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1966 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament

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The 1966 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 7th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 3 and March 5, 1966. All games were played at home team campus sites. By being declared as co-champions, both Michigan State and Denver were invited to participate in the 1966 NCAA University Division Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

1966 WCHA Men's ice hockey tournament
DatesMarch 3–5, 1966
Teams8
Finals siteDee Stadium
Houghton, Michigan
DU Arena
Denver, Colorado
ChampionsMichigan State†[1] (1st title)
Denver‡[2] (5th title)
Winning coachAmo Bessone[3] (1st title)
Murray Armstrong[4] (5th title)
WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments

Though not official designations, Michigan State is considered as the East Regional Champion† and Denver as the West Regional Champion‡.

Format

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All eight teams in the WCHA were eligible for the tournament. In the first round the schools were matched up based upon regional location, having the schools closest to one another play a single game with the winners advancing to the second round. The two Colorado schools (Colorado College and Denver) met in one match, leaving North Dakota to play their closest geographic rival Minnesota. With the Gophers occupied Minnesota-Duluth's next closest opponent was Michigan Tech, leaving Michigan and Michigan State as the pair in the final First Round game. This format was to be used for the following season as well with each team in the first round matches serving as the home team once. Denver was the only higher seed to play a road game in the first round but was guaranteed to be the home team the following season. After the first round the two easternmost remaining teams met in the home venues of Michigan Tech (Dee Stadium) while the two westernmost schools met at Denver's home building (DU Arena). In the second round the first and fourth seeds and the second and third seeds were matched with the winners being declared as co-conference tournament champions.

Conference standings

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Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PCT = Winning percentage; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against

1965–66 Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings
Conference Overall
GP W L T PCT GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Michigan Tech† 20 15 4 1 .775 77 48 30 23 6 1 141 82
North Dakota 22 13 9 0 .591 97 85 30 17 12 1 135 115
Minnesota 22 13 9 0 .591 92 76 27 16 11 0 117 94
Denver* 20 10 7 3 .575 81 61 32 18 11 3 137 100
Michigan 18 9 9 0 .500 74 72 28 14 14 0 125 109
Michigan State* 20 9 11 0 .450 88 85 29 16 13 0 123 111
Colorado College 18 4 12 2 .278 51 93 29 9 18 2 98 147
Minnesota-Duluth 20 3 15 2 .200 60 100 28 7 19 2 96 137
Championship: Michigan State, Denver
† indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion

[5]

Bracket

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[6] Eastern Teams advanced to one final while western teams advanced to the other

First Round
March 3 		Second Round
March 5
      
1 Michigan Tech 9
8 Minnesota-Duluth 3
2 North Dakota 4
4 Denver 5*
2 North Dakota 4
3 Minnesota 3
4 Denver 8
7 Colorado College 2
1 Michigan Tech 3
6 Michigan State 4
5 Michigan 2
6 Michigan State 3

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

First round

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(1) Michigan Tech vs. (8) Minnesota-Duluth

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March 3 Michigan Tech 9 – 3 Minnesota-Duluth Dee Stadium


(2) North Dakota vs. (3) Minnesota

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March 3 North Dakota 4 – 3 Minnesota Winter Sports Building


(4) Denver vs. (7) Colorado College

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March 3 Colorado College 2 – 8 Denver Broadmoor World Arena


(5) Michigan vs. (6) Michigan State

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March 3 Michigan 2 – 3 Michigan State Weinberg Coliseum


Second round

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(1) Michigan Tech vs. (6) Michigan State

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March 5 Michigan Tech 3 – 4 Michigan State Demonstration Hall


(2) North Dakota vs. (4) Denver

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March 5 Denver 5 – 4 OT North Dakota DU Arena


Tournament awards

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None

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Michigan State Men's Team History". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  2. ^ "Denver Men's Team History". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  3. ^ "Amo Bessone Year-by-Year Coaching Record". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  4. ^ "Murray Armstrong Year-by-Year Coaching Record". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  5. ^ "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 97-112" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  6. ^ "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 129-144" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
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