# 1992 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

The 1992 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament involved 12 schools competing to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college ice hockey. Beginning with the 1992 tournament the format was changed to single-elimination play for all rounds of the tournament. First and quarterfinal rounds were played at two predetermined sites as the East and West Regionals. The tournament began on March 26, 1992, and ended with the championship game on April 4 in which Lake Superior State defeated the University of Wisconsin 5-3. A total of 11 games were played. Wisconsin's participation in the tournament was later vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions.
Alaska-Anchorage's 1992 participation was the last time an independent team was selected to the tournament, until Arizona State in 2019.
The 1992 championship game is most remembered for the controversial penalty calls that gave Lake Superior State 11 power plays in the game. Wisconsin staff and players were so incensed at the calls that referee Tim McConaghy was accosted after the match which led to two Wisconsin players being suspended for the Badgers' next NCAA Tournament game while assistant coach Bill Zito was barred from any affiliation with Wisconsin for the program's next two NCAA appearances.

## Qualifying teams

The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament were announced after the conference tournaments concluded. The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), Hockey East and Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) all had three teams receive a berth in the tournament, the ECAC had two berths, and there was one independent Division I bid.
| East Regional – Providence | East Regional – Providence | East Regional – Providence | East Regional – Providence | East Regional – Providence | East Regional – Providence | East Regional – Providence | West Regional – Detroit | West Regional – Detroit | West Regional – Detroit | West Regional – Detroit | West Regional – Detroit | West Regional – Detroit | West Regional – Detroit |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid |
| 1 | Maine | Hockey East | 31–3–2* | Tournament champion | 6th | 1991 | 1 | Michigan | CCHA | 31–8–3 | At-large bid | 15th | 1991 |
| 2 | St. Lawrence | ECAC | 22–9–2 | Tournament champion | 12th | 1989 | 2 | Minnesota | WCHA | 33–10–0 | At-large bid | 19th | 1991 |
| 3 | New Hampshire | Hockey East | 22–12–2^ | At-large bid | 5th | 1983 | 3 | Lake Superior State | CCHA | 26–9–4 | Tournament champion | 6th | 1991 |
| 4 | Boston University | Hockey East | 22–8–4^ | At-large bid | 18th | 1991 | 4 | Northern Michigan | WCHA | 24–13–3 | Tournament champion | 5th | 1991 |
| 5 | Michigan State | CCHA | 23–10–8^ | At-large bid | 13th | 1990 | 5 | Clarkson | ECAC | 22–9–1 | At-large bid | 12th | 1991 |
| 6 | Wisconsin (vacated) | WCHA | 24–13–2 | At-large bid | (vacated) | 1991 | 6 | Alaska-Anchorage | Independent | 27–7–1 | At-large bid | 3rd | 1991 |
* Maine was required to forfeit 13 victories after the season concluded, their total here was their record at the time of the start of the tournament.
^ These teams records reflect the losses they had against Maine at the time that were later overturned.

## Game locations

* East Regional – Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island
* West Regional – Joe Louis Arena, Detroit
* Frozen Four – Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, New York

## Tournament bracket

Wisconsin's participation in the 1992 tournament was later vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions.
| Regional Quarterfinals March 26–27 | Regional Quarterfinals March 26–27 | Regional Quarterfinals March 26–27 | Regional semifinals March 28–29 | Regional semifinals March 28–29 | Regional semifinals March 28–29 | Frozen Four April 2 | Frozen Four April 2 | Frozen Four April 2 | National championship April 4 | National championship April 4 | National championship April 4 |
| | | | E1 | Maine | 2 | | | | | | |
| | | | E5 | Michigan State | 3 | | | | | | |
| E4 | Boston University | 2 | E5 | Michigan State | 3 | | | | | | |
| E5 | Michigan State | 4 | | | | | | | | | |
| E5 | Michigan State | 4 | | | | E5 | Michigan State | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | | W3 | Lake Superior State | 4 | | | |
| | | | W2 | Minnesota | 3 | | | | | | |
| | | | W3 | Lake Superior State | 8 | | | | | | |
| W3 | Lake Superior State | 7 | W3 | Lake Superior State | 8 | | | | | | |
| W6 | Alaska Anchorage | 3 | | | | | | | | | |
| W6 | Alaska Anchorage | 3 | | | | | | | W3 | Lake Superior State | 5 |
| | | | | | | | | | E6 | Wisconsin (vacated) | 3 |
| | | | E2 | St. Lawrence | 2 | | | | | | |
| | | | E6 | Wisconsin | 5 | | | | | | |
| E3 | New Hampshire | 2 | E6 | Wisconsin | 5 | | | | | | |
| E6 | Wisconsin | 4 | | | | | | | | | |
| E6 | Wisconsin | 4 | | | | E6 | Wisconsin | 4 | | | |
| | | | | | | W1 | Michigan | 2 | | | |
| | | | W1 | Michigan | 7 | | | | | | |
| | | | W4 | Northern Michigan | 6 | | | | | | |
| W4 | Northern Michigan | 8 | W4 | Northern Michigan | 6 | | | | | | |
| W5 | Clarkson | 4 | | | | | | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

## Frozen Four
### National semifinal
#### (W1) Michiganvs. (E6) Wisconsin
### National Championship
#### (W3) Lake Superior State vs. (E6) Wisconsin

Scoring summary :
| Period | Team | Goal | Time | Score |
| 1st | WIS | Jason Zent | | 1–0 WIS |
| 1st | WIS | Jason Zent – PP | | 2–0 WIS |
| 2nd | LSSU | Paul Constantin – PP | | 2–1 WIS |
| 2nd | LSSU | Tim Hanley | 39:54 | 2–2 |
| 3rd | LSSU | Michael Smith | 44:16 | 3–2 LSSU |
| 3rd | WIS | Jason Zent – PP | | 3–3 |
| 3rd | LSSU | Brian Rolston – GW | 55:08 | 4–3 LSSU |
| 3rd | LSSU | Jay Ness – PP EN | 59:58 | 5–3 LSSU |
Goaltenders :
| Team | Name | Saves | Goals against | Time on ice |
| WIS | Duane Derksen | | 4 | |
| LSSU | Darrin Madeley | 24 | 3 | |

## All-Tournament team

* G: Darrin Madeley (Lake Superior State)
* D: Mark Astley (Lake Superior State)
* D: vacated†
* F: Paul Constantin* (Lake Superior State)
* F: Brian Rolston (Lake Superior State)
* F: vacated†
* Most Outstanding Player(s) † Participation of D: Barry Richter and F: Jason Zent vacated when Wisconsin's participation in the tournament was later vacated

## Record by conference

| Conference | # of Bids | Record | Win % | Regional semifinals | Frozen Four | Championship Game | Champions |
| CCHA | 3 | 7-2 | .778 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Hockey East | 3 | 0-3 | .000 | 1 | - | - | - |
| WCHA | 3 | 4-3 | .571 | 3 | 1 (vacated) | 1 (vacated) | - |
| ECAC | 2 | 0-2 | .000 | 1 | - | - | - |
| Independent | 1 | 0-1 | .000 | - | - | - | - |