# 2009 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

The 2009 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 as the culmination of the 2008–09 season. The tournament began on March 27, 2009, and ended with the championship game on April 11.
Boston University, coached by Jack Parker, won its fifth national title (and first since 1995) with a 4–3 overtime victory in the championship game over Miami University, coached by Enrico Blasi. The game marked the thirteenth time the NCAA championship game has gone to overtime and the first since Minnesota's win over Maine in 2002.
Colby Cohen, sophomore defenseman for Boston University, scored the championship-winning goal in overtime and was named the Frozen Four's Most Outstanding Player.

## Tournament procedure

The 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Championship was a single-elimination tournament featuring 16 teams representing all six Division I conferences in the nation. The Championship Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 16 within four regionals of 4 teams. The winners of the six Division I conference championships received automatic bids to participate in the NCAA Championship.
In setting up the tournament, the Championship Committee sought to ensure "competitive equity, financial success and likelihood of playoff-type atmosphere at each regional site." A team serving as the host of a regional was placed within that regional. The top four teams were assigned overall seeds and placed within the bracket such that the national semifinals would feature the No. 1 seed versus the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed versus the No. 3 seed had the top four teams have won their respective regional finals. Number 1 seeds were also placed as close to their home site as possible, with the No. 1 seed receiving first preference. Conference matchups were avoided in the first round; should five or more teams from one conference have made the tournament, this guideline may have been disregarded in favor of preserving the bracket's integrity.
The four regionals were officially named after their geographic areas. The following were the sites for the 2009 regionals:

### March 27 and 28

    East Regional, Arena at Harbor Yard – Bridgeport, Connecticut (Hosts: Yale University and Fairfield University)
    West Regional, Mariucci Arena – Minneapolis, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota)

### March 28 and 29

    Midwest Regional, Van Andel Arena – Grand Rapids, Michigan (Hosts: Central Collegiate Hockey Association and Western Michigan University)
    Northeast Regional, Verizon Wireless Arena – Manchester, New Hampshire (Host: University of New Hampshire)
Each regional winner advanced to the Frozen Four:

### April 9 and 11

    Verizon Center – Washington, D.C. (Hosts: United States Naval Academy and the Greater Washington Sports Alliance)

## Qualifying teams

The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament were announced on March 22, 2009. The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) and Hockey East each had four teams receive a berth in the tournament, while ECAC Hockey and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) each had three teams receive a berth, and Atlantic Hockey and College Hockey America (CHA) each had one team receive a berth.
| East Regional – Bridgeport | East Regional – Bridgeport | East Regional – Bridgeport | East Regional – Bridgeport | East Regional – Bridgeport | Northeast Regional – Manchester | Northeast Regional – Manchester | Northeast Regional – Manchester | Northeast Regional – Manchester | Northeast Regional – Manchester |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type |
| 1 | Michigan (4) | CCHA | 29–11–0 | At-large bid | 1 | Boston University (1) | Hockey East | 31–6–4 | Tournament champion |
| 2 | Yale | ECAC Hockey | 24–7–2 | Tournament champion | 2 | North Dakota | WCHA | 24–14–4 | At-large bid |
| 3 | Vermont | Hockey East | 20–11–5 | At-large bid | 3 | New Hampshire | Hockey East | 19–12–5 | At-large bid |
| 4 | Air Force | Atlantic Hockey | 27–10–2 | Tournament champion | 4 | Ohio State | CCHA | 23–14–4 | At-large bid |
| West Regional – Minneapolis | West Regional – Minneapolis | West Regional – Minneapolis | West Regional – Minneapolis | West Regional – Minneapolis | Midwest Regional – Grand Rapids | Midwest Regional – Grand Rapids | Midwest Regional – Grand Rapids | Midwest Regional – Grand Rapids | Midwest Regional – Grand Rapids |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type |
| 1 | Denver (3) | WCHA | 23–11–5 | At-large bid | 1 | Notre Dame (2) | CCHA | 31–5–3 | Tournament champion |
| 2 | Minnesota-Duluth | WCHA | 21–12–8 | Tournament champion | 2 | Northeastern | Hockey East | 25–11–4 | At-large bid |
| 3 | Princeton | ECAC Hockey | 22–11–1 | At-large bid | 3 | Cornell | ECAC Hockey | 21–9–4 | At-large bid |
| 4 | Miami | CCHA | 20–12–5 | At-large bid | 4 | Bemidji State | CHA | 18–15–1 | Tournament champion |

## Preliminary rounds

The number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament. (*) denotes overtime period(s).

### East Regional – Bridgeport, Connecticut

| Regional semifinals March 27 | Regional semifinals March 27 | Regional semifinals March 27 | Regional final March 28 | Regional final March 28 | Regional final March 28 |
| 1 | Michigan (4) | 0 | | | |
| 4 | Air Force | 2 | | | |
| 4 | Air Force | 2 | 4 | Air Force | 2 |
| | | | 3 | Vermont | 3** |
| 3 | Vermont | 4 | 3 | Vermont | 3** |
| 2 | Yale | 1 | | | |

#### Regional final
### Northeast Regional – Manchester, New Hampshire

| Regional semifinals March 28 | Regional semifinals March 28 | Regional semifinals March 28 | Regional final March 29 | Regional final March 29 | Regional final March 29 |
| 1 | Boston University (1) | 8 | | | |
| 4 | Ohio State | 3 | | | |
| 4 | Ohio State | 3 | 1 | Boston University (1) | 2 |
| | | | 3 | New Hampshire | 1 |
| 3 | New Hampshire | 6* | 3 | New Hampshire | 1 |
| 2 | North Dakota | 5 | | | |

#### Regional final
### West Regional – Minneapolis, Minnesota

| Regional semifinals March 27 | Regional semifinals March 27 | Regional semifinals March 27 | Regional final March 28 | Regional final March 28 | Regional final March 28 |
| 1 | Denver (3) | 2 | | | |
| 4 | Miami | 4 | | | |
| 4 | Miami | 4 | 4 | Miami | 2 |
| | | | 2 | Minnesota-Duluth | 1 |
| 3 | Princeton | 4 | 2 | Minnesota-Duluth | 1 |
| 2 | Minnesota-Duluth | 5* | | | |

#### Regional final
### Midwest Regional – Grand Rapids, Michigan

| Regional semifinals March 28 | Regional semifinals March 28 | Regional semifinals March 28 | Regional final March 29 | Regional final March 29 | Regional final March 29 |
| 1 | Notre Dame (2) | 1 | | | |
| 4 | Bemidji State | 5 | | | |
| 4 | Bemidji State | 5 | 4 | Bemidji State | 4 |
| | | | 3 | Cornell | 1 |
| 3 | Cornell | 3 | 3 | Cornell | 1 |
| 2 | Northeastern | 2 | | | |

#### Regional final
## Frozen Four – Verizon Center, Washington, DC

| National semifinals April 9 | National semifinals April 9 | National semifinals April 9 | National championship April 11 | National championship April 11 | National championship April 11 |
| NE1 | Boston University (1) | 5 | | | |
| E3 | Vermont | 4 | | | |
| E3 | Vermont | 4 | NE1 | Boston University (1) | 4* |
| | | | W4 | Miami | 3 |
| W4 | Miami | 4 | W4 | Miami | 3 |
| MW4 | Bemidji State | 1 | | | |

### National championship

Scoring summary :
| Period | Team | Goal | Assist(s) | Time | Score |
| 1st | BU | Chris Connolly (10) | Warsofsky and Gryba | 15:15 | 1–0 BU |
| 2nd | MIA | Gary Steffes (11) | Miele and Palmer | 22:01 | 1–1 |
| 3rd | MIA | Tommy Wingels (11) | Camper | 52:31 | 2–1 MIA |
| 3rd | MIA | Trent Vogelhuber (2) | Kaufman | 55:52 | 3–1 MIA |
| 3rd | BU | Zach Cohen (13) – EA | Bonino and Yip | 59:00 | 3–2 MIA |
| 3rd | BU | Nick Bonino (18) – EA | Gilroy and Higgins | 59:42 | 3–3 |
| Overtime | BU | Colby Cohen (8) – GW | Shattenkirk and Connolly | 71:47 | 4–3 BU |
| Penalty summary ||||||
| Period | Team | Player | Penalty | Time | PIM |
| 1st | BU | Eric Gryba | Tripping | 2:23 | 2:00 |
| 1st | BU | Vinny Saponari | Cross–Checking | 5:19 | 2:00 |
| 1st | MIA | Chris Wideman | Holding | 12:01 | 2:00 |
| 1st | BU | John McCarthy | Roughing | 12:01 | 2:00 |
| 1st | BU | Eric Gryba | Cross–Checking | 15:46 | 2:00 |
| 1st | MIA | Tommy Wingels | Hooking | 19:48 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | BU | Brandon Yip | Holding | 23:13 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | MIA | Justin Mercier | Tripping | 26:09 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | BU | Colby Cohen | Cross–Checking | 37:17 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | BU | Colby Cohen | Slashing | 45:51 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | BU | Jason Lawrence | Slashing | 53:38 | 2:00 |
Shots by period :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | T |
| Miami | 10 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 32 |
| Boston University | 9 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 32 |
Goaltenders :
| Team | Name | Saves | Goals against | Time on ice |
| MIA | Cody Reichard | 28 | 4 | 71:47 |
| BU | Kieran Millan | 29 | 3 | 69:09 |

## Record by conference

| Conference | # of Bids | Record | Win % | Regional Finals | Frozen Four | Championship Game | Champions |
| Hockey East | 4 | 7–3 | .700 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| CCHA | 4 | 3–4 | .429 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – |
| ECAC Hockey | 3 | 1–3 | .250 | 1 | – | – | – |
| WCHA | 3 | 1–3 | .250 | 1 | – | – | – |
| Atlantic Hockey | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – |
| CHA | 1 | 2–1 | .667 | 1 | 1 | – | – |

## Media
### Television

ESPN had US television rights to all games during the tournament. For the fifth consecutive year ESPN aired every game, beginning with the regionals, on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Classic and ESPN360.

#### Broadcast Assignments

Regionals
* East Regional: Justin Kutcher, Damian DiGiulian, & Ken Hodge – Bridgeport, Connecticut
* West Regional: Clay Matvick & Jim Paradise – Minneapolis, Minnesota
* Midwest Regional: Ben Holden & Sean Ritchlin – Grand Rapids, Michigan
* Northeast Regional: John Buccigross & Barry Melrose – Manchester, New Hampshire
Frozen Four & Championship
* Gary Thorne, Barry Melrose, & Clay Matvick – Washington, DC

### Radio

Westwood One used exclusive radio rights to air both the semifinals and the championship, AKA the "Frozen Four.
* Sean Grande & Cap Raeder

## All-Tournament Team
### Frozen Four

* G: Kieran Millan (Boston University)
* D: Colby Cohen* (Boston University)
* D: Kevin Roeder (Miami)
* F: Nick Bonino (Boston University)
* F: Colin Wilson (Boston University)
* F: Tommy Wingels (Miami)
* Most Outstanding Player(s)