Another first-time champ? – Each of the last three years and four of the last five the national champion was a team that had never won it before (Minnesota Duluth in 2011, Yale in 2013, Union in 2014; Providence in 2015). Six teams in the tournament are seeking their first championship, including the No. 1 and 2 overall seeds, Quinnipiac and St. Cloud State.
2016 NCAA Tournament Bracket (.pdf) | Ticket Info | TV Schedule
Media Notes: 2016 NCAA Tournament (.pdf) | Stat Pack: Compare the Teams
Streaking fours – Three of the four No. 4 seeds enter the tournament having won their conference tournaments and the fourth, Minnesota Duluth, reached the NCHC title game. Northeastern enters the tournament with the longest winning streak in the nation (13) and a 20-1-2 record since Dec. 19. Fourth seeds have proven to be a tough draw in recent years, pulling off five first-round upsets in the last three years. In each of the last three seasons at least one No. 4 seed has reached the Frozen Four, twice winning the national title.
View the future – Twenty-nine NHL teams have at least one draft pick in the tournament, with a total of 95 drafted players on the 16 rosters (RIT is the only team without any draft picks). Boston (9) has the most prospects participating among NHL teams. Boston College, Michigan and North Dakota each have 12 drafted players on their rosters, the most in the field. While most players are drafted prior to arriving at college, some – like Charlie McAvoy (BU) and Dylan Gambrell (DU) – are eligible for the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. Many others will be signed as undrafted free agents.
Forty-five schools have had a former player in the NHL this season, including 15 of the 16 teams in the tournament (No. 1 overall seed Quinnipiac is the lone exception). Thirty percent of all NHL players developed in NCAA hockey.
Draft Picks in the 2016 NCAA Tournament | NCAA In the NHL
Experience counts – Despite the rise in early departures for the NHL in recent years, college hockey remains a game that rewards experienced teams. The tournament field is a case in point, with nine of the top 11 scorers in the field being juniors or seniors. A number of players in the field turned down opportunities to sign pro contracts last summer to pursue an NCAA championship, including Harvard’s Jimmy Vesey (NSH), North Dakota’s Drake Caggiula, Boston University’s Danny O’Regan (SJ), Providence’s Mark Jankowski (CGY), Minnesota Duluth’s Andy Welinski (ANA) and others.
Most seniors
9 – Providence
8 – Ferris State, Minnesota Duluth, Yale
7 – Harvard, St. Cloud State
Top-scoring senior classes:
210 points – St. Cloud State (71g-139a)
197 – Providence (74g-123a)
138 – Boston University (59g-79a)
115 – Harvard (51g-64a)
110 – Minnesota Duluth (41g-69a)
Young guns – Michigan’s Kyle Connor (Shelby Twp., Mich./Youngstown-USHL/WPG) leads the nation in goals (36) and points (69), the second time in as many years that a freshman has led the NCAA in scoring. Prior to Jack Eichel last year, the last freshman to lead the nation in scoring was Maine’s Paul Kariya in 1992-93. Four teams are led in scoring by a rookie, with Denver (Dylan Gambrell), North Dakota (Brock Boeser-VAN) and Yale (Joe Snively) joining Michigan.
Most Points, Freshmen, Since 1992-93
100 – Paul Kariya, Maine (1992-93)
71 – Jack Eichel, Boston University (2014-15)
69 – Kyle Connor, Michigan (2015-16)
63 – Ryan Carter, Iona (1998-99)
62 – Thomas Vanek, Minnesota (2002-03)
61 – Zach Parise, North Dakota (2002-03)
61 – Darren Haydar, New Hampshire (1998-99)
From all over the map – Players from eight countries, 27 states, six Canadian provinces and Washington, D.C., are in the 16-team field. The starting goaltenders hail from seven states, three provinces and Finland, with California (3) boasting the largest representation. Nine states, two provinces and Finland produced the leading scorers on each team, led by Massachusetts (3).
By State
57 – Minnesota
48 – Michigan
46 – Massachusetts
30 – New York
19 – California
17 – Illinois, New Jersey
15 – Pennsylvania
14 – Colorado
By Province
30 – Ontario
26 – British Columbia
19 – Alberta
8 – Quebec, Saskatchewan
By Country
325 – United States (75%)
93 – Canada (21%)
8 – Finland
3 - Sweden
1 - Austria, Denmark, Italy, Slovakia
Hub of hockey – For the first time in NCAA Tournament history, all four Beanpot schools – Boston College, Boston University, Harvard and Northeastern – are in the field. Four more schools are also from New England, giving the New England states eight of the 16 teams in the field.
Sunshine state – Eight Florida natives are seeking a trip to Tampa for the Frozen Four:
· Nick Amato, RIT (Fort Lauderdale)
· Austin Cangelosi, Boston College (Estero)
· Logan Day, Northeastern (Seminole)
· Greg Gozzo, Harvard (Jupiter)
· Chris Izmirlian, Yale (Highland Beach)
· Will Messa, Northeastern (Parkland)
· Chase Priskie, Quinnipiac (Pembroke Pines)
· Jake Schecter, Northeastern (Naples)
O from the D – Nine of the nation’s top 10 scoring defense corps are represented in the tournament, as are 10 of the top 15 individual scorers among defensemen.
Top-Scoring Defense Corps
121 points – St. Cloud State (22g-99a)
117 – Boston College (28g-89a)
115 – Quinnipiac (31g-84a)
110 – North Dakota (24g-86a)
102 – Michigan (17g-85a)
102 – Providence (31g-71a)
Something special – Michigan and Yale are enjoying historic seasons on special teams. The Wolverines’ 31.8% power play is the first PP to top 30% since Colorado College converted on 30.8% of its chances in 2002-03. Yale has killed off 94.3% of its shorthanded situations, which would break the NCAA record for penalty kill set by Michigan State in 1998-99 (92.0%).
Hobey watch – Each NCAA regional features at least one Hobey Baker Award finalist (seven of the 10 total are in the tournament, including each member of Michigan’s first line). The winner will be announced the day before the championship game in Tampa.
NOTES BY REGION
Midwest Regional
North Dakota, making its 14th consecutive tournament appearance, is the only one of these four teams that was in the tournament last season … UND’s Brad Berry is the only first-year head coach in the nation … It’s the 20th anniversary of Michigan’s 1996 NCAA title, which it won in Cincinnati … Michigan’s Kyle Connor returns to the state where he played junior hockey (USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms) … Top three goal scorers in the tournament are all in this region (Michigan’s Connor and Tyler Motte, North Dakota’s Brock Boeser) … This region features 39 NHL draft picks, the most of the four regions.
East Regional
Three of the four teams in Albany were part of the 2013 Frozen Four in Pittsburgh (RIT is the exception) … RIT won the 2010 East Regional in Albany … Quinnipiac and Yale are located approx. 10 miles apart in Hamden and New Haven, Conn.; their leading scorers are from Maryland (Sam Anas) and Virginia (Joe Snively) … RIT head coach Wayne Wilson’s son, Stu, is a senior forward at Yale … Yale (1.74 goals against per game) and UMass Lowell (1.82) are the top two defensive teams in the nation … Yale’s Alex Lyon (.938) and UMass Lowell’s Kevin Boyle (.935) have the top two save percentages of any goalies in the tournament.
Northeast Regional
Boston College has won the last five regionals in Worcester, in each even year starting in 2006; in three of those the Eagles were the top seed … Providence is seeking to become the first repeat champion since Denver in 2004-05 … Harvard’s Jimmy Vesey and Boston College’s Thatcher Demko are the only two Hobey Baker finalists facing each other in the first round … All four of these teams have won a national title – including three of the last five titles – the only region where that is the case.
West Regional
Nine of the 15 Europeans in the field are in this regional, five of them on St. Cloud State … BU and Denver – two teams that have combined to win 12 NCAA titles – went to overtime on Oct. 31 in Boston, with the Terriers winning, 5-4 … St. Cloud State (7.2 PIM/game) is the least penalized team in the tournament and ranked second nationally … Denver and St. Cloud State met last Friday in the NCHC semifinals (4-2 SCSU win) … BU’s Danny O’Regan leads all players in the tournament with 153 career points.