The 1992 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament involved 12 schools competing to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college ice hockey. Beginning with the 1992 tournament the format was changed to single-elimination play for all rounds of the tournament. First and quarterfinal rounds were played at two predetermined sites as the East and West Regionals. The tournament began on March 26, 1992, and ended with the championship game on April 4 in which Lake Superior State defeated the University of Wisconsin 5-3. A total of 11 games were played. Wisconsin's participation in the tournament was later vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions.

Alaska-Anchorage's 1992 participation was the last time an independent team was selected to the tournament, until Arizona State in 2019.

The 1992 championship game is most remembered for the controversial penalty calls that gave Lake Superior State 11 power plays in the game. Wisconsin staff and players were so incensed at the calls that referee Tim McConaghy was accosted after the match which led to two Wisconsin players being suspended for the Badgers' next NCAA Tournament game while assistant coach Bill Zito was barred from any affiliation with Wisconsin for the program's next two NCAA appearances.

As of 2026, this is the most recent tournament where there were no games that went to overtime.

Qualifying teams The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament were announced after the conference tournaments concluded. The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), Hockey East and Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) all had three teams receive a berth in the tournament, the ECAC had two berths, and there was one independent Division I bid.

East Regional – Providence West Regional – DetroitSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth typeAppearanceLast bidSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type AppearanceLast bid1 Maine Hockey East 31–3–2* Tournament champion 6th 19911 Michigan CCHA 31–8–3 At-large bid 15th 19912 St. Lawrence ECAC 22–9–2 Tournament champion 12th 19892 Minnesota WCHA 33–10–0 At-large bid 19th 19913 New Hampshire Hockey East 22–12–2^ At-large bid 5th 19833 Lake Superior State CCHA 26–9–4 Tournament champion 6th 19914 Boston University Hockey East 22–8–4^ At-large bid 18th 19914 Northern Michigan WCHA 24–13–3 Tournament champion 5th 19915 Michigan State CCHA 23–10–8^ At-large bid 13th 19905 Clarkson ECAC 22–9–1 At-large bid 12th 19916 Wisconsin (vacated) WCHA 24–13–2 At-large bid (vacated) 19916 Alaska-Anchorage Independent 27–7–1 At-large bid 3rd 1991 * Maine was required to forfeit 13 victories after the season concluded, their total here was their record at the time of the start of the tournament.

^ These teams records reflect the losses they had against Maine at the time that were later overturned.

Game locations East Regional – Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island West Regional – Joe Louis Arena, Detroit Frozen Four – Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, New York

Bracket Wisconsin's participation in the 1992 tournament was later vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions.

Results East Regional – Providence, Rhode Island First Round

Quarterfinals

West Regional – Detroit, Michigan First Round

Quarterfinals

Frozen Four – Albany, New York National Semifinals

National Championship

Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st WISJason ZentMacDonald and Richter 9:45 1–0 WIS WISJason Zent – PPRichter 18:58 2–0 WIS 2nd LSSUPaul Constantin – PPHendry and Barnes 31:40 2–1 WIS LSSUTim HanleyFaucher 39:54 2–2 3rd LSSUMichael Smith – PPunassisted 44:16 3–2 LSSU WISJason Zent – PPPlante and Richter 48:24 3–3 LSSUBrian Rolston – GWHendry and Hulett 55:08 4–3 LSSU LSSUJay Ness – ENunassisted 59:58 5–3 LSSU Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st WISMike StrobelHooking 5:42 2:00 WISDoug MacDonaldSlashing 7:07 2:00 LSSUJim PetersHooking 11:58 2:00 LSSUJay NessSlashing 13:48 2:00 WISDan PlanteInterference 14:25 2:00 WISBrett KurtzHolding 15:39 2:00 LSSUWayne StrachanSlashing 18:22 2:00 2nd LSSUJim PetersHolding 26:44 2:00 WISJason FranciscoHooking 30:00 2:00 WISDan PlanteHooking 31:15 2:00 WISJason FranciscoHolding 34:14 2:00 WISDoug MacDonaldSlashing (served by Zent) 34:59 2:00 WISDoug MacDonaldMisconduct 34:59 10:00 LSSUMichael SmithBoarding 36:37 2:00 WISBrett KurtzTripping 34:59 2:00 LSSUSandy MogerCharging 37:03 2:00 LSSUSandy MogerSlashing 40:00 2:00 WISBrett KurtzSlashing 40:00 2:00 3rd WISMaco BalkovecCharging 43:21 2:00 WISBrett KurtzHolding 44:16 2:00 LSSUDarren WetherillTripping 47:21 2:00 LSSUJim PetersInterference 49:30 2:00 LSSUPaul ConstantinSlashing 52:45 2:00 WISBlaine MooreElbowing 57:00 2:00 WISJoe HarwellMisconduct 59:58 10:00

Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 12 3 12 27 Lake Superior State 6 19 12 37

Goaltenders Team Name Saves Goals against Time on ice WIS Duane Derksen 32 4 LSSU Darrin Madeley 24 3

All-Tournament team G: Darrin Madeley (Lake Superior State) D: Mark Astley (Lake Superior State) D: vacated† F: Paul Constantin* (Lake Superior State) F: Brian Rolston (Lake Superior State) F: vacated† * Most Outstanding Player(s) † Participation of D: Barry Richter and F: Jason Zent vacated when Wisconsin's participation in the tournament was later vacated

Record by conference Conference# of BidsRecordWin %Regional semifinalsFrozen FourChampionship GameChampions CCHA 3 7-2 .778 3 3 1 1 Hockey East 3 0-3 .000 1 - - - WCHA 3 4-3 .571 3 1(vacated) 1(vacated) - ECAC 2 0-2 .000 1 - - - Independent 1 0-1 .000 - - - -

References