2015 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament

The 2015 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was played between March 13 and March 21, 2015, at four conference arenas and the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. By winning the tournament, Minnesota State was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Format

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The first round of the postseason tournament features a best-of-three games format. The top eight or ten conference teams participate in the tournament. Teams are 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 earn home ice and host one of the lower seeded teams.

The winners of the first round series advance to the Xcel Energy Center for the WCHA Final Five, a holdover from previous tournaments where it was used as the collective name of the quarterfinal, semifinal, and championship rounds. The Final Five uses a single-elimination format. Teams are re-seeded No. 1 through No. 4 according to the final regular season conference standings.[1]

Conference standings

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

Conference record Overall record
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#7 Minnesota State †* 28 21 4 3 45 98 47 40 29 8 3 145 77
#9 Michigan Tech 28 21 5 2 44 103 48 41 29 10 2 144 74
#18 Bowling Green 28 17 8 3 37 87 66 39 23 11 5 119 93
Alaska^ 28 14 12 2 30 75 69 34 19 13 2 92 81
Bemidji State 28 12 11 5 29 73 62 38 16 17 5 101 90
Ferris State 28 13 14 1 27 66 58 40 18 20 2 88 88
Northern Michigan 28 11 13 4 26 59 71 38 14 18 6 86 100
Alabama–Huntsville 28 7 20 1 15 44 95 38 8 26 4 62 121
Lake Superior State 28 7 20 1 15 44 91 38 8 28 2 60 131
Alaska Anchorage 28 5 21 2 12 52 94 34 8 22 4 70 107
Championship: March 21, 2015
† indicates conference regular season champion (MacNaughton Cup); * indicates conference tournament champion (Broadmoor Trophy)
^ indicates ineligible for postseason play due to NCAA sanctions
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll; updated March 9, 2015

Bracket

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Teams are reseeded after the first round

First round
March 13–15
Semifinals
March 20
Championship
March 21
           
1 Minnesota State 9 4
8 Lake Superior State 2 2
1 Minnesota State 4
5 Ferris State 0
2 Michigan Tech 1*** 3
7 Alabama–Huntsville 0 0
1 Minnesota State 5
(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
2 Michigan Tech 2
3 Bowling Green 3* 4
6 Northern Michigan 2 1
2 Michigan Tech 5
3 Bowling Green 2
4 Bemidji State 1 2
5 Ferris State 4 3***

Note: * denotes overtime periods

Results

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First round

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All times are local.

(1) Minnesota State vs. (8) Lake Superior State

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March 13, 2015
7:00 pm CDT
(8) Lake Superior State2 – 9
(1–2, 1–4, 0–3)
(1) Minnesota StateVerizon Wireless Center, Mankato, MN
Attendance: 3,325
Game reference
Gordon Defiel (40:00)
Aaron Davis (20:00)
GoaliesStephon WilliamsReferees:
Keith Sergott
Kevin Langseth
Linesmen:
Matt Anderson
Rick Nelson
0 – 19:12 – pp - Max Gaede (Jutzi, J. Nelson)
Stephen Perfetto – 10:141 – 1
1 – 216:08 - pp - Bryce Gervais (Lafontaine, Leitner)
Gus Correale (Drapluk, Renz) - pp - 1:062 – 2
2 – 35:18 - Casey Nelson
2 – 47:35 - Brett Knowles (J. Nelson, Gaede)
2 – 513:30 - pp - Matt Leitner (Franklin, C. Nelson)
2 – 617:23 - pp - Matt Leitner (Lafontaine, Gervais)
2 – 71:01 - Chase Grant (Lafontaine, Blueger)
2 – 85:32 - pp - Dylan Margonari (Flanagan)
2 – 912:42 - pp - Jean-Paul Lafontaine (Jutzi, Knowles)
30 minPenalties6 min
18Shots59
March 14, 2015
7:00 pm CDT
(8) Lake Superior State2 – 4
(0–1, 1–1, 1–2)
(1) Minnesota StateVerizon Wireless Center, Mankato, MN
Attendance: 3,685
Game reference
Gordon DefielGoaliesStephon WilliamsReferees:
Keith Sergott
Kevin Langseth
Linesmen:
Matt Anderson
Rick Nelson
0 – 13:21 - Bryce Gervais (Franklin, Leitner)
0 – 22:24 - Dylan Margonari (Stepan, Flanagan)
Ryan Renz (Drapluk, Perfetto) - pp - 12:591 – 2
1 – 30:46 - pp - Brad McClure (Palmquist, C. Nelson)
Austin McKay (Patterson, Spratte) - 7:292 – 3
2 – 417:46 - Dylan Margonari (McClure)
12 minPenalties6 min
22Shots36

(2) Michigan Tech vs. (7) Alabama–Huntsville

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March 13, 2015
7:00 pm EDT
(7) Alabama–Huntsville0 – 1 (3OT)
(0–0, 0–0, 0–0, 0–0, 0–0, 0–1)
(2) Michigan TechMacInnes Student Ice Arena, Houghton, MI
Attendance: 3,038
Game reference
Carmine GuerrieroGoaliesJamie PhillipsReferees:
Brad Albers
Brett Klosowski
Linesmen:
Dan Juopperi
Jamie Grace
0 – 118:49 - Tyler Heinonen (Vallis, Auk)
29 minPenalties12 min
32Shots77
March 14, 2015
7:00 pm EDT
(7) Alabama–Huntsville0 – 3
(0–1, 0–1, 0–1)
(2) Michigan TechMacInnes Student Ice Arena, Houghton, MI
Attendance: 3,629
Game reference
Carmine GuerrieroGoaliesJamie PhillipsReferees:
Brad Albers
Brett Klosowski
Linesmen:
Dan Juopperi
Jamie Grace
0 – 114:35 - Blake Hietala (Kero, Heinonen)
0 – 24:43 - pp - Tanner Kero (Heinonen, Hietala)
0 – 35:45 - Mark Auk
14 minPenalties6 min
18Shots45

(3) Bowling Green vs. (6) Northern Michigan

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March 13, 2015
7:00 pm EDT
(6) Northern Michigan2 – 3 (OT)
(0–0, 1–0, 1–2, 0–1)
(3) Bowling GreenBGSU Ice Arena, Bowling Green, OH
Attendance: 1,475
Game reference
Michael DoanGoaliesTommy BurkeReferees:
Chris Perrault
Tony Czech
Linesmen:
Paul Tunison
Erik Froberg
Shane Sooth (Shine, Seckel) - 7:171 – 0
1 – 110:48 - Mitchell McLain (Pohlkamp, Kucera)
Luke Eibler (Sooth) - 16:292 – 1
2 – 218:36 - Mark Cooper (Valleau)
2 – 319:32 - Tyler Spezia (DeSalvo, Berkle)
20 minPenalties19 min
40Shots52
March 14, 2015
7:00 pm EDT
(6) Northern Michigan1 – 4
(0–0, 1–2, 0–2)
(3) Bowling GreenBGSU Ice Arena, Bowling Green, OH
Attendance: 1,915
Game reference
Michael DoanGoaliesTommy BurkeReferees:
Chris Perrault
Tony Czech
Linesmen:
Paul Tunison
Erik Froberg
Zach Diamantoni (Nowick, Payne) - 8:551 – 0
1 – 19:59 - Tyler Spezia (DeSalvo, Walker)
1 – 214:17 - Brandon Hawkins (Cooper)
1 – 313:24 - Brandon Hawkins (Walker, Cooper)
1 – 418:52 - pp - Brent Tate (Berkle, Valleau)
49 minPenalties8 min
20Shots42

(4) Bemidji State vs. (5) Ferris State

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March 13, 2015
7:30 pm CDT
(5) Ferris State4 – 1
(1–0, 2–0, 1–1)
(4) Bemidji StateSanford Center, Bemidji, MN
Attendance: 2,218
Game reference
C. J. MotteGoaliesMichael BitzerReferees:
Butch Mousseaux
Pete Friesema
Linesmen:
Matt Tyree
Matt Ulwilling
Zach Szajner (Mayer, Maloney) - 11:041 – 0
Ryan Lowney (Dorantes, Mayhew) - 15:072 – 0
Gerald Mayhew (Panetta) - 17:293 – 0
3 – 113:24 - pp - Gerry Fitzgerald (L. Fitzgerald, Arentz)
Kenny Babinski (Buzzeo, McDonald) - en - 17:494 – 1
6 minPenalties6 min
19Shots22
March 14, 2015
7:00 pm CDT
(5) Ferris State3 – 2 (3 OT)
(1–0, 0–1, 1–1, 0–0, 0–0, 1–0)
(4) Bemidji StateSanford Center, Bemidji, MN
Attendance: 2,279
Game reference
C. J. MotteGoaliesMichael BitzerReferees:
Butch Mousseaux
Pete Friesema
Linesmen:
Matt Tyree
Matt Ulwilling
Andrew Dorantes (Anselmini, Binkley) - pp - 15:171 – 0
1 – 112:48 - Graeme McCormack (Brewer, Bauman)
Justin Buzzeo (Babinski) - 6:002 – 1
2 – 211:23 - Brendan Harms (Beauvais, O'Connor)
Kyle Schempp (Lowney, Robertson) - pp - 6:403 – 2
14 minPenalties6 min
44Shots50

Semifinals

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All times are local (UTC−5).

(3) Bowling Green vs. (2) Michigan Tech

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March 20, 2015
4:00 pm CDT
(3) Bowling Green2 – 5
(1–2, 0–0, 1–3)
(2) Michigan TechXcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Attendance: 6,844
Game reference
Tommy BurkeGoaliesJamie PhillipsReferees:
Butch Mousseaux
Pete Friesema
Linesmen:
Paul Tunison
Eric Froberg
Mitchell McLain (Mercier, Burke) - 9:401 – 0
1 – 111:29 - Reid Sturos (Auk, Pietila)
1 – 216:49 - Tyler Heinonen (Johnstone, Watson)
Brent Tate (Mingo, Walker) - 2:162 – 2
2 – 35:23 - Tyler Heinonen (Johnstone, Neville)
2 – 47:54 - Michael Neville (Auk, Johnstone)
2 – 518:12 - en - Joel L'Esperance (Heinonen)
2 minPenalties6 min
24Shots32

(5) Ferris State vs. (1) Minnesota State

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March 20, 2015
7:30 pm CDT
(5) Ferris State0 – 4
(0–1, 0–2, 0–1)
(1) Minnesota StateXcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Attendance: 6,844
Game reference
C. J. MotteGoaliesStephon WilliamsReferees:
Kevin Langseth
Chris Perrault
Linesmen:
Matt Ulwelling
Matt Tyree
0 – 112:24 - Brad McClure
0 – 215:18 - Brad McClure (C. Nelson, Jutzi)
0 – 318:16 - pp - C. J. Franklin (McClure, Williams)
0 – 417:57 - en - Bryce Gervais
10 minPenalties8 min
25Shots25

Championship

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All times are local (UTC−5).

(2) Michigan Tech vs. (1) Minnesota State

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March 21, 2015
6:00 pm CDT
(2) Michigan Tech2 – 5
(1–1, 1–0, 0–4)
(1) Minnesota StateXcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Attendance: 8,204
Game reference
Jamie PhillipsGoaliesStephon WilliamsReferees:
Kevin Langseth
Chris Perrault
Linesmen:
Matt Ulwelling
Matt Tyree
Blake Pietila (Johnstone, Hanna) - pp - 6:041 – 0
1 – 19:28 - Chase Grant (Stern, Blueger)
Alex Petan (Hanna, Johnstone) - pp - 2:442 – 1
2 – 28:08 - Jordan Nelson (Huntebrinker, Stern)
2 – 311:29 - Brad McClure (Huntebrinker, Palmquist)
2 – 414:25 - pp - Brad McClure (Blueger, Jutzi)
2 – 518:40 - pp - Brad McClure (Palmquist, Flanagan)
14 minPenalties6 min
25Shots28

Tournament awards

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* Most Valuable Player[2]

References

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  1. ^ "WCHA playoff central". U.S. College Hockey Online. Archived from the original on March 26, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  2. ^ "Final Five MVP McClure Scores Three as Minnesota State Repeats as Broadmoor Trophy Champions". Western Collegiate Hockey Association. March 21, 2015. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
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