The 2023 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament was the national championship tournament for men's college ice hockey in the United States held from March 23-April 8, 2023. The tournament involved 16 teams in single-elimination play to determine the national champion at the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the highest level of competition in college hockey. The tournament's Frozen Four—the semifinals and finals—were hosted by the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Tampa Bay Sports Commission at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
Quinnipiac defeated Minnesota 3–2 in overtime to win the program's first NCAA title. The game marked the fifteenth time the NCAA championship game has gone to overtime, and the first time since Minnesota–Duluth's win over Michigan in 2011.
Tournament procedure
The tournament is composed of four groups of four teams in regional brackets. The four regionals are officially named after their geographic areas. The following are the sites for the 2023 regionals:
Regional semifinals and finals March 23 & 25 East Regional, SNHU Arena – Manchester, New Hampshire (Host: New Hampshire) West Regional, Scheels Arena – Fargo, North Dakota (Host: North Dakota) March 24 & 26 Northeast Regional, Total Mortgage Arena – Bridgeport, Connecticut (Hosts: Yale and Sacred Heart) Midwest Regional, PPL Center – Allentown, Pennsylvania (Host: Penn State)
National semifinals and championship (Frozen Four and championship) April 6–8 Amalie Arena – Tampa, Florida (Host: Wisconsin)
Qualifying teams
The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament was announced on March 19, 2023 on ESPNU.
The Big Ten and ECAC each received four, the NCHC received three, the CCHA and Hockey East both received two, and one team from Atlantic Hockey received a berth.
Midwest Regional – AllentownEast Regional – ManchesterSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeAppearanceLast bidSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeAppearanceLast bid1Michigan (3)Big Ten24–11–3Tournament champion40th20221Denver (4)NCHC30–9–0At-large bid30th20222Penn StateBig Ten21–15–1At-large bid3rd20182Boston UniversityHockey East27–10–0Tournament champion38th20213Michigan TechCCHA24–10–4At-large bid14th20223Western MichiganNCHC23–14–1At-large bid8th20224ColgateECAC19–15–5Tournament champion6th20144CornellECAC20–10–2At-large bid23rd2019Northeast Regional – BridgeportWest Regional – FargoSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeAppearanceLast bidSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeAppearanceLast bid1Quinnipiac (2)ECAC30–4–3At-large bid9th20221Minnesota (1)Big Ten26–9–1At-large bid40th20222HarvardECAC24–7–2At-large bid27th20222St. Cloud StateNCHC24–12–3Tournament champion17th20223Ohio StateBig Ten20–15–3At-large bid10th20193Minnesota StateCCHA25–12–1Tournament champion9th20224MerrimackHockey East23–13–1At-large bid3rd20114CanisiusAHA21–10–3Tournament champion2nd2013 Number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.
Bracket
* denotes overtime period
Results Note: All game times are local.
West Region – Fargo, North Dakota Regional semifinals
Game summaryThe game started slow, with each team feeling the other out over the first 4 minutes. Knowing they could ill afford mistakes against the high-powered Gophers, Canisius put themselves in trouble early when Markus Boguslavsky took a boarding penalty. While the Griffins got a scoring opportunity during the kill, Minnesota engineered the game's first goal when Luke Mittelstadt threw a bad-angle shot at Jacob Barczewski and it deflected into the net. After the ensuing faceoff, Minnesota's Connor Kurth took a hooking penalty and gave Canisius a chance to tie the score. Minnesota held the Golden Griffins back for the man-advantage but, just after the penalty expired, Daniel DiGrande slapped the puck through the legs of Justen Close from the circle. Minnesota controlled the play over an extended stretch but Barczewski and the defense were able to keep the puck out of the net. John Mittelstadt took a kneeing penalty in the latter part of the period, giving the Griffins power play a second chance but sloppy play resulted in a wasted opportunity. Just before the end of the period, Luke Mittelstadt fired a one-timer from the blueline but Barczewski flashed the leather and gloved the puck.
Minnesota kept the puck in the Canisius end for most of the early part of the second, however, Matthew Vermaeten found himself alone in the slot. While his shot was stopped, Canisius began to fight back afterwards and went on the attack. Nick Bowman got the puck in the right circle, stickhandled through Colin Schmidt and then fired the puck through Close's 6-hole. The Gophers resumed their assault, getting several good looks at the cage and were finally able to get the equalizer from the high slot in spite of Barczewski's stellar play. However, after scoring the goal, Aaron Huglen took a tripping call behind the Canisius net and gave the Griffins their third consecutive man-advantage. Both teams had scoring chances on the Canisius power play but the score remained unchanged. Minnesota increased the pressure as the period wore on and, with just a couple minutes remaining, Connor Kurth fired the puck through Barczewski's legs off of a Mike Koster pass from behind the goal line.
At the start of the third period, Stefano Bottini hit Jackson LaCombe in the corner and received a match penalty. While his night was over, the rest of the Griffins had to kill off a major penalty. Jimmy Snuggerud scored before a minute of power play time had expired and the route was on. By the time the penalty expired, Canisius had less than 15 minutes left to score 3 goals or their season would be over. Pressing for a goal, the Griffins allowed Minnesota to get a 3-on-1 rush and Bryce Brodzinski scored what appeared to be Minnesota's 6th goal. However, video review showed that the puck had hit both posts but never crossed the line. The reprieve was short-lived as Brodzinski was able to get Minnesota's 6th a few minutes later. A third Canisius penalty resulted in yet another Minnesota goal and effectively ended the game. Two more Gopher goals didn't chance the complexion of the game as Canisius couldn't overcome Minnesota's superior special teams play.
Regional final
Northeast Region – Bridgeport, Connecticut Regional semifinals
Game summaryThe game began with Harvard on the attack, however, Ohio State quickly turned the tide and Cam Thiesing opened the scoring with a sharp-angle shot over the shoulder of Mitchell Gibson and into the top of the net. Harvard tried to attack the Buckeye cage but the Ohio State defense stopped most of the Harvard rushes before they could get to Jakub Dobeš. A Pair of turnovers in the middle of the period gave Ohio State two excellent chances to increase their lead but luck was on Harvard's side and the puck stayed out of the net. Shortly after, a bad tripping penalty by Ryan Drkulec gave the Buckeyes the first power play of the game. Gibson made several big saved both during and immediately after the penalty to keep the score unchanged. With 8 minutes left in the first, Ohio State was incomplete control of the game, outshooting Harvard 12–2. The Buckeyes continued to press and fired another shot off the post though it bounced back between Gibson's legs and allowed the goalie to freeze the puck. with about 100 seconds left in the first, Cole McWard floated a shot from the blueline the deflected off of John Farinacci skate into the net. The play was reviewed as Thiesing made contact with Gibson around the top of the crease but the goal was allowed to stand. When the buzzer rang the score was in Ohio State's favor but did little to indicate just how dominant the Buckeyes had been. Harvard had gone over 17 minutes without getting a shot and would need a much better effort if they wanted to make this a game.
Harvard was able to get some offense going early in the second when Zakary Karpa got a clean shot at Dobeš but the Czech netminder gloved the puck. After trading odd-man rushes, Gustaf Westlund stole the puck and then finished off a passing play for another Buckeye goal. Off of the ensuing faceoff, Cam Thiesing took advantage of yet another Harvard mishandle and backhanded the puck past a Gibson for a 4–0 Ohio State lead. Harvard finally got their chance on the power play a few minutes later but they were facing the nation top penalty kill. After their chance went for naught, Harvard couldn't keep the Buckeyes back and Ohio State quickly generated a 5th goal off of the skate of Mason Lohrei. Cam Thiesing nearly got his hat-trick when he hit the post behind Gibson but the Buckeyes were still in full command. Harvard was forced to play more aggressively in order to get back into the game and Alex Laferriere ended up taking a minor penalty in the offensive zone. Harvard managed to kill off the disadvantage but Ohio State remained in complete control. Harvard took two more penalties but, more importantly, they allowed two more goals to the Buckeyes and after 40 minutes the game was a run away for Ohio State.
Derek Mullahy was in goal for Harvard at the start of the third but the switch didn't change much as Ohio State got their 8th goal just over a minute in. After that the Buckeyes settled in, knowing that they were going to win the game. The only thing left to decide was whether or not the Buckeyes would record the biggest shutout victory in NCAA history, as the record was 7–0. They somehow managed to keep the puck out of the goal in the middle of the period but, shortly after Gibson was returned to the net for his final game, the puck fluttered over Dobeš' shoulder off of John Farinacci's skate. The lost shoutout was about the only thing that did not go in Ohio State's favor as they advanced with a dominating performance.
Regional final
Midwest Region – Allentown, Pennsylvania Regional semifinals
Game summaryMichigan got off to a rough start when Adam Fantilli took a slashing penalty less than a minute into the game. Colgate, however, couldn't get anything going on the opportunity. The two teams started hitting after the man-advantage went by the wayside but nothing was called until Ethan Manderville took a tripping minor. The Wolverines were far more impressive with their chance, firing several high-quality shots at the Colgate cage but Carter Gylander was equal to the task. Michigan continued to attack, firing more than a dozen shots on goal before 10 minutes had elapsed. Eventually the barrage was too much for Gylander to handle and Nick Granowicz opened the scoring with a roof shot from just in front of the net. The Raiders responded with an attack of their own and got a couple good looks but couldn't get the puck past Erik Portillo. Michigan held a decided advantage in both shots and scoring chances in the first but Colgate fought hard to keep the score close. The teams began trading odd-man rushes at the end of the first but neither could add another goal before the buzzer.