam Wodon
All-Tournament team
Frozen Four G: Jon Gillies* (Providence) D: Anthony Florentino (Providence) D: Matt Grzelcyk (Boston University) F: Ahti Oskanen (Boston University) F: Mark Jankowski (Providence) F: Jack Eichel (Boston University) * Most Outstanding Player(s)
References