The 2003 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. The tournament began on March 28, 2003, and ended with the championship game on April 12. A total of 15 games were played. 2003 was the first year 16 teams were invited to the tournament and was the first expansion of the tournament since 1988 when it increased from eight to 12 teams. The first and second rounds of the 2003 tournament were divided across four regional sites, an increase from the two regional format in place since 1992.
This year's tournament was the first since 1998 to feature multiple programs, Minnesota State and Wayne State, making their first appearance in the NCAA playoffs.
Minnesota became the first team to successfully defend their title since Boston University won back-to-back titles in 1971 and 1972.
Game locations
The NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Championship is a single-elimination tournament featuring 16 teams representing all six Division I conferences in the nation. The Championship Committee seeds the entire field from 1 to 16 within four regionals of 4 teams. The winners of the six Division I conference championships receive automatic bids to participate in the NCAA Championship. Regional placements are based primarily on the home location of the top seed in each bracket with an attempt made to put the top-ranked teams close to their home site.
First round and regional finals East – Dunkin' Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island — Host: Providence College Midwest – Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan — Host: Michigan Northeast – Centrum Centre, Worcester, Massachusetts — Host: Boston University West – Mariucci Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota Host: Minnesota
Frozen Four HSBC Arena, Buffalo, New York
Qualifying teams The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament was announced on March 23, 2003. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) had five teams receive a berth in the tournament, Hockey East had four teams receive a berth in the tournament, the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) had three teams receive a berth in the tournament, the ECAC had two berths, while both the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and College Hockey America (CHA) received one bid for their tournament champions.
East Regional – Providence Midwest Regional – Ann ArborSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth typeAppearanceLast bidSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type AppearanceLast bid1Cornell (1)ECAC28–4–1Tournament champion 14th 20021Colorado College (2)WCHA29–6–5At-large bid 16th 20022Boston CollegeHockey East23–10–4At-large bid 23rd 20012MaineHockey East24–9–5At-large bid 13th 20023Ohio StateCCHA24–12–5At-large bid 3rd 19993MichiganCCHA28–9–3Tournament champion 26th 20024Minnesota State-MankatoWCHA20–10–10At-large bid 1st Never4Wayne StateCHA21–16–2Tournament champion 1st Never West Regional – Minneapolis Northeast Regional – WorcesterSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type AppearanceLast bidSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type AppearanceLast bid 1Minnesota (3)WCHA24–8–9Tournament champion 27th 20021New Hampshire (4)Hockey East25–7–6Tournament champion 13th 2002 2Ferris StateCCHA30–10–1At-large bid 1st Never2Boston UniversityHockey East24–13–3At-large bid 27th 20023North DakotaWCHA26–11–5At-large bid 18th 20013HarvardECAC22–9–2At-large bid 18th 20024MercyhurstMAAC22–12–2Tournament champion 2nd 20014St. Cloud StateWCHA17–15–5At-large bid 5th 2002
Number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.
Bracket
Results East Regional – Providence, Rhode Island Regional Semifinals
Regional Final
Midwest Regional – Ann Arbor, Michigan Regional Semifinals
Regional Final
West Regional – Minneapolis, Minnesota Regional Semifinals
Regional Final
Northeast Regional – Worcester, Massachusetts Regional Semifinals
Regional Final
Frozen Four – Buffalo, New York National Semifinals
National Championship
Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st MINMatt DeMarchi (8)Smaagaard 10:58 1–0 MIN UNHSean Collins (22) – PPMartz and Aikins 19:41 1–1 2nd None 3rd MINThomas Vanek (31) – GWKoalska 48:14 2–1 MIN MINJon Waibel (9)Vanek 51:25 3–1 MIN MINBarry Tallackson (8) – PPGuyer and Harrington 53:34 4–1 MIN MINBarry Tallackson (9) – ENPotulny 58:31 5–1 MIN Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st UNHColin HemingwayCharging 8:57 2:00 MINKeith BallardRoughing 11:35 2:00 UNHJustin AikinsHooking 13:12 2:00 MINGarrett SmaagaardHitting after the whistle 18:01 2:00 2nd UNHPatrick FoleyCharging 22:33 2:00 MINThomas VanekCross-checking 23:10 2:00 UNHBrian YandleInterference 35:27 2:00 MINJudd StevensObstruction – Holding 38:39 2:00 3rd MINJon WaibelHooking 48:59 2:00 UNHNathan MartzRoughing 51:43 2:00 UNHTim HorstHooking 58:46 2:00 MINJake FlemingSlashing 58:46 2:00
Shots by period Team 1 2 3 T New Hampshire 7 9 11 27 Minnesota 16 14 15 45
Goaltenders Team Name Saves Goals against Time on ice UNH Mike Ayers 40 4 59:28 MIN Travis Weber 26 1 60:00
All-Tournament team G: Travis Weber (Minnesota) D: Paul Martin (Minnesota) D: Matt DeMarchi (Minnesota) F: Steve Saviano (New Hampshire) F: Thomas Vanek* (Minnesota) F: Nathan Martz (New Hampshire) * Most Outstanding Player(s)
Record by conference Conference# of BidsRecordWin %Regional FinalsFrozen FourChampionship GameChampions WCHA 5 5-4 .556 2 1 1 1 Hockey East 4 5-4 .556 3 1 1 - CCHA 3 3-3 .500 2 1 - - ECAC 2 2-2 .500 1 1 - - MAAC 1 0-1 .000 - - - - CHA 1 0-1 .000 - - - -
References