| 1988 WCHA Men's ice hockey tournament | |
|---|---|
| Dates | February 25-March 7, 1988 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Finals site | Civic Center St. Paul, Minnesota |
| Champions | Wisconsin [1] (8th title) |
| Winning coach | Jeff Sauer [2] (3rd title) |
| MVP | Dean Anderson [3] (Wisconsin) |
| Attendance | 51,807 |
WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments | |
The 1988 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 29th conference playoff in league history and 36th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between February 25 and March 7, 1988. First round games were played at home team campus sites while all 'Final Four' matches were held, for the first time, at the Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. This was the first year in the tournament's history that the championship game was held at a neutral site which it would continue to do henceforward (as of 2014). By winning the tournament, Wisconsin was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 1988 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
Additionally, this was the first season that the WCHA named a tournament MVP as well as an All-Tournament Team.
The first round of the postseason tournament featured a best-of-three games format. 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 1988 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against
| Conference | Overall | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | ||
| Minnesota† | 35 | 28 | 7 | 0 | 56 | 167 | 107 | 44 | 34 | 10 | 0 | 209 | 125 | |
| Wisconsin* | 35 | 22 | 12 | 1 | 45 | 163 | 125 | 45 | 30 | 13 | 2 | 205 | 161 | |
| Denver | 35 | 19 | 14 | 2 | 40 | 169 | 152 | 39 | 20 | 17 | 2 | 184 | 170 | |
| Michigan Tech | 35 | 19 | 15 | 1 | 39 | 165 | 158 | 41 | 20 | 20 | 1 | 189 | 188 | |
| North Dakota | 35 | 16 | 18 | 1 | 33 | 147 | 140 | 42 | 21 | 20 | 1 | 174 | 160 | |
| Minnesota-Duluth | 35 | 15 | 18 | 2 | 32 | 143 | 155 | 41 | 18 | 21 | 2 | 163 | 179 | |
| Northern Michigan | 35 | 14 | 17 | 4 | 32 | 145 | 147 | 40 | 16 | 20 | 4 | 164 | 159 | |
| Colorado College | 35 | 3 | 31 | 1 | 7 | 102 | 206 | 38 | 4 | 33 | 1 | 111 | 222 | |
| Championship: Wisconsin † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion | ||||||||||||||
Teams are reseeded after the first round
| First Round February 25–28 | Semifinals March 6 | Championship March 7 | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | Minnesota | 7 | 5 | — | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Colorado College | 0 | 0 | — | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Minnesota | 6 | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | Minnesota-Duluth | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | Wisconsin | 2* | 5 | — | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Northern Michigan | 1 | 4 | — | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Minnesota | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Wisconsin | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Denver | 2 | 3 | — | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Minnesota-Duluth | 5 | 7 | — | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Wisconsin | 2 | Third place | |||||||||||||
| 5 | North Dakota | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | Michigan Tech | 4 | 6 | 3 | 5 | North Dakota | 6 | |||||||||
| 5 | North Dakota | 5 | 3 | 4* | 6 | Minnesota-Duluth | 0 | |||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
| February 26 | Minnesota | 7 – 0 | Colorado College | Mariucci Arena | ||||
| February 27 | Minnesota | 5 – 0 | Colorado College | Mariucci Arena | ||||
| Minnesota won series 2–0 | |
| February 25 | Wisconsin | 2 – 1 | OT | Northern Michigan | Dane County Coliseum | |||
| February 26 | Wisconsin | 5 – 4 | Northern Michigan | Dane County Coliseum | ||||
| Wisconsin won series 2–0 | |
| February 26 | Denver | 2 – 5 | Minnesota-Duluth | DU Arena | ||||
| February 27 | Denver | 3 – 7 | Minnesota-Duluth | DU Arena | ||||
| Minnesota-Duluth won series 2–0 | |
| February 26 | Michigan Tech | 4 – 5 | North Dakota | Student Ice Arena | ||||
| February 27 | Michigan Tech | 6 – 3 | North Dakota | Student Ice Arena | ||||
| February 28 | Michigan Tech | 3 – 4 | OT | North Dakota | Student Ice Arena | |||
| North Dakota won series 2–1 | |
| March 6 | Minnesota | 6 – 0 | Minnesota-Duluth | Civic Center | ||||
| March 6 | Wisconsin | 2 – 1 | North Dakota | Civic Center | ||||
| March 7 | North Dakota | 6 – 0 | Minnesota-Duluth | Civic Center | ||||
| March 7 | Minnesota | 2 – 3 | Wisconsin | Civic Center | ||||
The 1998 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 39th conference playoff in league history and 46th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between March 13 and March 21, 1998. 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, Wisconsin was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 1998 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1997 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 38th conference playoff in league history and 45th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between March 7 and March 15, 1997. 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, North Dakota was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 1997 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
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 1994 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 35th conference playoff in league history and 42nd season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between March 11 and March 19, 1994. First round games were played at home team campus sites while all 'Final Five' matches were held at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. By winning the tournament, Minnesota was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 1994 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1993 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 34th conference playoff in league history and 41st season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between March 12 and March 20, 1993. 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, Minnesota was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 1993 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
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.
The 1991 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 32nd conference playoff in league history and 39th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between March 1 and March 11, 1991. 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 1991 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1990 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 31st conference playoff in league history and 38th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between March 1 and March 12, 1990. 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, Wisconsin was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 1990 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 1987 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 28th conference playoff in league history and 35th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between February 27 and March 14, 1987. First round and semifinal games were played at home team campus sites while the championship match was held, for the final time, at the Winter Sports Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota. By winning the tournament, North Dakota was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 1987 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1985 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 26th conference playoff in league history and 33rd season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between March 1 and March 16, 1985. First round and semifinal games were played at home team campus sites while the championship match was held at the Duluth Arena Auditorium in Duluth, Minnesota. By winning the tournament, Minnesota-Duluth was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 1985 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The 1984 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 25th conference playoff in league history and 32nd season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between February 25 and March 11, 1984. 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, Minnesota-Duluth received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 1984 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 1982 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 23rd conference playoff in league history and 30th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between March 4 and March 14, 1982. First round and semifinal games were played at home team campus sites while the championship match was held at the Winter Sports Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota. By winning the tournament, Wisconsin received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 1982 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 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.