1996 Hockey East men's ice hockey tournament

The 1996 Hockey East Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 12th tournament in the history of the conference. It was played between March 7 and March 16, 1996. Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the final four games were, for the first time, played at the Fleet Center in Boston, Massachusetts, the home venue of the NHL's Boston Bruins. By winning the tournament, Providence received the Hockey East's automatic bid to the 1996 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Format

edit

The tournament featured three rounds of play. The team that finishes ninth in the conference is not eligible for tournament play. In the first round, the first and eighth seeds, the second and seventh seeds, the third seed and sixth seeds, and the fourth seed and fifth seeds played a best-of-three with the winner advancing to the semifinals. In the semifinals, the highest and lowest seeds and second-highest and second-lowest seeds play a single elimination game, with the winners advancing to the championship game and the losers meeting in a third-place game. The tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the 1996 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Conference standings

edit

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

Conference Overall
GP W L T SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Boston University 24 17 5 2 1 90 132 79 40 30 7 3 236 125
Massachusetts–Lowell 24 16 6 2 1 85 114 96 40 26 10 4 200 156
Maine 24 14 6 4 2 80 102 75 39 26 9 4 164 112
Providence* 24 12 9 3 0 66 83 83 39 21 15 3 142 135
Boston College 24 12 10 2 1 65 89 102 36 16 17 3 126 147
New Hampshire 24 8 12 4 1 49 99 103 34 12 18 4 139 150
Northeastern 24 6 13 5 5 45 79 93 36 10 21 5 118 145
Massachusetts 24 4 16 6 4 36 81 120 35 10 19 6 119 161
Merrimack 24 4 18 2 0 24 83 111 34 10 19 5 123 130
Championship: Providence
indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion
Final rankings: USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Coaches Poll Top 10 Poll

Bracket

edit

[4] Teams are reseeded after the quarterfinals

Quarterfinals
March 7–9
Semifinals
March 15
Championship
March 16
           
1 Boston University 5 14
8 Massachusetts 2 1
1 Boston University 4
4 Providence 5
2 Massachusetts-Lowell 7 4
7 Northeastern 3 3
3 Maine 2
(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
4 Providence 3
3 Maine 4 8
6 New Hampshire 2 4
2 Massachusetts-Lowell 2 Third Place
3 Maine 5
4 Providence 5 4 1 Boston University 7
5 Boston College 2 2 2 Massachusetts-Lowell 3

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Quarterfinals

edit

(1) Boston University vs. (8) Massachusetts

edit
March 8 Boston University 5 – 2 Massachusetts Walter Brown Arena
March 9 Boston University 14 – 1 Massachusetts Walter Brown Arena
Boston University won series 2–0


(2) Massachusetts-Lowell vs. (7) Northeastern

edit
March 8 Massachusetts-Lowell 7 – 3 Northeastern Tully Forum
March 9 Massachusetts-Lowell 4 – 3 Northeastern Tully Forum
Massachusetts-Lowell won series 2–0


(3) Maine vs. (6) New Hampshire

edit
March 7 Maine 4 – 2 New Hampshire Alfond Arena
March 8 Maine 8 – 4 New Hampshire Alfond Arena
Maine won series 2–0


(4) Providence vs. (5) Boston College

edit
March 7 Providence 5 – 2 Boston College Schneider Arena
March 8 Providence 4 – 2 Boston College Schneider Arena
Providence won series 2–0


Semifinals

edit

(1) Boston University vs. (4) Providence

edit
March 15 Boston University 4 – 5 Providence Fleet Center


(2) Massachusetts-Lowell vs. (3) Maine

edit
March 15 Massachusetts-Lowell 2 – 5 Maine Fleet Center


Third Place

edit

(1) Boston University vs. (2) Massachusetts-Lowell

edit
March 16 Boston University 7 – 3 Massachusetts-Lowell Fleet Center


Championship

edit

(3) Maine vs. (4) Providence

edit
March 16 Maine 2 – 3 Providence Fleet Center


Tournament awards

edit

* Tournament MVP(s)

[5]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Providence Men's Team History". Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  2. ^ "Paul Pooley Year-by-Year Coaching Record". Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  3. ^ "Hockey East Awards". College Hockey Historical Archive. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  4. ^ "Hockey East Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archive. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  5. ^ "2013-14 Hockey East Media Guide". Hockey East. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
edit