1977 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament
College ice hockey tournament
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The 1977 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 18th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 9 and March 17, 1977. All games were played at home team campus sites including the championship series. By reaching the finals both Wisconsin and Michigan were invited to participate in the 1977 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
| 1977 WCHA Men's ice hockey tournament | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 9–17, 1977 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Finals site | Dane County Coliseum Madison, Wisconsin |
| Champions | Wisconsin[1] (4th title) |
| Winning coach | Bob Johnson[2] (4th title) |
WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments | |
This was the first year that the WCHA had named one tournament champion in twelve years. After this championship the conference would revert to awarding two teams the postseason title for an additional four years.
Format
The top eight teams in the WCHA, according to their final conference standings, were eligible for the tournament and were seeded No. 1 through No. 8. In the first round the first and eighth seeds, the second and seventh seeds, the third and sixth seeds and the fourth and fifth seeds were matched in two-game series where the school that scored the higher number of goals was declared the winner. After the first round the remaining teams were reseeded No. 1 through No. 4 according to their final conference standings and advanced to the second round. In the second round the first and fourth seeds and the second and third seeds competed in an additional two-game, total goal series with the winners of each advancing to the championship series, again a two-game, total goal match.
Conference standings
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 | ||
| Wisconsin†* | 32 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 53 | 192 | 122 | 45 | 37 | 7 | 1 | 264 | 161 | |
| Notre Dame | 32 | 19 | 10 | 3 | 41 | 164 | 127 | 38 | 22 | 13 | 3 | 191 | 147 | |
| Michigan | 32 | 20 | 12 | 0 | 40 | 183 | 151 | 45 | 28 | 17 | 0 | 260 | 211 | |
| Denver | 32 | 16 | 14 | 2 | 34 | 154 | 151 | 40 | 21 | 17 | 2 | 206 | 187 | |
| North Dakota | 32 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 32 | 168 | 158 | 38 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 202 | 184 | |
| Michigan Tech | 32 | 15 | 16 | 1 | 31 | 143 | 150 | 38 | 19 | 18 | 1 | 177 | 178 | |
| Minnesota | 32 | 13 | 16 | 3 | 29 | 135 | 144 | 41 | 17 | 21 | 3 | 177 | 202 | |
| Colorado College | 32 | 11 | 20 | 1 | 23 | 156 | 170 | 40 | 13 | 25 | 2 | 194 | 209 | |
| Michigan State | 32 | 11 | 20 | 1 | 23 | 122 | 171 | 36 | 14 | 21 | 1 | 145 | 189 | |
| Minnesota-Duluth | 32 | 6 | 24 | 2 | 14 | 119 | 192 | 37 | 9 | 26 | 2 | 148 | 219 | |
| Championship: Wisconsin † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion | ||||||||||||||
Bracket
[4] Teams are reseeded after the first round
| First Round March 9–10 | Semifinals March 12–13 | Championship March 16–17 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Wisconsin | 3 | 3 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Colorado College | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Wisconsin | 9 | 8 | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Minnesota | 5 | 3 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Notre Dame | 5 | 2 | 7 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Minnesota | 1 | 9 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Wisconsin | 4 | 5 | 9 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Michigan | 0 | 4 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Michigan | 6 | 5 | 11 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Michigan Tech | 5 | 2 | 7 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Michigan | 6 | 11 | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Denver | 4 | 4 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Denver | 8 | 7 | 15 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | North Dakota | 3 | 2 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
First round
(1) Wisconsin vs. (8) Colorado College
| March 9 | Wisconsin | 3 – 1 | Colorado College | Dane County Coliseum | ||||
| March 10 | Wisconsin | 3 – 1 | Colorado College | Dane County Coliseum | ||||
| Wisconsin won series 6–2 | |
(2) Notre Dame vs. (7) Minnesota
| March 9 | Notre Dame | 5 – 1 | Minnesota | Edmund P. Joyce Center | ||||
| March 10 | Notre Dame | 2 – 9 | Minnesota | Edmund P. Joyce Center | ||||
| Minnesota won series 10–7 | |
(3) Michigan vs. (6) Michigan Tech
| March 9 | Michigan | 6 – 5 | Michigan Tech | Yost Ice Arena | ||||
| March 10 | Michigan | 5 – 2 | Michigan Tech | Yost Ice Arena | ||||
| Michigan won series 11–7 | |
(4) Denver vs. (5) North Dakota
| March 9 | Denver | 8 – 3 | North Dakota | DU Arena | ||||
| March 10 | Denver | 7 – 2 | North Dakota | DU Arena | ||||
| Denver won series 15–5 | |
Semifinals
(1) Wisconsin vs. (7) Minnesota
| March 12 | Wisconsin | 9 – 5 | Minnesota | Dane County Coliseum | ||||
| March 13 | Wisconsin | 8 – 3 | Minnesota | Dane County Coliseum | ||||
| Wisconsin won series 17–8 | |
(3) Michigan vs. (4) Denver
| March 12 | Michigan | 6 – 4 | Denver | Yost Ice Arena | ||||
| March 13 | Michigan | 11 – 4 | Denver | Yost Ice Arena | ||||
| Michigan won series 17–8 | |
Championship
(1) Wisconsin vs. (3) Michigan
| March 16 | Wisconsin | 4 – 0 | Michigan | Dane County Coliseum | ||||
| March 17 | Wisconsin | 5 – 4 | Michigan | Dane County Coliseum | ||||
| Wisconsin won series 9–4 | |
Tournament awards
None