| 1971 WCHA Men's ice hockey tournament | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 11–13, 1971 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Finals site | Dane County Coliseum Madison, Wisconsin DU Arena Denver, Colorado |
| Champions | Minnesota† [1] (2nd title) Denver‡ [2] (8th title) |
| Winning coach | Glen Sonmor [3] (1st title) Murray Armstrong [4] (8th title) |
WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments | |
The 1971 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament was the 12th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 12 and March 20, 1971. All East Regional games were played at the Dane County Coliseum in Madison, Wisconsin while West Regional games were held at the DU Arena in Denver, Colorado. By winning the regional tournaments, both the East Regional Champion†, Minnesota, and West Regional Champion‡, Denver, were invited to participate in the 1971 NCAA University Division men's ice hockey tournament.
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. The eight teams were then divided into two separate groups by placing all even-numbered seeds in one group (2, 4, 6, 8) and the odd-numbered seeds (1, 3, 5, 7) in the other group. Using the location of the top seeds in each of the groups, the odd-numbered group (containing Michigan Tech) was placed in the east region which was held at the Dane County Coliseum while the odd-numbered grouping (containing Denver) was placed in the west region which was held at the DU Arena. Once each regional group was set the teams were reseeded No. 1 to No. 4 according to their final conference standings. In the first round the first and fourth seeds and the second and third seeds in each region were matched in a single game with the winners advancing to their regional final games. The winners of the two championship games were declared as co-conference tournament champions.
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PCT = Winning percentage; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against
| Conference | Overall | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | W | L | T | PCT | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | ||
| Michigan Tech† | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0 | .818 | 112 | 62 | 33 | 25 | 6 | 2 | 173 | 105 | |
| Denver* | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | .682 | 114 | 92 | 36 | 25 | 10 | 1 | 178 | 133 | |
| Wisconsin | 22 | 13 | 9 | 0 | .591 | 102 | 77 | 34 | 20 | 13 | 1 | 180 | 110 | |
| Michigan State | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | .545 | 101 | 97 | 31 | 19 | 12 | 0 | 152 | 124 | |
| Minnesota* | 22 | 9 | 12 | 1 | .432 | 77 | 88 | 32 | 14 | 17 | 1 | 116 | 128 | |
| Minnesota-Duluth | 24 | 10 | 14 | 0 | .417 | 98 | 106 | 34 | 16 | 17 | 1 | 147 | 146 | |
| North Dakota | 26 | 10 | 15 | 1 | .404 | 92 | 116 | 33 | 14 | 17 | 2 | 123 | 141 | |
| Colorado College | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | .389 | 81 | 100 | 29 | 11 | 17 | 1 | 142 | 168 | |
| Michigan | 22 | 5 | 17 | 0 | .227 | 77 | 116 | 30 | 9 | 21 | 0 | 118 | 147 | |
| Championship: Minnesota, Denver † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion | ||||||||||||||
| Regional semifinals March 11–12 | Regional Finals March 13 | ||||||||
| E1 | Michigan Tech | 4 | |||||||
| E4 | North Dakota | 6 | |||||||
| E4 | North Dakota | 2 | |||||||
| East Regional | |||||||||
| E3 | Minnesota | 5 | |||||||
| E2 | Wisconsin | 3 | |||||||
| E3 | Minnesota | 4 | |||||||
| W1 | Denver | 6 | |||||||
| W4 | Colorado College | 3 | |||||||
| W1 | Denver | 9 | |||||||
| West Regional | |||||||||
| W3 | Minnesota-Duluth | 3 | |||||||
| W2 | Michigan State | 3 | |||||||
| W3 | Minnesota-Duluth | 4 | |||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
| March 11 | Michigan Tech | 4 – 6 | North Dakota | Dane County Coliseum | ||||
| March 11 | Wisconsin | 3 – 4 | Minnesota | Dane County Coliseum | ||||
| March 13 | Minnesota | 5 – 2 | North Dakota | Dane County Coliseum | ||||
| March 11 | Denver | 6 – 3 | Colorado College | DU Arena | ||||
| March 12 | Michigan State | 3 – 4 | Minnesota-Duluth | DU Arena | ||||
| March 13 | Denver | 9 – 3 | Minnesota-Duluth | DU Arena | ||||
None
The 1996 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 37th conference playoff in league history and 44th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between March 1 and March 9, 1996. First round games were played at home team campus sites while all 'Final Five' matches were held at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. By winning the tournament, Minnesota was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 1996 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1995 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 36th conference playoff in league history and 43rd season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between March 10 and March 18, 1995. First round games were played at home team campus sites while all 'Final Five' matches were held at the Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. By winning the tournament, Wisconsin was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 1995 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1989 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 30th conference playoff in league history and 37th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between February 24 and March 6, 1989. 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 1989 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1986 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 27th conference playoff in league history and 34th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between February 28 and March 15, 1986. First round and semifinal games were played at home team campus sites while the championship match was held at the DU Arena in Denver, Colorado. By winning the tournament, Denver was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 1986 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1983 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 24th conference playoff in league history and 31st season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between February 25 and March 13, 1983. First round and semifinal games were played at home team campus sites while the championship match was held at the Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota. By winning the tournament, Wisconsin received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 1983 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1981 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 22nd conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 6 and March 15, 1981. All games were played at home team campus sites, including each of the two regional final series. By winning the regional tournaments, both Michigan Tech and Minnesota received automatic bids to the 1981 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
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.
The 1978 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 19th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 10 and March 15, 1978. All games were played at home team campus sites, including each of the two regional final series. By winning the regional tournaments, both Wisconsin and Colorado College were invited to participate in the 1978 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1976 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 17th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 10 and March 15, 1976. 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 Michigan Tech were invited to participate in the 1976 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1974 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 15th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 5 and March 10, 1974. All games were played at home team campus sites, including each of the two regional final series. By winning the regional tournaments, both Michigan Tech and Minnesota were invited to participate in the 1974 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1973 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 14th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 5 and March 11, 1973. All games were played at home team campus sites, including each of the two regional final series. By winning the regional tournaments, both Wisconsin and Denver were invited to participate in the 1973 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1972 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 13th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 7 and March 11, 1972. All games were played at home team campus sites, including each of the two regional final series. By winning the regional tournaments, both Wisconsin and Denver were invited to participate in the 1972 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1970 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament was the 11th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 12 and March 14, 1970. All East Regional games were played at the Duluth Arena Auditorium in Duluth, Minnesota, while West Regional games were held at the DU Arena in Denver, Colorado. By winning the regional tournaments, both the East Regional Champion†, Michigan Tech, and West Regional Champion‡, Wisconsin, were invited to participate in the 1970 NCAA University Division men's ice hockey tournament.
The 1969 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament was the 10th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 6 and March 8, 1969. All East Regional games were played at the Weinberg Coliseum in Ann Arbor, Michigan while West Regional games were held at the DU Arena in Denver, Colorado. By winning the regional tournaments, both the East Regional Champion†, Michigan Tech, and West Regional Champion‡, Denver, were invited to participate in the 1969 NCAA University Division men's ice hockey tournament.
The 1968 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 9th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 5 and March 9, 1968. All games were played at home team campus sites. By being declared as co-champions, both North Dakota and Denver were invited to participate in the 1968 NCAA University Division Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1967 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 8th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 7 and March 11, 1967. All games were played at home team campus sites. By being declared as co-champions, both Michigan State and North Dakota were invited to participate in the 1967 NCAA University Division Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
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.
The 1964 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 5th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 12 and March 14, 1964. All games were played at home team campus sites. By reaching the title game both Denver and Michigan were invited to participate in the 1964 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1961 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 2nd conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 10 and March 11, 1961. All games were played at home team campus sites. By being declared as co-champions, both Minnesota and Denver were invited to participate in the 1961 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1960 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 1st conference playoff in league history. Additionally it is the first conference tournament ever held for an American college ice hockey conference. The tournament was played between March 11 and March 12, 1960. All games were played at home team campus sites. By being declared as co-champions, both Michigan Tech and Denver were invited to participate in the 1960 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.