NCHC announces Frozen Faceoff quarterfinal game times; UND set to play Miami on Friday night
Mar. 7—The National Collegiate Hockey Conference has set game times for the Frozen Faceoff's quarterfinal matchups.
Top-seeded UND will play against eighth-seeded Miami at 7:37 p.m. Friday night. That game will be televised on Midco Sports Network and NCHC.tv.
The Frozen Faceoff's opening game will be second-seeded St. Cloud State against seventh-seeded Colorado College at 2:37 p.m. Friday.
On Saturday, the first quarterfinal game will be fourth-seeded Omaha against fifth-seeded Denver. The last quarterfinal is third-seeded Minnesota Duluth against sixth-seeded Western Michigan.
Sunday is an off day.
The semifinals will be at 3:05 and 8:05 p.m. Monday (March 15). It has yet to be announced who will play in those timeslots. The championship is scheduled for 7:37 p.m. Tuesday (March 16). There will be no third-place game.
The winner of the tournament gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which is scheduled to start March 26 with regionals in Fargo, Loveland, Colo., Albany, N.Y., and Bridgeport, Conn.
The NCHC tournament has been altered this season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In a normal year, the quarterfinals are best-of-three series played at the home site of the higher seed. The quarterfinal winners then go to St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center for the semifinals and championship.
This year, the entire tournament is being played in Ralph Engelstad Arena. It is all single-elimination, too.
Minutes after UND completed the regular season Friday night, workers in Ralph Engelstad Arena began installing the NCHC Frozen Faceoff logo at center ice.
UND has won the NCHC's regular-season title four times in the eight-year history of the league, but it has never won the playoff title.
This season should give UND as good of a chance as any season. Not only is the tournament going to be played in The Ralph, where the Fighting Hawks are 26-2 in their last 28 games, they also will hold the top seed after winning the Penrose Cup last month.
Friday will mark the third meeting between UND and Miami this season. The previous two came in the NCHC Pod. UND won the first 2-0 and the second 6-2.
UND has played in the Frozen Faceoff six times, losing in the semifinals five times and in the championship game once.
NCHC Frozen Faceoff
Quarterfinals, in Ralph Engelstad Arena
Friday
2:37 — (2) St. Cloud State vs. (7) Colorado College (MidcoSN, NCHC.tv)
7:37 p.m. — (1) North Dakota vs. (8) Miami (MidcoSN, NCHC.tv)
Saturday
2:37 p.m. — (4) Omaha vs. (5) Denver (NCHC.tv)
7:37 p.m. — (3) Minnesota Duluth vs. (6) Western Michigan (MidcoSN, NCHC.tv)
Monday, March 15
3:05 p.m. — First semifinal
8:05 p.m. — Second semifinal
Tuesday, March 16
7:37 p.m. — Championship game
