The bubble experiment in Nebraska for the National Collegiate Hockey Conference came to an end this week, with North Dakota emerging on top when all was said and done.
The league's eight schools played 10 games apiece in a pod-style format at Baxter Arena in Omaha beginning at the start of December, as a guard against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, similar to what the NHL did in Canada in August and September.
Fourth-ranked North Dakota finished first with 20 points on the strength of five regulation wins (three points apiece,) two overtime wins (two points each), and an overtime loss (one point). The Fighting Hawks, who were ranked atop the national polls prior to the beginning of this season, finished a point ahead of host Nebraska Omaha, and two points ahead of St. Cloud State and Minnesota-Duluth. Rounding out the bottom four were Denver, Colorado College, Miami (Ohio) and Western Michigan.
Shane Pinto (North Dakota) and teammate Jordan Kawaguchi lead all NCHC scorers to date with 13 points apiece, while Carter Savoie (Denver) has scored a league-high seven goals. Adam Scheel (North Dakota) is pacing all league netminders with six wins, including overtime victories, while Ludvig Persson (Miami) is atop the NCHC statistical scroll for goaltenders with a 1.19 goals-against average and a .962 save percentage.
The NCHC, which is slated to return to playing on campus sites next month, has won the last four NCAA men's Division I hockey national titles, beginning with UND in 2016. Denver then won it all in 2017, followed by UMD in both 2018 and 2019. The 2020 NCAA tournament was canceled due to COVID-19.
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