The 1988 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 29th conference playoff in league history and 36th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between February 25 and March 7, 1988. First round games were played at home team campus sites while all 'Final Four' matches were held, for the first time, at the Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. This was the first year in the tournament's history that the championship game was held at a neutral site which it would continue to do henceforward (as of 2014). By winning the tournament, Wisconsin was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 1988 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Additionally, this was the first season that the WCHA named a tournament MVP as well as an All-Tournament Team.

Format

The first round of the postseason tournament featured a best-of-three games format. Teams 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.

The winners of the first round series advanced to the semifinal and championship rounds held at the Civic Center. All Final Four games used a single-elimination format. Teams 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 game and the losers competing in a Third Place contest. The Tournament Champion received an automatic bid to the 1988 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Conference standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against

1987–88 Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings
Conference Overall
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Minnesota†352870561671074434100209125
Wisconsin*3522121451631254530132205161
Denver3519142401691523920172184170
Michigan Tech3519151391651584120201189188
North Dakota3516181331471404221201174160
Minnesota-Duluth3515182321431554118212163179
Northern Michigan3514174321451474016204164159
Colorado College3533117102206384331111222
Championship: Wisconsin
† indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion

[4]

Bracket

Teams are reseeded after the first round

First Round
February 25–28 		Semifinals
March 6 		Championship
March 7
           
1 Minnesota 7 5 —
8 Colorado College 0 0 —
1 Minnesota 6
6 Minnesota-Duluth 1
2 Wisconsin 2* 5 —
7 Northern Michigan 1 4 —
1 Minnesota 2
(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
2 Wisconsin 3
3 Denver 2 3 —
6 Minnesota-Duluth 5 7 —
2 Wisconsin 2 Third place
5 North Dakota 1
4 Michigan Tech 4 6 3 5 North Dakota 6
5 North Dakota 5 3 4* 6 Minnesota-Duluth 0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

First round

(1) Minnesota vs. (8) Colorado College

February 26 Minnesota 7 – 0 Colorado College Mariucci Arena
February 27 Minnesota 5 – 0 Colorado College Mariucci Arena
Minnesota won series 2–0

(2) Wisconsin vs. (7) Northern Michigan

February 25 Wisconsin 2 – 1 OT Northern Michigan Dane County Coliseum
February 26 Wisconsin 5 – 4 Northern Michigan Dane County Coliseum
Wisconsin won series 2–0

(3) Denver vs. (6) Minnesota-Duluth

February 26 Denver 2 – 5 Minnesota-Duluth DU Arena
February 27 Denver 3 – 7 Minnesota-Duluth DU Arena
Minnesota-Duluth won series 2–0

(4) Michigan Tech vs. (5) North Dakota

February 26 Michigan Tech 4 – 5 North Dakota Student Ice Arena
February 27 Michigan Tech 6 – 3 North Dakota Student Ice Arena
February 28 Michigan Tech 3 – 4 OT North Dakota Student Ice Arena
North Dakota won series 2–1

Semifinals

(1) Minnesota vs. (6) Minnesota-Duluth

March 6 Minnesota 6 – 0 Minnesota-Duluth Civic Center

(2) Wisconsin vs. (5) North Dakota

March 6 Wisconsin 2 – 1 North Dakota Civic Center

Third Place

(5) North Dakota vs. (6) Minnesota-Duluth

March 7 North Dakota 6 – 0 Minnesota-Duluth Civic Center

Championship

(1) Minnesota vs. (2) Wisconsin

March 7 Minnesota 2 – 3 Wisconsin Civic Center

Tournament awards

All-Tournament Team

* Most Valuable Player(s)

[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Wisconsin Men's Team History". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Jeff Sauer Year-by-Year Coaching Record". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  3. ↑ "WCHA Awards". College Hockey Historical Archive. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  4. ↑ "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 113-128" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  5. ↑ "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 129-144" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
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