The 1977 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament was the culmination of the 1976–77 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, the 30th such tournament in NCAA history. It was held between March 20 and 26, 1977, and concluded with Wisconsin defeating Michigan 6–5 in overtime. The first-round game were held at the home team venue while all succeeding games were played at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit, Michigan.

For the first time the tournament was expanded beyond 4 teams. The NCAA selection committee granted themselves the ability to add an additional 4 teams to the tournament beyond the two tournament finalists from both the ECAC and WCHA.

Qualifying teams The NCAA gave four teams automatic bids into the tournament. The two ECAC teams that reached the ECAC tournament final received bids as did the two WCHA teams that reached their tournament championship. The NCAA also had the ability to add up to 4 additional teams as it saw fit and chose to include the CCHA tournament champion as well.

East West SeedSchoolConference RecordBerth typeAppearanceLast bidSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type AppearanceLast bid1 Boston University ECAC Hockey 21–10–1 Tournament champion 12th 19761 Wisconsin WCHA 35–7–1 Tournament champion 4th 19732 New Hampshire ECAC Hockey 27–10–0 Tournament finalist 1st Never2 Michigan WCHA 26–16–0 Tournament finalist 13th 1964 At-LargeSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth typeAppearanceLast bidA Bowling Green CCHA 28–10–0 Tournament champion 1st Never

Format The four automatic qualifiers were seeded according to pre-tournament finish. The ECAC champion was seeded as the top eastern team while the WCHA champion was given the top western seed. The second eastern seed was slotted to play the top western seed and vice versa. Because an at-large bid was offered to a western school they were placed in a first-round game with the second western seed to determine the final semifinalist. The first-round game was played at the home venue of the second seed while all succeeding games were played at the Olympia in Detroit, Michigan. All matches were Single-game eliminations with the semifinal winners advancing to the national championship game and the losers playing in a consolation game.

Bracket

Results First Round

Semifinals

Third Place Game

National Championship

Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st WISSteve Alley – PPNorwich and Eaves 2:29 1–0 WIS WISDave HerbstNorwich and Lundeen 9:27 2–0 WIS WISMark Johnson – PPEaves and Alley 15:12 3–0 WIS UMKip Maurer – PPManery and Palmer 16:13 3–1 WIS 2nd UMDave Debol – PPMaurer and Palmer 21:33 3–2 WIS WISMike MeekerJohnson and Suter 22:54 4–2 WIS 3rd WISMark JohnsonGrauer and Meeker 41:10 5–2 WIS UMMark MillerDebol and Todd 41:36 5–3 WIS UMDave DebolThayer 42:14 5–4 WIS UMJohn WaymanMaurer 54:22 5–5 1st Overtime WISSteve Alley – GWEaves and Ulseth 60:23 6–5 WIS Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st UMKris ManeryHooking 1:12 2:00 WISDave HerbstHooking 5:48 2:00 UMDane HoeneTripping 15:01 2:00 WISMurray JohnsonElbowing 15:21 2:00 WISCraig NorwichHigh-sticking 19:20 2:00 UMJohn WaymanHigh-sticking 19:20 2:00 2nd WISSteve AlleyHooking 20:30 2:00 WISDave HerbstTripping 22:54 2:00 UMDean TurnerInterference 28:44 2:00 WISBob SuterRoughing 34:44 2:00 WISCraig NorwichRoughing 37:13 2:00 3rd WISCraig NorwichHigh-sticking 41:55 2:00 UMDane HoeneHigh-sticking 41:55 2:00 UMJohn McCahillHooking 45:03 2:00 WISJohn TaftTripping 48:41 2:00 1st Overtime none

Shots by period Team 1 2 3 OT T Michigan 11 13 15 0 39 Wisconsin 11 10 8 1 30

Goaltenders Team Name Saves Goals against Time on ice UM Rick Palmer 24 6 WIS Julian Baretta 34 5

All-Tournament team G: Julian Baretta* (Wisconsin) D: Craig Norwich (Wisconsin) D: John Taft (Wisconsin) F: Dave Debol (Michigan) F: Rick Meagher (Boston University) F: Dave Silk (Boston University) * Most Outstanding Player(s)

References