# 2008 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

The 2008 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. The tournament began on March 28, 2008, and ended with the championship game on April 12.
Boston College, coached by Jerry York, won its third national title after consecutive runner-up finishes with a 4–1 victory in the championship game over Notre Dame, coached by Jeff Jackson.
Nathan Gerbe, junior forward for Boston College, scored five goals in the final two games and was named the Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player.
This was the first tournament in 47 years to have two teams from the same conference play in the opening round. This occurred due to the glut of WCHA teams that received 2nd- and 3rd-seeds in the regional divisions.

## Tournament procedure

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.
In setting up the tournament, the Championship Committee seeks 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 is placed within that regional. The top four teams are assigned overall seeds and placed within the bracket such that the national semifinals will feature the No. 1 seed versus the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed versus the No. 3 seed should the top four teams win their respective regional finals. Number 1 seeds are also placed as close to their home site as possible, with the No. 1 seed receiving first preference. Conference matchups are avoided in the first round; should five or more teams from one conference make the tournament, this guideline may be disregarded in favor of preserving the bracket's integrity.
The four regionals are officially named after their geographic areas. The following were the sites for the 2008 regionals:

### March 28 and 29

    East Regional, Times Union Center - Albany, New York (Hosts: ECAC Hockey and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
    West Regional, Broadmoor World Arena - Colorado Springs, Colorado (Hosts: Colorado College and the Colorado Springs Sports Commission)

### March 29 and 30

    Midwest Regional, Kohl Center - Madison, Wisconsin (Host: University of Wisconsin–Madison)
    Northeast Regional, DCU Center - Worcester, Massachusetts (Host: College of the Holy Cross)
Each regional winner advanced to the Frozen Four:

### April 10 and 12

    Pepsi Center - Denver, Colorado (Hosts: University of Denver and the Metro Denver Sports Commission)

## Qualifying teams

The at-large bids, along with the seeding for each team in the tournament, were announced on Sunday, March 23. Six teams from the WCHA qualified for the tournament, a record for the number of teams from one conference.
| East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth Type | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth Type |
| 1 | Michigan (1) | CCHA | 31–5–4 | Tournament champion | 1 | Miami (2) | CCHA | 32–7–1 | At-Large Bid |
| 2 | St. Cloud State | WCHA | 19–15–5 | At-Large Bid | 2 | Boston College | Hockey East | 21–11–8 | Tournament Champion |
| 3 | Clarkson | ECAC | 21–12–4 | At-Large Bid | 3 | Minnesota | WCHA | 19–16–9 | At-Large Bid |
| 4 | Niagara | CHA | 22–10–4 | Tournament champion | 4 | Air Force | Atlantic Hockey | 21–11–6 | Tournament Champion |
| West Regional – Colorado Springs | West Regional – Colorado Springs | West Regional – Colorado Springs | West Regional – Colorado Springs | West Regional – Colorado Springs | Midwest Regional – Madison | Midwest Regional – Madison | Midwest Regional – Madison | Midwest Regional – Madison | Midwest Regional – Madison |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth Type | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth Type |
| 1 | New Hampshire (4) | Hockey East | 25–9–3 | At-Large Bid | 1 | North Dakota (3) | WCHA | 26–10–4 | At-Large Bid |
| 2 | Colorado College | WCHA | 28–11–1 | At-Large Bid | 2 | Denver | WCHA | 26–13–1 | Tournament champion |
| 3 | Michigan State | CCHA | 24–11–5 | At-Large Bid | 3 | Wisconsin | WCHA | 15–16–7 | At-Large Bid |
| 4 | Notre Dame | CCHA | 24–15–4 | At-Large Bid | 4 | Princeton | ECAC | 21–13–0 | Tournament champion |

## Brackets

The number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.

### Frozen Four – Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado

| National semifinals April 10 | National semifinals April 10 | National semifinals April 10 | National Championship April 12 | National Championship April 12 | National Championship April 12 |
| E1 | Michigan (1) | 4 | | | |
| W4 | Notre Dame | 5* | | | |
| W4 | Notre Dame | 5* | W4 | Notre Dame | 1 |
| | | | NE2 | Boston College | 4 |
| NE2 | Boston College | 6 | NE2 | Boston College | 4 |
| MW1 | North Dakota (3) | 1 | | | |
(*) denotes overtime period(s).

## Results
### National Championship – Denver, Colorado

Scoring summary :
| Period | Team | Goal | Assist(s) | Time | Score |
| 1st | None | None | None | None | None |
| 2nd | BC | Nathan Gerbe (34) | Gibbons and Smith | 22:23 | 1–0 BC |
| 2nd | BC | Nathan Gerbe (35) – GW PP | Smith and Bertram | 25:37 | 2–0 BC |
| 2nd | BC | Joe Whitney (11) – PP | Gerbe and Ferriero | 28:11 | 3–0 BC |
| 2nd | ND | Kevin Deeth (11) | Lawson and Cole | 29:07 | 3–1 BC |
| 3rd | BC | Ben Smith (25) | Gerbe and Gibbons | 45:31 | 4–1 BC |
| Penalty summary ||||||
| Period | Team | Player | Penalty | Time | PIM |
| 1st | BC | Kyle Kucharski | Holding the Stick | 08:41 | 2:00 |
| 1st | BC | Matt Greene | Cross-Checking | 14:33 | 2:00 |
| 1st | ND | Brock Sheahan | Roughing | 17:02 | 2:00 |
| 1st | BC | Anthony Aiello | Tripping | 18:24 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | BC | Andrew Orpik | Slashing | 22:51 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | ND | Ryan Thang | Interference | 24:58 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | ND | Dan VeNard | Cross-Checking | 26:29 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | ND | Dan Kissel | Hooking | 27:27 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | BC | Kyle Kucharski | Holding | 27:32 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | ND | Dan VeNard | High-Sticking | 36:49 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | BC | Nick Petrecki | Elbowing | 40:08 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | BC | Matt Price | Obstruction Tripping | 48:05 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | BC | Matt Greene | Hooking | 49:54 | 2:00 |
Shots by period :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
| Notre Dame | 5 | 8 | 8 | 21 |
| Boston College | 7 | 11 | 5 | 23 |
Goaltenders :
| Team | Name | Saves | Goals against | Time on ice |
| ND | Jordan Pearce | 19 | 4 | 58:31 |
| BC | John Muse | 20 | 1 | 60:00 |

## Record by conference

| Conference | # of Bids | Record | Win % | Regional Finals | Frozen Four | Championship Game | Champions |
| WCHA | 6 | 3–6 | .333 | 2 | 1 | - | - |
| CCHA | 4 | 7–4 | .636 | 4 | 2 | 1 | - |
| ECAC Hockey | 2 | 1–2 | .333 | 1 | - | - | - |
| Hockey East | 2 | 4–1 | .800 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Atlantic Hockey | 1 | 0–1 | .000 | - | - | - | - |
| CHA | 1 | 0–1 | .000 | - | - | - | - |

## All-Tournament team
### Frozen Four

* G: John Muse (Boston College)
* D: Michael Brennan (Boston College)
* D: Kyle Lawson (Notre Dame)
* F: Kevin Deeth (Notre Dame)
* F: Nathan Gerbe* (Boston College)
* F: Ben Smith (Boston College)
* Most Outstanding Player(s)