1970 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament

The 1970 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament was the 11th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 12 and March 14, 1970. All East Regional games were played at the Duluth Arena Auditorium in Duluth, Minnesota, while West Regional games were held at the DU Arena in Denver, Colorado. By winning the regional tournaments, both the East Regional Champion†, Michigan Tech, and West Regional Champion‡, Wisconsin, were invited to participate in the 1970 NCAA University Division men's ice hockey tournament.

Format

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The top eight teams in the WCHA, according to their final conference standings, were eligible for the tournament and were seeded No. 1 through No. 8. The eight teams were then divided into two separate groups by placing all even-numbered seeds in one group (2, 4, 6, 8) and the odd-numbered seeds (1, 3, 5, 7) in the other group. Using the location of the top seeds in each of the groups, the odd-numbered group (containing Minnesota) was placed in the east region which was held at the Duluth Arena Auditorium while the odd-numbered grouping (containing Denver) was placed in the west region which was held at the DU Arena. Once each regional group was set the teams were reseeded No. 1 to No. 4 according to their final conference standings. Because Minnesota-Duluth was placed in the West Region despite their building hosting the East Region they were swapped with the equivalent seed (Michigan State) in the East Region to allow them to play in their home venue. In the first round the first and fourth seeds and the second and third seeds in each region were matched in a single game with the winners advancing to their regional final games. The winners of the two championship games were declared as co-conference tournament champions.

Conference standings

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Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PCT = Winning percentage; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against

Conference Overall
GP W L T PCT GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Minnesota 26 18 8 0 .692 106 86 33 21 12 0 122 112
Denver 22 13 8 1 .614 96 78 32 21 10 1 153 107
Michigan Tech* 22 12 7 3 .614 98 79 34 19 12 3 148 127
Wisconsin* 22 12 10 0 .545 84 72 34 23 11 0 151 98
North Dakota 26 12 13 1 .481 98 114 30 14 15 1 115 131
Michigan 24 11 13 0 .458 106 104 30 14 16 0 133 122
Michigan State 22 10 12 0 .455 86 92 29 13 16 0 112 124
Minnesota-Duluth 24 10 13 1 .438 89 93 29 13 15 1 118 107
Colorado College 20 3 17 0 .150 70 115 30 7 22 1 117 154
Championship: Michigan Tech, Wisconsin
indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion

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Bracket

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Regional semifinals
March 12–13
Regional Finals
March 14
      
E1 Minnesota 3*
E4 Minnesota-Duluth 2
E1 Minnesota 5
East Regional
E2 Michigan Tech 6
E2 Michigan Tech 5
E3 North Dakota 3
W1 Denver 6
W4 Michigan State 2
W1 Denver 2
West Regional
W2 Wisconsin 3
W2 Wisconsin 2
W3 Michigan 1

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

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East Regional

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Semifinals

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(1) Minnesota vs. (4) Minnesota-Duluth

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March 12 Minnesota 3 – 2 OT Minnesota-Duluth Duluth Arena Auditorium


(2) Michigan Tech vs. (3) North Dakota

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March 13 Michigan Tech 5 – 3 North Dakota Duluth Arena Auditorium


Finals

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(1) Minnesota vs. (2) Michigan Tech

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March 14 Minnesota 5 – 6 Michigan Tech Duluth Arena Auditorium


West Regional

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Semifinals

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(1) Denver vs. (4) Michigan State

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March 12 Denver 6 – 2 Michigan State DU Arena


(2) Wisconsin vs. (3) Michigan

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March 13 Wisconsin 2 – 1 Michigan DU Arena


Finals

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(1) Denver vs. (2) Wisconsin

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March 14 Denver 2 – 3 Wisconsin DU Arena


Tournament awards

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None

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Michigan Tech Men's Team History". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  2. ^ "Wisconsin Men's Team History". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  3. ^ "John MacInnes Year-by-Year Coaching Record". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  4. ^ "Bob Johnson Year-by-Year Coaching Record". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  5. ^ "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 97-112" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  6. ^ "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 129-144" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
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