# 2012 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

The 2012 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament involved sixteen schools in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey for the 2011–12 season. The tournament began on March 23, 2012, with regional semifinals and ended on April 7 with the national championship game. The Boston College Eagles won their third national championship in five years, beating the Ferris State Bulldogs, 4–1, in the championship game. BC won nineteen consecutive games to end the season. It is the fifth title for both the program and head coach Jerry York – York previously coached Bowling Green to a championship in 1984.

## Tournament procedure

The four regionals are officially named after their geographic areas. The following are the sites for the 2012 regionals:

### March 23 and 24

    East Regional, Webster Bank Arena – Bridgeport, Connecticut (Hosts: Yale University and Fairfield University)
    Midwest Regional, Resch Center – Green Bay, Wisconsin (Host: Michigan Technological University)

### March 24 and 25

    Northeast Regional, DCU Center – Worcester, Massachusetts (Host: College of the Holy Cross)
    West Regional, Xcel Energy Center – Saint Paul, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota)
Each regional winner will advance to the Frozen Four:

### April 5 and 7

    Tampa Bay Times Forum – Tampa, Florida (Hosts: University of Alabama in Huntsville and the Tampa Bay Sports Commission)

## Qualifying teams

The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament were announced on March 18. The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) had five teams receive a berth in the tournament, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and Hockey East had four teams receive a berth, ECAC Hockey had two teams receive a berth, and Atlantic Hockey had one team receive a berth.
| East Regional – Bridgeport | East Regional – Bridgeport | East Regional – Bridgeport | East Regional – Bridgeport | East Regional – Bridgeport | Midwest Regional – Green Bay | Midwest Regional – Green Bay | Midwest Regional – Green Bay | Midwest Regional – Green Bay | Midwest Regional – Green Bay |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type |
| 1 | Union (3) | ECAC Hockey | 24–7–7 | Tournament champion | 1 | Michigan (2) | CCHA | 24–12–4 | At-large bid |
| 2 | Miami | CCHA | 24–14–2 | At-large bid | 2 | Ferris State | CCHA | 23–11–5 | At-large bid |
| 3 | Massachusetts–Lowell | Hockey East | 23–12–1 | At-large bid | 3 | Denver | WCHA | 25–13–4 | At-large bid |
| 4 | Michigan State | CCHA | 19–15–4 | At-large bid | 4 | Cornell | ECAC Hockey | 18–8–7 | At-large bid |
| Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | West Regional – Saint Paul | West Regional – Saint Paul | West Regional – Saint Paul | West Regional – Saint Paul | West Regional – Saint Paul |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type |
| 1 | Boston College (1) | Hockey East | 29–10–1 | Tournament champion | 1 | North Dakota (4) | WCHA | 25–12–3 | Tournament champion |
| 2 | Minnesota–Duluth | WCHA | 24–9–6 | At-large bid | 2 | Minnesota | WCHA | 26–13–1 | At-large bid |
| 3 | Maine | Hockey East | 23–13–3 | At-large bid | 3 | Boston University | Hockey East | 23–14–1 | At-large bid |
| 4 | Air Force | Atlantic Hockey | 21–10–7 | Tournament champion | 4 | Western Michigan | CCHA | 21–13–6 | Tournament champion |
Number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.

## Regionals
### Northeast Regional – Worcester, Massachusetts

| Regional semifinals March 24 | Regional semifinals March 24 | Regional semifinals March 24 | Regional Final March 25 | Regional Final March 25 | Regional Final March 25 |
| 1 | Boston College (1) | 2 | | | |
| 4 | Air Force | 0 | | | |
| 4 | Air Force | 0 | 1 | Boston College | 4 |
| | | | 2 | Minnesota-Duluth | 0 |
| 3 | Maine | 2 | 2 | Minnesota-Duluth | 0 |
| 2 | Minnesota–Duluth | 5 | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) All times are local (UTC−4).

#### Regional Final
### Midwest Regional – Green Bay, Wisconsin

| Regional semifinals March 23 | Regional semifinals March 23 | Regional semifinals March 23 | Regional Final March 24 | Regional Final March 24 | Regional Final March 24 |
| 1 | Michigan (2) | 2 | | | |
| 4 | Cornell | 3* | | | |
| 4 | Cornell | 3* | 4 | Cornell | 1 |
| | | | 2 | Ferris State | 2 |
| 3 | Denver | 1 | 2 | Ferris State | 2 |
| 2 | Ferris State | 2 | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) All times are local (UTC−5).

#### Regional Final
### East Regional – Bridgeport, Connecticut

| Regional semifinals March 23 | Regional semifinals March 23 | Regional semifinals March 23 | Regional Final March 24 | Regional Final March 24 | Regional Final March 24 |
| 1 | Union (3) | 3 | | | |
| 4 | Michigan State | 1 | | | |
| 4 | Michigan State | 1 | 1 | Union | 4 |
| | | | 3 | Massachusetts–Lowell | 2 |
| 3 | Massachusetts–Lowell | 4* | 3 | Massachusetts–Lowell | 2 |
| 2 | Miami | 3 | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) All times are local (UTC−4).

#### Regional Final
### West Regional – Saint Paul, Minnesota

| Regional semifinals March 24 | Regional semifinals March 24 | Regional semifinals March 24 | Regional Final March 25 | Regional Final March 25 | Regional Final March 25 |
| 1 | North Dakota (4) | 3 | | | |
| 4 | Western Michigan | 1 | | | |
| 4 | Western Michigan | 1 | 1 | North Dakota | 2 |
| | | | 2 | Minnesota | 5 |
| 3 | Boston University | 3 | 2 | Minnesota | 5 |
| 2 | Minnesota | 7 | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) All times are local (UTC−5).

#### Regional Final
## Frozen Four – Tampa, Florida

| National semifinals April 5 | National semifinals April 5 | National semifinals April 5 | National Championship April 7 | National Championship April 7 | National Championship April 7 |
| NE1 | Boston College | 6 | | | |
| W2 | Minnesota | 1 | | | |
| W2 | Minnesota | 1 | NE1 | Boston College | 4 |
| | | | MW2 | Ferris State | 1 |
| E1 | Union | 1 | MW2 | Ferris State | 1 |
| MW2 | Ferris State | 3 | | | |

### National Championship

Scoring summary :
| Period | Team | Goal | Assist(s) | Time | Score |
| 1st | BC | Steven Whitney (15) | Almeida | 03:18 | 1–0 BC |
| 1st | FSU | Garrett Thompson (11) | Huff and Ouellette | 05:19 | 1–1 |
| 1st | BC | Paul Carey (18) – GW PP | Dumoulin and Mullane | 10:33 | 2–1 BC |
| 2nd | None | None | None | None | None |
| 3rd | BC | Johnny Gaudreau (21) | Hayes and Wey | 56:58 | 3–1 BC |
| 3rd | BC | Steven Whitney (16) – EN | Arnold | 58:57 | 4–1 BC |
| Penalty summary ||||||
| Period | Team | Player | Penalty | Time | PIM |
| 1st | FSU | Brett Wysopal | Tripping | 08:42 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | FSU | Scott Czarnowczan | Hitting after the Whistle | 22:31 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | BC | Michael Sit | Hitting after the Whistle | 22:31 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | BC | Paul Carey | Tripping | 24:48 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | BC | Tommy Cross | Hooking | 30:35 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | BC | Bench (Served by Quinn Smith) | Too Many Players | 35:06 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | BC | Bill Arnold | Roughing | 39:36 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | FSU | Brett Wysopal | Hooking | 41:47 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | FSU | Brett Wysopal | Holding | 48:32 | 2:00 |
Shots by period :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
| Ferris State | 7 | 15 | 6 | 28 |
| Boston College | 8 | 14 | 15 | 37 |
Goaltenders :
| Team | Name | Saves | Goals against | Time on ice |
| FSU | Taylor Nelson | 33 | 3 | 59:23 |
| BC | Parker Milner | 27 | 1 | 60:00 |

## Record by conference

| Conference | # of Bids | Record | Win % | Regional Finals | Frozen Four | Championship Game | Champions |
| CCHA | 5 | 3–5 | .375 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
| Hockey East | 4 | 5–3 | .625 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| WCHA | 4 | 4–4 | .500 | 3 | 1 | - | - |
| ECAC Hockey | 2 | 3–2 | .600 | 2 | 1 | - | - |
| Atlantic Hockey | 1 | 0–1 | .000 | - | - | - | - |

## Media
### Television

ESPN had US television rights to all games during the tournament. For the eighth consecutive year ESPN aired every game, beginning with the regionals, on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU, and ESPN3. They also streamed them online via WatchESPN.

#### Broadcast Assignments

Regionals
* East Regional: John Buccigross & Barry Melrose – Bridgeport, Connecticut
* Midwest Regional: Ben Holden & Sean Ritchlin – Green Bay, Wisconsin
* Northeast Regional: Joe Beninati & Billy Jaffe – Worcester, Massachusetts
* West Regional: Clay Matvick & Dave Starman – St. Paul, Minnesota
Frozen Four & Championship
* Gary Thorne, Barry Melrose, & Clay Matvick – Tampa, Florida

### Radio

Dial Global Sports 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: Parker Milner* (Boston College)
* D: Brian Dumoulin (Boston College)
* D: Chad Billins (Ferris State)
* F: Kyle Bonis (Ferris State)
* F: Paul Carey (Boston College)
* F: Steven Whitney (Boston College)
* Most Outstanding Player(s)