1977 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament

Last updated

The 1977 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 18th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 9 and March 17, 1977. All games were played at home team campus sites including the championship series. By reaching the finals both Wisconsin and Michigan were invited to participate in the 1977 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Contents

This was the first year that the WCHA had named one tournament champion in twelve years. After this championship the conference would revert to awarding two teams the postseason title for an additional four years.

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 advancing to the championship series, again a two-game, total goal match.

Conference standings

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

ConferenceOverall
GPWLTPTSGFGAGPWLTGFGA
Wisconsin†*32265153192122453771264161
Notre Dame 3219103411641273822133191147
Michigan 3220120401831514528170260211
Denver 3216142341541514021172206187
North Dakota 3216160321681583819190202184
Michigan Tech 3215161311431503819181177178
Minnesota 3213163291351444117213177202
Colorado College 3211201231561704013252194209
Michigan State 3211201231221713614211145189
Minnesota-Duluth 32624214119192379262148219
Championship: Wisconsin
indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion

[3]

Bracket

[4] Teams are reseeded after the first round

First Round
March 9–10
Semifinals
March 12–13
Championship
March 16–17
               
1Wisconsin336
8 Colorado College 1 1 2
1Wisconsin9817
7 Minnesota 5 3 8
2 Notre Dame 52 7
7Minnesota1 910
1Wisconsin459
3 Michigan 0 4 4
3Michigan6511
6 Michigan Tech 5 2 7
3Michigan61117
4 Denver 4 4 8
4Denver8715
5 North Dakota 3 2 5

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

First round

(1) Wisconsin vs. (8) Colorado College

March 9Wisconsin3 – 1Colorado College Dane County Coliseum
March 10Wisconsin3 – 1Colorado College Dane County Coliseum
Wisconsin won series 6–2

(2) Notre Dame vs. (7) Minnesota

March 9Notre Dame5 – 1Minnesota Edmund P. Joyce Center
March 10Notre Dame2 – 9Minnesota Edmund P. Joyce Center
Minnesota won series 10–7

(3) Michigan vs. (6) Michigan Tech

March 9Michigan6 – 5Michigan Tech Yost Ice Arena
March 10Michigan5 – 2Michigan Tech Yost Ice Arena
Michigan won series 11–7

(4) Denver vs. (5) North Dakota

March 9Denver8 – 3North Dakota DU Arena
March 10Denver7 – 2North Dakota DU Arena
Denver won series 15–5

Semifinals

(1) Wisconsin vs. (7) Minnesota

March 12Wisconsin9 – 5Minnesota Dane County Coliseum
March 13Wisconsin8 – 3Minnesota Dane County Coliseum
Wisconsin won series 17–8

(3) Michigan vs. (4) Denver

March 12Michigan6 – 4Denver Yost Ice Arena
March 13Michigan11 – 4Denver Yost Ice Arena
Michigan won series 17–8

Championship

(1) Wisconsin vs. (3) Michigan

March 16Wisconsin4 – 0Michigan Dane County Coliseum
March 17Wisconsin5 – 4Michigan Dane County Coliseum
Wisconsin won series 9–4

Tournament awards

None

See also

References

  1. "Wisconsin Men's Team History" . Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  2. "Bob Johnson Year-by-Year Coaching Record" . Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  3. "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 113-128" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  4. "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 129-144" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.