2017 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey tournament

The 2017 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 2016–17 season, the 34th such tournament in NCAA history. It concluded with Norwich defeating Trinity in the championship game 4-1. All First Round and Quarterfinal matchups were held at home team venues, while all succeeding games were played at the Utica Memorial Auditorium in Utica, New York.

2017 NCAA Division III men's
ice hockey tournament
Teams12
Finals site
ChampionsNorwich Cadets (4th title)
Runner-upTrinity Bantams (2nd title game)
Semifinalists
Winning coachMike McShane (4th title)
MOPWilliam Pelletier (Norwich)
Attendance12,000

Qualifying teams

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The following teams qualified for the tournament. Automatic bids were offered to the conference tournament champion of eight different conferences. Four at-large bids were available for the highest-ranked non-automatic qualifiers (overall seed in parentheses).

East West
Seed School Conference Record Berth Type Appearance Last Bid Seed School Conference Record Berth Type Appearance Last Bid
1 Norwich (1) NEHC 23–1–3 Tournament Champion 17th 2015 1 St. Norbert NCHA 21–5–1 Tournament Champion 17th 2016
2 Hobart ECAC West 20–4–4 Tournament Champion 7th 2016 2 Adrian NCHA 19–6–2 At–Large 7th 2016
3 Trinity NESCAC 18–6–3 Tournament Champion 6th 2016 3 Wisconsin–Stevens Point WIAC 21–4–3 At–Large 13th 2016
4 Oswego State SUNYAC 21–5–1 At–Large 15th 2015 4 Augsburg MIAC 17–4–6 Tournament Champion 4th 2016
5 Hamilton NESCAC 19–4–4 At–Large 1st Never
6 Plattsburgh State SUNYAC 17–9–1 Tournament Champion 19th 2015
7 Endicott CCC 23–3–2 Tournament Champion 1st Never
8 Salem State MASCAC 15–9–3 Tournament Champion 9th 2016

Format

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The tournament featured four rounds of play. All rounds were Single-game elimination.

Because at least four western teams qualified, the tournament was arranged so that there were two eastern and two western quarterfinal brackets. The top two teams from each region were placed in separate quarterfinal brackets and then arranged so that were all to reach the semifinals the top western seed would play the second eastern seed and vice versa.

Since four western teams and eight eastern teams qualified for the tournament all western teams received byes into the quarterfinal round while all eastern teams began in the First Round. The eastern teams were arranged so that the first seed would play the eighth seed, the second seed would play the seventh seed, the third seed would play the sixth seed and the fourth seed would play the fifth seed.

The winner between the fourth- and fifth-seeded eastern teams would play the victor of the first- and eighth-seeded match while the winner between the third- and sixth-seeded eastern teams would play the victor of the second- and seventh-seeded match.

The western teams were arranged so that the first seeded team would play the fourth seeded team while the second seeded team would play the third seeded team.

In the First Round and Quarterfinals the higher-seeded team served as host.

Tournament Bracket

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First Round
March 11
Quarterfinals
March 18
Semifinals
March 24
National Championship
March 25
            
W2 Adrian 6
W3 Wisconsin–Stevens Point 3
W2 Adrian 4
E1 Norwich (1) 5*
E1 Norwich (1) 3
E8 Salem State 1
E1 Norwich (1) 6
E5 Hamilton 2
E4 Oswego State 1
E5 Hamilton 3
E1 Norwich (1) 4
E3 Trinity 1
W1 St. Norbert 4*
W4 Augsburg 3
W1 St. Norbert 2
E3 Trinity 3
E2 Hobart 3
E7 Endicott 4
E7 Endicott 1
E3 Trinity 2**
E3 Trinity 4
E6 Plattsburgh State 1

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

[1]

  • G: Ty Reichenbach (Norwich)
  • D: Jake Erickson (Norwich)
  • D: Joey Colatarci (Adrian)
  • F: Ryan Cole (Trinity)
  • F: William Pelletier* (Norwich)
  • F: Tyler Whitney (Trinity)

* Most Outstanding Player(s)

Record by conference

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Conference # of Bids Record Win % Frozen Four Championship Game Champions
NESCAC 2 4–2 .667 1 1 -
NCHA 2 2–2 .500 2 - -
SUNYAC 2 0–2 .000 - - -
NEHC 1 4–0 1.000 1 1 1
CCC 1 1–1 .500 - - -
WIAC 1 0–1 .000 - - -
ECAC West 1 0–1 .000 - - -
MIAC 1 0–1 .000 - - -
MASCAC 1 0–1 .000 - - -

References

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  1. ^ "Division III Men's Ice Hockey 2017". NCAA. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
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