COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – With a new member and a new scheduling model for next season, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) unveiled the 2024-2025 NCHC conference schedule on Tuesday.
For the first time in the 12-year history of the NCHC, the conference schedule consists of 108 regular-season contests, with all nine teams playing a 24-game NCHC slate. The conference regular-season calendar begins on Nov. 8 and concludes on Mar. 8, with the NCHC regular-season champion hoisting the Julie and Spencer Penrose Memorial Cup. The final NCHC Frozen Faceoff in Saint Paul, Minn. is set for Mar. 21-22, with all nine members making the NCHC Tournament.
For the second season in a row, the Mavericks will open up NCHC play against Western Michigan at home, Nov. 8-9. The following weekend features another four conference series, with ASU hosting Omaha for its first NCHC games at Mullett Arena. The Mavericks return home the next weekend to close out November against Miami on the 22nd and 23rd.
The Mavericks open December on the road against St. Cloud State, Dec. 6-7, for their only NCHC games of the month. In January, Omaha will face Colorado College at home (Jan. 10-11), Miami in Oxford (Jan. 17-18), the Huskies at home (Jan 24-25) and finish that stretch with the defending National Champions Denver at Magness Arena (Jan. 31-Feb. 1).
In February, the Mavericks will see the Bulldogs at home (Feb. 7-8), the Broncos (Feb. 14-15) and Arizona State at home (Feb. 28-March 1). Omaha will have a bye week the week of Feb. 17-23.
Once again, the Mavericks will close out the regular season with NCHC rival North Dakota. Omaha and UND will faceoff in Grand Forks on March 7-8.
Following the regular season, the NCHC Tournament gets underway and for the first time will feature a play-in game between the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds. The Play-In Game will take place on Wednesday, March 12 at the site of the No. 1 seed, with the winner moving on to the NCHC Quarterfinals. The best-of-3 quarterfinal series then take place March 14-16, as usual, with the top four seeds hosting the bottom four seeds.
The four quarterfinal series winners advance to the 2025 NCHC Frozen Faceoff, which will be held at Xcel Energy Center, the home of the NHL's Minnesota Wild, in Saint Paul, Minn. for the final time. The two semifinals are set for Friday, March 21, with the Frozen Faceoff champion crowned on Saturday, March 22. Starting in 2026, the NCHC is moving its postseason tournament entirely to campus sites.
The NCHC's new scheduling model follows a three-year rotation, beginning with the 2024-25 season, though teams will continue to play 12 home and 12 away conference games in the regular season. The new scheduling model and rotation consists of three, three-team pods based on geography with teams guaranteed to play home and away series against the other two teams in their pod every season (eight games). The three-team pods are: Arizona State, Colorado College and Denver; Minnesota Duluth, North Dakota and St. Cloud State; and Miami, Omaha and Western Michigan.
The remaining 16 conference games will be played against the six 'non-pod' teams, with four opponents only being played in one series (eight games), home or away, and two 'non-pod' opponents being played in both home and away series (eight games). The 'non-pod' teams that are played either once (home or away) or twice (home and away) in a series will rotate over three seasons.
All dates listed for the 2024-25 NCHC schedule are subject to change and times are still to be announced. The non-conference portion of the 2024-25 schedule will be added once all NCHC teams announce their own non-conference schedules.
KEY DATES IN 2024-2025
· Saturday, Oct. 5 – NCAA Official Start Date
· Friday, Nov. 8 – First NCHC conference games/First ASU NCHC game
· Friday, Nov. 15 – First ASU NCHC home game (vs. Omaha)
· Saturday, Dec. 14 – Final NCHC conference games in 2024
· Friday, Jan. 10 – NCHC conference play resumes in 2025
· Saturday, March 1 – ASU finishes NCHC regular season
· Saturday, March 8 – NCHC regular season concludes
· Wednesday, March 12 – NCHC Play-In Game (No. 8 seed vs. No. 9 seed)
· Friday- Sunday, March 14-16 – NCHC Quarterfinals
· Friday, March 21 – NCHC Frozen Faceoff Semifinals
· Saturday, March 22 – NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship
· March 27-30 – NCAA Regionals
· Thursday, April 10 – Frozen Four Semifinals
· Saturday, April 12 – National Championship
