| 1991 WCHA Men's ice hockey tournament | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 1–11, 1991 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Finals site | Civic Center St. Paul, Minnesota |
| Champions | Northern Michigan [1] (2nd title) |
| Winning coach | Rick Comley [2] (2nd title) |
| MVP | Bill Pye [3] (Northern Michigan) |
| Attendance | 44,287 |
WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments | |
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 first round of the postseason tournament featured a best-of-three games format. The team that finished ninth in the conference was not eligible for tournament play. 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 1991 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 | ||
| Northern Michigan†* | 32 | 25 | 3 | 4 | 54 | 185 | 89 | 47 | 38 | 5 | 4 | 283 | 133 | |
| Minnesota | 32 | 22 | 5 | 5 | 49 | 151 | 97 | 45 | 30 | 10 | 5 | 215 | 142 | |
| Wisconsin | 32 | 19 | 11 | 2 | 40 | 132 | 108 | 44 | 26 | 15 | 3 | 174 | 143 | |
| North Dakota | 32 | 18 | 12 | 2 | 38 | 148 | 127 | 43 | 24 | 17 | 2 | 207 | 171 | |
| St. Cloud State | 32 | 12 | 16 | 4 | 28 | 124 | 152 | 41 | 18 | 19 | 4 | 170 | 186 | |
| Minnesota-Duluth | 32 | 11 | 15 | 6 | 28 | 114 | 133 | 40 | 14 | 19 | 7 | 142 | 164 | |
| Michigan Tech | 32 | 9 | 21 | 2 | 20 | 105 | 134 | 41 | 13 | 25 | 3 | 139 | 164 | |
| Colorado College | 32 | 9 | 22 | 1 | 19 | 106 | 139 | 40 | 13 | 26 | 1 | 129 | 169 | |
| Denver | 32 | 5 | 25 | 2 | 12 | 95 | 182 | 38 | 6 | 30 | 2 | 109 | 224 | |
| Championship: Northern Michigan † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion | ||||||||||||||
Teams are reseeded after the first round
| First Round March 1–3 | Semifinals March 10 | Championship March 11 | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | Northern Michigan | 7 | 6 | — | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Colorado College | 0 | 3 | — | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Northern Michigan | 8 | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | North Dakota | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | Minnesota | 5 | 6 | — | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Michigan Tech | 3 | 5 | — | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Northern Michigan | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Minnesota | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Wisconsin | 5 | 5 | — | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Minnesota-Duluth | 1 | 2 | — | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Minnesota | 3 | Third place | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Wisconsin | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | North Dakota | 2 | 10 | 7 | 3 | Wisconsin | 2 | |||||||||
| 5 | St. Cloud State | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | North Dakota | 5 | |||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
| March 1 | Northern Michigan | 7 – 0 | Colorado College | Lakeview Arena | ||||
| March 2 | Northern Michigan | 6 – 3 | Colorado College | Lakeview Arena | ||||
| Northern Michigan won series 2–0 | |
| March 1 | Minnesota | 5 – 3 | Michigan Tech | Mariucci Arena | ||||
| March 2 | Minnesota | 6 – 5 | Michigan Tech | Mariucci Arena | ||||
| Minnesota won series 2–0 | |
| March 2 | Wisconsin | 5 – 1 | Minnesota-Duluth | Dane County Coliseum | ||||
| March 3 | Wisconsin | 5 – 2 | Minnesota-Duluth | Dane County Coliseum | ||||
| Wisconsin won series 2–0 | |
| March 1 | North Dakota | 2 – 4 | St. Cloud State | Ralph Engelstad Arena | ||||
| March 2 | North Dakota | 10 – 2 | St. Cloud State | Ralph Engelstad Arena | ||||
| March 3 | North Dakota | 7 – 4 | St. Cloud State | Ralph Engelstad Arena | ||||
| North Dakota won series 2–1 | |
| March 10 | Northern Michigan | 8 – 4 | North Dakota | Civic Center | ||||
| March 10 | Minnesota | 3 – 2 | Wisconsin | Civic Center | ||||
| March 11 | Wisconsin | 2 – 5 | North Dakota | Civic Center | ||||
| March 11 | Northern Michigan | 4 – 2 | Minnesota | Civic Center | ||||
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 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 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.
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 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 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 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 1980 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 21st conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 7 and March 15, 1980. 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 1980 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 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.