[2] The inaugural tournament was held in 2014 and included all 8 member teams in a three-round championship.
The NCHC Tournament begins with three-round format featuring all conference teams.
The quarterfinals consist of four best-of-three series while all subsequent rounds are single-elimination.
As traditional powers Denver and North Dakota were among the teams leaving the NCHC's invitation to some of the remaining CCHA teams was appealing enough to get two more universities to join, swelling the NCHC's ranks to eight.
Eventually all of the CCHA teams joined other conferences prior to 2013–14 necessitating its dissolution.