1976 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

The 1976 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament was the culmination of the 1975–76 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, the 29th such tournament in NCAA history. It was held between March 25 and 27, 1976, and concluded with Minnesota defeating Michigan Tech 6–4. All games were played at the University of Denver Arena in Denver, Colorado.

Qualifying teams 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 SeedSchoolConference RecordBerth typeAppearanceLast bidSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type AppearanceLast bid1 Boston University ECAC Hockey 25–3–0 Tournament champion 11th 19751 Michigan Tech WCHA 33–8–0 Tournament co-champion 9th 19752 Brown ECAC Hockey 22–6–0 At-Large 3rd 19652 Minnesota WCHA 26–14–2 Tournament co-champion 7th 1975

Format 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 University of Denver Arena. All matches were Single-game eliminations with the semifinal winners advancing to the national championship game and the losers playing in a consolation game. Minnesota and Michigan Tech squared off in the championship game for the third straight year, with Michigan Tech having won in '75 and Minnesota in '74.

Bracket

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Results Semifinals

Third Place Game

National Championship

Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st MTUWarren YoungJoelson, Dempsey 7:55 1–0 MTU MTUWarren YoungJoelson and Decker 10:36 2–0 MTU MTUJim MurrayJessee 11:31 3–0 MTU MINTom Vannelli – PPYounghans and Phippen 17:05 3–1 MTU 2nd MINJoe Micheletti – PPLarson and Vannelli 22:55 3–2 MTU MINBill BakerVannelli and Phippen 30:26 3–3 MINTom GorenceReed Larson 32:47 4–3 MIN MTUNels GoddardRoberts and Zuke 39:24 4–4 3rd MINPat Phippen – GWVannelli and Reed Larson 48:37 5–4 MIN MINWarren MillerPhippen and Vannelli 59:30 6–4 MIN Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st MTUWarren YoungSlashing 2:08 2:00 MTUJim MayerRoughing 6:47 2:00 MINJoe MichelettiTripping 7:40 2:00 MINBenchToo many man (served by Tim Rainey) 8:27 2:00 MTUPete RobertsElbowing 11:43 2:00 MTUStu OstlundTripping 13:55 2:00 MTUJeff WilcoxSlashing 16:28 2:00 MINTom YounghansRoughing 18:57 2:00 MTUStu YoungerRoughing 18:57 2:00 2nd MTUSteve LetzgusHolding 21:11 2:00 MTUEd DempseyElbowing 29:17 2:00 MINJoe MichelettiSlashing 29:59 2:00 MINBenchToo many men 35:49 2:00 3rd none

Shots by period Team 1 2 3 T Minnesota 8 16 11 35 Michigan Tech 12 3 9 24

Goaltenders Team Name Saves Goals against Time on ice MIN Jeff Tscherne 9 3 20:00 MIN Tom Mohr 11 1 MTU Bruce Horsch 29 6

All-Tournament team None Selected

Most Outstanding Player(s) Tom Vannelli

References