# 2003 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

The 2003 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, 2003, and ended with the championship game on April 12. A total of 15 games were played. 2003 was the first year 16 teams were invited to the tournament and was the first expansion of the tournament since 1988 when it increased from eight to 12 teams. The first and second rounds of the 2003 tournament were divided across four regional sites, an increase from the two regional format in place since 1992.
Minnesota became the first team to successfully defend their title since Boston University won back-to-back titles in 1971 and 1972.

## 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 – Dunkin' Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island
* Midwest – Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan
* Northeast – Centrum Centre, Worcester, Massachusetts
* West – Mariucci Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota

### Frozen Four

* HSBC Arena, Buffalo, New York

## Qualifying teams

The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament was announced on March 23, 2003. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) had five teams receive a berth in the tournament, Hockey East had four teams receive a berth in the tournament, the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) had three teams receive a berth in the tournament, the ECAC had two berths, while both the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and College Hockey America (CHA) received one bid for their tournament champions.
| East Regional – Providence | East Regional – Providence | East Regional – Providence | East Regional – Providence | East Regional – Providence | East Regional – Providence | East Regional – Providence | Midwest Regional – Ann Arbor | Midwest Regional – Ann Arbor | Midwest Regional – Ann Arbor | Midwest Regional – Ann Arbor | Midwest Regional – Ann Arbor | Midwest Regional – Ann Arbor | Midwest Regional – Ann Arbor |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid |
| 1 | Cornell (1) | ECAC | 28–4–1 | Tournament champion | 14th | 2002 | 1 | Colorado College (2) | WCHA | 29–6–5 | At-large bid | 16th | 2002 |
| 2 | Boston College | Hockey East | 23–10–4 | At-large bid | 23rd | 2001 | 2 | Maine | Hockey East | 24–9–5 | At-large bid | 13th | 2002 |
| 3 | Ohio State | CCHA | 24–12–5 | At-large bid | 3rd | 1999 | 3 | Michigan | CCHA | 28–9–3 | Tournament champion | 26th | 2002 |
| 4 | Minnesota State-Mankato | WCHA | 20–10–10 | At-large bid | 1st | Never | 4 | Wayne State | CHA | 21–16–2 | Tournament champion | 1st | Never |
| Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | Northeast Regional – Worcester | West Regional – Minneapolis | West Regional – Minneapolis | West Regional – Minneapolis | West Regional – Minneapolis | West Regional – Minneapolis | West Regional – Minneapolis | West Regional – Minneapolis |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid |
| 1 | New Hampshire (3) | Hockey East | 25–7–6 | Tournament champion | 13th | 2002 | 1 | Minnesota (4) | WCHA | 24–8–9 | Tournament champion | 27th | 2002 |
| 2 | Boston University | Hockey East | 24–13–3 | At-large bid | 27th | 2002 | 2 | Ferris State | CCHA | 30–10–1 | At-large bid | 1st | Never |
| 3 | Harvard | ECAC | 22–9–2 | At-large bid | 18th | 2002 | 3 | North Dakota | WCHA | 26–11–5 | At-large bid | 18th | 2001 |
| 4 | St. Cloud State | WCHA | 17–15–5 | At-large bid | 5th | 2002 | 4 | Mercyhurst | MAAC | 22–12–2 | Tournament champion | 2nd | 2001 |
Number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.

## Tournament bracket

| Regional semifinals March 28–29 | Regional semifinals March 28–29 | Regional semifinals March 28–29 | Regional Finals March 29–30 | Regional Finals March 29–30 | Regional Finals March 29–30 | National semifinals April 10 | National semifinals April 10 | National semifinals April 10 | | National championship April 12 | National championship April 12 | National championship April 12 |
| 1 | Cornell (1) | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Minnesota State | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Minnesota State | 2 | 1 | Cornell | 2** | | | | | | | |
| Providence, Rhode Island – Sat/Sun | Providence, Rhode Island – Sat/Sun | Providence, Rhode Island – Sat/Sun | 1 | Cornell | 2** | | | | | | | |
| Providence, Rhode Island – Sat/Sun | Providence, Rhode Island – Sat/Sun | Providence, Rhode Island – Sat/Sun | 2 | Boston College | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Boston College | 1 | 2 | Boston College | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Ohio State | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Ohio State | 0 | | | | E1 | Cornell | 2 | | | | |
| | | | | | | N1 | New Hampshire | 3 | | | | |
| 1 | New Hampshire (3) | 5 | | | | | | | N1 | New Hampshire | 3 | | | | |
| 4 | St. Cloud State | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | St. Cloud State | 2 | 1 | New Hampshire | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Worcester, Massachusetts – Fri/Sat | Worcester, Massachusetts – Fri/Sat | Worcester, Massachusetts – Fri/Sat | 1 | New Hampshire | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Worcester, Massachusetts – Fri/Sat | Worcester, Massachusetts – Fri/Sat | Worcester, Massachusetts – Fri/Sat | 2 | Boston University | 0 | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Boston University | 6 | 2 | Boston University | 0 | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Harvard | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Harvard | 4 | | | | | | | | N1 | New Hampshire | 1 |
| | | | | | | | | | | W1 | Minnesota | 5 |
| 1 | Colorado College (2) | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | W1 | Minnesota | 5 |
| 4 | Wayne State | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Wayne State | 2 | 1 | Colorado College | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Ann Arbor, Michigan – Sat/Sun | Ann Arbor, Michigan – Sat/Sun | Ann Arbor, Michigan – Sat/Sun | 1 | Colorado College | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Ann Arbor, Michigan – Sat/Sun | Ann Arbor, Michigan – Sat/Sun | Ann Arbor, Michigan – Sat/Sun | 3 | Michigan | 5 | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Maine | 1 | 3 | Michigan | 5 | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Michigan | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Michigan | 2 | | | | M3 | Michigan | 2 | | | | |
| | | | | | | W1 | Minnesota | 3* | | | | |
| 1 | Minnesota (4) | 9 | | | | | | | W1 | Minnesota | 3* | | | | |
| 4 | Mercyhurst | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Mercyhurst | 2 | 1 | Minnesota | 7 | | | | | | | |
| Minneapolis – Fri/Sat | Minneapolis – Fri/Sat | Minneapolis – Fri/Sat | 1 | Minnesota | 7 | | | | | | | |
| Minneapolis – Fri/Sat | Minneapolis – Fri/Sat | Minneapolis – Fri/Sat | 2 | Ferris State | 4 | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Ferris State | 5 | 2 | Ferris State | 4 | | | | | | | |
| 3 | North Dakota | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

## Frozen Four
### National semifinal
#### (W1) Minnesota vs. (MW3) Michigan
### National Championship
#### (W1) Minnesota vs. (NE1) New Hampshire

Scoring summary :
| Period | Team | Goal | Assist(s) | Time | Score |
| 1st | MIN | Matt DeMarchi (8) | Smaagaard | 10:58 | 1–0 MIN |
| 1st | UNH | Sean Collins (22) – PP | Martz and Aikins | 19:41 | 1–1 |
| 2nd | None | None | None | None | None |
| 3rd | MIN | Thomas Vanek (31) – GW | Koalska | 48:14 | 2–1 MIN |
| 3rd | MIN | Jon Waibel (9) | Vanek | 51:25 | 3–1 MIN |
| 3rd | MIN | Barry Tallackson (8) – PP | Guyer and Harrington | 53:34 | 4–1 MIN |
| 3rd | MIN | Barry Tallackson (9) – EN | Potulny | 58:31 | 5–1 MIN |
| Penalty summary ||||||
| Period | Team | Player | Penalty | Time | PIM |
| 1st | UNH | Colin Hemingway | Charging | 8:57 | 2:00 |
| 1st | MIN | Keith Ballard | Roughing | 11:35 | 2:00 |
| 1st | UNH | Justin Aikins | Hooking | 13:12 | 2:00 |
| 1st | MIN | Garrett Smaagaard | Hitting after the Whistle | 18:01 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | UNH | Patrick Foley | Charging | 22:33 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | MIN | Thomas Vanek | Cross-Checking | 23:10 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | UNH | Brian Yandle | Interference | 35:27 | 2:00 |
| 2nd | MIN | Judd Stevens | Obstruction Holding | 38:39 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | MIN | Jon Waibel | Hooking | 48:59 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | UNH | Nathan Martz | Roughing | 51:43 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | UNH | Tim Horst | Hooking | 58:46 | 2:00 |
| 3rd | MIN | Jake Fleming | Slashing | 58:46 | 2:00 |
Shots by period :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
| New Hampshire | 7 | 9 | 11 | 27 |
| Minnesota | 16 | 14 | 15 | 45 |
Goaltenders :
| Team | Name | Saves | Goals against | Time on ice |
| UNH | Mike Ayers | 40 | 4 | 59:28 |
| MIN | Travis Weber | 26 | 1 | 60:00 |

## All-Tournament team

* G: Travis Weber (Minnesota)
* D: Paul Martin (Minnesota)
* D: Matt DeMarchi (Minnesota)
* F: Steve Saviano (New Hampshire)
* F: Thomas Vanek* (Minnesota)
* F: Nathan Martz (New Hampshire)
* Most Outstanding Player(s)

## Record by conference

| Conference | # of Bids | Record | Win % | Regional Finals | Frozen Four | Championship Game | Champions |
| WCHA | 5 | 5-4 | .556 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Hockey East | 4 | 5-4 | .556 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - |
| CCHA | 3 | 3-3 | .500 | 2 | 1 | - | - |
| ECAC | 2 | 2-2 | .500 | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| MAAC | 1 | 0-1 | .000 | - | - | - | - |
| CHA | 1 | 0-1 | .000 | - | - | - | - |