# 1996 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey tournament

The 1996 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey tournament was the culmination of the 1995–96 season, the 13th such tournament in NCAA history. It concluded with Middlebury defeating RIT in the championship game 3–2. All Quarterfinals matchups were held at home team venues, while all succeeding games were played in River Falls, Wisconsin.

## Qualifying teams

The following teams qualified for the tournament. There were no automatic bids, however, conference tournament champions were given preferential consideration. No formal seeding was used while quarterfinal matches were arranged so that the road teams would have the shortest possible travel distances.
| East | East | East | East | East | East | West | West | West | West | West | West |
| School | Conference | Record | Berth Type | Appearance | Last Bid | School | Conference | Record | Berth Type | Appearance | Last Bid |
| Bowdoin | ECAC East | 18–5–1 | At-Large | 1st | Never | Saint John's | MIAC | 17–8–4 | Tournament champion | 1st | Never |
| Colby | ECAC East | 19–4–0 | At-Large | 1st | Never | Wisconsin–River Falls | NCHA | 23–4–2 | Tournament champion | 6th | 1995 |
| Middlebury | ECAC East | 22–2–2 | At-Large | 2nd | 1995 | Wisconsin–Superior | NCHA | 18–9–4 | At-Large | 5th | 1995 |
| Potsdam State | SUNYAC | 18–8–2 | Tournament champion | 1st | Never |
| RIT | ECAC West | 22–5–1 | Tournament champion | 6th | 1994 |

## Format

The tournament featured three rounds of play. In the Quarterfinals, teams played a two-game series where the first team to reach 3 points was declared a winner (2 points for winning a game, 1 point each for tying). If both teams ended up with 2 points after the first two games a 20-minute mini-game used to determine a winner. Mini-game scores are in italics. Beginning with the semifinals all games became Single-game eliminations. The winning teams in the semifinals advanced to the national championship game with the losers playing in a Third Place game. The teams were seeded according to geographic proximity in the quarterfinals so the visiting team would have the shortest feasible distance to travel.

## Bracket

| Quarterfinals March 8–9 | Quarterfinals March 8–9 | Quarterfinals March 8–9 | Quarterfinals March 8–9 | Quarterfinals March 8–9 | Semifinals March 15 | Semifinals March 15 | Semifinals March 15 | National championship March 16 | National championship March 16 | National championship March 16 |
| Middlebury | Middlebury | 2 | 5 | - | | | | | | |
| Colby | Colby | 1 | 1 | - | | | | | | |
| Colby | Colby | 1 | 1 | - | Middlebury | Middlebury | 4 | | | |
| | | | | | Wisconsin–Superior | Wisconsin–Superior | 3 | | | |
| Wisconsin–Superior | Wisconsin–Superior | 6 | 7 | - | Wisconsin–Superior | Wisconsin–Superior | 3 | | | |
| Saint John's | Saint John's | 5 | 2 | - | | | | | | |
| Saint John's | Saint John's | 5 | 2 | - | | | | Middlebury | Middlebury | 3 |
| | | | | | | | | RIT | RIT | 2 |
| Wisconsin–River Falls | Wisconsin–River Falls | 7 | 7 | - | | | | | | | RIT | RIT | 2 |
| Bowdoin | Bowdoin | 1 | 3 | - | | | |
| Bowdoin | Bowdoin | 1 | 3 | - | Wisconsin–River Falls | Wisconsin–River Falls | 1 | Third-place game | Third-place game | Third-place game |
| | | | | | RIT | RIT | 2 |
| RIT | RIT | 6 | 5 | - | RIT | RIT | 2 | Wisconsin–Superior | Wisconsin–Superior | 2 |
| Potsdam State | Potsdam State | 3 | 3 | - | | | | Wisconsin–River Falls | Wisconsin–River Falls | 8 |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s) Note: Mini-games in italics

## Record by conference

| Conference | # of Bids | Record | Win % | Frozen Four | Championship Game | Champions |
| ECAC East | 3 | 4–4 | .500 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| NCHA | 2 | 5–3 | .625 | 2 | - | - |
| ECAC West | 1 | 3–1 | .750 | 1 | 1 | - |
| SUNYAC | 1 | 0–2 | .000 | - | - | - |
| MIAC | 1 | 0–2 | .000 | - | - | - |