1976 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament explained

Year:1976
Conference:WCHA
Gender:Men's
Dates:March 10–15, 1976
Teams:8
Finalarena:Munn Ice Arena
East Lansing, Michigan
Student Ice Arena
Finalcity:Houghton, Michigan
Champions:Minnesota[1] (5th title)
Michigan Tech[2]
Titlecount:8th
Coach:Herb Brooks[3] (3rd title)
John MacInnes[4]
Coachcount:8th
Prevseason Year:1975
Prevseason Link:1975 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
Nextseason Year:1977
Nextseason Link:1977 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament

The 1976 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 17th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 10 and March 15, 1976. 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 Michigan Tech were invited to participate in the 1976 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Though not official designations, Minnesota is considered as the East Regional Champion† and Michigan Tech as the West Regional Champion‡.

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 being declared as co-conference champions.

Conference standings

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

Bracket

[6] Teams are reseeded after the first roundNote: * denotes overtime period(s)

First round

(4) Michigan vs. (5) Notre Dame

Second round

(2) Michigan State vs. (3) Minnesota

Tournament awards

None

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Minnesota Men's Team History. 2014-06-01.
  2. News: Michigan Tech Men's Team History. 2014-06-01.
  3. News: Herb Brooks Year-by-Year Coaching Record. 2014-06-01.
  4. News: John MacInnes Year-by-Year Coaching Record. 2014-06-01.
  5. News: 2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 113-128. WCHA. 2014-06-01.
  6. News: 2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 129-144. WCHA. 2014-06-01.