The 1976 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament was the culmination of the 1975–76 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, the 29th such tournament in NCAA history. It was held between March 25 and 27, 1976, and concluded with Minnesota defeating Michigan Tech 6–4. All games were played at the University of Denver Arena in Denver, Colorado.
| Teams | 4 |
|---|---|
| Finals site | |
| Champions | Minnesota Golden Gophers (2nd title) |
| Runner-up | Michigan Tech Huskies (7th title game) |
| Semifinalists |
|
| Winning coach | Herb Brooks (2nd title) |
| MOP | Tom Vannelli (Minnesota) |
| Attendance | 17,410 |
Qualifying teams
editFour teams qualified for the tournament, two each from the eastern and western regions. The ECAC tournament champion and the two WCHA tournament co-champions received automatic bids into the tournament. An at-large bid was offered to a second eastern team based upon both their ECAC tournament finish as well as their regular season record.
| East | West | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid |
| 1 | Boston University | ECAC Hockey | 25–3–0 | Tournament champion | 11th | 1975 | 1 | Michigan Tech | WCHA | 33–8–0 | Tournament co-champion | 9th | 1975 |
| 2 | Brown | ECAC Hockey | 22–6–0 | At-Large | 3rd | 1965 | 2 | Minnesota | WCHA | 26–14–2 | Tournament co-champion | 7th | 1975 |
Format
editThe ECAC champion was seeded as the top eastern team while the WCHA co-champion with the better regular season record was given the top western seed. The second eastern seed was slotted to play the top western seed and vice versa. All games were played at the University of Denver Arena. All matches were Single-game eliminations with the semifinal winners advancing to the national championship game and the losers playing in a consolation game. Minnesota and Michigan Tech squared off in the championship game for the third straight year, with Michigan Tech having won in '75 and Minnesota in '74.
Bracket
edit| Semifinals March 25–26 | National championship March 27 | ||||||||
| E1 | Boston University | 2 | |||||||
| W2 | Minnesota | 4 | |||||||
| W2 | Minnesota | 6 | |||||||
| W1 | Michigan Tech | 4 | |||||||
| W1 | Michigan Tech | 7* | |||||||
| E2 | Brown | 6 | Third-place game | ||||||
| E1 | Boston University | 7 | |||||||
| E2 | Brown | 8 | |||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Semifinal
edit(W1) Michigan Tech vs. (E2) Brown
edit| March 25 | Michigan Tech | 7 – 6 | OT | Brown | University of Denver Arena | |||
(E1) Boston University vs. (W2) Minnesota
edit| March 26 | Boston University | 2 – 4 | Minnesota | University of Denver Arena | ||||
Third-place game
edit(E1) Boston University vs. (E2) Brown
edit| March 27 | Boston University | 7 – 8 | Brown | University of Denver Arena | ||||
National Championship
edit(W1) Michigan Tech vs. (W2) Minnesota
edit| March 27 | Michigan Tech | 4 – 6 | Minnesota | University of Denver Arena | ||||
| Scoring summary | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period | Team | Goal | Assist(s) | Time | Score |
| 1st | MTU | Warren Young | Joelson, Dempsey | 7:55 | 1–0 MTU |
| MTU | Warren Young | Joelson and Decker | 10:36 | 2–0 MTU | |
| MTU | Jim Murray | Jessee | 11:31 | 3–0 MTU | |
| MIN | Tom Vannelli – PP | Younghans and Phippen | 17:05 | 3–1 MTU | |
| 2nd | MIN | Joe Micheletti | Larson and Vannelli | 22:55 | 3–2 MTU |
| MIN | Bill Baker | Vannelli and Phippen | 30:26 | 3–3 | |
| MIN | Tom Gorence | Larson | 32:47 | 4–3 MIN | |
| MTU | Nels Goddard | Roberts and Zuke | 39:24 | 4–4 | |
| 3rd | MIN | Pat Phippen – GW | Vannelli and Larson | 48:37 | 5–4 MIN |
| MIN | Warren Miller | Phippen and Vannelli | 59:30 | 6–4 MIN | |
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None Selected
References
edit- ^ "NCAA Division 1 Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archives. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
- ^ "NCAA Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
- ^ "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 17, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
- ^ "NCAA Division I Awards". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
- Official 2008 NCAA Men's and Women's Ice Hockey Records Book (PDF). Indianapolis: National Collegiate Athletic Association. pp. 54, 58. ISSN 1089-0092. Retrieved May 29, 2008.[permanent dead link]
- "1976 NCAA Tournament". Inside College Hockey. Archived from the original on May 23, 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
- "NCAA Division 1 Tournament". College Hockey historical Archive. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
- "NCAA Division 1 Awards". College Hockey historical Archive. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
- "Herb Brooks Year-by-Year Coaching Record". USCHO.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2013. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
- "Attendance Records and Sites" (PDF). NCAA.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 17, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2013.