1987 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament

The 1987 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 28th conference playoff in league history and 35th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between February 27 and March 14, 1987. First round and semifinal games were played at home team campus sites while the championship match was held, for the final time, at the Winter Sports Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota. By winning the tournament, North Dakota was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 1987 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, North Dakota's home venue, Winter Sports Center, 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 1987 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
North Dakota†* 35 29 6 0 58 200 94 48 40 8 0 264 129
Minnesota 35 25 9 1 51 176 123 49 34 14 1 248 165
Denver 35 16 16 3 35 150 149 40 19 18 3 182 172
Wisconsin 35 17 17 1 35 127 134 42 23 18 1 160 155
Northern Michigan 35 16 18 1 33 131 144 40 18 21 1 151 164
Colorado College 35 12 22 1 25 143 151 42 17 24 1 171 176
Michigan Tech 35 11 23 1 23 118 182 40 11 28 1 130 218
Minnesota-Duluth 35 11 23 1 23 114 163 39 11 27 1 121 184
Championship: North Dakota
indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion

[3]

Bracket

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[4] Teams are reseeded after the first round

First Round
February 27-March 1
Semifinals
March 6–7
Championship
March 13–14
               
1 North Dakota 5 8 13
8 Minnesota-Duluth 3 1 4
1 North Dakota 6 1 7
6 Colorado College 2 2 4
2 Minnesota 9 8 17
7 Michigan Tech 4 5 9
1 North Dakota 5 5 10
2 Minnesota 3 3 6
3 Denver 2 2 4
6 Colorado College 4 3 7
2 Minnesota 1 8 9
4 Wisconsin 2 4 6
4 Wisconsin 4 6 10
5 Northern Michigan 2 2 4

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

First round

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(1) North Dakota vs. (8) Minnesota-Duluth

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February 28 North Dakota 5 – 3 Minnesota-Duluth Winter Sports Center
March 1 North Dakota 8 – 1 Minnesota-Duluth Winter Sports Center
North Dakota won series 13–4


(2) Minnesota vs. (7) Michigan Tech

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February 28 Minnesota 9 – 4 Michigan Tech Mariucci Arena
March 1 Minnesota 8 – 5 Michigan Tech Mariucci Arena
Minnesota won series 17–9


(3) Denver vs. (6) Colorado College

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February 27 Denver 2 – 4 Colorado College DU Arena
February 28 Denver 2 – 3 Colorado College DU Arena
Colorado College won series 7–4


(4) Wisconsin vs. (5) Northern Michigan

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February 28 Wisconsin 4 – 2 Northern Michigan Dane County Coliseum
March 1 Wisconsin 6 – 2 Northern Michigan Dane County Coliseum
Wisconsin won series 10–4


Semifinals

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(1) North Dakota vs. (6) Colorado College

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March 6 North Dakota 6 – 2 Colorado College Winter Sports Center
March 7 North Dakota 1 – 2 Colorado College Winter Sports Center
North Dakota won series 7–4


(2) Minnesota vs. (4) Wisconsin

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March 6 Minnesota 1 – 2 Wisconsin Mariucci Arena
March 7 Minnesota 8 – 4 Wisconsin Mariucci Arena
Minnesota won series 9–6


Championship

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(1) North Dakota vs. (2) Minnesota

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March 13 North Dakota 5 – 3 Minnesota Winter Sports Center
March 14 North Dakota 5 – 3 Minnesota Winter Sports Center
North Dakota won series 10–6


Tournament awards

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None

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "North Dakota Men's Team History". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  2. ^ "John "Gino" Gasparini 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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