1976 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

The 1976 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament was the culmination of the 1975–76 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, the 29th such tournament in NCAA history. It was held between March 25 and 27, 1976, and concluded with Minnesota defeating Michigan Tech 6–4. All games were played at the University of Denver Arena in Denver, Colorado.

Qualifying teams

Four teams qualified for the tournament, two each from the eastern and western regions. The ECAC tournament champion and the two WCHA tournament co-champions received automatic bids into the tournament. An at-large bid was offered to a second eastern team based upon both their ECAC tournament finish as well as their regular season record.

East							West
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid	Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid
1	Boston University	ECAC Hockey	25–3–0	Tournament champion	11th	1975	1	Michigan Tech	WCHA	33–8–0	Tournament co-champion	9th	1975
2	Brown	ECAC Hockey	22–6–0	At-Large	3rd	1965	2	Minnesota	WCHA	26–14–2	Tournament co-champion	7th	1975

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Format

The ECAC champion was seeded as the top eastern team while the WCHA co-champion with the better regular season record was given the top western seed. The second eastern seed was slotted to play the top western seed and vice versa. All games were played at the University of Denver Arena. All matches were Single-game eliminations with the semifinal winners advancing to the national championship game and the losers playing in a consolation game. Minnesota and Michigan Tech squared off in the championship game for the third straight year, with Michigan Tech having won in '75 and Minnesota in '74.

Bracket

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	Semifinals March 25–26					National championship March 27
	E1	Boston University	2
	W2	Minnesota	4
						W2	Minnesota	6
						W1	Michigan Tech	4
	W1	Michigan Tech	7*
	E2	Brown	6			Third-place game
						E1	Boston University	7
						E2	Brown	8

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Semifinal

(W1) Michigan Tech vs. (E2) Brown

March 25

Michigan Tech

7 – 6

OT

Brown

University of Denver Arena

(E1) Boston University vs. (W2) Minnesota

March 26

Boston University

2 – 4

Minnesota

University of Denver Arena

Third-place game

(E1) Boston University vs. (E2) Brown

March 27

Boston University

7 – 8

Brown

University of Denver Arena

National Championship

(W1) Michigan Tech vs. (W2) Minnesota

March 27

Michigan Tech

4 – 6

Minnesota

University of Denver Arena

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	MTU	Warren Young	Joelson, Dempsey	7:55	1–0 MTU
	MTU	Warren Young	Joelson and Decker	10:36	2–0 MTU
	MTU	Jim Murray	Jessee	11:31	3–0 MTU
	MIN	Tom Vannelli – PP	Younghans and Phippen	17:05	3–1 MTU
2nd	MIN	Joe Micheletti	Larson and Vannelli	22:55	3–2 MTU
	MIN	Bill Baker	Vannelli and Phippen	30:26	3–3
	MIN	Tom Gorence	Larson	32:47	4–3 MIN
	MTU	Nels Goddard	Roberts and Zuke	39:24	4–4
3rd	MIN	Pat Phippen – GW	Vannelli and Larson	48:37	5–4 MIN
	MIN	Warren Miller	Phippen and Vannelli	59:30	6–4 MIN

All-Tournament team

None Selected

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Most Outstanding Player(s)

Tom Vannelli

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References