2003 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament

2003 WCHA Men's ice hockey tournament
2003 WCHA Final Five logo
DatesMarch 14–22, 2003
Teams10
Finals siteXcel Energy Center
St. Paul, MN
ChampionsMinnesota (12th title)
Winning coachDon Lucia[1] (1st title)
MVPGrant Potulny (Minnesota)
Attendance72,786
WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments

The 2003 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 44th conference playoff in league history and 49th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The 2003 tournament was played between March 14 and March 22, 2003, at five conference arenas and the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. By winning the tournament, Minnesota was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Format

The first round of the postseason tournament featured a best-of-three games format. All ten conference schools participated in the tournament with teams seeded No. 1 through No. 10 according to their final conference standing, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with an identical number of points accumulated. The top five seeded teams each earned home ice and hosted one of the lower seeded teams.

The winners of the first round series advanced to the Xcel Energy Center for the WCHA Final Five, the collective name for the quarterfinal, semifinal, and championship rounds. The Final Five uses a single-elimination format. Teams were re-seeded No. 1 through No. 5 according to the final regular season conference standings, with the top three teams automatically advancing to the semifinals.

Conference standings

Note: PTS = Points; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against

2002–03 Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings
Conference Overall
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#5 Colorado College† 28 19 4 5 43 125 70 42 30 7 5 190 103
#2 Minnesota* 28 15 6 7 37 106 81 45 28 8 9 189 122
#11 Minnesota State-Mankato 28 15 6 7 37 116 104 41 20 11 10 155 144
#13 North Dakota 28 14 9 5 33 103 82 43 26 12 5 172 120
#14 Minnesota-Duluth 28 14 10 4 32 95 80 42 22 15 5 153 119
St. Cloud State 28 12 11 5 29 96 85 38 17 16 5 124 118
Denver 28 11 11 6 28 95 85 41 21 14 6 152 102
Wisconsin 28 7 14 4 18 61 101 40 13 23 4 93 134
Michigan Tech 28 7 18 3 17 77 116 38 10 24 4 109 154
Alaska-Anchorage 28 0 22 6 6 41 111 36 1 28 7 57 143
Championship: Minnesota
† indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion
Final rankings: USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Poll Top 15 Poll

Bracket

Teams are reseeded after the first round

First round[2]
March 14–16, 2003		Quarterfinal[3]
March 20, 2003		Semifinals
March 21, 2003		Championship
March 22, 2003
1Colorado College54—
10Alaska-Anchorage31—
1Colorado College4*
2Minnesota35—4North Dakota15Minnesota-Duluth3
9Michigan Tech12—5Minnesota-Duluth2
3Minnesota State26**—1Colorado College2
8Wisconsin15—2Minnesota4
4North Dakota13*3*
7Denver4222Minnesota3*
3Minnesota State2
5Minnesota-Duluth527
6St. Cloud State43*3

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

First round

(1) Colorado College vs. (10) Alaska-Anchorage

March 14[4] Colorado College 5 – 3 Alaska-Anchorage World Arena, Colorado Springs Recap  
(Sejna, Clarke) Joe Cullen - 13:23 First period 16:33 - PP - Matt Hanson
James Laux - 02:44
(Goolsby) Scott Polaski - 12:22 		Second period No scoring
(Clarke, Petoit) Peter Sejna - GW - 05:43
(Sejna) Noah Clarke - SH - 12:44 		Third period 13:05 - PP - Vladimir Novak (Glencross, Parez)
13:22 - Dan Gilkerson (Roach)
Curtis McElhinney ( 16 saves / 19 shots ) Goalie stats Chris King ( 44 saves / 49 shots )
March 15[5] Colorado College 4 – 1 Alaska-Anchorage World Arena, Colorado Springs Recap  
(Canzanello, Clarke) Peter Sejna - PP - 09:05
(McElhinney) Tom Preissing - GW - 15:51
(Sertich, Stuart) James Laux - PP - 18:11 		First period No scoring
(Canzanello, Preissing) Peter Sejna - PP - 04:16 Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 13:03 - PP - Lee Green (Johnson, Shasby)
Curtis McElhinney ( 13 saves / 14 shots ) Goalie stats Chris King ( 15 saves / 18 shots ) / Kevin Reiter ( 27 saves / 28 shots )
Colorado College won series 2–0


(2) Minnesota vs. (9) Michigan Tech

March 14[6] Minnesota 3 – 1 Michigan Tech Mariucci Arena Recap  
(Reinholz) Andy Sertich - 01:51 First period No scoring
(Hirsch, Weber) Troy Riddle - GW PP - 08:42
(Hirsch, Sertich) Grant Potulny - PP - 14:51 		Second period 19:15 - PP - Chris Conner (Brown, Murphy)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Travis Weber ( 21 saves / 22 shots ) Goalie stats Cam Ellsworth ( 29 saves / 32 shots )
March 15[7] Minnesota 5 – 2 Michigan Tech Mariucci Arena Recap  
(Riddle, Koalska) Grant Potulny - PP - 19:59 First period 08:55 - Colin Murphy (Conner, Singer)
(Tallackson) Gino Guyer - SH - 04:35
(Harrington, Tallackson) Grant Potulny - GW - 09:23
(Potulny, Hirsch) Barry Tallackson - PP - 15:01 		Second period 15:41 - Brett Engelhardt
(Martin, Ballard) Thomas Vanek - PP - 08:36 Third period No scoring
Travis Weber ( 4 saves / 5 shots ) / Justin Johnson ( 11 saves / 12 shots ) Goalie stats Cam Ellsworth ( 55 saves / 60 shots )
Minnesota won series 2–0


(3) Minnesota State-Mankato vs. (8) Wisconsin

March 14 Minnesota State-Mankato 2 – 1 Wisconsin Verizon Wireless Center Recap
March 15 Minnesota State-Mankato 6 – 5 2OT Wisconsin Verizon Wireless Center Recap
Minnesota State-Mankato won series 2–0


(4) North Dakota vs. (7) Denver

March 14[8] North Dakota 1 – 4 Denver Ralph Engelstad Arena Recap  
No Scoring First period 03:22 - PP - Brett Skinner (Caldwell)
13:28 - GW - Luke Fulghum (Skinner, Bull)
(Spiewak, Fylling) David Lundbohm - 08:44 Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 14:08 - Lukas Dora (Barber, Doell)
14:41 - Connor James (Halme, Drummond)
Marc Ranfranz ( 3 saves / 5 shots ) / Jake Brandt ( 8 saves / 10 shots ) Goalie stats Adam Berkhoel ( 16 saves / 17 shots )
March 15[9] North Dakota 3 – 2 OT Denver Ralph Engelstad Arena Recap  
No Scoring First period No scoring
(Parise, Schneider) Rory McMahon - PP - 13:13 Second period 18:29 - PP - Greg Barber (MacKenzie, James)
(Schneider, Parise) Brandon Bochenski - EA PP - 16:42 Third period 14:23 - Ryan Caldwell (Fulghum, Dora)
(Schneider, Fuher) Brandon Bochenski - GW - 00:46 First overtime period No scoring
Jake Brandt ( 17 saves / 19 shots ) Goalie stats Wade Dubielewicz ( 30 saves / 33 shots )
March 16[10] North Dakota 3 – 2 OT Denver Ralph Engelstad Arena Recap  
(Bochenski, Marvin) Zach Parise - 07:31 First period No scoring
(Schneider, Parise) Mike Prpich - 19:19 Second period 05:05 - Lukas Dora (Doell, Barber)
13:41 - PP - Connor James (Keith, Doell)
No scoring Third period No scoring
(Lundbohm) Nick Fuher - GW - 18:56 First overtime period No scoring
Jake Brandt ( 25 saves / 27 shots ) Goalie stats Adam Berkhoel ( 37 saves / 40 shots )
North Dakota won series 2–1


(5) Minnesota-Duluth vs. (6) St. Cloud State

March 14[11] Minnesota-Duluth 5 – 4 St. Cloud State Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Recap  
Brett Hammond - 00:27 First period 10:36 - PP - Jon Cullen (Malone, Eastman)
(Stauffacher, Hammond) Marco Peluso - PP - 02:58
(Lessard, Stapleton) Beau Geisler - 03:19
(Peluso, Stapleton) Junior Lessard - 06:07 		Second period 17:56 - PP - Matt Gens (Cullen, Malone)
Brett Hammond - GW SH - 03:08 Third period 04:23 - PP - Jon Cullen (Motzko, Hendricks)
06:49 - Jonathan Lehun (Szabo, Hendricks)
Isaac Reichmuth ( 27 saves / 31 shots ) Goalie stats Jason Montgomery ( 24 saves / 29 shots )
March 15[12] Minnesota-Duluth 2 – 3 OT St. Cloud State Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Recap  
(Anderson, Francisco) T. J. Caig - PP - 11:57
Tim Stapleton - SH - 18:56 		First period 17:24 - Peter Szabo (Hendricks, Lehun)
No scoring Second period 17:17 - Matt Hendricks (Doyle)
No scoring Third period No scoring
No scoring First overtime period 09:00 - GW - Mike Doyle (Malone, Wright)
Rob Anderson ( 17 saves / 19 shots ) Goalie stats Jake Moreland ( 30 saves / 33 shots )
March 16[13] Minnesota-Duluth 7 – 3 St. Cloud State Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Recap  
(Otten) Evan Schwabe - 09:15 First period 03:44 - Ryan Malone (Motzko, Hendricks)
(Anderson) Drew Otten - 04:57
(Stapleton, Caig) Nick Anderson - PP - 05:59
(Stauffacher, Hammond) Beau Geisler - GW - 10:45 		Second period No scoring
(Lessard, Geris) Brett Hammond - PP - 04:40
Brett Hammond - SH - 05:59
Tim Stapleton - EN - 18:18 		Third period 03:57 - SH - Ryan Malone (Doyle)
10:19 - Matt Hendricks (Cullen)
Isaac Reichmuth ( 22 saves / 25 shots ) Goalie stats Jake Moreland ( 29 saves / 35 shots )
Minnesota-Duluth won series 2–1


Quarterfinal

(4) North Dakota vs. (5) Minnesota-Duluth

March 20[14] North Dakota 1 – 2 Minnesota-Duluth Xcel Energy Center Recap  
(Schneider, Lundbohm) Brandon Bochenski - 07:12 First period 08:48 - Matt Mathias (Schwabe)
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 14:47 - GW - Junior Lessard (Czech, Francisco)
Jake Brandt ( 25 saves / 27 shots ) Goalie stats Isaac Reichmuth ( 31 saves / 32 shots )


Semifinals

(1) Colorado College vs. (5) Minnesota-Duluth

March 21[15] Colorado College 4 – 3 OT Minnesota-Duluth Xcel Energy Center Recap  
No Scoring First period 05:57 - Neil Petruic (Stauffacher, Hammond)
(Cullen) Colin Stuart - SH - 00:56
(Polaski, Stuart) Trevor Frischmon - 00:56 		Second period 10:34 - Junior Lessard (Brosz, Geisler)
12:41 - Tim Stapleton (Hammond, Lessard)
(Sejna, Stuart) Tom Preissing - PP - 09:05 Third period No scoring
(Leibel) Brett Sterling - GW - 07:18 First overtime period No scoring
Curtin McElhinney ( 20 saves / 23 shots ) Goalie stats Rob Anderson ( 37 saves / 41 shots )


(2) Minnesota vs. (3) Minnesota State-Mankato

March 21[16] Minnesota 3 – 2 OT Minnesota State-Mankato Xcel Energy Center Recap  
(Ballard) Barry Tallackson - 04:42 First period 01:54 - Grant Stevenson (Joseph, Forscythe)
No scoring Second period 14:30 - PP - B.J. Abel (Bassett, Stevenson)
(Ballard, Martin) Grant Potulny - PP - 01:58 Third period No scoring
(Riddle, Harrington) Thomas Vanek - GW - 03:57 First overtime period No scoring
Justin Johnson ( 14 saves / 16 shots ) Goalie stats Jon Volp ( 46 saves / 49 shots )


Third Place

(3) Minnesota State-Mankato vs. (5) Minnesota-Duluth

March 22[17] Minnesota State-Mankato 4 – 6 Minnesota-Duluth Xcel Energy Center Recap  
(Stevenson, Joseph) Cole Bassett - PP - 19:04 First period 03:20 - Tim Hambly
12:12 - Junior Lessard (Petruic, Brosz)
19:45 - Tyler Brosz (Caig)
(Bassett, Stevenson) Shane Joseph - PP - 12:19
(Bassett, Abel) Shane Joseph - PP - 13:06 		Second period 02:22 - Josh Miskovich (Czech)
(Dubel, Joseph) Adam Gerlach - 13:00 Third period 06:15 - Steve Czech (Anderson, Francisco)
12:05 - T. J. Caig (Lessard)
Jason Jensen ( 7 saves / 10 shots ) / Jon Volp ( 27 saves / 30 shots ) Goalie stats Isaac Reichmuth ( 23 saves / 27 shots )


Championship

(1) Colorado College vs. (2) Minnesota

March 22[18] Colorado College 2 – 4 Minnesota Xcel Energy Center Recap  
No Scoring First period 01:29 - Grant Potulny (Guyer)
01:49 - Gino Guyer (Potunly, Tallackson)
05:25 - GW PP - Grant Potulny (Vanek, Koalska)
(Preissing, Canzanello) Kevin Ulanski - PP - 19:46 Second period No scoring
(Smaagaard) Jon Waibel - 05:13 Third period 06:41 - PP - Peter Sejna (Clarke, Canzanello)
Curtis McElhinney ( 21 saves / 25 shots ) Goalie stats Justin Johnson ( 36 saves / 38 shots )


Tournament awards

All-Tournament Team

* Most Valuable Player(s)

[19]

Tournament Three Stars

[20]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Minnesota Men's Team History". Archived from the original on April 15, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  2. ^ "WCHA men's Hockey 2002-03 Week 25". USCHO.com. March 16, 2003. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  3. ^ "WCHA men's Hockey 2002-03 Week 26". USCHO.com. March 22, 2003. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  4. ^ "Colorado College 5, Alaska-Anchorage 3". USCHO.com. March 14, 2003. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  5. ^ "Colorado College 4, Alaska-Anchorage 1". USCHO.com. March 15, 2003. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  6. ^ "Minnesota 3, Michigan Tech 1". USCHO.com. March 14, 2003. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  7. ^ "Minnesota 5, Michigan Tech 2". USCHO.com. March 15, 2003. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  8. ^ "Denver 4, North Dakota 1". USCHO.com. March 14, 2003. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  9. ^ "North Dakota 3, Denver 2". USCHO.com. March 15, 2003. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  10. ^ "North Dakota 3, Denver 2". USCHO.com. March 16, 2003. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  11. ^ "Minnesota-Duluth 5, St. Cloud State 4". USCHO.com. March 14, 2003. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  12. ^ "St. Cloud State 3, Minnesota-Duluth 2". USCHO.com. March 15, 2003. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  13. ^ "Minnesota-Duluth 7, St. Cloud State 3". USCHO.com. March 16, 2003. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  14. ^ "Minnesota-Duluth 2, North Dakota 1". USCHO.com. March 20, 2003. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  15. ^ "Colorado College 4, Minnesota-Duluth 3". USCHO.com. March 21, 2003. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  16. ^ "2003 WCHA Semifinals". Inside College Hockey. March 21, 2003. Archived from the original on December 16, 2010. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  17. ^ "2003 WCHA Championship". Inside College Hockey. March 22, 2003. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  18. ^ "Minnesota 4, Colorado College 2". USCHO.com. March 22, 2003. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  19. ^ "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 129-144" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  20. ^ "2003 WCHA Championship". Inside College Hockey. March 22, 2003. Retrieved June 19, 2013.