# 1991 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey tournament

The 1991 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey tournament was the culmination of the 1990–91 season, the 8th such tournament in NCAA history. It concluded with Wisconsin-Stevens Point defeating Mankato State in the championship game 6-2. All Quarterfinals matchups were held at home team venues, while all succeeding games were played in Elmira, New York.
The NCAA stopped awarding the Tournament Most Outstanding Player with this tournament. The next tournament MOP would be awarded in 2009.

## Qualifying teams

The following teams qualified for the tournament. There were no automatic bids, however, conference tournament champions were given preferential consideration. No formal seeding was used, quarterfinal matches were arranged so that the road teams would have the shortest possible travel distances.
| East | East | East | East | East | East | West | West | West | West | West | West |
| School | Conference | Record | Berth Type | Appearance | Last Bid | School | Conference | Record | Berth Type | Appearance | Last Bid |
| Babson | ECAC East | 17–7–0 | At-Large | 8th | 1990 | Gustavus Adolphus | MIAC | 17–5–2 | Tournament Champion | 2nd | 1990 |
| Elmira | ECAC West | 26–3–0 | Tournament Champion | 4th | 1990 | Lake Forest | Independent | 18–4–1 | At-Large | 1st | Never |
| Mercyhurst | ECAC West | 18–11–1 | At-Large | 1st | Never | Mankato State | NCHA | 21–5–6 | At-Large | 4th | 1990 |
| Oswego State | ECAC West | 14–11–1 | At-Large | 5th | 1989 | Wisconsin–Stevens Point | NCHA | 23–9–0 | Tournament Champion | 4th | 1990 |

## Format

In 1991, the tournament returned to the format it had used from 1984-1987. The tournament featured three rounds of play. In the Quarterfinals, two-game series where the first team to reach 3 points was declared a winner (2 points for winning a game, 1 point each for tying). If both teams ended up with 2 points after the first two games a 20-minute mini-game used to determine a winner. Mini-game scores are in italics. Beginning with the semifinals all games became Single-game eliminations. The winning teams in the semifinals advanced to the National Championship Game with the losers playing in a Third Place game. The teams were seeded according to geographic proximity in the quarterfinals so the visiting team would have the shortest feasible distance to travel.

## Bracket

| Quarterfinals March 8–10 | Quarterfinals March 8–10 | Quarterfinals March 8–10 | Quarterfinals March 8–10 | Quarterfinals March 8–10 | Semifinals March 15 | Semifinals March 15 | Semifinals March 15 | National championship March 16 | National championship March 16 | National championship March 16 |
| Wisconsin–Stevens Point | Wisconsin–Stevens Point | 9 | 6 | - | | | | | | |
| Lake Forest | Lake Forest | 1 | 3 | - | | | | | | |
| Lake Forest | Lake Forest | 1 | 3 | - | Wisconsin–Stevens Point | Wisconsin–Stevens Point | 5 | | | |
| | | | | | Babson | Babson | 2 | | | |
| Babson | Babson | 4 | 10 | - | Babson | Babson | 2 | | | |
| Oswego State | Oswego State | 1 | 4 | - | | | | | | |
| Oswego State | Oswego State | 1 | 4 | - | | | | Wisconsin–Stevens Point | Wisconsin–Stevens Point | 6 |
| | | | | | | | | Mankato State | Mankato State | 2 |
| Mercyhurst | Mercyhurst | 5 | 6 | 1 | | | | | | | Mankato State | Mankato State | 2 |
| Elmira | Elmira | 4 | 7 | 2* | | | |
| Elmira | Elmira | 4 | 7 | 2* | Elmira | Elmira | 3 | Third-place game | Third-place game | Third-place game |
| | | | | | Mankato State | Mankato State | 7 |
| Mankato State | Mankato State | 4 | 7 | - | Mankato State | Mankato State | 7 | Babson | Babson | 3 |
| Gustavus Adolphus | Gustavus Adolphus | 4 | 2 | - | | | | Elmira | Elmira | 2 |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

## Record by conference

| Conference | # of Bids | Record | Win % | Frozen Four | Championship Game | Champions |
| ECAC West | 3 | 2–6–0 | .250 | 1 | - | - |
| NCHA | 2 | 6–1–1 | .813 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| ECAC East | 1 | 3–1–0 | .750 | 1 | - | - |
| MIAC | 1 | 0–1–1 | .250 | - | - | - |
| Independent | 1 | 0–2–0 | .000 | - | - | - |