1979 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament

1979 WCHA Men's ice hockey tournament
DatesMarch 6–11, 1979
Teams8
Finals siteWilliams Arena
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Winter Sports Center
Grand Forks, North Dakota
ChampionsMinnesota†[1] (6th title)
North Dakota‡[2] (3rd title)
Winning coachHerb Brooks[3] (4th title)
John Gasparini[4] (1st title)
WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments

The 1979 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 20th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 6 and March 11, 1979. All games were played at home team campus sites, including each of the two regional final series. By winning the regional tournaments, both Minnesota and North Dakota were invited to participate in the 1979 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Though not official designations, Minnesota is considered as the East Regional Champion† and North Dakota as the West Regional Champion‡.

Format

The top eight teams in the WCHA, according to their final conference standings, were eligible for the tournament and were seeded No. 1 through No. 8. In the first round the first and eighth seeds, the second and seventh seeds, the third and sixth seeds and the fourth and fifth seeds were matched in two-game series where the school that scored the higher number of goals was declared the winner. After the first round the remaining teams were reseeded No. 1 through No. 4 according to their final conference standings and advanced to the second round. In the second round the first and fourth seeds and the second and third seeds competed in an additional two-game, total goal series with the winners of each being declared as co-conference champions.

Conference standings

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

1978–79 Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings
Conference Overall
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
North Dakota†* 32 22 10 0 44 168 110 42 30 11 1 245 144
Minnesota* 32 20 11 1 41 177 116 44 32 11 1 239 147
Minnesota-Duluth 32 18 10 4 40 176 141 40 22 14 4 213 170
Wisconsin 32 19 11 2 40 164 138 41 25 13 3 215 172
Notre Dame 32 17 14 1 35 161 153 38 18 19 1 184 196
Denver 32 14 16 2 30 147 174 43 20 20 3 188 217
Michigan Tech 32 13 16 3 29 152 141 38 17 18 3 182 165
Colorado College 32 11 19 2 24 144 185 38 12 24 2 165 218
Michigan State 32 12 20 0 24 122 180 36 15 21 0 140 192
Michigan 32 6 25 1 13 117 190 36 8 27 1 132 210
Championship: Minnesota, North Dakota
† indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion

[5]

Bracket

[6] Teams are reseeded after the first round

First Round
March 6–7 		Second Round
March 10–11
        
1 North Dakota 6 7
8 Colorado College 3 3
1 North Dakota 4 7
4 Wisconsin 2 7
2 Minnesota 5 6
7 Michigan Tech 3 1
3 Minnesota-Duluth 5 2*
6 Denver 2 4
2 Minnesota 2 6
3 Minnesota-Duluth 1 3
4 Wisconsin 11 5
5 Notre Dame 5 5

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

First round

(1) North Dakota vs. (8) Colorado College

March 6 North Dakota 6 – 3 Colorado College Winter Sports Center
March 7 North Dakota 7 – 3 Colorado College Winter Sports Center
North Dakota won series 13–6


(2) Minnesota vs. (7) Michigan Tech

March 6 Minnesota 5 – 3 Michigan Tech Williams Arena
March 7 Minnesota 6 – 1 Michigan Tech Williams Arena
Minnesota won series 11–4


(3) Minnesota-Duluth vs. (6) Denver

March 6 Minnesota-Duluth 5 – 2 Denver Duluth Arena Auditorium
March 7 Minnesota-Duluth 2 – 4 OT Denver Duluth Arena Auditorium
Minnesota-Duluth won series 7–6


(4) Wisconsin vs. (5) Notre Dame

March 6 Wisconsin 11 – 5 Notre Dame Dane County Coliseum
March 7 Wisconsin 5 – 5 Notre Dame Dane County Coliseum
Wisconsin won series 16–10


Second round

(1) North Dakota vs. (4) Wisconsin

March 10 North Dakota 4 – 2 Wisconsin Winter Sports Center
March 11 North Dakota 7 – 7 Wisconsin Winter Sports Center
North Dakota won series 11–9


(2) Minnesota vs. (3) Minnesota-Duluth

March 10 Minnesota 2 – 1 Minnesota-Duluth Williams Arena
March 11 Minnesota 6 – 3 Minnesota-Duluth Williams Arena
Minnesota won series 8–4


Tournament awards

None

See also

References

  1. ^ "Minnesota Men's Team History". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  2. ^ "North Dakota Men's Team History". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  3. ^ "Herb Brooks Year-by-Year Coaching Record". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  4. ^ "John "Gino" Gasparini Year-by-Year Coaching Record". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  5. ^ "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 113-128" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  6. ^ "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 129-144" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.