After announcing in July the addition of Arizona State as its ninth member starting with the 2024-25 season, the NCHC has finalized its 2025 conference tournament postseason format.
The new playoff model was unanimously approved by the NCHC Athletic Council (member athletic directors).
All nine teams will qualify for the NCHC playoffs in 2025. A play-in game between the No. 8 seed and the No. 9 seed will be held on Wednesday, March 12, 2025 prior to the best-of-three quarterfinal series. The play-in game will be held at the site of the No. 1 seed in the NCHC tournament. The winner of the play-in game will remain to face the No. 1 seed in a best-of-three series the following Friday through Sunday.
The best-of-three quarterfinal series, which have historically been the first round of the NCHC tournament, will remain as they have been. While the No. 1 seed will take on either the No. 8 or No. 9 seed, the No. 2 seed will host the No. 7 seed, the No. 3 seed will host the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 seed will host the No. 5 seed. The NCHC quarterfinals in 2025 will take place from Friday, March 14 through Sunday, March 16 (if necessary).
Like in previous NCHC tournaments, the four quarterfinal series winners in 2025 will then advance to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn. The four advancing teams will be re-seeded with semifinals taking place on Friday, March 21, 2025 and the 2025 championship game set for Saturday, March 22.
The full 2024-25 conference schedule will be released in the spring following the conclusion of the 2023-24 campaign.
The 2024 NCHC tournament and Frozen Faceoff format remains unchanged, with quarterfinals on March 15-17, 2024 and the Frozen Faceoff on March 22-23. The format for the 2026 NCHC postseason and beyond is still to be determined.
