# 2010 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

The 2010 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament involved 16 schools in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college ice hockey. The tournament began on March 26, 2010, and ended with the championship game on April 10, in which Boston College defeated Wisconsin 5–0 to win its fourth national championship.

## Procedure

The four regionals are officially named after their geographic areas. The following are the sites for the 2010 regionals:

### March 26 and 27

    East Regional, Times Union Center – Albany, New York (Hosts: ECAC Hockey League and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
    West Regional, Xcel Energy Center – St. Paul, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota)

### March 27 and 28

    Midwest Regional, Allen County War Memorial Coliseum – Fort Wayne, Indiana (Host: University of Notre Dame)
    Northeast Regional, DCU Center – Worcester, Massachusetts (Host: College of the Holy Cross)
Each regional winner will advance to the Frozen Four:

### April 8 and 10

    Ford Field – Detroit, Michigan (Hosts: Central Collegiate Hockey Association and the Detroit Metro Sports Commission)

## Qualifying teams

The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament were announced on March 21, 2010. The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) and Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) each had four teams receive a berth in the tournament, Hockey East had three teams receive a berth, College Hockey America (CHA) and ECAC Hockey had two berths each, and Atlantic Hockey had one team receive a berth.
| Midwest Regional – Fort Wayne | Midwest Regional – Fort Wayne | Midwest Regional – Fort Wayne | Midwest Regional – Fort Wayne | Midwest Regional – Fort Wayne | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type |
| 1 | Miami (1) | CCHA | 27–7–7 | At-large bid | 1 | Denver (2) | WCHA | 27–9–4 | At-large bid |
| 2 | Bemidji State | CHA | 23–9–4 | At-large bid | 2 | Cornell | ECAC Hockey | 21–8–4 | Tournament champion |
| 3 | Michigan | CCHA | 25–17–1 | Tournament champion | 3 | New Hampshire | Hockey East | 17–13–7 | At-large bid |
| 4 | Alabama–Huntsville | CHA | 12–17–3 | Tournament champion | 4 | RIT | Atlantic Hockey | 26–11–1 | Tournament champion |
| Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | West Regional – St. Paul | West Regional – St. Paul | West Regional – St. Paul | West Regional – St. Paul | West Regional – St. Paul |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type |
| 1 | Boston College (4) | Hockey East | 25–10–3 | Tournament champion | 1 | Wisconsin (3) | WCHA | 25–10–4 | At-large bid |
| 2 | North Dakota | WCHA | 25–12–5 | Tournament champion | 2 | St. Cloud State | WCHA | 23–13–5 | At-large bid |
| 3 | Yale | ECAC Hockey | 20–9–3 | At-large bid | 3 | Northern Michigan | CCHA | 20–12–8 | At-large bid |
| 4 | Alaska* | CCHA | 18–11–9 | At-large bid | 4 | Vermont | Hockey East | 17–14–7 | At-large bid |
Number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.
* Alaska has since been stripped of their tournament appearance due to NCAA violations found during a 2014 investigation.

## Preliminary rounds

Note: * denotes overtime period(s) All times are local (EDT/CDT).

### Midwest Regional – Fort Wayne, Indiana

| Regional semifinals March 27 | Regional semifinals March 27 | Regional semifinals March 27 | Regional final March 28 | Regional final March 28 | Regional final March 28 |
| 1 | Miami | 2 | | | |
| 4 | Alabama–Huntsville | 1 | | | |
| 4 | Alabama–Huntsville | 1 | 1 | Miami | 3** |
| | | | 3 | Michigan | 2 |
| 3 | Michigan | 5 | 3 | Michigan | 2 |
| 2 | Bemidji State | 1 | | | |

#### Regional final

The regional final between Michigan and Miami was not without controversy. In the first overtime, Michigan appeared to score what would have been the game-winning goal when Kevin Lynch scored on a rebound in a scrum in front of the Miami net. However, after a video review, the goal was disallowed as the play had been whistled dead before the goal was scored to assess a Miami penalty. NCAA Director of Officials Steve Piotrowski clarified that officials blew the whistle as Lynch touched the puck, with a Miami player touching the puck in the crease and the puck briefly stopped underneath Miami goalie Connor Knapp, both occurring before the goal. The game continued until Miami sophomore Alden Hirschfeld scored 1:54 into double overtime, securing the 3-2 RedHawk victory.

### East Regional – Albany, New York

| Regional semifinals March 26 | Regional semifinals March 26 | Regional semifinals March 26 | Regional final March 27 | Regional final March 27 | Regional final March 27 |
| 1 | Denver | 1 | | | |
| 4 | RIT | 2 | | | |
| 4 | RIT | 2 | 4 | RIT | 6 |
| | | | 3 | New Hampshire | 2 |
| 3 | New Hampshire | 6 | 3 | New Hampshire | 2 |
| 2 | Cornell | 2 | | | |

#### Regional final
### Northeast Regional – Worcester, Massachusetts

| Regional semifinals March 27 | Regional semifinals March 27 | Regional semifinals March 27 | Regional final March 28 | Regional final March 28 | Regional final March 28 |
| 1 | Boston College | 3 | | | |
| 4 | Alaska | 1 | | | |
| 4 | Alaska | 1 | 1 | Boston College | 9 |
| | | | 3 | Yale | 7 |
| 3 | Yale | 3 | 3 | Yale | 7 |
| 2 | North Dakota | 2 | | | |

#### Regional final
### West Regional – St. Paul, Minnesota

| Regional semifinals March 26 | Regional semifinals March 26 | Regional semifinals March 26 | Regional final March 27 | Regional final March 27 | Regional final March 27 |
| 1 | Wisconsin | 3 | | | |
| 4 | Vermont | 2 | | | |
| 4 | Vermont | 2 | 1 | Wisconsin | 5 |
| | | | 2 | St. Cloud State | 3 |
| 3 | Northern Michigan | 3 | 2 | St. Cloud State | 3 |
| 2 | St. Cloud State | 4** | | | |

#### Regional final
## Frozen Four – Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan

| National semifinals April 8 | National semifinals April 8 | National semifinals April 8 | National championship April 10 | National championship April 10 | National championship April 10 |
| MW1 | Miami | 1 | | | |
| NE1 | Boston College | 7 | | | |
| NE1 | Boston College | 7 | NE1 | Boston College | 5 |
| | | | W1 | Wisconsin | 0 |
| E4 | RIT | 1 | W1 | Wisconsin | 0 |
| W1 | Wisconsin | 8 | | | |

### National Championship

Scoring summary :
| Period | Team | Goal | Assist(s) | Time | Score |
| 1st | BC | Ben Smith (16) – GW PP | S. Whitney and J. Whitney | 12:57 | 1–0 BC |
| 2nd | None | None | None | None | None |
| 3rd | BC | Cam Atkinson (29) | J. Whitney and Gibbons | 41:38 | 2–0 BC |
| 3rd | BC | Chris Kreider (15) | Hayes and Samuelsson | 43:40 | 3–0 BC |
| 3rd | BC | Cam Atkinson (30) – PP | Gibbons and J. Whitney | 47:20 | 4–0 BC |
| 3rd | BC | Matt Price (5) – EN | unassisted | 55:29 | 5–0 BC |
| Penalty summary ||||||
| Period | Team | Player | Penalty | Time | PIM |
| 1st | BC | Joe Whitney | Interference | 1:17 | 2:00 |
| 1st | WIS | Ryan McDonagh | Cross–Checking | 5:24 | 2:00 |
| 1st | WIS | John Mitchell | Contact to the Head Elbowing | 11:04 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | WIS | Jake Gardiner | Interference | 23:16 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | BC | Joe Whitney | Clipping | 24:21 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | WIS | Craig Smith | Contact to the Head Elbowing | 46:32 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | WIS | Podge Turnbull | Contact to the Head | 47:20 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | BC | Joe Whitney | Unsportsmanlike Conduct | 50:19 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | BC | Brian Gibbons | Slashing | 57:52 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | WIS | Craig Smith | Slashing | 57:52 | 2:00 |
Shots by period :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
| Boston College | 12 | 6 | 8 | 26 |
| Wisconsin | 5 | 9 | 6 | 20 |
Goaltenders :
| Team | Name | Saves | Goals against | Time on ice |
| BC | John Muse | 20 | 0 | 60:00 |
| WIS | Scott Gudmandson | 20 | 4 | 58:41 |

## Record by conference

| Conference | # of Bids | Record | Win % | Regional Finals | Frozen Four | Championship Game | Champions |
| CCHA | 4 | 3–4 | .429 | 2 | 1 | – | – |
| WCHA | 4 | 4–4 | .500 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – |
| Hockey East | 3 | 5–2 | .714 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| CHA | 2 | 0–2 | .000 | – | – | – | – |
| ECAC Hockey | 2 | 1–2 | .333 | 1 | – | – | – |
| Atlantic Hockey | 1 | 2–1 | .667 | 1 | 1 | – | – |

## Media
### Television

ESPN had US television rights to all games during the tournament. For the sixth consecutive year ESPN aired every game, beginning with the regionals, on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU, and ESPN360.

#### Broadcast Assignments

Regionals
* East Regional: John Buccigross & Barry Melrose – Albany, New York
* West Regional: Clay Matvick & Jim Paradise – St. Paul, Minnesota
* Midwest Regional: Ben Holden & Sean Ritchlin – Fort Wayne, Indiana
* Northeast Regional: Dan Parkhurst & Damian DiGiulian – Worcester, Massachusetts
Frozen Four & Championship
* Gary Thorne, Barry Melrose, & Clay Matvick – Detroit, Michigan

### Radio

Westwood One used exclusive radio rights to air both the semifinals and the championship, AKA the "Frozen Four.
* Sean Grande & Cap Raeder

## Tournament awards
### Frozen Four

* G: John Muse (Boston College)
* D: Brian Dumoulin (Boston College)
* D: Brendan Smith (Wisconsin)
* F: Cam Atkinson (Boston College)
* F: Ben Smith* (Boston College)
* F: Joe Whitney (Boston College)
* Most Outstanding Player(s)