The 2009 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament involved 16 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college ice hockey as the culmination of the 2008–09 season. The tournament began on March 27, 2009, and ended with the championship game on April 11.
Boston University, coached by Jack Parker, won its fifth national title (and first since 1995) with a 4–3 overtime victory in the championship game over Miami University, coached by Enrico Blasi. The game marked the thirteenth time the NCAA championship game has gone to overtime and the first since Minnesota's win over Maine in 2002.
Colby Cohen, sophomore defenseman for Boston University, scored the championship-winning goal in overtime and was named the Frozen Four's Most Outstanding Player.
This year’s Frozen Four featured multiple teams, Bemidji State and Miami, making their first appearance. This last occurred in 1988, when Lake Superior State and Maine both made their first Frozen Four appearances.
Tournament procedure
The 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Championship was a single-elimination tournament featuring 16 teams representing all six Division I conferences in the nation. The Championship Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 16 within four regionals of 4 teams. The winners of the six Division I conference championships received automatic bids to participate in the NCAA Championship.
In setting up the tournament, the Championship Committee sought to ensure "competitive equity, financial success and likelihood of playoff-type atmosphere at each regional site." A team serving as the host of a regional was placed within that regional. The top four teams were assigned overall seeds and placed within the bracket such that the national semifinals would feature the No. 1 seed versus the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed versus the No. 3 seed had the top four teams have won their respective regional finals. Number 1 seeds were also placed as close to their home site as possible, with the No. 1 seed receiving first preference. Conference matchups were avoided in the first round; should five or more teams from one conference have made the tournament, this guideline may have been disregarded in favor of preserving the bracket's integrity.
The four regionals were officially named after their geographic areas. The following were the sites for the 2009 regionals: March 27 and 28 East Regional, Arena at Harbor Yard – Bridgeport, Connecticut (Hosts: Yale University and Fairfield University) West Regional, Mariucci Arena – Minneapolis, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota)
March 28 and 29 Midwest Regional, Van Andel Arena – Grand Rapids, Michigan (Hosts: Central Collegiate Hockey Association and Western Michigan University) Northeast Regional, Verizon Wireless Arena – Manchester, New Hampshire (Host: University of New Hampshire)
Each regional winner advanced to the Frozen Four: April 9 and 11 Verizon Center – Washington, D.C. (Hosts: United States Naval Academy and the Greater Washington Sports Alliance)
Qualifying teams The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament were announced on March 22, 2009. The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) and Hockey East each had four teams receive a berth in the tournament, while ECAC Hockey and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) each had three teams receive a berth, and Atlantic Hockey and College Hockey America (CHA) each had one team receive a berth.
Northeast Regional – Manchester Midwest Regional – Grand RapidsSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth typeLast BidSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth typeLast Bid 1 Boston University (1) Hockey East 31–6–4 Tournament champion 20071 Notre Dame (2) CCHA 31–5–3 Tournament champion 20082 North Dakota WCHA 24–14–4 At-large bid 20082 Northeastern Hockey East 25–11–4 At-large bid 19943 New Hampshire Hockey East 19–12–5 At-large bid 20083 Cornell ECAC Hockey 21–9–4 At-large bid 20064 Ohio State CCHA 23–14–4 At-large bid 20054 Bemidji State CHA 18–15–1 Tournament champion 2006 West Regional – Minneapolis East Regional – BridgeportSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth typeLast BidSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type Last Bid1 Denver (3) WCHA 23–11–5 At-large bid 20081 Michigan (4) CCHA 29–11–0 At-large bid 20082 Minnesota-Duluth WCHA 21–12–8 Tournament champion 20042 Yale ECAC Hockey 24–7–2 Tournament champion 19983 Princeton ECAC Hockey 22–11–1 At-large bid 20083 Vermont Hockey East 20–11–5 At-large bid 19974 Miami CCHA 20–12–5 At-large bid 20084 Air Force Atlantic Hockey 27–10–2 Tournament champion 2008
Bracket
Results Northeast Regional – Manchester, New Hampshire Regional Semifinals
Regional Final
Midwest Regional – Grand Rapids, Michigan Regional Semifinals
Regional Final
West Regional – Minneapolis, Minnesota Regional Semifinals
Regional Final
East Regional – Bridgeport, Connecticut Regional Semifinals
Regional Final
Frozen Four – Washington, DC National Semifinals
National Championship
Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1stChris Connolly (10)Warsofsky and Gryba 15:15 1–0 BU 2nd MIAGary Steffes (11)Miele and Palmer 22:01 1–1 3rd MIATommy Wingels (11)Camper 52:31 2–1 MIA MIATrent Vogelhuber (2)Kaufman 55:52 3–1 MIAZach Cohen (13) – EABonino and Yip 59:00 3–2 MIANick Bonino (18) – EAGilroy and Higgins 59:42 3–3 OvertimeColby Cohen (8) – GWShattenkirk and Connolly 71:47 4–3 BU Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1stEric GrybaTripping 2:23 2:00Vinny SaponariCross–checking 5:19 2:00 MIAChris WidemanHolding 12:01 2:00John McCarthyRoughing 12:01 2:00Eric GrybaCross–checking 15:46 2:00 MIATommy WingelsHooking 19:48 2:00 2ndBrandon YipHolding 23:13 2:00 MIAJustin MercierTripping 26:09 2:00Colby CohenCross–checking 37:17 2:00 3rdColby CohenSlashing 45:51 2:00Jason LawrenceSlashing 53:38 2:00
Shots by period Team 1 2 3 OT T Miami 10 9 9 4 32 9 7 7 9 32
Goaltenders Team Name Saves Goals against Time on ice MIA Cody Reichard 28 4 71:47 Kieran Millan 29 3 69:09
Record by conference Conference# of BidsRecordWin %Regional FinalsFrozen FourChampionship GameChampions Hockey East 4 7–3 .700 3 2 1 1 CCHA 4 3–4.429 1 1 1 – ECAC Hockey 3 1–3 .250 1 – – – WCHA 3 1–3 .250 1 – – – Atlantic Hockey 1 1–1 .500 1 – – – CHA 1 2–1 .667 1 1 – –
Media
Television ESPN had US television rights to all games during the tournament. For the fifth consecutive year ESPN aired every game, beginning with the regionals, on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Classic and ESPN360.
Broadcast Assignments Regionals East Regional: Justin Kutcher, Damian DiGiulian, & Ken Hodge – Bridgeport, Connecticut West Regional: Clay Matvick & Jim Paradise – Minneapolis, Minnesota Midwest Regional: Ben Holden & Sean Ritchlin – Grand Rapids, Michigan Northeast Regional: John Buccigross & Barry Melrose – Manchester, New Hampshire
Frozen Four & Championship Gary Thorne, Barry Melrose, & Clay Matvick – Washington, DC
Radio Westwood One used exclusive radio rights to air both the semifinals and the championship, AKA the "Frozen Four. Sean Grande & Cap Raeder
All-Tournament Team
East Regional
All-East Regional Team Goaltender: Andrew Volkening (Air Force) Defensemen: Greg Flynn (Air Force), Dan Lawson (Vermont) Forwards: Sean Bertsch (Air Force), Jacques Lamoureux (Air Force), Viktor Stalberg (Vermont)
MOP Dan Lawson (Vermont)
Northeast Regional
All-Northeast Regional Team Goaltender: Kieran Millan (Boston University) Defensemen: Matt Gilroy (Boston University), Kevin Kapstad (New Hampshire) Forwards: Nick Bonino (Boston University), Jason Lawrence (Boston University), Peter Leblanc (New Hampshire)
MOP Jason Lawrence (Boston University)
West Regional
All-West Regional Team Goaltender: Cody Reichard (Miami) Defensemen: Evan Oberg (Minnesota-Duluth), Cameron Schilling (Miami) Forwards: Mike Connolly (Minnesota-Duluth), Justin Mercier (Miami), Brett Wilson (Princeton)
MOP Justin Mercier (Miami)
Midwest Regional
All-Midwest Regional Team Goaltender: Matt Dalton (Bemidji State) Defensemen: Ryan Adams (Bemidji State), Brad Hunt (Bemidji State) Forwards: Evan Barlow (Cornell), Matt Read (Bemidji State), Tyler Scofield (Bemidji State)
MOP Tyler Scofield (Bemidji State)
Frozen Four G: Kieran Millan (Boston University) D: Colby Cohen* (Boston University) D: Kevin Roeder (Miami) F: Nick Bonino (Boston University) F: Colin Wilson (Boston University) F: Tommy Wingels (Miami) * Most Outstanding Player(s)
References