2006 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

The 2006 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament involved 16 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college ice hockey. It began on March 24, 2006, and ended with the championship game on April 8. A total of 15 games were played.

The tournament is remembered for the win by Holy Cross over Minnesota which is typically considered one of if not the biggest upset in tournament history.^[1]

Game locations

The NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Championship is a single-elimination tournament featuring 16 teams representing all six Division I conferences in the nation. The Championship Committee seeds the entire field from 1 to 16 within four regionals of 4 teams. The winners of the six Division I conference championships receive automatic bids to participate in the NCAA Championship. Regional placements are based primarily on the home location of the top seed in each bracket with an attempt made to put the top-ranked teams close to their home site.

Regional Sites

• East – Pepsi Arena, Albany, New York — Host: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the ECAC Hockey League
• Midwest – Resch Center, Green Bay, Wisconsin — Host: Michigan Technological University
• Northeast – DCU Center, Worcester, Massachusetts — Host: Boston University
• West – Ralph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, North Dakota — Host: University of North Dakota

Frozen Four

• Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin — Host: University of Wisconsin–Madison

Qualifying teams

The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament was announced on March 19, 2006.^[2] The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), Hockey East and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) each had four teams receive a berth in the tournament, the ECACHL had two teams receive a berth in the tournament, while Atlantic Hockey and College Hockey America (CHA) both received a single bid for their tournament champions.

Midwest Regional – Green Bay							West Regional – Grand Forks
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid	Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid
1	Wisconsin (1)	WCHA	26–10–3	At-large bid	22nd	2005	1	Minnesota (2)	WCHA	27–8–5	At-large bid	30th	2005
2	Cornell	ECACHL	21–8–4	At-large bid	16th	2005	2	North Dakota	WCHA	27–15–1	Tournament champion	21st	2005
3	Colorado College	WCHA	24–15–2	At-large bid	18th	2005	3	Michigan	CCHA	21–14–5	At-large bid	29th	2005
4	Bemidji State	CHA	20–13–3	Tournament champion	2nd	2005	4	Holy Cross	Atlantic Hockey	26–9–2	Tournament champion	2nd	2004
Northeast Regional – Worcester							East Regional – Albany
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid	Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid
1	Boston University (3)	Hockey East	25–9–4	Tournament champion	29th	2005	1	Michigan State (4)	CCHA	24–11–8	Tournament champion	24th	2005
2	Miami	CCHA	26–8–4	At-large bid	4th	2004	2	Harvard	ECACHL	21–11–2	Tournament champion	21st	2005
3	Boston College	Hockey East	23–12–3	At-large bid	26th	2005	3	Maine	Hockey East	26–11–2	At-large bid	16th	2005
4	Nebraska-Omaha	CCHA	20–14–6	At-large bid	1st	Never	4	New Hampshire	Hockey East	20–12–7	At-large bid	16th	2005

Number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.

^[3]

Brackets

Frozen Four

	National semifinals April 6					National championship April 8
	E3	Maine	2
	MW1	Wisconsin	5
						MW1	Wisconsin	2
						NE3	Boston College	1
	W2	North Dakota	5
	NE3	Boston College	6

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

East Regional

^[4]

Regional semifinals

(1) Michigan State vs. (4) New Hampshire

March 25[5]	Michigan State		1 – 0		New Hampshire	Pepsi Arena	Recap
(Kennedy, Abdelkader) Tim Crowder – GW – 02:14		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
( 36 saves / 36 shots ) Jeff Lerg		Goalie stats			Jeff Pietrasiak ( 29 saves / 30 shots )

(2) Harvard vs. (3) Maine

March 25[6]	Harvard		1 – 6		Maine	Pepsi Arena	Recap
(Coskren, Johnson) Mike Taylor – 09:32		First period			08:16 – Josh Soares (Léveillé) 09:57 – GW – Bret Tyler
No scoring		Second period			07:49 – John Hopson (Hahn, Hopson) 09:57 – Michel Léveillé
No scoring		Third period			16:24 – EN – Greg Moore (Léveillé) 19:20 – PP – Brent Shepheard (Bellamy)
( 38 saves / 43 shots ) John Dagineau		Goalie stats			Ben Bishop ( 25 saves / 26 shots )

Regional Finals

(1) Michigan State vs. (3) Maine

March 26[7]	Michigan State		4 – 5		Maine	Pepsi Arena	Recap
(Booth, Kennedy) Tim Crowder – PP – 19:16		First period			03:13 – Matt Duffy (Damon) 10:21 – John Hopson (Hamilton, Hopson) 16:38 – PP – John Hopson (Duffy, Hopson)
(Kennedy, Booth) Tim Crowder – PP – 08:00 (Lerg, Mueller) Jim McKenzie – 19:00		Second period			03:35 – PP – Derek Damon (Soares, Lundin)
Drew Miller – 19:55		Third period			19:23 – GW EN – Greg Moore (Soares)
( 29 saves / 33 shots ) Jeff Lerg		Goalie stats			Ben Bishop ( 33 saves / 37 shots )

Midwest Regional

Regional semifinals

(1) Wisconsin vs. (4) Bemidji State

March 25[8]	Wisconsin		4 – 0		Bemidji State	Resch Center	Recap
(Joudrey, Burish) Joe Pavelski – GW PP – 17:07		First period			No scoring
Joe Pavelski – 00:26 (Burish) Jake Dowell – 17:30		Second period			No scoring
(Gilbert, Joudrey) Joe Pavelski – PP – 06:38		Third period			No scoring
( 15 saves / 15 shots ) Brian Elliott		Goalie stats			Layne Sedevie ( 41 saves / 45 shots )

(2) Cornell vs. (3) Colorado College

March 25[9]	Cornell		3 – 2		Colorado College	Resch Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period			04:57 – PP – Brian Salcido (Sertich, McCulloch) 16:49 – PP – Jack Hillen (Sertich, Sterling)
(Moulson, Seminoff) Topher Scott – PP – 16:44		Second period			No scoring
(Carefoot) Matt Moulson – 04:50 (Sawada, Abbott) Jon Gleed – GW – 09:20		Third period			No scoring
( 20 saves / 22 shots ) David McKee		Goalie stats			Matt Zaba ( 20 saves / 23 shots )

Regional Finals

(1) Wisconsin vs. (2) Cornell

March 26[10]	Wisconsin		1 – 0	3OT	Cornell	Resch Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
(Engel) Jack Skille – GW – 11:13		Third overtime period			No scoring
( 40 saves / 40 shots ) Brian Elliott		Goalie stats			David McKee ( 59 saves / 60 shots )

Northeast Regional

Regional semifinals

(1) Boston University vs. (4) Nebraska-Omaha

March 24[11]	Boston University		9 – 2		Nebraska-Omaha	DCU Center	Recap
(Sullivan, MacArthur) Bryan Ewing – PP – 18:24		First period			03:32 – Bill Thomas (Betts, Krischuk)
(Lawrence, Yip) Chris Higgins – 04:53 (Laliberte, Van der Gulik) Dan Spang – GW – 07:52 (Lawrence, Yip) Chris Higgins – 08:38 (Ewing, MacArthur) Kenny Roche – 08:59 (Sullivan) Chris Higgins – 10:24 (Roche, Yip) Bryan Ewing – PP – 17:17		Second period			08:06 – Tomas Klempa (Charleston, Platisha)
(Morrow, Redlihs) Ryan Weston – PP – 08:04 (Sullivan, Weston) Brian McGuirk – PP – 13:13		Third period			No scoring
( 17 saves / 19 shots ) John Curry / ( 3 saves / 3 shots ) Stephan Siwiec		Goalie stats			Jerad Kaufmann ( 28 saves / 37 shots ) / Eric Aarnio ( 1 saves / 1 shots )

(2) Miami vs. (3) Boston College

March 24[12]	Miami		0 – 5		Boston College	DCU Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			00:34 – GW PP – Benn Ferriero (Collins, Harrold) 03:14 – PP – Benn Ferriero (Boyle, Motherwell) 18:35 – Dan Bertram (Gionta)
No scoring		Third period			13:00 – EN – Chris Collins 19:32 – EN – Mike Brennan
( 26 saves / 29 shots ) Charlie Effinger		Goalie stats			Cory Schneider ( 33 saves / 33 shots )

Regional Finals

(1) Boston University vs. (3) Boston College

March 25[13]	Boston University		0 – 5		Boston College	DCU Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period			06:24 – GW – Brian Boyle
No scoring		Second period			04:40 – Matt Greene (Rooney, Gionta) 13:22 – SH – Joe Rooney (Ferriero, Boyle) 16:00 – SH – Joe Rooney (Gionta)
No scoring		Third period			14:26 – Benn Ferriero (Rooney, Motherwell)
( 26 saves / 31 shots ) John Curry		Goalie stats			Cory Schneider ( 28 saves / 28 shots )

West Regional

Regional semifinals

(1) Minnesota vs. (4) Holy Cross

March 24[14]	Minnesota		3 – 4	OT	Holy Cross	Ralph Engelstad Arena	Recap
No Scoring		First period			No scoring
(Guyer) Mike Howe – SH – 13:15 (Kaufmann, Harrington) Phil Kessel – 15:45		Second period			08:49 – Dale Reinhardt (Bartlett, McGregor) 13:46 – PP – Tyler McGregor (Sixsmith, Landry)
(Wheeler) Alex Goligoski – 02:17		Third period			07:53 – Pierre Napert-Frenette (Nappo, Landry)
No scoring		First overtime period			00:53 – GW – Tyler McGregor (Burke)
( 24 saves / 28 shots ) Kellen Briggs		Goalie stats			Tony Quesada ( 35 saves / 38 shots )

(2) North Dakota vs. (3) Michigan

March 24[15]	North Dakota		5 – 1		Michigan	Ralph Engelstad Arena	Recap
(Toews, Radke) Ryan Duncan – PP – 05:01 (Špirko, Lee) T. J. Oshie – GW PP – 07:28		First period			No scoring
(Zajac) Drew Stafford – SH – 04:08 (Duncan) Jonathan Toews – 14:39		Second period			04:30 – PP – Chad Kolarik (Kaleniecki, Hunwick)
(Oshie) Travis Zajac – 14:42		Third period			No scoring
( 34 saves / 35 shots ) Jordan Parise		Goalie stats			Noah Ruden ( 28 saves / 33 shots )

Regional Finals

(2) North Dakota vs. (4) Holy Cross

March 25[16]	North Dakota		5 – 2		Holy Cross	Ralph Engelstad Arena	Recap
(Duncan, Radke) Jonathan Toews – 01:18 (Toews, Smaby) Ryan Duncan – PP – 15:16		First period			No scoring
(Stafford, Duncan) Matt Smaby – GW PP – 17:23		Second period			03:07 – Matt Werry (Tselikis)
(Lee, Oshie) Travis Zajac – PP – 06:48 (Porter) Matt Watkins – 09:03		Third period			05:21 – PP – Blair Bartlett (McGregor, Reinhardt)
( 17 saves / 19 shots ) Jordan Parise		Goalie stats			Tony Quesada ( 27 saves / 32 shots )

Frozen Four

^[17]

National semifinal

(MW1) Wisconsin vs. (E3) Maine

April 6[18]	Wisconsin		5 – 2		Maine	Bradley Center	Recap
(Paveksli, Earl) Adam Burish – 10:11		First period			17:37 – Michel Léveillé (Duffy)
Ross Carlson – SH – 04:18 (Burish) Robbie Earl – GW PP – 08:16		Second period			No scoring
(Carlson, Skille) Ben Street – 12:26 (Engel) Robbie Earl – EN – 18:16		Third period			11:29 – Mike Lundin (Moore, Soares)
( 32 saves / 34 shots ) Brian Elliott		Goalie stats			Ben Bishop ( 34 saves / 38 shots )

(W2) North Dakota vs. (NE3) Boston College

April 6[19]	North Dakota		5 – 6		Boston College	Bradley Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period			07:43 – Brett Motherwell (Orpik, Gannon) 12:34 – SH – Chris Collins (Brennan) 18:08 – Chris Collins (Bradford)
(Zajac) Rastislav Špirko – SH – 04:23 (Watkins, Porter) Rylan Kaip – 13:25		Second period			15:38 – Anthony Aiello 19:37 – PP – Chris Collins (Ferriero, Schneider)
Jonathan Toews – PP – 08:11 (Stafford, Lee) Travis Zajac – SH – 15:42 (Zajac) Brian Lee – EA – 19:47		Third period			10:33 – GW – Nathan Gerbe (Filangieri)
( 26 saves / 31 shots ) Jordan Parise		Goalie stats			Cory Schneider ( 36 saves / 41 shots )

National Championship

(MW1) Wisconsin vs. (NE3) Boston College

April 8[20][21]

Wisconsin

2 – 1

Boston College

Bradley Center

Recap

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	BC	Pat Gannon (5)	Bertram	09:01	1–0 BC
2nd	WIS	Robbie Earl (24)	Burish and Pavelski	21:17	1–1
3rd	WIS	Tom Gilbert (12) – GW PP	Pavelski and Burish	49:32	2–1 WIS
Penalty summary
Period	Team	Player	Penalty	Time	PIM
1st	BC	Anthony Aiello	Interference	03:22	2:00
	BC	Dan Bertram	Holding the Stick	05:57	2:00
	WIS	Matt Olinger	Interference	11:48	2:00
	BC	Dan Bertram	Contact to Head High-Sticking	13:36	2:00
	WIS	Tom Gilbert	Contact to Head High-Sticking	13:36	2:00
	BC	Dan Bertram	Hooking	18:03	2:00
2nd	BC	Joe Rooney	Hooking	22:38	2:00
	BC	Nathan Gerbe	Roughing After The Whistle	25:03	2:00
	WIS	Andy Brandt	Roughing After The Whistle	25:03	2:00
	WIS	Jeff Likens	Contact to Head High-Sticking	26:30	2:00
3rd	WIS	Jake Dowell	Obstruction Cross-Checking	40:50	2:00
	BC	Nathan Gerbe	Interference	42:44	2:00
	WIS	Andy Brandt	Hooking	45:39	2:00
	BC	Anthony Aiello	Hooking	48:34	2:00
	BC	Tim Filangieri	Slashing	51:29	2:00
	BC	Peter Harrold	Boarding	56:32	2:00

All-Tournament team

• G: Brian Elliott (Wisconsin)
• D: Tom Gilbert (Wisconsin)
• D: Brett Motherwell (Boston College)
• F: Adam Burish (Wisconsin)
• F: Chris Collins (Boston College)
• F: Robbie Earl* (Wisconsin)

* Most Outstanding Player(s)^[22]

^[23]

Record by conference

Conference	# of Bids	Record	Win %	Regional Finals	Frozen Four	Championship Game	Champions
WCHA	4	6-3	.667	2	2	1	1
Hockey East	4	6-4	.600	3	2	1	-
CCHA	4	1-4	.200	1	-	-	-
ECACHL	2	1-2	.333	1	-	-	-
Atlantic Hockey	1	1-1	.500	1	-	-	-
CHA	1	0-1	.000	-	-	-	-

References