The National Collegiate Hockey Conference tournament is the conference tournament for the NCHC. The winner of the tournament receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament.
The NCHC was founded in the 2013âÂÂ14 season with eight former WCHA and CCHA members. The inaugural tournament was held in 2014 and included all eight conference members in a three-round championship. The inaugural championship was won by Denver by a score of 4âÂÂ3 over Miami. The first four NCHC Championship games were held at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, before shifting over to the Grand Casino Arena in nearby Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 tournament was cancelled. The 2021 tournament was also affected by the pandemic, as tournament was moved to Grand Forks, North Dakota to be hosted at North Dakota's home rink, the Ralph Engelstad Arena. The hosting Fighting Hawks would win this tournament, marking their first NCHC tournament championship. Additionally, this would be the first time the tournament's championship round was held outside the Twin Cities area.
In 2026, the tournament will move away from the Twin Cities and be hosted at campus sites for the first time ever, excluding the moved 2021 tournament.
The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in the respective tournament:
<small>Note: the 2020 tournament was cancelled prior to the start of the quarterfinal round.</small>
The NCHC Tournament begins with four best-of-three series featuring the conference's top eight teams held at campus sites. The semifinals and finals are single-elimination games held at the Grand Casino Arena.
Prior to Arizona State joining the NCHC during the 2024âÂÂ25 season, all eight conference teams made the tournament. Initially, the eighth and ninth seeds were intended to contest a play-in game at the site of the first seed in 2025, but this format was later changed to include only the top eight teams and eliminate the play-in game. The tournament will move entirely to campus sites in 2026 and adopt a three-week format, once again including only the conference's top eight teams. Beginning in 2027 with the addition of St. Thomas to the NCHC, all ten teams will once again participate in the tournament.