Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Men’s Notes: 2026 NCAA Tournament Storylines

Road to Frozen Four in Las Vegas Begins Thursday

The 2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Tournament gets underway this week at four regional sites, where each regional winner will move on to the NCAA Frozen Four at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The entire NCAA Tournament can be seen in the United States on the ESPN network of channels or via live stream on ESPN+. Canadian viewers can stream every game on TSN+.

NCAA Tournament Bracket
CHI Tournament Media Kit (.pdf)
CHI Tournament Pronunciation Guide (.pdf)

Read College Hockey Inc.’s NCAA Tournament Media Kit for comprehensive postseason information, including statistics, trends, historical data, and more. That document, and others, will be updated online and can be found HERE under ‘Resources.’

Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | Scoring Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

Vegas, Baby!

Las Vegas is the westernmost city to host the NCAA Division I Men’s Frozen Four since Anaheim served as host to the 1999 Frozen Four. Maine defeated New Hampshire in the championship game that year.

Men’s college hockey was most-recently showcased in Nevada in 2024, when Omaha won the Ice Breaker Tournament at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

Championship Pedigree:

Ten of the 16 schools in this year’s NCAA Tournament have combined to win 44 national titles:

Most NCAA Championships by Tourney Field
Denver – 10
Michigan – 9
North Dakota – 8
Wisconsin – 6
Michigan State, Minnesota Duluth – 3
Cornell – 2
Providence, Quinnipiac, Western Michigan – 1

Bentley, UConn, Dartmouth, Merrimack, Minnesota State, Penn State are all seeking their first men’s hockey NCAA championship.

Last year, WMU became the seventh first-time national champ since 2011, joining Quinnipiac (2023), UMass (2021), Providence (2015), Union (2014), Yale (2013), and Minnesota Duluth (2011).

Best of the Best:

The 2026 NCAA Tournament field features eight of the 10 finalists for this year’s Hobey Baker Memorial Award: Michigan State G Trey Augustine (Jr., South Lyon, Mich.), Michigan F T.J. Hughes (Sr., Hamilton, Ontario), Penn State F Gavin McKenna (Fr., Whitehorse, Yukon), Minnesota Duluth F Max Plante (So., Hermantown, Minn.), Denver D Eric Pohlkamp (Jr., Brainerd, Minn.), Dartmouth F Hayden Stavroff (So., Columbus, Ohio), Michigan State F Charlie Stramel (Sr., Rosemount, Minn.), and Quinnipiac F Ethan Wyttenbach (Fr., Roslyn, N.Y.).

The list of 10 finalists will be narrowed down to the three “Hobey Hat Trick” finalists on April 2. The winner of the award will be announced April 10 at the NCAA Frozen Four in Las Vegas.

The Future is Now:

The 16-team tournament field features 122 rostered NHL Draft picks, the second-most on record for a single tournament dating back to 2012:

NHL Draft Picks by Regional
Loveland – 34
Worcester – 32 (three first-rounders)
Sioux Falls – 29 (three first-rounders)
Albany – 27 (three first-rounders)

Draft-eligible Penn State F Gavin McKenna (Fr., Whitehorse, Yukon) and North Dakota D Keaton Verhoeff (Fr., Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta) are both widely projected to be top-five picks in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.

Green Goaltenders:

Only two goaltenders in this year’s national tournament have previously appeared in more than one NCAA postseason game: Western Michigan’s Hampton Slukynsky (So., Warroad, Minn.), with four, and Michigan State’s Trey Augustine (Jr., South Lyon, Mich.), with three.

They’re also the only two netminders in the field with an NCAA Tournament win to their names. Slukynsky went 4-0 in last year’s tournament to lead WMU to its first national title.

Magic Mike:

Bentley sophomore F Michael Mesic (Fort Myers, Fla.) has scored a goal in each of his last nine games, the longest goal streak in the NCAA this season and tied for the third-longest in the last 20 years:

Longest NCAA Goal Streaks (since 2005-06)
Streak	Name, School	Season
12 games	Tyler Motte, Michigan	2015-16
11 games	Greg Carey, St. Lawrence	2012-13
9 games	Michael Mesic, Bentley	2025-26
9 games	Jonathan Desbiens, Bentley	2018-19
9 games	Matt Frattin, North Dakota	2010-11

Mesic has 15 goals and 32 points in 27 games this season after registering four goals and nine points in 26 contests as a freshman with Northern Michigan. Mesic and the Falcons will take on top-seeded Michigan on Friday in the Albany Regional.

Max-ed Out:

It was quite a weekend for Merrimack sophomore G Max Lundgren (Angelholm, Sweden), who backstopped the Warriors to the program’s first Hockey East playoff championship.

In Friday’s semifinal against UMass, Lundgren pitched a 24-save shutout in a 2-0 win. The following night in the HEA title game, Lundgren turned aside a career-high 49 shots in a 2-1 win over UConn.

That performance pushed Lundgren’s season total to a school-record 1,109, and earned him tournament MVP honors.

Eric the (Crimson) Red:

Denver junior D Eric Pohlkamp (Brainerd, Minn.) is just four points away from reaching 100 for his career, a milestone previously reached by only one other active NCAA Division I defenseman this season:

Active NCAA Points Leaders (Defensemen)
Rk	Name, School	Pts
1.	Chris Hedden, Air Force	108
2.	Eric Pohlkamp, Denver	96
3.	Boston Buckberger, Denver	85
4.	Evan Murr, Minnesota State	83
5.	Mac Gadowsky, Penn State	82
	Jake Livanavage, North Dakota	82

Pohlkamp and the Pioneers will face Cornell on Friday in the Loveland Regional.

NCAA Milestone Watch (tourney participants):

100 Career Games Played (skaters)
148 – D Matt Basgall, Michigan State
148 – D Campbell Cichosz, Minnesota State
148 – F Josh Eernisse, Michigan
148 – F Daniel Russell, Michigan State
148 – F Tiernan Shoudy, Michigan State

100 Career Points
99 – F Christian Fitzgerald, Wisconsin
98 – F Stephen Castagna, Bentley
96 – D Eric Pohlkamp, Denver

70 Career Goals
67 – F T.J. Hughes, Michigan

50 Career Goals
48 – F Aiden Fink, Penn State

100 Career Games (goalies)
97 – Trey Augustine, Michigan State

10 Career Shutouts
9 – Trey Augustine, Michigan State

2,000 Career Saves
1,942 – Tyler Muszelik, UConn

ADDITIONAL NOTES BY REGION

Sioux Falls (S.D.) Regional – Thursday/Saturday, Denny Sanford PREMIER Center)
No. 1 seed: North Dakota (27-9-1, NCHC regular-season champion)
No. 2 seed: Providence (23-10-2, Hockey East regular-season champion)
No. 3 seed: Quinnipiac (26-9-3, ECAC Hockey regular-season champion)
No. 4 seed: Merrimack (21-15-2, Hockey East tournament champion)
The most combined wins (97) and tied with Loveland for the best combined winning percentage (.682) of the four regionals … The only regional with multiple regular-season conference champions: North Dakota (NCHC), Providence (Hockey East) and Quinnipiac (ECAC Hockey) … The fourth team, Merrimack, won the HEA playoff championship … Quinnipiac leads the nation in faceoff percentage (57.0) and fewest shots allowed per game (23.2) … Providence’s 19 underclassmen are the most of any team in the tournament … North Dakota D Keaton Verhoeff (Fr., Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta), who is 2026 draft-eligible, is the youngest player in the tournament. He will be 17 years, nine months, and seven days when he takes to the ice Thursday … Merrimack is 16-5-2 since Jan. 20, one of only three teams in the country (Sacred Heart, Western Michigan) with that many wins during that stretch.

Worcester (Mass.) Regional – Thursday/Saturday, DCU Center
No. 1 seed: Michigan State (25-8-2, Big Ten regular-season champion)
No. 2 seed: Dartmouth (23-7-4, ECAC Hockey tournament champion)
No. 3 seed: Wisconsin (21-12-2)
No. 4 seed: UConn (20-12-5)
Michigan State owns the nation’s best power play (35.3%) since the calendar turned to 2026 … Dartmouth, making its first postseason appearance since 1980, boasts the top penalty kill this season (89.5%) among the 16 tourney teams … The Big Green have won a school-record 23 games … UConn junior F Joey Muldowney (Lake View, N.Y.) has scored more goals (46) over the last two seasons than any other player in the country … UW has won 21 games for the second time in three years under head coach Mike Hastings (St. Cloud State ’93) after failing to reach that mark in any of the previous nine seasons prior to his arrival.

Albany (N.Y.) Regional – Friday/Sunday, MVP Arena
No. 1 overall seed: Michigan (29-7-1, Big Ten tournament champion)
No. 2 seed: Minnesota Duluth (23-14-1)
No. 3 seed: Penn State (21-13-2)
No. 4 seed: Bentley (23-11-5, Atlantic Hockey America regular-season and tournament champion)
Features four of the nation’s five leading scorers in Michigan duo T.J. Hughes (53 points) and Michael Hage (51), as well as Penn State’s Gavin McKenna (51) and Minnesota Duluth’s Max Plante (49). They rank 2-5 in the NCAA scoring race behind only Quinnipiac’s Ethan Wyttenbach (58) … McKenna is averaging an NCAA-leading 1.83 points per game since Jan. 1 … UMD’s sophomores have combined for 221 points this season, the only class in the tourney with 200+ points … Michigan F T.J. Hughes (Sr., Hamilton, Ontario) leads all active DI men’s players with 175 points, the most by any player since Union’s Mike Vecchione had 176 from 2013-17 … Bentley is the oldest team in the field with an average age of 23.1 years at the start of the tourney. The Falcons have the most upperclassmen (17) and seniors (eight) in the tournament.

Loveland (Col.) Regional – Friday/Sunday, Blue Arena
No. 1 seed: Western Michigan (26-10-1, defending NCAA champion)
No. 2 seed: Denver (25-11-3, NCHC Frozen Faceoff champion)
No. 3 seed: Cornell (22-10-1)
No. 4 seed: Minnesota State (22-10-7, CCHA regular-season & tournament champion)
Denver and Cornell are meeting in the regional round for the third time in the last four years … The Big Red are the only team in the country allowing fewer than two goals per game (1.9) … No team in the tournament has more freshmen than Cornell (12) … The Pioneers own the nation’s longest active unbeaten (13) and winning streaks (nine) … Minnesota State boasts the nation’s top penalty kill (93.9%) since the calendar flipped to 2026 … Defending NCAA champion Western Michigan is trying to become the first team to go back-to-back since Minnesota Duluth did it in 2018 and 2019.

SID Stuff:

According to Michigan State Assistant Director of Athletic Communications Austin Overmann, freshman sensation Porter Martone is chasing a couple of former NHL standouts in the MSU record book.

With 24 goals on the season, Martone needs just three more to tie the MSU freshman record set by current Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour (1988-89). Additionally, Martone’s 47 points are five away from the rookie record set by Rem Murray (1991-95) in 1991-92.

Notebook Quotebook:

“We worked so hard to get here. To get that first trophy was probably the best thing that’ll ever happen to me in my life, so I’m going to carry that with me for as long as I live.”

— Merrimack graduate F Mark Hillier (Labrador City, Newfoundland) after Merrimack’s 2-1 win over UConn in the Hockey East Tournament championship game. It was the first HEA title in Merrimack history (source: College Hockey News).

NHL Note of the Week:

With a hat trick (and five points) Saturday against the Islanders, Montreal F Cole Caufield (Wisconsin, 2019-21) now ranks second in the NHL with 43 goals and has a chance at the first 50-goal campaign of his young NHL career.

Caufield is trying to join Zach Hyman (54 in 2023-24) and Chris Kreider (52 in 2021-22) as the third NCAA alum in the last five years to notch 50, and the first ex-Badger since Dany Heatley did it back-to-back in 2005-06 and 2006-07.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

Minnesota State senior D Mason Wheeler (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) blocked an NCAA season-high 11 shots in Friday’s 4-1 CCHA semifinal win over St. Thomas. He leads the conference with 88 blocks on the year … Denver won an NCAA season-high 56 faceoffs in Saturday’s 4-3 double-overtime victory over Minnesota Duluth in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship game. The Pioneers finished the game 56-41 (57.7 percent) in the dot … Junior G Josh Kotai (Abbotsford, British Columbia) became the first player in the young history of Augustana hockey to sign an NHL contract when he inked an entry-level deal with the New York Islanders on Tuesday. One of three finalists for the Mike Richter Award, Kotai had a .931 save percentage in 79 career games with the Vikings …… Minnesota announced the hiring Tuesday of Brett Larson (Minnesota Duluth ’04 as its new head coach.

Longest Active Team Winning Streaks:

9 games, Denver (began Feb. 7 vs. Colorado College)
5 games, Bentley (began March 6 vs. Mercyhurst in 3OT)
5 games, Merrimack (began March 5 vs. UMass Lowell)
4 games, Dartmouth (began March 13 vs. Colgate, Game 1 of ECAC Hockey Quarterfinal)
4 games, Michigan (began Feb. 27 vs. Minnesota)
3 games, Minnesota State (began March 8 vs. Ferris State, Game 3 of CCHA Quarterfinal)

Longest Active Point Streaks:

14 games, F James Hagens (Boston College)
- 12-12—24, began Jan. 30
11 games, F Rieger Lorenz (Denver)
- 7-8—15, began Jan. 31 vs. Minnesota Duluth
10 games, F Michael Mesic (Bentley)
- 11-9—20, began Jan. 3 at Holy Cross
9 games, F Gavin McKenna (Penn State)
- 4-15—19, began Feb. 14 at Michigan
8 games, F Cole Reschny (North Dakota)
- 1-8—9, began Feb. 14 vs. Miami
7 games, F Jake Karabela (Ohio State)
- 6-6—12, began Feb. 27 at Michigan State
7 games, F Rhys Chiddenton (Canisius)
- 2-5—7, began (Feb. 13) vs. Holy Cross
6 games, Three players tied

Longest Active Goal Streaks:

9 games, F MichaelMesic (Bentley)
- 11-6—17, began Jan. 9 at Air Force
5 games, F LuigiBenincasa (Minnesota State)
- 5-1—6, began March 6 vs. Ferris State
4 games, F JakeKarabela (Ohio State)
- 4-4—8, began March 6 vs. Notre Dame

Longest Active Goalie Winning Streaks:

9 games, Johnny Hicks (Denver)
- Began Feb. 7 vs. Colorado College
6 games, Step henPeck (Michigan)
- Began Jan. 10 vs. Notre Dame
5 games, Max Lundgren (Merrimack)
- Began March 5 vs. UMass Lowell
5 games, Lukas Swedin (Bentley)
- Began March 6 vs. Mercyhurst in 3OT

Conference Champions (playoffs):

Atlantic Hockey – Bentley
Big Ten – Michigan
CCHA – Minnesota State
ECAC Hockey – Dartmouth
Hockey East – Merrimack
NCHC – Denver

Conference Champions (reg. season)

Atlantic Hockey – Bentley
Big Ten – Michigan State
CCHA – Minnesota State
ECAC Hockey – Quinnipiac
Hockey East – Providence
NCHC – North Dakota

Key College Hockey Dates:

April 2: Hobey Baker Memorial Award “Hobey Hat Trick” announced
April 9-11: NCAA Frozen Four (T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas)
April 10: National award winners announced

Conference Websites

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

Did you know? 93% of NCAA Division I men’s hockey players earn their degree!