| 2012 WCHA Men's ice hockey tournament | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 9–17, 2012 |
| Teams | 12 |
| Finals site | Xcel Energy Center St. Paul, Minnesota |
| Champions | North Dakota (17th title) |
| Winning coach | Dave Hakstol (5th title) |
| MVP | Aaron Dell (North Dakota) |
WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments | |
The 2012 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 53rd conference playoff in league history and 58th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The 2012 tournament was played between March 9 and March 17, 2012, at five conference arenas and the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. By winning the tournament, North Dakota received the Broadmoor Trophy and was awarded the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
The first round of the postseason tournament features a best-of-three games format. All twelve conference teams participate in the tournament. Teams are seeded No. 1 through No. 12 according to their final conference standing, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with an identical number of points accumulated. The top six seeded teams each earn home ice and host one of the lower seeded teams.
The winners of the first round series advance to the Xcel Energy Center for the WCHA Final Five, the collective name for the quarterfinal, semifinal, and championship rounds. The Final Five uses a single-elimination format. Teams are re-seeded No. 1 through No. 6 according to the final regular season conference standings, with the top two teams automatically advancing to the semifinals. All Final Five games will be broadcast by Fox Sports North and carried by Root Sports Rocky Mountain and Fox College Sports Central.
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 | ||
| #4 Minnesota† | 28 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 40 | 88 | 57 | 43 | 28 | 14 | 1 | 155 | 99 | |
| #6 Minnesota–Duluth | 28 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 37 | 103 | 73 | 41 | 25 | 10 | 6 | 147 | 106 | |
| #12 Denver | 28 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 36 | 96 | 79 | 43 | 25 | 14 | 4 | 139 | 111 | |
| #5 North Dakota* | 28 | 16 | 11 | 1 | 33 | 82 | 73 | 42 | 26 | 13 | 3 | 135 | 108 | |
| Colorado College | 28 | 15 | 12 | 1 | 31 | 95 | 86 | 36 | 18 | 16 | 2 | 114 | 104 | |
| St. Cloud State | 28 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 28 | 86 | 74 | 39 | 17 | 17 | 5 | 120 | 104 | |
| Omaha | 28 | 11 | 12 | 5 | 27 | 83 | 85 | 38 | 14 | 18 | 6 | 106 | 112 | |
| Michigan Tech | 28 | 11 | 13 | 4 | 26 | 85 | 87 | 39 | 16 | 19 | 4 | 111 | 116 | |
| Bemidji State | 28 | 11 | 14 | 3 | 25 | 72 | 89 | 38 | 17 | 18 | 3 | 101 | 109 | |
| Wisconsin | 28 | 11 | 15 | 2 | 24 | 76 | 83 | 37 | 17 | 18 | 2 | 105 | 102 | |
| Minnesota State | 28 | 8 | 18 | 2 | 18 | 73 | 102 | 38 | 12 | 24 | 2 | 101 | 129 | |
| Alaska–Anchorage | 28 | 5 | 22 | 1 | 11 | 60 | 111 | 36 | 9 | 25 | 2 | 85 | 134 | |
| Championship: North Dakota 4, Denver 0 † indicates conference regular season champion; * indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll | ||||||||||||||
Teams are reseeded after the first round
| First round March 9–11 | Quarterfinals March 15 | Semifinals March 16 | Championship March 17 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Minnesota | 2 | 7 | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Alaska-Anchorage | 1 | 3 | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Minnesota-Duluth | 4 | 3** | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Minnesota | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Minnesota State | 2 | 2 | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | North Dakota | 4 | 4 | North Dakota | 6 | |||||||||||||||
| 6 | St. Cloud State | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Denver | 0 | 3 | 3* | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | North Dakota | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Wisconsin | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Denver | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | North Dakota | 4 | 4 | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Minnesota-Duluth | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Bemidji State | 1 | 3 | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Denver | 3* | 3 | Denver | 4** | |||||||||||||||
| 8 | Michigan Tech | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Colorado College | 1 | 3 | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Michigan Tech | 3 | 4* | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | St. Cloud State | 4 | 3 | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Nebraska-Omaha | 0 | 1 | — | ||||||||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime periods
| March 9 | Minnesota | 2 - 1 | Alaska-Anchorage | Mariucci Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Erik Haula (16) (Schmidt, Parenteau) - 01:42 Erik Haula (17) (Schmidt, Hansen) - 09:52 | Second period | 19:58 - PP - Brad Gorham (2) (Scheid, Leinweber) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Kent Patterson ( 16 saves / 17 shots ) | Goalie stats | Chris Kamal ( 32 saves / 34 shots ) | ||||||
| March 10 | Minnesota | 7 - 3 | Alaska-Anchorage | Mariucci Arena | Recap | |||
| Jake Hansen (12) (Marshall, Alt) - 04:03 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Zach Budish (11) (Rau, Bjugstad) - 11:16 Nick Bjugstad (16) (Haula, Schmidt) - PP - 19:14 | Second period | 00:35 - PP - Matt Bailey (9) (Allen, Docken) 07:57 - PP2 - Matt Bailey (10) (Kwas, Coldwell) 08:20 - PP - Scott Allen (3) (Coldwell, Docken) | ||||||
| Erik Haula (18) (Rau, Budish) - 05:05 Erik Haula (19) (Warning, Alt) - 05:23 Seth Helgeson (4) (Condon, Matson) - 06:36 Sam Warning (6) (Haula, Marshall) - 09:39 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Kent Patterson ( 16 saves / 19 shots ) Jake Kremer ( 0 saves / 0 shots ) | Goalie stats | Chris Kamal ( 31 saves / 38 shots ) | ||||||
| Minnesota Wins Series 2 - 0 | |
| March 9 | Minnesota-Duluth | 4 - 2 | Minnesota State | AMSOIL Arena | Recap | |||
| J.T. Brown (22) (Herbert, Oleksuk) - 11:31 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Brady Lamb (8) (Grun, Hendrickson) - 01:06 | Second period | 05:29 - Max Gaede (3) (Dorr, Louwerse) 19:15 - Joe Schiller (3) (Elbrecht) | ||||||
| Brady Lamb (9) (Basaraba) - 11:58 Wade Bergman (8) - EN - 19:54 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Kenny Reiter ( 26 saves / 28 shots ) | Goalie stats | Austin Lee ( 34 saves / 37 shots ) | ||||||
| March 10 | Minnesota-Duluth | 3 - 2 | 2OT | Minnesota State | AMSOIL Arena | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 19:05 - PP - Matt Leitner (11) (Palmquist) | ||||||
| David Grun (3) (Basaraba, Hendrickson) - 13:46 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| J.T. Brown (23) (Lamb, Oleksuk) - PP - 06:59 | Third period | 03:54 - Tyler Elbrecht (1) (McInnis) | ||||||
| Mike Seidel (15) (Flaherty, Connolly) - 04:07 | Second overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Kenny Reiter ( 47 saves / 49 shots ) | Goalie stats | Austin Lee ( 56 saves / 59 shots ) | ||||||
| Minnesota-Duluth Wins Series 2 - 0 | |
| March 9 | Denver | 0 - 1 | Wisconsin | Magness Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 14:10 - Sean Little (2) (McCabe, Ramage) | ||||||
| Juho Olkinuora ( 29 saves / 30 shots ) | Goalie stats | Joel Rumpel ( 28 saves / 28 shots ) | ||||||
| March 10 | Denver | 3 - 1 | Wisconsin | Magness Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Nate Dewhurst (3) (Jackson, Lee) - 04:04 Luke Salazar (10) (Zucker, N. Shore) - 12:53 Nick Shore (12) - EN - 19:04 | Third period | 06:54 - Justin Schultz (16) (McCabe) | ||||||
| Sam Brittain ( 27 saves / 28 shots ) | Goalie stats | Joel Rumpel ( 39 saves / 41 shots ) | ||||||
| March 11 | Denver | 3 - 2 | OT | Wisconsin | Magness Arena | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ty Loney (9) (Salazar, D. Shore) - 11:17 | Second period | 06:40 - SH - Mark Zengerle (13) 12:32 - Tyler Barnes (11) (Simonelli, Schultz) | ||||||
| Nick Shore (13) (Zucker, D. Shore) - PP - 11:17 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Luke Salazar (11) (D. Shore, Mayfield) - 01:40 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Sam Brittain ( 24 saves / 26 shots ) | Goalie stats | Joel Rumpel ( 30 saves / 33 shots ) | ||||||
| Denver Wins Series 2 - 1 | |
| March 9 | North Dakota | 4 - 1 | Bemidji State | Ralph Engelstad Arena | Recap | |||
| Connor Gaarder (3) (Parks, Rowney) - PP - 17:10 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Corban Knight (13) (Nelson) - 07:15 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mark MacMillan (6) (Rowney, Parks) - 14:08 Ben Blood (3) (Rowney) - PP - EN - 19:05 | Third period | 13:05 - Aaron McLeod (9) (Mattson, Wacker) | ||||||
| Aaron Dell ( 28 saves / 29 shots ) | Goalie stats | Dan Bakala ( 19 saves / 22 shots ) | ||||||
| March 10 | North Dakota | 4 - 3 | Bemidji State | Ralph Engelstad Arena | Recap | |||
| Connor Gaarder (4) (Sinkbeil, MacMillan) - 13:48 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Carter Rowney (17) (MacMillan, Parks) - 07:30 Michael Parks (17) (MacMillan, Rowney) - 18:17 | Second period | 06:25 - Jordan George (4) (Hunt, Kinne) | ||||||
| Dillon Simpson (17) (Lamoureux) - 05:06 | Third period | 16:04 - Jamie MacQueen (4) (Boehm, Hunt) 16:23 - Jamie MacQueen (5) (Walters) | ||||||
| Brad Eidsness ( 26 saves / 29 shots ) | Goalie stats | Dan Bakala ( 28 saves / 32 shots ) | ||||||
| North Dakota Wins Series 2 - 0 | |
| March 9 | Colorado College | 1 - 3 | Michigan Tech | World Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 17:12 - David Johnstone (10) | ||||||
| Rylan Schwartz (23) (Guentzel, J. Schwartz) - PP2 - 00:39 | Third period | 03:41 - Dennis Rix (4) (Reddick, Pietila) 10:21 - Alex MacLeod (7) (D. Johnstone, J. Johnstone) | ||||||
| Josh Thorimbert ( 26 saves / 29 shots ) | Goalie stats | Josh Robinson ( 16 saves / 17 shots ) | ||||||
| March 10 | Colorado College | 3 - 4 | OT | Michigan Tech | World Arena | Recap | ||
| Andrew Hamburg (3) (Skalbeck, Thorimbert) - 08:23 | First period | 01:08 - David Johnstone (11) 06:46 - Brett Olson (10) (Baker, Stebner) | ||||||
| Andrew Hamburg (4) (McDermott) - 03:50 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Scott Winkler (7) (Krushelnyski, Dineen) - 08:52 | Third period | 18:55 - EA - Steven Seigo (5) (Pietila, Gordic) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 03:30 - David Johnstone (12) (Sova, Fillion) | ||||||
| Josh Thorimbert ( 37 saves / 41 shots ) | Goalie stats | Josh Robinson ( 29 saves / 32 shots ) | ||||||
| Michigan Tech Wins Series 2 - 0 | |
| March 9 | St. Cloud State | 4 - 0 | Nebraska-Omaha | National Hockey Center | Recap | |||
| Joe Rehkamp (2) (Milan, Bertsch) - 02:30 Ben Hanowski (21) (Festler, Prochno) - PP - 16:50 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Andrew Prochno (5) (Festler, Novak) - 11:32 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Taylor Johnson (2) (Zabkowicz, Olover) - PP - 19:36 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mike Lee ( 27 saves / 27 shots ) | Goalie stats | Ryan Massa ( 24 saves / 28 shots ) | ||||||
| March 10 | St. Cloud State | 3 - 1 | Nebraska-Omaha | National Hockey Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jared Festler (15) (Hanowski, Dowd) - PP - 00:22 | Second period | 07:16 - Dominic Zombo (2) (Gwidt, Jaycob Megna) | ||||||
| Ben Hanowski (22) (Bertsch, Jensen) - 19:17 Travis Novak (12) - EN - 19:59 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Mike Lee ( 32 saves / 33 shots ) | Goalie stats | John Faulkner ( 35 saves / 37 shots ) | ||||||
| St. Cloud State Wins Series 2 - 0 | |
| March 15 | Denver | 3 - 2 | OT | Michigan Tech | Xcel Energy Center | Recap | ||
| Ty Loney (10) (D. Shore) - 03:50 | First period | 10:45 - Blake Pietila (10) (Fillion) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Luke Salazar (12) (Loney, D. Shore) - 15:28 | Third period | 00:18 - Ryan Furne (12) (Baker) | ||||||
| Jason Zucker (21) (LaLeggia, N. Shore) - 02:18 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Juho Olkinuora ( 27 saves / 29 shots ) | Goalie stats | Josh Robinson ( 41 saves / 44 shots ) | ||||||
| March 15 | North Dakota | 4 - 1 | St. Cloud State | Xcel Energy Center | Recap | |||
| Corban Knight (14) (MacMillan, MacWilliam) - 07:40 | First period | 16:14 - PP - Ben Hanowski (23) (Dowd, Prochno) | ||||||
| Brock Nelson (24) (Blood, Forbort) - 15:51 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Brock Nelson (25) (Kristo) - EN - 19:00 Danny Kristo (18) - EN,PP - 19:33 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Aaron Dell ( 29 saves / 30 shots ) | Goalie stats | Mike Lee ( 24 saves / 26 shots ) | ||||||
| March 16 | Minnesota | 3 - 6 | North Dakota | Xcel Energy Center | Recap | |||
| Kyle Rau (17) (Haula, Schmidt) - PP - 12:37 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jake Hansen (13) (Haula, Schmidt) - PP - 05:55 Zach Budish (12) (Holl, Rau) - 10:01 | Second period | 14:51 - Derek Forbort (2) (Lamoureux) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 05:31 - Michael Parks (10) (Rowney, Forbort) 06:01 - Brock Nelson (26) (Senkbeil) 09:42 - Mario Lamoureux (2) (Pattyn, Parks) 10:19 - PP - Corban Knight (15) (Mattson, Kristo) 16:10 - Mario Lamoureux (3) (MacMillan, Blood) | ||||||
| Kent Patterson ( 22 saves / 28 shots ) | Goalie stats | Aaron Dell ( 22 saves / 25 shots ) | ||||||
| March 16 | Minnesota-Duluth | 3 - 4 | 2OT | Denver | Xcel Energy Center | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 08:01 - Shawn Ostrow (11) (Dewhurst) | ||||||
| Mike Seidel (16) (Lamb, Oleksuk) - PP - 10:57 Mike Seidel (17) (Connolly, Kishel) - 13:45 | Second period | 03:26 - Jason Zucker (22) (N. Shore) 06:02 - Dustin Jackson (2) (Ostrow, Mermis) | ||||||
| Jack Connolly (19) (Olsen, Seidel) - 12:38 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second overtime period | 08:14 - Zac Larraza (1) (Didier) | ||||||
| Kenny Reiter ( 45 saves / 49 shots ) | Goalie stats | Sam Brittain ( 67 saves / 70 shots ) | ||||||
| March 17 | Denver | 0 - 4 | North Dakota | Xcel Energy Center | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 17:43 - PP - Brock Nelson (27) (Simpson, Knight) 18:29 - Carter Rowney (18) (MacMillan, Forbort) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 09:58 - PP - Michael Parks (11) (Rowney, Forbort) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 07:11 - SH - Mark MacMillan (7) | ||||||
| Juho Olkinuora ( 18 saves / 22 shots ) Adam Murray ( 7 saves / 7 shots ) | Goalie stats | Aaron Dell ( 22 saves / 22 shots ) | ||||||