# 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.

## 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. 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 | Midwest Regional – Green Bay | Midwest Regional – Green Bay | Midwest Regional – Green Bay | Midwest Regional – Green Bay | Midwest Regional – Green Bay | Midwest Regional – Green Bay | West Regional – Grand Forks | West Regional – Grand Forks | West Regional – Grand Forks | West Regional – Grand Forks | West Regional – Grand Forks | West Regional – Grand Forks | 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 | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | 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.

## Brackets
### Frozen Four

| National semifinals April 6 | National semifinals April 6 | National semifinals April 6 | National championship April 8 | National championship April 8 | National championship April 8 |
| E3 | Maine | 2 | | | |
| MW1 | Wisconsin | 5 | | | |
| MW1 | Wisconsin | 5 | MW1 | Wisconsin | 2 |
| | | | NE3 | Boston College | 1 |
| W2 | North Dakota | 5 | NE3 | Boston College | 1 |
| NE3 | Boston College | 6 | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

## Frozen Four
### National semifinal
#### (W2) North Dakota vs. (NE3) Boston College
### National Championship
#### (MW1) Wisconsin vs. (NE3) Boston College

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 |
| 1st | BC | Dan Bertram | Holding the Stick | 05:57 | 2:00 |
| 1st | WIS | Matt Olinger | Interference | 11:48 | 2:00 |
| 1st | BC | Dan Bertram | Contact to Head High-Sticking | 13:36 | 2:00 |
| 1st | WIS | Tom Gilbert | Contact to Head High-Sticking | 13:36 | 2:00 |
| 1st | BC | Dan Bertram | Hooking | 18:03 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | BC | Joe Rooney | Hooking | 22:38 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | BC | Nathan Gerbe | Roughing After The Whistle | 25:03 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | WIS | Andy Brandt | Roughing After The Whistle | 25:03 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | WIS | Jeff Likens | Contact to Head High-Sticking | 26:30 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | WIS | Jake Dowell | Obstruction Cross-Checking | 40:50 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | BC | Nathan Gerbe | Interference | 42:44 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | WIS | Andy Brandt | Hooking | 45:39 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | BC | Anthony Aiello | Hooking | 48:34 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | BC | Tim Filangieri | Slashing | 51:29 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | BC | Peter Harrold | Boarding | 56:32 | 2:00 |
Shots by period :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
| Boston College | 9 | 10 | 4 | 23 |
| Wisconsin | 17 | 11 | 11 | 39 |
Goaltenders :
| Team | Name | Saves | Goals against | Time on ice |
| BC | Cory Schneider | 37 | 2 | 59:36 |
| WIS | Brian Elliott | 22 | 1 | 59:49 |

## 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)

## 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 | - | - | - | - |