2008 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament

2008 NCAA Division I Men's
Ice Hockey Tournament

2008 Frozen Four logo
Season 2007–08
Teams 16
Finals Site Pepsi Center
Denver, Colorado
Champions Boston College (3rd title, 9th title game,
21st Frozen Four)
Runner-Up Notre Dame (1st title game,
1st Frozen Four)
Semifinalists Michigan (23rd Frozen Four)
North Dakota (18th Frozen Four)
Winning Coach Jerry York (3rd title)
MOP Nathan Gerbe (Boston College)
Attendance 88,971
NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments
← 2007  2009 →

The 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament involved 16 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college ice hockey. The tournament began on March 28, 2008, and ended with the championship game on April 12.[1]

Boston College, coached by Jerry York, won its third national title with a 4–1 victory in the championship game over Notre Dame, coached by Jeff Jackson.

Nathan Gerbe, junior forward for Boston College, scored five goals in the final two games and was named the Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player.[2]

Contents

Tournament procedure

The NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Championship is a single-elimination tournament featuring 16 teams representing all six Division I conferences in the nation. The Championship Committee seeds the entire field from 1 to 16 within four regionals of 4 teams. The winners of the six Division I conference championships receive automatic bids to participate in the NCAA Championship.

In setting up the tournament, the Championship Committee seeks to ensure "competitive equity, financial success and likelihood of playoff-type atmosphere at each regional site." A team serving as the host of a regional is placed within that regional. The top four teams are assigned overall seeds and placed within the bracket such that the national semifinals will feature the No. 1 seed versus the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed versus the No. 3 seed should the top four teams win their respective regional finals. Number 1 seeds are also placed as close to their home site as possible, with the No. 1 seed receiving first preference. Conference matchups are avoided in the first round; should five or more teams from one conference make the tournament, this guideline may be disregarded in favor of preserving the bracket's integrity.[3]

The four regionals are officially named after their geographic areas. The following were the sites for the 2008 regionals:[1]

March 28 and 29
East Regional, Times Union Center - Albany, New York (Hosts: ECAC Hockey and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
West Regional, World Arena - Colorado Springs, Colorado (Hosts: Colorado College and the Colorado Springs Sports Commission)
March 29 and 30
Midwest Regional, Kohl Center - Madison, Wisconsin (Host: University of Wisconsin–Madison)
Northeast Regional, DCU Center - Worcester, Massachusetts (Host: College of the Holy Cross)

Each regional winner advanced to the Frozen Four:[1]

April 10 and 12
Pepsi Center - Denver, Colorado (Hosts: University of Denver and the Metro Denver Sports Commission)

Qualifying teams

The at-large bids, along with the seeding for each team in the tournament, were announced on Sunday, March 23.[4] Six teams from the WCHA qualified for the tournament, a record for the number of teams from one conference.[5]

West Regional – Colorado Springs Midwest Regional – Madison
Seed School Conference Record Berth Type Seed School Conference Record Berth Type
1 New Hampshire Hockey East 25–9–3 At-Large Bid 1 North Dakota WCHA 26–10–4 At-Large Bid
2 Colorado College WCHA 28–11–1 At-Large Bid 2 Denver WCHA 26–13–1 Tournament Champion
3 Michigan State CCHA 24–11–5 At-Large Bid 3 Wisconsin WCHA 15–16–7 At-Large Bid
4 Notre Dame CCHA 24–15–4 At-Large Bid 4 Princeton ECAC 21–13–0 Tournament Champion
East Regional – Albany Northeast Regional – Worcester
Seed School Conference Record Berth Type Seed School Conference Record Berth Type
1 Michigan CCHA 31–5–4 Tournament Champion 1 Miami (OH) CCHA 32–7–1 At-Large Bid
2 St. Cloud State WCHA 19–15–5 At-Large Bid 2 Boston College Hockey East 21–11–8 Tournament Champion
3 Clarkson ECAC 21–12–4 At-Large Bid 3 Minnesota WCHA 19–16–9 At-Large Bid
4 Niagara CHA 22–10–4 Tournament Champion 4 Air Force Atlantic Hockey 21–11–6 Tournament Champion

Brackets

The number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.
(*) denotes overtime period(s).

East Regional – Albany, New York

  First Round[6][7]
March 28		 Regional Finals[8]
March 29
                 
1  Michigan (1) 5  
4  Niagara 1  
    1  Michigan (1) 2
  3  Clarkson 0
3  Clarkson 2
2  St. Cloud State 1  

West Regional – Colorado Springs, Colorado

  First Round[9][10]
March 28		 Regional Finals[11]
March 29
                 
1  New Hampshire (4) 3  
4  Notre Dame 7  
    4  Notre Dame 3
  3  Michigan State 1
3  Michigan State 3
2  Colorado College 1  

Midwest Regional – Madison, Wisconsin

  First Round[12][13]
March 29		 Regional Finals[14]
March 30
                 
1  North Dakota (3) 5  
4  Princeton 1  
    1  North Dakota (3) 3*
  3  Wisconsin 2 
3  Wisconsin 6
2  Denver 2  

Northeast Regional – Worcester, Massachusetts

  First Round[15][16]
March 29		 Regional Finals[17]
March 30
                 
1  Miami (OH) (2) 3*  
4  Air Force 2   
    1  Miami (OH) (2) 3 
  2  Boston College 4*
3  Minnesota 2
2  Boston College 5  

Frozen Four – Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado

  National Semifinals[18][19]
April 10		 National Championship[20]
April 12
                 
E1  Michigan (1) 4  
W4  Notre Dame 5*  
    W4  Notre Dame 1
  NE2  Boston College 4
MW1  North Dakota (3) 1
NE2  Boston College 6  

Record by conference

Conference # of Bids Record Win % Regional Finals Frozen Four Championship Game Champions
WCHA 6 3–6 .333 2 1 - -
CCHA 4 7–4 .636 4 2 1 -
ECAC Hockey 2 1–2 .333 1 - - -
Hockey East 2 4–1 .800 1 1 1 1
Atlantic Hockey 1 0–1 .000 - - - -
CHA 1 0–1 .000 - - - -

All-Tournament Team

Note: (*) denotes Most Outstanding Player(s)

References

General
Specific
  1. ^ a b c "Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship". NCAA. http://www.ncaa.com/icehockey-mens/default.aspx?id=9964. Retrieved 2008-03-23. 
  2. ^ Chambers, Mike (April 13, 2008). "Boston College wins title". The Denver Post. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_8905822. Retrieved 2008-05-06. 
  3. ^ "Bracketology: March 4, 2008". USCHO. http://www.uscho.com/news/college-hockey/id,15382/BracketologyMarch42008.html. Retrieved 2008-03-23. 
  4. ^ "D-I Men's Championship Selections Announced". NCAA. 2008-03-23. http://www.ncaa.com/icehockey-mens/article.aspx?id=155636. Retrieved 2008-03-23. 
  5. ^ "WCHA Earns Record Six Berths in NCAA Tournament". WCHA. 2008-03-23. Archived from the original on 2008-03-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20080327192345/http://wcha.cstv.com/sports/m-hockey/spec-rel/032308aab.html. Retrieved 2008-03-23. 
  6. ^ "Box Score: Niagara vs. Michigan". USCHO. 2008-03-28. http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20080328&vis=niag&home=um&gender=m. Retrieved 2008-03-29. 
  7. ^ "Box Score: Clarkson vs. St. Cloud State". USCHO. 2008-03-28. http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20080328&vis=ckn&home=scsu&gender=m. Retrieved 2008-03-29. 
  8. ^ "Box Score: Clarkson vs. Michigan". USCHO. 2008-03-29. http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20080329&vis=ckn&home=um&gender=m. Retrieved 2008-03-30. 
  9. ^ "Box Score: Notre Dame vs. New Hampshire". USCHO. 2008-03-28. http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20080328&vis=nd&home=unh&gender=m. Retrieved 2008-03-29. 
  10. ^ "Box Score: Michigan State vs. Colorado College". USCHO. 2008-03-28. http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20080328&vis=msu&home=cc&gender=m. Retrieved 2008-03-29. 
  11. ^ "Box Score: Notre Dame vs. Michigan State". USCHO. 2008-03-29. http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20080329&vis=nd&home=msu&gender=m. Retrieved 2008-03-30. 
  12. ^ "Box Score: Princeton vs. North Dakota". USCHO. 2008-03-29. http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20080329&vis=uw&home=du&gender=m. Retrieved 2008-03-30. 
  13. ^ "Box Score: Wisconsin vs. Denver". USCHO. 2008-03-29. http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20080329&vis=uw&home=du&gender=m. Retrieved 2008-03-30. 
  14. ^ "Box Score: Wisconsin vs. North Dakota". USCHO. 2008-03-30. http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20080330&vis=uw&home=und&gender=m. Retrieved 2008-03-31. 
  15. ^ "Box Score: Air Force vs. Miami". USCHO. 2008-03-29. http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20080329&vis=afa&home=mu&gender=m. Retrieved 2008-03-30. 
  16. ^ "Box Score: Minnesota vs. Boston College". USCHO. 2008-03-29. http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20080329&vis=umn&home=bc&gender=m. Retrieved 2008-03-30. 
  17. ^ "Box Score: Boston College vs. Miami". USCHO. 2008-03-30. http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20080330&vis=bc&home=mu&gender=m. Retrieved 2008-03-31. 
  18. ^ "Box Score: Notre Dame vs. Michigan". USCHO. 2008-04-10. http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20080410&vis=nd&home=um&gender=m. Retrieved 2008-04-11. 
  19. ^ "Box Score: Boston College vs. North Dakota". USCHO. 2008-04-10. http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20080410&vis=bc&home=und&gender=m. Retrieved 2008-04-11. 
  20. ^ "Box Score: Notre Dame vs. Boston College". USCHO. 2008-04-12. http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20080412&vis=nd&home=bc&gender=m. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 

External links