# 2004 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

The 2004 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 26, 2004, and ended with the championship game on April 10. A total of 15 games were played. This was the first season in which the Atlantic Hockey sent a representative to the tournament. Atlantic Hockey assumed possession of the automatic bid that had been the possession of the MAAC after it collapsed and all remaining ice hockey programs formed the new conference.
The University of Denver, coached by George Gwozdecky, won its sixth national title with a 1-0 victory in the final game over the University of Maine, coached by Tim Whitehead before a record crowd of over 18,000 people at Boston's FleetCenter (now known as the TD Garden). While Denver's Gabe Gauthier scored the game's only goal, the game is best remembered for Denver surviving Maine's six skaters to three skaters advantage in the final 90 seconds of the contest.
Denver goaltender Adam Berkhoel was named the tournament Most Outstanding Player.

## 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.

### First round and regional finals

* East – Pepsi Arena, Albany, New York — Host: Rensselaer
* Midwest – Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan — Host: Western Michigan
* Northeast – Verizon Wireless Arena, Manchester, New Hampshire — Host: New Hampshire
* West – World Arena, Colorado Springs, Colorado — Host: Colorado College

### Frozen Four

* FleetCenter, Boston

## Qualifying teams

The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament was announced on March 21, 2004. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) each had five teams receive a berth in the tournament, Hockey East had three teams receive a berth in the tournament, while Atlantic Hockey, College Hockey America (CHA) and the ECAC each received a single bid for their tournament champions.
| West Regional – Colorado Springs | West Regional – Colorado Springs | West Regional – Colorado Springs | West Regional – Colorado Springs | West Regional – Colorado Springs | West Regional – Colorado Springs | West Regional – Colorado Springs | Northeast Regional – Manchester | Northeast Regional – Manchester | Northeast Regional – Manchester | Northeast Regional – Manchester | Northeast Regional – Manchester | Northeast Regional – Manchester | Northeast Regional – Manchester |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid |
| 1 | North Dakota (1) | WCHA | 29–7–3 | At-large bid | 19th | 2003 | 1 | Boston College (2) | Hockey East | 27–8–4 | At-large bid | 24th | 2003 |
| 2 | Denver | WCHA | 23–12–5 | At-large bid | 17th | 2002 | 2 | Michigan | CCHA | 26–13–2 | At-large bid | 27th | 2003 |
| 3 | Miami | CCHA | 23–13–4 | At-large bid | 3rd | 1997 | 3 | New Hampshire | Hockey East | 20–14–6 | At-large bid | 14th | 2003 |
| 4 | Holy Cross | Atlantic Hockey | 22–9–4 | Tournament champion | 1st | Never | 4 | Niagara | CHA | 21–14–3 | Tournament champion | 2nd | 2000 |
| East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | East Regional – Albany | Midwest Regional – Grand Rapids | Midwest Regional – Grand Rapids | Midwest Regional – Grand Rapids | Midwest Regional – Grand Rapids | Midwest Regional – Grand Rapids | Midwest Regional – Grand Rapids | Midwest Regional – Grand Rapids |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid |
| 1 | Maine (3) | Hockey East | 30–7–3 | Tournament champion | 14th | 2003 | 1 | Minnesota (4) | WCHA | 26–13–3 | Tournament champion | 28th | 2003 |
| 2 | Ohio State | CCHA | 26–15–0 | Tournament champion | 4th | 2003 | 2 | Minnesota-Duluth | WCHA | 26–12–4 | At-large bid | 5th | 1993 |
| 3 | Wisconsin | WCHA | 21–12–8 | At-large bid | 20th | 2000 | 3 | Michigan State | CCHA | 23–16–2 | At-large bid | 23rd | 2002 |
| 4 | Harvard | ECAC | 18–14–3 | Tournament champion | 19th | 2003 | 4 | Notre Dame | CCHA | 20–14–4 | At-large bid | 1st | Never |
Number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.

## Brackets
### Frozen Four

| National semifinals April 8 | National semifinals April 8 | National semifinals April 8 | National championship April 10 | National championship April 10 | National championship April 10 |
| E1 | Maine | 2 | | | |
| NE1 | Boston College | 1 | | | |
| NE1 | Boston College | 1 | E1 | Maine | 0 |
| | | | W2 | Denver | 1 |
| MW2 | Minnesota–Duluth | 3 | W2 | Denver | 1 |
| W2 | Denver | 5 | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

## Frozen Four
### National semifinal
#### (MW2) Minnesota-Duluth vs. (W2) Denver
### National Championship
#### (E1) Maine vs. (W2) Denver

Scoring summary :
| Period | Team | Goal | Assist(s) | Time | Score |
| 1st | DEN | Gabe Gauthier (18) – GW PP | James | 12:26 | 1–0 DEN |
| 2nd | None | None | None | None | None |
| 3rd | None | None | None | None | None |
| Penalty summary ||||||
| Period | Team | Player | Penalty | Time | PIM |
| 1st | DEN | Max Bull | Checking from Behind | 3:39 | 2:00 |
| 1st | DEN | Gabe Gauthier | Roughing | 5:13 | 2:00 |
| 1st | Maine | Dustin Penner | Holding the Stick | 5:13 | 2:00 |
| 1st | Maine | Mathew Deschamps | Obstruction Interference | 11:49 | 2:00 |
| 1st | DEN | Max Bull | Cross-Checking | 13:25 | 2:00 |
| 1st | Maine | Jon Jankus | Tripping | 14:24 | 2:00 |
| 1st | DEN | J. D. Corbin | Holding | 17:03 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | Maine | Todd Jackson | Tripping | 26:26 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | DEN | Gabe Gauthier | Cross-Checking | 26:31 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | Maine | Jon Jankus | Holding the Stick | 26:31 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | DEN | Jeff Drummond | HK | 28:16 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | DEN | Ryan Caldwell | Roughing | 29:47 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | Maine | Mike Hamilton | Roughing | 29:47 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | DEN | Jeff Drummond | Obstruction Holding | 43:24 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | Maine | Prestin Ryan | Interference | 48:09 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | DEN | Jon Foster | Roughing | 52:15 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | Maine | Mathew Deschamps | Roughing | 52:15 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | DEN | Matt Laatsch | Hooking | 57:51 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | DEN | Gabe Gauthier | Delay of Game | 58:26 | 2:00 |
Shots by period :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
| Denver | 4 | 6 | 10 | 20 |
| Maine | 6 | 9 | 9 | 24 |
Goaltenders :
| Team | Name | Saves | Goals against | Time on ice |
| DEN | Adam Berkhoel | 24 | 0 | 60:00 |
| Maine | Jimmy Howard | 19 | 1 | 58:39 |

## All-Tournament team

* G: Adam Berkhoel* (Denver)
* D: Ryan Caldwell (Denver)
* D: Prestin Ryan (Maine)
* F: Junior Lessard (Minnesota-Duluth)
* F: Dustin Penner (Maine)
* F: Connor James (Denver)
* Most Outstanding Player(s)

## Record by conference

| Conference | # of Bids | Record | Win % | Regional Finals | Frozen Four | Championship Game | Champions |
| WCHA | 5 | 9-4 | .692 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| CCHA | 5 | 1-5 | .125 | 1 | - | - | - |
| Hockey East | 3 | 5-3 | .625 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - |
| ECAC | 1 | 0-1 | .000 | - | - | - | - |
| Atlantic Hockey | 1 | 0-1 | .000 | - | - | - | - |
| CHA | 1 | 0-1 | .000 | - | - | - | - |