1986 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament

The 1986 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 27th conference playoff in league history and 34th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between February 28 and March 15, 1986. First round and semifinal games were played at home team campus sites while the championship match was held at the DU Arena in Denver, Colorado. By winning the tournament, Denver was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 1986 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Format

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All member teams were eligible for the tournament and were seeded No. 1 through No. 8 according to their final conference standing, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with an identical number of points accumulated. The top four seeded teams each earned home ice and hosted one of the lower seeded teams. As a result of their being the regular season champion, Denver's home venue, DU Arena, served as the site for the Championship game regardless of which teams qualified for the penultimate match. Each series were two-game matchups with the team that scored the most goals advancing to the succeeding round. The teams that advanced to the semifinal were re-seeded No. 1 through No. 4 according to the final regular season conference standings, with the top remaining seed matched against lowest remaining seed in one semifinal game while the two other semifinalists meeting with the winners advancing to the championship round. The Tournament Champion received an automatic bid to the 1986 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Conference standings

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Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against

Conference Overall
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Denver†* 34 25 9 0 50 169 115 48 34 13 1 236 158
Minnesota 34 24 10 0 48 177 115 48 35 13 0 252 157
Wisconsin 34 23 11 0 46 172 136 42 27 15 0 206 173
Minnesota-Duluth 34 21 12 1 43 153 117 42 26 13 3 206 157
Northern Michigan 34 21 13 0 42 168 151 39 23 14 2 191 169
North Dakota 34 19 14 1 39 155 136 41 24 16 1 188 156
Colorado College 34 11 21 2 24 131 155 40 12 26 2 158 191
Michigan Tech 34 9 22 3 21 118 164 40 10 26 4 136 205
Championship: Denver
indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion

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Bracket

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[4] Teams are reseeded after the first round

First Round
February 28-March 1
Semifinals
March 7–9
Championship
March 14–15
               
1 Denver 3 6 9
8 Michigan Tech 4 2 6
1 Denver 8 5 13
4 Minnesota-Duluth 2 5 7
2 Minnesota 10 4 14
7 Colorado College 4 3 7
1 Denver 3 3 6
2 Minnesota 0 2 2
3 Wisconsin 6 6 12
6 North Dakota 2 5 7
2 Minnesota 4 7 11
3 Wisconsin 1 3 4
4 Minnesota-Duluth 4 8 12
5 Northern Michigan 4 4 8

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

First round

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(1) Denver vs. (8) Michigan Tech

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February 28 Denver 3 – 4 Michigan Tech DU Arena
March 1 Denver 6 – 2 Michigan Tech DU Arena
Denver won series 9–6


(2) Minnesota vs. (7) Colorado College

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February 28 Minnesota 10 – 4 Colorado College Mariucci Arena
March 1 Minnesota 4 – 3 Colorado College Mariucci Arena
Minnesota won series 14–7


(3) Wisconsin vs. (6) North Dakota

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February 28 Wisconsin 6 – 2 North Dakota Dane County Coliseum
March 1 Wisconsin 6 – 5 North Dakota Dane County Coliseum
Wisconsin won series 12–7


(4) Minnesota-Duluth vs. (5) Northern Michigan

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February 28 Minnesota-Duluth 4 – 4 Northern Michigan Duluth Arena Auditorium
March 1 Minnesota-Duluth 8 – 4 Northern Michigan Duluth Arena Auditorium
Minnesota-Duluth won series 12–8


Semifinals

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(1) Denver vs. (4) Minnesota-Duluth

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March 7 Denver 8 – 2 Minnesota-Duluth DU Arena
March 8 Denver 5 – 5 Minnesota-Duluth DU Arena
Denver won series 13–7


(2) Minnesota vs. (3) Wisconsin

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March 8 Minnesota 4 – 1 Wisconsin Mariucci Arena
March 9 Minnesota 7 – 3 Wisconsin Mariucci Arena
Minnesota won series 11–4


Championship

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(1) Denver vs. (2) Minnesota

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March 14 Denver 3 – 0 Minnesota DU Arena
March 15 Denver 3 – 2 Minnesota DU Arena
Denver won series 6–2


Tournament awards

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None

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Denver Men's Team History". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  2. ^ "Ralph Backstrom Year-by-Year Coaching Record". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  3. ^ "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 113-128" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  4. ^ "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 129-144" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
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