Story Links DENVER – The University of Denver hockey team is the No 3 seed in the Manchester Northeast Regional and will play No. 2-seed Providence College to begin the 2025 NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championships on Friday at 3:30 p.m. MT (ESPN+). The entre 16-team field was announced on Sunday afternoon on the NCAA Selection […]
DENVER – The University of Denver hockey team is the No 3 seed in the Manchester Northeast Regional and will play No. 2-seed Providence College to begin the 2025 NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championships on Friday at 3:30 p.m. MT (ESPN+). The entre 16-team field was announced on Sunday afternoon on the NCAA Selection Show that was televised on ESPNU.
The Pioneers aim to defend their NCAA-record 10th national championship from a season ago, and the squad is looking to become the first repeat champion since fellow NCHC program Minnesota Duluth in 2018 and 2019. DU is also looking to be the first NCAA school to win three titles in a four-year span since the Pios accomplished the feat in 1958, 1960 and 1961.
Denver heads to the Northeast Regional for the third consecutive year and the second time to Manchester, New Hampshire, in that time after previously playing at SNHU Arena in 2023 against Cornell. No. 1 overall-seed Boston College is also in the region and will face fourth-seeded Bentley University on Friday at 12 p.m. MT (ESPNU).
The Pioneers are in the national tournament for the 34th time in program history and have reached the dance in 16 consecutive full seasons since 2008. DU defeated BC last year in the championship game to overtake Michigan for sole possession of the most national titles in college hockey history.
DU earned one of the 10 at-large bids into the NCAA Tournament after going 29-11-1 and finishing ninth in the Pairwise computer rankings that determine the national tournament field. The Pios lost 4-3 in double-overtime on Saturday night in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship Game to Western Michigan, which picked up a No. 1 seed in the Fargo Regional.
Denver has a 9-11-3 all-time record against Providence College and the squads will be meeting for the fourth consecutive season. The Pioneers played single road games on the PC campus in October 2021 and 2023, while the Friars visited Magness Arena for a two-game series in October 2022.
DU and PC will be facing off for just the second time in the national tournament, as they previously played in the 2015 East Regional Final that saw the Friars win 5-2 at the AHL arena in downtown Providence.
Providence also earned an at-large berth into the tournament after going 21-10-5 overall this season and sporting an 11-6-5 mark in Hockey East play. PC finished fifth in the Hockey East regular-season standings and lost 3-1 at Connecticut in the league quarterfinals on March 14.
Denver has a 44-25 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament and is 10-2 in its last 12 games and sport a 15-3 mark in such games dating back to 2017. The Pioneers have reached the Frozen Four in five of its previous seven appearances in the national tournament.
The team will be making its third trip to Manchester in program history as the Pios also played in New Hampshire’s largest city in 2013, losing 5-3 to the host UNH Wildcats in the regional semifinals.
