2020, 2021 NCAA Hockey Regionals Announced

The NCAA has announced the regional sites for the 2020 and 2021 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournaments at NCAA.com:

March 2020

East - Times Union Center - Albany, N.Y.
Midwest - PPL Center, Allentown, Pa.
Northeast - DCU Center, Worcester, Mass.
West - Budweiser Events Center - Loveland, Col.

March 2021

East - Webster Bank Arena - Bridgeport, Conn.
Midwest - Scheels Arena - Fargo, N.D.
Northeast - SNHU Arena - Manchester, N.H.
West - Budweiser Events Center - Loveland, Col.

Next year marks the first-ever NCAA hockey regional to be held in Loveland, while Allentown will host for the third straight season, and Albany returns to the rotation for the first time since 2016.

Worcester has hosted more Division I men's hockey regionals so far (15) than any other NCAA site, while Webster Bank Arena is back in the mix for the first time since 2017, and SNHU and Scheels arenas will both be utilized for the second time in three seasons.

The NCAA Frozen Four will be held for the first time ever at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit in April 2020, while the national semifinals and championship contest will return to PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh the following April, for the first time since 2013.

CC's Schwartz Shoots St. Louis Past Winnipeg in Playoffs

Jaden Schwartz (Colorado College) almost single-handedly boosted the St. Louis Blues to the second round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. His hat trick on Saturday provided all of St. Louis's offense in a 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets that sealed the series for the Blues in six games. He scored one goal in each period to boost the Blues to a 3-0 lead en route to the victory, their first in a Stanley Cup playoff series since 2017.

Schwartz, 26, from Wilcox, Sask. finished seventh on the St. Louis scoring scroll this season with 11 goals and 25 assists for 36 points. Drafted 14th overall by the Blues in 2010, the 5-foot-10 forward has tallied 124-183—307 points in 489 career NHL regular-season outings to date, all with St. Louis.

Schwartz played at Colorado College from 2010 to 2012, where he collected 32-56—88 points in 60 games with the Tigers. He also helped CC to its most recent NCAA Tournament berth in 2011, where the Tigers beat Boston College but fell to Michigan in the West Regional in St. Louis.

The Blues will next take on the winner of the Dallas-Nashville series, with Dallas currently ahead in that Western Conference best-of-seven match-up, three games to two.

Makar Makes Solid NHL Debut with Avalanche

Cale Makar (UMass) jumped to the NHL with a definite bang.

Less than 48 hours after the University of Massachusetts fell, 3-0, to defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth in the 2019 NCAA championship game in Buffalo, Makar signed a three-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche, who drafted him fourth overall in the 2017 NHL Draft. Two days before, he had been awarded the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the top player in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey.

On Monday night in Denver, with his parents in attendance, Calgary native Makar took a back pass, fought off a defender, and then whipped a shot between the pads of Calgary goaltender Mike
Smith for the Avalanche's third goal in a 6-2 rout of the Flames in Game Three of their best-of-seven Stanley Cup Playoff first-round series. Colorado now leads the series, two games to one.

Makar, who played just over 14 minutes in all on Monday night, finished his two-year college career at UMass with 21 goals and 49 assists for 70 points. He was also named the 2019 Hockey East Player of the Year, and was a 2019 First Team East CCM Hockey All-America selection, as he led the Minutemen to a school-record 30 victories, an NCAA Northeast Regional title, and their first-ever Hockey East regular-season championship. He was also a member of Canada's gold-medal winning team at the 2018 World Junior Championship in Buffalo.

UMD Wins 2019 NCAA Men's Division I Hockey Title

For the second straight season, Minnesota-Duluth is the NCAA Division I men's ice hockey national champion.

The Bulldogs scored once in each period Saturday to blank the University of Massachusetts, 3-0, in the 2018-19 national title game at Key Bank Center in Buffalo. Minnesota-Duluth (29-11-2 overall), which played in its third consecutive NCAA championship game, is the first back-to-back Division I men's hockey national champion since Denver in 2004 and 2005.

Parker Mackay (power-play goal), Mikey Anderson, and Jackson Cates scored for the Bulldogs, while Hunter Shepard stopped all 18 shots by UMass (31-10-0 overall). UMD outshot UMass, 31-18, and also snuffed all four power play attempts by the Minutemen, who were the top power play team in the nation this season.

Mackay, who also assisted on Anderson's second-period goal, was named Most Outstanding Player of this year's Frozen Four after playing in his final collegiate contest Saturday. Filip Lindberg finished with 28 stops for the Minutemen, who suffered the fourth shutout loss of their most successful  season ever.

The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) has now won the last four consecutive NCAA Division I men's ice hockey national championships, after its formation in 2013. It will try for five straight national titles next April at the 2020 NCAA Frozen Four in Detroit.

Makar of UMass Wins Hobey Baker Award

Cale Makar (Massachusetts) is the 39th winner of the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the top player in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey for the 2018-19 season. The award was presented on Friday in Buffalo, N.Y., site of this year's Frozen Four. He is the first player from the University of Massachusetts to win the award, and the 10th winner ever out of the Hockey East conference.

Makar, a sophomore defenseman out of Calgary, leads UMass so far this season with 33 assists and 49 points in 40 outings. In 74 career games with the Minutemen, he has posted 21-49—70 points. He was previously named the 2019 Hockey East Player of the Year, and was also a First Team East CCM Hockey All-America selection. He was drafted in the first round (fourth overall) by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2017 NHL Draft.

Makar and the Minutemen will now face defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth on Saturday night (8 p.m. ET, ESPN2) for the 2018-19 NCAA championship.

UMass, Minnesota-Duluth to Play for NCAA Title

Marc Del Gaizo scored in overtime just after midnight to send Massachusetts to its first-ever NCAA Championship game with a 4-3 win over Denver. The Minutemen will face defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth, which ousted Providence, 4-1, in the early Frozen Four semifinal on Thursday at Key Bank Center in Buffalo.

Del Gaizo's slapshot from above the left circle 15:18 into sudden death pulled out the victory for UMass, which had held a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes on three power-play goals, only to have
Denver's Cole Guttman score twice in the third period for the Pioneers to force the extra session. DU, which was looking to play in its second NCAA title game in three seasons, outshot UMass, 40-28,
although Filip Lindberg made 37 saves for the Minutemen.

Minnesota-Duluth overcame two disallowed first-period goals to earn a spot in its third consecutive national championship game, as Justin Richards scored twice for the Bulldogs in their win over the Friars. UMD broke a 1-1 tie in the third period on a goal by Billy Exell midway through the final stanza, before the Bulldogs added two late empty-net tallies to seal the contest. Hunter Shepard made 28 stops for the Bulldogs, who became the first team to advance to three straight men's hockey NCAA title contests since Boston College (2006-2008).

UMass and UMD will face off at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday (ESPN2) to decide this year's Division I men's national champion. It will be the first time ever that a Hockey East school meets a
National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) school with the national title at stake.

Carvel of UMass Wins Spencer Penrose Award

Greg Carvel (Massachusetts) has been tabbed as the 2019 Spencer Penrose Award as the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey CCM/AHCA Coach of the Year. The runner-up was Eric Lang of American International College, who led the Yellowjackets to their first-ever Atlantic Hockey regular-season and playoff titles, and the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

This season Carvel has led the Minutemen to a 30-9-0 overall record (.769), a Hockey East regular-season championship, and a berth in the NCAA Frozen Four. UMass will face Denver in the
second national semifinal on Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2) in Buffalo, with the winner to advance to Saturday's national title game. The Minutemen won the NCAA Northeast Regional in Manchester, N.H. last month by defeating both Harvard and Notre Dame by 4-0 scores.

A 1993 graduate of St. Lawrence, Carvel served as head coach of his alma mater from 2012 to 2016 before moving on to UMass. The Minutemen finished 5-29-2 in his first campaign in Amherst
before improving to 17-20-2 a year ago. This year they posted the first 30-win season in school history, and earned their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2007. His career collegiate record now
stands at 124-121-19 (.506).

A native of Canton, N.Y. and a former captain at St. Lawrence, Carvel skated four years with his hometown Saints, totaling 37 goals and 134 points from 1989 to 1993. He then played one
year of professional hockey in Sweden before embarking upon a coaching and scouting career that included NHL stops in Anaheim and Ottawa before he went back to SLU as an assistant for a
year, prior to taking the top job with the Saints.

Bergeron Takes Over at Miami

In the end, the pull of home was just too strong.

Former Miami player and assistant coach Chris Bergeron has taken the head coaching job at his alma mater, after nine seasons at the helm of Bowling Green State University, as was announced
on Friday. He succeeds former Miami teammate Enrico Blasi, who was dismissed last month after 20 years of leading the Red Hawks.

Bergeron compiled a record of 171-154-44 (.523) at Bowling Green from 2010 to 2019, including five consecutive 20-win seasons in his final five campaigns there, including a pair of appearances in the WCHA championship game. This year he led the Falcons to their first NCAA Tournament in 29 years, where they fell to defending NCAA champion Minnesota-Duluth, 2-1, in overtime in a Midwest regional final in Allentown, Pa.

Bergeron, 48, from Wallaceburg, Ont., skated at Miami from 1989 to 1993, when it was known as the Redskins. He tallied 48 goals and 72 assists for 120 points in his collegiate career, and then led Miami in scoring as a senior with 21-40—61 points that season as they won their first-ever CCHA title. He then played professionally from 1993 to 2000 in the AHL, CHL, ECHL, IHL, RHI and UHL, including a stint with the Canadian National Team, before joining Miami as an assistant coach in 2000-01, where he stayed until taking the head job at BGSU.

2019 Hobey Baker Award Finalists Announced

The Hobey Hat Trick has been announced for 2019.

All three finalists this year for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as college's hockey top player are defensemen, in Harvard junior Adam Fox, Massachusetts sophomore Cale Makar, and St. Cloud State senior Jimmy Schuldt. The winner will be announced at 6 p.m. ET on April 12 in Buffalo, site of this year's men's Frozen Four.

The night before the unveiling, Makar and his Minutemen will face Denver in one national semifinal, following defending NCAA champion Minnesota-Duluth against Providence. The two winners will then meet on April 13 for the national title.

Shortridge Signs with San Jose Sharks

Andrew Shortridge (Quinnipiac) will not be returning to an NCAA net. The junior goaltender, who backstopped the Bobcats to the ECAC Hockey regular-season title and the NCAA Tournament this year, has passed on his final season of college eligibility to sign an entry-level contract with the NHL's San Jose Sharks, according to USCHO.com. He is expected to report to the AHL's San Jose Barracuda.

The Anchorage, Alaska native, who started the 2018-19 season as a backup but later emerged as Quinnipiac's No.1 netminder, went 18-7-2 with four shutouts in 27 games this past season, and was
among the national leaders with a 1.51 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage. In three campaigns in Hamden, Conn., he finished 42-26-4 with 10 shutouts in 78 appearances (1.97, .923).

Shortridge, 23, who prepped with Vernon (BCHL) prior to enrolling at Quinnipiac, finished his collegiate career this past weekend at the 2019 NCAA Midwest Regional in Allentown,
Pa. The 6-foot-4 goaltender made 20 saves in a 2-1 semifinal win over Arizona State, and then posted 23 stops (one empty-net goal against) in a 3-1 regional final loss to defending NCAA champion Minnesota Duluth in his Quinnipiac finale.

Ohio State's Jobst Signs with Islanders

Ohio State University senior forward Mason Jobst has signed a two-year, two-way contract as a free agent with the NHL's New York Islanders.

Jobst, 25, from Speedway, Ind., closed out his collegiate career on Friday with the Buckeyes' 2-0 loss to Denver in an NCAA West Regional semifinal in Fargo, N.D. The 5-foot-8 center led Ohio State in scoring this season with 17 goals and 19 assists for 36 points in 36 games, as OSU won the Big Ten Conference regular-season title.

In four years in Columbus, Jobst scored 69 goals and added 95 assists for 164 points in 150 career NCAA appearances, including a career-high 55 points as a sophomore, and last season helped OSU to its first NCAA Frozen Four since 1998. Prior to college, he prepped four seasons with Muskegon (USHL), where he collected 20 goals and 88 points in 156 outings.

Goaltenders and Other Collegians Go Early to NHL

The exodus of NCAA Division I players with remaining college eligibility to the National Hockey League has intensified following this year's NCAA Regionals.

Junior goaltender Joey Daccord (Arizona State) became the first-ever Sun Devil to sign an NHL contract when he inked a deal with the Ottawa Senators, who drafted him in the seventh round of the 2015 NHL Draft. The North Andover, Mass. native went 21-13-1 this past season and was among the national leaders in goals-against average (2.35), save percentage (.926), saves (1,030), and shutouts (seven). He almost backstopped the Sun Devils past Quinnipiac in their NCAA Midwest Regional semifinal meeting on Saturday, making 36 saves in a 2-1 loss in ASU's NCAA Tournament debut.

Also signing out of the Midwest Regional was junior netminder Ryan Bednard (Bowling Green), who closed out his college career with 40 saves in a 2-1 overtime loss to defending NCAA champion Minnesota Duluth on Saturday. He signed with the Florida Panthers, who selected him in the 7th round of the 2015 NHL Draft. Bednard, from Macomb, Mich., finished 20-8-4 this season (1.77, .927, 4 ShO) in backstopping the Falcons to their first NCAA Tournament berth in 29 years.

The third NCAA Division I goaltender to go pro was junior Jake Kielly (Clarkson), who signed with the Vancouver Canucks as a free agent. The Eden Prairie, Minn. native fashioned a 26-11-2 mark this season (1.91, .929, 5 ShO) in guiding the Golden Knights to the ECAC Hockey League's Whitelaw Cup as playoff champions. His career finale came in a 3-2 overtime loss to Notre Dame in a Northeast Regional semifinal on Friday, where he made 35 saves.

Sophomore goaltender Cayden Primeau (Northeastern) has joined the Montreal Canadiens, who tabbed him in the seventh round of the 2017 NHL Draft. The Voorhees, N.J. native and son of former NHL forward Keith Primeau went 25-10-1 (2.09, .933, 4 ShO) this season with the Huskies, guiding them to both the Beanpot and Hockey East tournament crowns. He made 14 stops in his final NCAA game on Saturday, a 5-1 loss to Cornell in an East Regional semifinal.

Skaters with collegiate eligibility remaining who recently signed pro contracts include: junior forward Nico Sturm (Clarkson) with the Minnesota Wild; junior defenseman Brogan Rafferty (Quinnipiac) with Vancouver; freshman forward Oliver Wahlstrom (Boston College) with the New York Islanders; junior defenseman Andrew Peeke (Notre Dame) with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and; sophomore center Shane Bowers (Boston University) with the Colorado Avalanche.

2019 Men's Frozen Four Field Set

The 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Frozen Four field is set, thanks to the last two NCAA Regional finals that were held on Sunday.

East Regional Final (Providence, R.I.): Providence 4, Cornell 0

Midwest Regional Final (Allentown, PA): Minnesota-Duluth 3, Quinnipiac 1

Minnesota-Duluth is the first defending NCAA champion to return to the Frozen Four since Denver in 2005, and will appear in its third straight Frozen Four. Denver won the 2017 NCAA title, while Providence won in 2015 and Massachusetts is making its first national semifinal appearance.

SEMIFINALS - THURSDAY, APRIL 11 (BUFFALO, N.Y.)

Providence vs. Minnesota-Duluth
Denver vs. Massachusetts

CHAMPIONSHIP - SATURDAY, APRIL 13  (BUFFALO, N.Y.)

Providence/Minnesota-Duluth vs. Denver/Massachusetts