# 1976 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

The 1976 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament was the culmination of the 1975–76 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, the 29th such tournament in NCAA history. It was held between March 25 and 27, 1976, and concluded with Minnesota defeating Michigan Tech 6–4. All games were played at the University of Denver Arena in Denver, Colorado.

## Qualifying teams

Four teams qualified for the tournament, two each from the eastern and western regions. The ECAC tournament champion and the two WCHA tournament co-champions received automatic bids into the tournament. An at-large bid was offered to a second eastern team based upon both their ECAC tournament finish as well as their regular season record.
| East | East | East | East | East | East | East | West | West | West | West | West | West | West |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid |
| 1 | Boston University | ECAC Hockey | 25–3–0 | Tournament champion | 11th | 1975 | 1 | Michigan Tech | WCHA | 33–8–0 | Tournament co-champion | 9th | 1975 |
| 2 | Brown | ECAC Hockey | 22–6–0 | At-Large | 3rd | 1965 | 2 | Minnesota | WCHA | 26–14–2 | Tournament co-champion | 7th | 1975 |

## Format

The ECAC champion was seeded as the top eastern team while the WCHA co-champion with the better regular season record was given the top western seed. The second eastern seed was slotted to play the top western seed and vice versa. All games were played at the University of Denver Arena. All matches were Single-game eliminations with the semifinal winners advancing to the national championship game and the losers playing in a consolation game. Minnesota and Michigan Tech squared off in the championship game for the third straight year, with Michigan Tech having won in '75 and Minnesota in '74.

## Bracket

| Semifinals March 25–26 | Semifinals March 25–26 | Semifinals March 25–26 | National championship March 27 | National championship March 27 | National championship March 27 |
| E1 | Boston University | 2 | | | |
| W2 | Minnesota | 4 | | | |
| W2 | Minnesota | 4 | W2 | Minnesota | 6 |
| | | | W1 | Michigan Tech | 4 |
| W1 | Michigan Tech | 7* | W1 | Michigan Tech | 4 |
| E2 | Brown | 6 | Third-place game | Third-place game | Third-place game |
| | | | E1 | Boston University | 7 |
| | | | E2 | Brown | 8 |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

### National Championship
#### (W1) Michigan Tech vs. (W2) Minnesota

Scoring summary :
| Period | Team | Goal | Assist(s) | Time | Score |
| 1st | MTU | Warren Young | Joelson, Dempsey | 7:55 | 1–0 MTU |
| 1st | MTU | Warren Young | Joelson and Decker | 10:36 | 2–0 MTU |
| 1st | MTU | Jim Murray | Jessee | 11:31 | 3–0 MTU |
| 1st | MIN | Tom Vannelli – PP | Younghans and Phippen | 17:05 | 3–1 MTU |
| 2nd | MIN | Joe Micheletti | Larson and Vannelli | 22:55 | 3–2 MTU |
| 2nd | MIN | Bill Baker | Vannelli and Phippen | 30:26 | 3–3 |
| 2nd | MIN | Tom Gorence | Larson | 32:47 | 4–3 MIN |
| 2nd | MTU | Nels Goddard | Roberts and Zuke | 39:24 | 4–4 |
| 3rd | MIN | Pat Phippen – GW | Vannelli and Larson | 48:37 | 5–4 MIN |
| 3rd | MIN | Warren Miller | Phippen and Vannelli | 59:30 | 6–4 MIN |
Shots by period :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
| Minnesota | 8 | 16 | 11 | 35 |
| Michigan Tech | 12 | 3 | 9 | 24 |
Goaltenders :
| Team | Name | Saves | Goals against |
| MIN | Jeff Tscherne | 9 | 3 |
| MIN | Tom Mohr | 11 | 1 |
| MTU | Bruce Horsch | 29 | 6 |

## All-Tournament team

None Selected

## Most Outstanding Player(s)

Tom Vannelli