1991 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

The 1991 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 1990–91 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, the 44th such tournament in NCAA history. It was held between March 15 and March 30, 1991, and concluded with Northern Michigan defeating Boston University 8-7 in overtime. All First Round and Quarterfinals matchups were held at home team venues with the 'Frozen Four' games being played at the Saint Paul Civic Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

1991 NCAA Division I men's
ice hockey tournament
Teams12
Finals site
ChampionsNorthern Michigan Wildcats (1st title)
Runner-upBoston University Terriers (6th title game)
Semifinalists
Winning coachRick Comley[1] (1st title)
MOPScott Beattie (Northern Michigan)
Attendance35,938

Qualifying teams

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The NCAA permitted 12 teams to qualify for the tournament and divided its qualifiers into two regions (East and West). Each of the tournament champions from the four Division I conferences (CCHA, ECAC, Hockey East and WCHA) received automatic invitations into the tournament with At-large bids making up the remaining 8 teams. The NCAA permitted one Independent team to participate in the tournament and because the previous year the independent qualifier was placed in the East pool the two western conferences (CCHA and WCHA) would split only three open spots as opposed to the East's four open spots. The top four remaining eastern teams and the top three remaining western teams received invitations and were seeded with the automatic qualifiers according to their ranking.

East West
Seed School Conference Record Berth type Appearance Last bid Seed School Conference Record Berth type Appearance Last bid
1 Maine Hockey East 30–8–2 At-large bid 5th 1990 1 Lake Superior State CCHA 35–3–4 Tournament champion 5th 1990
2 Boston University Hockey East 25–10–2 Tournament champion 17th 1990 2 Northern Michigan WCHA 34–5–4 Tournament champion 4th 1989
3 Boston College Hockey East 27–10–0 At-large bid 18th 1990 3 Michigan CCHA 32–7–3 At-large bid 14th 1977
4 Clarkson ECAC 25–7–2 Tournament champion 11th 1990 4 Minnesota WCHA 28–7–5 At-large bid 18th 1990
5 Providence Hockey East 23–10–8 At-large bid 7th 1989 5 Wisconsin WCHA 26–13–3 At-large bid 12th 1990
6 Cornell ECAC 17–9–3 At-large bid 10th 1986 6 Alaska-Anchorage Independent 20–15–4 At-large bid 2nd 1990

[2]

Format

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The tournament featured four rounds of play. The three odd-number ranked teams from one region were placed into a bracket with the three even-number ranked teams of the other region. The teams were then seeded according to their ranking with the top two teams in each bracket receiving byes into the quarterfinals. In the first round the third and sixth seeds and the fourth and fifth seeds played best-of-three series to determine which school advanced to the Quarterfinals with the winners of the 4 vs. 5 series playing the first seed and the winner of the 3 vs. 6 series playing the second seed. In the Quarterfinals the matches were best-of-three series once more with the victors advancing to the National Semifinals. Beginning with the Semifinals all games were played at the Saint Paul Civic Center and all series became Single-game eliminations. The winning teams in the semifinals advanced to the National Championship Game.

Tournament Bracket

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First Round
March 15–17
Quarterfinals
March 22–24
Frozen Four
March 28
National Championship
March 30
E1 Maine 4 5
W4 Minnesota 3 8 8 W4 Minnesota 0 3
E5 Providence 4 4 3 E1 Maine 3
W2 Northern Michigan 5
W2 Northern Michigan 8 5
E3 Boston College 2 1 W6 Alaska Anchorage 5 3
W6 Alaska-Anchorage 3 3 W2 Northern Michigan 8***
E2 Boston University 7
W1 Lake Superior State 3 6 3
E4 Clarkson 8 5 E4 Clarkson 7 2 4
W5 Wisconsin 3 4 E4 Clarkson 3
E2 Boston University 7
E2 Boston University 4 8
W3 Michigan 4 6 9 W3 Michigan 1 1
E6 Cornell 5* 4 3

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

First round

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(E3) Boston College vs. (W6) Alaska-Anchorage

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March 15 Boston College 2 – 3 Alaska-Anchorage Conte Forum
March 16 Boston College 1 – 3 Alaska-Anchorage Conte Forum
Alaska-Anchorage won series 2–0


(E4) Clarkson vs. (W5) Wisconsin

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March 15 Clarkson 8 – 3 Wisconsin Walker Arena
March 16 Clarkson 5 – 4 Wisconsin Walker Arena
Clarkson won series 2–0


(W3) Michigan vs. (E6) Cornell

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March 15 Michigan 4 – 5 OT Cornell Yost Ice Arena
March 16 Michigan 6 – 4 Cornell Yost Ice Arena
March 17 Michigan 9 – 3 Cornell Yost Ice Arena
Michigan won series 2–1


(W4) Minnesota vs. (E5) Providence

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March 15 Minnesota 3 – 4 Providence Mariucci Arena
March 16 Minnesota 8 – 4 Providence Mariucci Arena
March 17 Minnesota 8 – 3 Providence Mariucci Arena
Minnesota won series 2–1


Quarterfinals

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(E1) Maine vs. (W4) Minnesota

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March 22 Maine 4 – 0 Minnesota Alfond Arena
March 23 Maine 5 – 3 Minnesota Alfond Arena
Maine won series 2–0


(E2) Boston University vs. (W3) Michigan

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March 22 Boston University 4 – 1 Michigan Walter Brown Arena
March 23 Boston University 8 – 1 Michigan Walter Brown Arena
Boston University won series 2–0


(W1) Lake Superior State vs. (E4) Clarkson

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March 22 Lake Superior State 3 – 7 Clarkson Taffy Abel Arena
March 23 Lake Superior State 6 – 2 Clarkson Taffy Abel Arena
March 24 Lake Superior State 3 – 4 Clarkson Taffy Abel Arena
Clarkson won series 2–1


(W2) Northern Michigan vs. (W6) Alaska-Anchorage

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March 22 Northern Michigan 8 – 5 Alaska-Anchorage Lakeview Arena
March 23 Northern Michigan 5 – 3 Alaska-Anchorage Lakeview Arena
Northern Michigan won series 2–0


Frozen Four

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National Semifinal

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(E1) Maine vs. (W2) Northern Michigan

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March 28 Maine 3 – 5 Northern Michigan Saint Paul Civic Center


(E2) Boston University vs. (E4) Clarkson

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March 28 Boston University 7 – 3 Clarkson Saint Paul Civic Center


National Championship

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(W2) Northern Michigan vs. (E2) Boston University

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March 30 Northern Michigan 8 – 7 3OT Boston University Saint Paul Civic Center [https://[3][4] Recap]


Scoring summary
Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score
1st BU Ed Ronan 1–0 BU
BU David Sacco 2–0 BU
BU Ed Ronan 3–0 BU
2nd NMU Dean Antos Werenka and Beattie 3–1 BU
NMU Mark Beaufait Melone and Soukoroff 3–2 BU
NMU Scott Beattie Melone and Scott 3–3
NMU Darryl Plandowski Frederick 4–3 NMU
NMU Scott Beattie unassisted 5–3 NMU
3rd NMU Scott Beattie unassisted 43:08 6–3 NMU
BU Dave Tomlinson 45:59 6–4 NMU
NMU Darryl Plandowski Soukoroff 48:24 7–4 NMU
BU Tony Amonte McEachern 52:24 7–5 NMU
BU Shawn McEachern Amonte 54:51 7–6 NMU
BU David Sacco Tomlinson 59:21 7–7
3rd Overtime NMU Darryl Plandowski Beaufait and Antos 81:57 8–7 NMU
Goaltenders
Team Name Saves Goals against Time on ice
NMU Bill Pye 7
BU John Bradley 5
BU Scott Cashman 3

* Most Outstanding Player(s)[5]

[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Northern Michigan Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  2. ^ "NCAA Division 1 Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archives. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  3. ^ Golden Season- Part 2: 1990-91 NMU Hockey. Six Productions. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  4. ^ Golden Season- Part 3: 1990-91 NMU Hockey. Six Productions. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  5. ^ "NCAA Division I Awards". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  6. ^ "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 17, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2013.