NCHA Men's Tournament

The NCHA Men's Tournament is an annual Division III conference tournament that has taken place since 1986. The winner of the tournament has received an automatic bit to the NCAA Tournament since they were first offered in 2000.

History
When the NCHA formed in 1981 the NCAA was already holding a preliminary tournament to help determine the bids for the NCAA Tournament. They continued to do so until 1985 after which the western conferences began playing their own postseason tournaments. For the first year the NCHA tournament format was a Two-game, total goal series for both rounds. That was changed to a point system the following year; the teams would play two games against one another and whoever had the most points would advance (2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie). If the two teams were tied after two games than a 20-minute 'mini-game' was played to determine the winner. In 1993 the tournament was expanded to include all 6 teams with all rounds following the same point system format. Two seasons later the tournament was expanded again, this time to 8 teams, before returning to a 6-team championship the following year. In 1997 Bemidji State was no longer eligible to participate in any Division III tournament but remained in the NCHA for three more seasons. The following year the 8-team tournament was restored. When Lake Forest left the conference in 2009 the tournament shifted to a 7-team format but was restored to an 8-team arrangement after membership was reshuffled in 2013.

In 2016 the conference standings were altered by splitting teams into two divisions, North and South. The tournament was also changed to include only six teams, three from each division, with the top teams advancing to the semifinal round. The remaining teams would play within their division for the quarterfinals and then the opposite divisions for the semifinals. Two years later the tournament was returned to an 8-team format, however, the teams would play both the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds within their divisions leaving the championship as the only interdivisional game.

1986
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

1987
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

1988
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

1989
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

1990
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

1991
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

1992
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

1993
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

1994
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

1995
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

1996
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

1997
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

1998
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

1999
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

2000
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

2001
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

2002
Note: As the top seed, St. Norbert's arena was used for the Semifinal and Championship rounds.

Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

2003
Note: As the top seed, St. Norbert's arena was used for the Semifinal and Championship rounds.

Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

2004
Note: As the top seed, St. Norbert's arena was used for the Semifinal and Championship rounds.

Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

2005
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

2006
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

2007
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

2008
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

2009
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

2010
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

2011
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

2012
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

2013
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

2014
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

2015
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

2016
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

2017
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

2018
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

2019
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

2020
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics