The 2026 NCHC Tournament was the 12th tournament in league history. It was played between March 6 and 21, 2026. All games were played at home sites of the higher-seeded teams.
Format The first round of the postseason tournament features a best-of-three games format. The top eight conference teams participated in the tournament. Teams were seeded No. 1 through No. 8 according to their final conference standing, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with an identical number of points accumulated. The top four seeded teams each earn home ice and host one of the lower seeded teams.
The winners of the first round series advanced to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff. The Frozen Faceoff used a single-elimination format. Teams were re-seeded No. 1 through No. 4 according to the final regular season conference standings.
Standings
Bracket Teams are reseeded for the semifinals.
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Results Note: All game times are local.
Quarterfinals (1) North Dakota vs. (8) Omaha
North Dakota wins series 2–0
(2) Denver vs. (7) Miami
Denver wins series 2–0
(3) Western Michigan vs. (6) Colorado College
Western Michigan wins series 2–0
(4) Minnesota Duluth vs. (5) St. Cloud State
Minnesota Duluth wins series 2–0
Semifinals (4) Minnesota Duluth vs. (1) North Dakota
(3) Western Michigan vs. (2) Denver
Championship (4) Minnesota Duluth vs. (2) Denver
Tournament awards Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament Team G: Johnny Hicks * (Denver) D: Boston Buckberger (Denver) D: Eric Pohlkamp (Denver) F: Max Plante (Minnesota Duluth) F: Rieger Lorenz (Denver) F: Zam Plante (Minnesota Duluth) * Most Valuable Player(s)
References