Providence, Manchester, Cincinnati and Fargo chosen as 2017 NCAA tournament regional sites

The NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee announced Thursday the host sites for the 2017 regionals.

The East Regional has been awarded to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, R.I., and will be hosted by Brown on March 24-25, while the Northeast Regional will be held at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, N.H., with New Hampshire serving as host on March 25-26. The Midwest Regional will be hosted by Miami at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati on March 25-26, while North Dakota will host the West Regional March 24-25 at Scheels Arena in Fargo, N.D.

“We are extremely excited about these four sites,” said Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee chair and North Dakota athletics director Brian Faison in a statement. “All four of these venues have a proven track record of hosting successful NCAA ice hockey events and should provide a great experience for our student-athletes.”

The Dunkin’ Donuts Center has hosted the regionals four times previously, including 2015, in addition to hosting the Frozen Four six times, the last of which in 2000.

Verizon Wireless Arena has hosted an NCAA regional six times previously, including five times in the past 10 years.

U.S. Bank Arena will be hosting for the third time in four years as it hosted in 2014 and will again next March. Formerly known as Riverfront Coliseum, the U.S. Bank Arena also hosted the 1996 Frozen Four.

Scheels Arena hosted a regional for the first time in 2015.