1992 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament

1992 WCHA Men's ice hockey tournament
DatesMarch 13–21, 1992
Teams8
Finals siteCivic Center
St. Paul, Minnesota
ChampionsNorthern Michigan[1] (3rd title)
Winning coachRick Comley[2] (3rd title)
MVPCorwin Saurdiff[3] (Northern Michigan)
Attendance44,079
WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments

The 1992 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 33rd conference playoff in league history and 40th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between March 13 and March 21, 1992. First round games were played at home team campus sites while all 'Final Four' matches were held at the Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. By winning the tournament, Northern Michigan was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 1992 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Format

The first round of the postseason tournament featured a best-of-three games format. The team that finished ninth in the conference was not eligible for tournament play. Teams were seeded No. 1 through No. 8 according to their final conference standing, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with an identical number of points accumulated. The top four seeded teams each earned home ice and hosted one of the lower seeded teams.

The winners of the first round series advanced to the semifinal and championship rounds held at the Civic Center. All Final Four games used a single-elimination format. Teams were re-seeded No. 1 through No. 4 according to the final regular season conference standings, with the top remaining seed matched against lowest remaining seed in one semifinal game while the two other semifinalists meeting with the winners advancing to the championship game and the losers competing in a Third Place contest. The Tournament Champion received an automatic bid to the 1992 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Conference standings

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

1991–92 Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings
Conference Overall
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Minnesota† 32 26 6 0 52 163 89 44 33 11 0 215 132
Wisconsin 32 19 11 2 40 129 106 43 27 14 2 175 142
Northern Michigan* 32 17 12 3 37 184 133 42 25 14 3 238 165
Colorado College 32 14 14 4 32 138 141 41 18 18 5 170 175
Minnesota-Duluth 32 14 16 2 30 124 137 37 15 20 2 144 162
Michigan Tech 32 14 17 1 29 114 137 39 16 22 1 141 177
St. Cloud State 32 12 19 1 25 120 138 37 14 21 2 150 159
North Dakota 32 12 19 1 25 137 172 39 17 21 1 170 199
Denver 32 8 22 2 18 110 166 36 9 25 2 124 187
Championship: Northern Michigan
† indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion

[4]

Bracket

Teams are reseeded after the first round

First Round
March 13–15 		Semifinals
March 20 		Championship
March 21
           
1 Minnesota 3 9 3
8 North Dakota 5 2 1
1 Minnesota 5
4 Colorado College 1
2 Wisconsin 6* 3 4*
7 St. Cloud State 5 5 3
1 Minnesota 2
(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
3 Northern Michigan 4
3 Northern Michigan 9 6 —
6 Michigan Tech 1 2 —
2 Wisconsin 3 Third place
3 Northern Michigan 6
4 Colorado College 7*** 3 5*** 2 Wisconsin 5
5 Minnesota-Duluth 6 4* 4 4 Colorado College 3

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Quarterfinals

(1) Minnesota vs. (8) North Dakota

March 13 Minnesota 3 – 5 North Dakota Mariucci Arena
March 14 Minnesota 9 – 2 North Dakota Mariucci Arena
March 15 Minnesota 3 – 1 North Dakota Mariucci Arena
Minnesota won series 2–1


(2) Wisconsin vs. (7) St. Cloud State

March 13 Wisconsin 6 – 5 OT St. Cloud State Dane County Coliseum
March 14 Wisconsin 3 – 5 St. Cloud State Dane County Coliseum
March 15 Wisconsin 4 – 3 OT St. Cloud State Dane County Coliseum
Wisconsin won series 2–1


(3) Northern Michigan vs. (6) Michigan Tech

March 13 Northern Michigan 9 – 1 Michigan Tech Lakeview Arena
March 14 Northern Michigan 6 – 2 Michigan Tech Lakeview Arena
Northern Michigan won series 2–0


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

March 13 Colorado College 7 – 6 3OT Minnesota-Duluth Broadmoor World Arena
March 14 Colorado College 3 – 4 OT Minnesota-Duluth Broadmoor World Arena
March 15 Colorado College 5 – 4 3OT Minnesota-Duluth Broadmoor World Arena
Colorado College won series 2–1


Semifinals

(1) Minnesota vs. (4) Colorado College

March 20 Minnesota 5 – 1 Colorado College Civic Center


(2) Wisconsin vs. (3) Northern Michigan

March 20 Wisconsin 3 – 6 Northern Michigan Civic Center


Third Place

(2) Wisconsin vs. (4) Colorado College

March 21 Wisconsin 5 – 3 Colorado College Civic Center


Championship

(1) Minnesota vs. (3) Northern Michigan

March 21 Minnesota 2 – 4 Northern Michigan Civic Center


Tournament awards

All-Tournament Team

* Most Valuable Player(s)

[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Northern Michigan Men's Team History". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  2. ^ "Rick Comley Year-by-Year Coaching Record". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  3. ^ "WCHA Awards". College Hockey Historical Archive. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  4. ^ "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 113-128" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  5. ^ "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 129-144" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.