| Year: | 1971 |
| Gender: | men's |
| Division: | University Division |
| Teams: | 4 |
| Frozenfourarena: | Onondaga War Memorial |
| Frozenfourcity: | Syracuse, New York |
| Champions: | Boston University Terriers |
| Titlecount: | 1st |
| Champgamecount: | 3rd |
| Champffcount: | 7th |
| Runnerup: | Minnesota Golden Gophers |
| Gamecount: | 3rd |
| Runnerffcount: | 4th |
| Semifinal1: | Denver Pioneers |
| Frozenfourcount: | 9th |
| Semifinal2: | Harvard Crimson |
| Frozenfourcount2: | 5th |
| Coach: | Jack Kelly |
| Coachcount: | 1st |
| Mop: | Dan Brady |
| Mopteam: | Boston University |
| Attendance: | 17,830 |
The 1971 NCAA Men's University Division Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 1970–71 NCAA University Division men's ice hockey season, the 24th such tournament in NCAA history. It was held between March 18 and 20, 1971, and concluded with Boston University defeating Minnesota 4–2. All games were played at the Onondaga War Memorial in Syracuse, New York.
This was the first time that a team with a losing record participated in an NCAA tournament.
Four teams qualified for the tournament, two each from the eastern and western regions. The ECAC tournament champion and the two WCHA tournament co-champions received automatic bids into the tournament. An at-large bid was offered to a second eastern team based upon both their ECAC tournament finish as well as their regular season record.
| East | West | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid |
| 1 | Harvard | ECAC Hockey | 18–6–1 | Tournament champion | 5th | 1969 | 1 | Denver | WCHA | 24–9–1 | Tournament co-champion | 9th | 1969 |
| 2 | Boston University | ECAC Hockey | 26–2–1 | At-Large | 7th | 1967 | 2 | Minnesota | WCHA | 13–16–1 | Tournament co-champion | 4th | 1961 |
The ECAC champion was seeded as the top eastern team while the WCHA co-champion with the better regular season record was given the top western seed. The second eastern seed was slotted to play the top western seed and vice versa. All games were played at the Onondaga War Memorial. All matches were Single-game eliminations with the semifinal winners advancing to the national championship game and the losers playing in a consolation game.
[2] Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
| Scoring summary | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period | Team | Goal | Assist(s) | Time | Score | |||
| 1st | align=center style=";" | BU | Steve Stirling - PP | Danby and Brown | align=center | 5:32 | align=center | 1–0 BU |
| align=center style=";" | BU | Bob Gryp | Gowing | align=center | 10:10 | align=center | 2–0 BU | |
| 2nd | align=center style=";" | BU | Steve Stirling - GW | unassisted | align=center | 29:13 | align=center | 3–0 BU |
| 3rd | align=center style="color:white; background:#862334; " | MIN | Doug Peltier | Sarner and McIntosh | align=center | 53:07 | align=center | 3–1 BU |
| align=center style=";" | BU | Ron Anderson | Dolloff and Brown | align=center | 57:45 | align=center | 4–1 BU | |
| align=center style="color:white; background:#862334; " | MIN | Dean Blais | McIntosh | align=center | 59:44 | align=center | 4–2 BU | |
| Penalty summary | ||||||||
| Period | Team | Player | Penalty | Time | PIM | |||
| 1st | align=center style="color:white; background:#862334; " | MIN | Frank Sanders | Charging | align=center | 5:01 | align=center | 2:00 |
| align=center style=";" | BU | Bob Murray | Holding | align=center | 14:18 | align=center | 2:00 | |
| 2nd | align=center style=";" | BU | Mike LaGarde | High–Sticking | align=center | 29:32 | align=center | 2:00 |
| align=center style=";" | BU | Ron Anderson | Elbowing | align=center | 37:18 | align=center | 2:00 | |
| align=center style="color:white; background:#862334; " | MIN | Wally Olds | Interference | align=center | 39:44 | align=center | 2:00 | |
| 3rd | align=center style=";" | BU | Mike LaGarde | Holding | align=center | 51:04 | align=center | 2:00 |
| align=center style=";" | BU | Bob Murray | Hooking | align=center | 58:09 | align=center | 2:00 | |
| align=center style="color:white; background:#862334; " | MIN | Doug Peltier | Offensive Check | align=center | 58:09 | align=center | 2:00 | |
| align=center style="color:white; background:#862334; " | MIN | Dean Blais | Cross–Checking | align=center | 59:49 | align=center | 2:00 | |
| Shots by period | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | ||||||
| align=center style="color:white; background:#862334; " | Minnesota | align=center | 13 | align=center | 11 | align=center | 8 | align=center | 32 | |
| align=center style=";" | Boston University | align=center | 12 | align=center | 11 | align=center | 9 | align=center | 32 | |
| Goaltenders | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Name | Saves | Goals against | Time on ice | |||||
| align=center style="color:white; background:#862334; " | MIN | align=center | 28 | align=center | 4 | align=center | |||
| align=center style=";" | BU | align=center | 30 | align=center | 2 | align=center | |||
* Most Outstanding Player(s)[3]