# 1986 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament

The 1986 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 27th conference playoff in league history and 34th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The tournament was played between February 28 and March 15, 1986. First round and semifinal games were played at home team campus sites while the championship match was held at the DU Arena in Denver, Colorado. By winning the tournament, Denver was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 1986 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

## Format

All member teams were eligible for the tournament and were seeded No. 1 through No. 8 according to their final conference standing, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with an identical number of points accumulated. The top four seeded teams each earned home ice and hosted one of the lower seeded teams. As a result of their being the regular season champion, Denver's home venue, DU Arena, served as the site for the Championship game regardless of which teams qualified for the penultimate match. Each series were two-game matchups with the team that scored the most goals advancing to the succeeding round. The teams that advanced to the semifinal were re-seeded No. 1 through No. 4 according to the final regular season conference standings, with the top remaining seed matched against lowest remaining seed in one semifinal game while the two other semifinalists meeting with the winners advancing to the championship round. The Tournament Champion received an automatic bid to the 1986 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

### Conference standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against
1985–86 Western Collegiate Hockey Association standingsvte :
| | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| | GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| Denver†* | 34 | 25 | 9 | 0 | 50 | 169 | 115 | 48 | 34 | 13 | 1 | 236 | 158 |
| Minnesota | 34 | 24 | 10 | 0 | 48 | 177 | 115 | 48 | 35 | 13 | 0 | 252 | 157 |
| Wisconsin | 34 | 23 | 11 | 0 | 46 | 172 | 136 | 42 | 27 | 15 | 0 | 206 | 173 |
| Minnesota-Duluth | 34 | 21 | 12 | 1 | 43 | 153 | 117 | 42 | 26 | 13 | 3 | 206 | 157 |
| Northern Michigan | 34 | 21 | 13 | 0 | 42 | 168 | 151 | 39 | 23 | 14 | 2 | 191 | 169 |
| North Dakota | 34 | 19 | 14 | 1 | 39 | 155 | 136 | 41 | 24 | 16 | 1 | 188 | 156 |
| Colorado College | 34 | 11 | 21 | 2 | 24 | 131 | 155 | 40 | 12 | 26 | 2 | 158 | 191 |
| Michigan Tech | 34 | 9 | 22 | 3 | 21 | 118 | 164 | 40 | 10 | 26 | 4 | 136 | 205 |
| Championship: Denver † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion |||||||||||||||

## Bracket

Teams are reseeded after the first round
| First Round February 28-March 1 | First Round February 28-March 1 | First Round February 28-March 1 | First Round February 28-March 1 | First Round February 28-March 1 | Semifinals March 7–9 | Semifinals March 7–9 | Semifinals March 7–9 | Semifinals March 7–9 | Semifinals March 7–9 | Championship March 14–15 | Championship March 14–15 | Championship March 14–15 | Championship March 14–15 | Championship March 14–15 |
| 1 | Denver | 3 | 6 | 9 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Michigan Tech | 4 | 2 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Michigan Tech | 4 | 2 | 6 | 1 | Denver | 8 | 5 | 13 | | | | | |
| | | | | | 4 | Minnesota-Duluth | 2 | 5 | 7 | | | | | |
| 2 | Minnesota | 10 | 4 | 14 | 4 | Minnesota-Duluth | 2 | 5 | 7 | | | | | |
| 7 | Colorado College | 4 | 3 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Colorado College | 4 | 3 | 7 | | | | | | 1 | Denver | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Minnesota | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Wisconsin | 6 | 6 | 12 | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Minnesota | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 6 | North Dakota | 2 | 5 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | North Dakota | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | Minnesota | 4 | 7 | 11 | | | | | |
| | | | | | 3 | Wisconsin | 1 | 3 | 4 | | | | | |
| 4 | Minnesota-Duluth | 4 | 8 | 12 | 3 | Wisconsin | 1 | 3 | 4 | | | | | |
| 5 | Northern Michigan | 4 | 4 | 8 | | | | | | | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

### First round
#### (1) Denver vs. (8) Michigan Tech

* Denver won series 9–6

#### (2) Minnesota vs. (7) Colorado College

* Minnesota won series 14–7

#### (3) Wisconsin vs. (6) North Dakota

* Wisconsin won series 12–7

#### (4) Minnesota-Duluth vs. (5) Northern Michigan

* Minnesota-Duluth won series 12–8

### Semifinals
#### (1) Denver vs. (4) Minnesota-Duluth

* Denver won series 13–7

#### (2) Minnesota vs. (3) Wisconsin

* Minnesota won series 11–4

### Championship
#### (1) Denver vs. (2) Minnesota

* Denver won series 6–2

## Tournament awards

None