Our final set of first-round match-ups are available for fan voting on day four of the 2025 NCHC Play of the Year Tournament. The first match-up Monday has a Western Michigan goal going head-to-head against a Denver goal for the second straight day, while the second duel is between a Colorado College goal and an Arizona State save.
Monday's first match-up features WMU star Alex Bump making a strong defensive play and scoring in double overtime to win the Frozen Faceoff for the Broncos, going up against Denver's Eric Pohlkamp and Samu Salminen, who combined for a slick power play goal with some nifty moves against Colorado College in Week 21 to close out the regular season.
In the final first-round match-up, CC's Bret Link uses speed and dirty dangles to score in overtime and defeat Western Michigan in Week 16, while ASU's Gibson Homer makes a diving stop at St. Cloud State in Week 14 to prevent the game-tying goal.
Winning our first round match-ups from Friday were ASU's Artem Shlaine and WMU's Owen Michaels. Shlaine defeated Miami goalie Bruno Bruveris with 59 percent of the more than 300 votes cast, while Michaels knocked out Denver's Zeev Buium with 78 percent of the vote. Shlaine and Michaels will meet in a quarterfinal on Wednesday, April 23.
Videos for both of today's match-ups are below with the poll to vote below each video. Voting will remain open until Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET, when the first two quarterfinal match-ups are posted and today's winners are announced. Today's winners move on to meet in the last quarterfinal on April 23. The entire bracket (with schedule) can be seen at the bottom of the page.
ALEX BUMP vs. SAMU SALMINEN/ERIC POHLKAMP
NCHC Poll
BRET LINK vs. GIBSON HOMER
NCHC Poll
--#NCHChockey--