ESPN Covers Every Game of the NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Championship

By: Mar. 22, 2017
Get Access To Every Broadway Story

Unlock access to every one of the hundreds of articles published daily on BroadwayWorld by logging in with one click.




Existing user? Just click login.

ESPN's 2017 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Championship coverage begins March 24 with 12 games in 53 hours as the tournament's 16-team field is reduced to the four teams that will advance to Chicago for the Frozen Four.

ESPN covers every game from the East, Midwest, Northeast and West Regional, including ESPNU airing back-to-back regional finals on both March 25 (6 p.m. and 8 p.m. ET) and March 26 (3:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.). Regional semifinals will begin the Championship on Friday, March 24 (3 p.m., 4 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.) and continue on Saturday March 25 (Noon, 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.) ESPNU and ESPN3 will carry multiple regional semifinals, with ESPN2 and ESPNEWS also airing a regional semifinal. A complete schedule is below and all games are available on WatchESPN and the ESPN App.

Top-seeded Denver, Minnesota-Duluth (No. 2), Harvard (No. 3) and Minnesota (No. 4) are the four nationally-seeded teams and the respective No. 1 seeds in the regionals in the Championship taking on the four SEED in each regional - THE PIONEERS play Michigan Tech (Midwest), with the Bulldogs matching up against Ohio State (West), the Crimson facing Providence (East) and the Golden Gophers taking on Notre Dame (Northeast). Additional regional semifinal highlight between the regions second and third seeded teams:

  • West: Defending National Champion No. 3 North Dakota plays No. 2 Boston University.
  • Midwest: No. 3 Penn State, making its first appearance in the Championship, takes on No. 2 Union.
  • East: No. 3 Air Force and No. 2 Western Michigan meet for the third time this year, with the Broncos holding a 1-0-1 record in the season's first two matchups.
  • Northeast: No. 3 Cornell faces No. 2 UMass-Lowell, in a matchup of the ECAC vs. Hockey East. The River Hawks won the Hockey East Tournament after finishing tied atop the standings in the regular season.

The complete bracket can be found here and more analysis here.

ESPN NCAA Men's Hockey Championship Commentators
ESPN's lead hockey play-by-play commentator John Buccigross teams up with lead hockey analyst Barry Melrose to call the action in the East Regional (Providence, RI) and, for the fifth consecutive year, the Frozen Four. Quint Kessenich will once again be the reporter with Buccigross and Melrose at both the East and Frozen Four.

Buccigross, the popular SPORTSCENTER anchor, has developed a passionate following on Twitter (@Buccigross) through consistent cawlidge hawkey dialogue with fans. Melrose, who has been with ESPN for 20 years and has been an analyst for several Frozen Fours, played 11 seasons in the NHL before leading the Los Angeles Kings to the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals as head coach.

Additional ESPN broadcast tandems: Kevin Brown and Colby Cohen for the Midwest (Cincinnati), Clay Matvick and Sean Ritchlin in the West (Fargo, ND) and Allen Bestwick and Billy Jaffe for the Northeast (Manchester, NH). Analyst Dave Starman will be in studio with host Brendan Fitzgerald for the regional round action

Both Jaffe and Ritchlin played at Michigan and Cohen played for Boston University, where he scored the game-winning goal in the 2009 National Championship Game.

Frozen Four Live from Chicago
For the 38th consecutive year, ESPN will televise college hockey's final game and for the 23rd time, the entire Frozen Four. The semifinals will air Thursday, April 6, on ESPN2 (6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.) and the national championship game Saturday April 8, on ESPN (8 p.m.). ESPN's complete coverage details will be announced after the regional action.

2017 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship Schedule

East, Midwest, Northeast and West Regionals

Date Time (ET) Game Network
Friday, March 24 3 p.m. West Regional Semifinal:
No. 3 North Dakota vs. No. 2 Boston University
Clay Matvick, Sean Ritchlin
ESPN2
4 p.m. East Regional Semifinal:
No. 4 Providence vs. No. 1 Harvard
John Buccigross, Barry Melrose, Quint Kessenich
ESPNU
6:30 p.m. West Regional Semifinal:
No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 1 Minnesota Duluth
Clay Matvick, Sean Ritchlin
ESPNU
7:30 p.m. East Regional Semifinal:
No. 3 Air Force vs. No. 2 Western Michigan
John Buccigross, Barry Melrose, Quint Kessenich
ESPN3
Saturday, March 25 Noon Northeast Regional Semifinal: No. 3 Cornell vs. No. 2 UMass-Lowell
Allen Bestwick, Billy Jaffe
ESPN3
1 p.m. Midwest Regional Semifinal:
No. 4 Michigan Tech vs. No. 1 Denver
Kevin Brown, Colby Cohen
ESPNEWS
3:30 p.m. Northeast Regional Semifinal: No. 4 Notre Dame vs. No. 1 Minnesota
Allen Bestwick, Billy Jaffe
ESPNU
4:30 p.m. Midwest Regional Semifinal: No. 3 Penn State vs. No. 2 Union
Kevin Brown, Colby Cohen
ESPN3
6 p.m. West Regional Final
Clay Matvick, Sean Ritchlin
ESPNU
8:30 p.m. East Regional Final
John Buccigross, Barry Melrose, Quint Kessenich
ESPNU
Sunday, March 26 3:30 p.m. Northeast Regional Final
Allen Bestwick, Billy Jaffe
ESPNU
6 p.m. Midwest Regional Final
Kevin Brown, Colby Cohen
ESPNU

Frozen Four

Date Time (ET) Game Network
Thursday, April 6 6 p.m. Frozen Four Semifinal ESPN2
9:30 p.m. Frozen Four Semifinal ESPN2
Saturday, April 8 8 p.m. Frozen Four Championship ESPN

Please note: Seeds in table are regional seeds



Videos