# 1972 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament

The 1972 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 13th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 7 and March 11, 1972. All games were played at home team campus sites, including each of the two regional final series. By winning the regional tournaments, both Wisconsin and Denver were invited to participate in the 1972 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
Though not official designations, Wisconsin is considered as the East Regional Champion† and Denver as the West Regional Champion‡.

## Format

The top eight teams in the WCHA, according to their final conference standings, were eligible for the tournament and were seeded No. 1 through No. 8. In the first round the first and eighth seeds, the second and seventh seeds, the third and sixth seeds and the fourth and fifth seeds were matched in two-game series where the school that scored the higher number of goals was declared the winner. After the first round the remaining teams were reseeded No. 1 through No. 4 according to their final conference standings and advanced to the second round. In the second round the first and fourth seeds and the second and third seeds competed in an additional two-game, total goal series with the winners of each being declared as co-conference champions.

### Conference standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against
1971–72 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†* | 28 | 19 | 9 | 0 | 54 | 148 | 104 | 38 | 27 | 11 | 0 | 205 | 137 |
| Wisconsin* | 28 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 48 | 134 | 87 | 38 | 27 | 10 | 1 | 170 | 106 |
| North Dakota | 28 | 18 | 10 | 0 | 44 | 130 | 109 | 36 | 21 | 14 | 1 | 161 | 138 |
| Michigan State | 28 | 15 | 13 | 0 | 42 | 119 | 103 | 36 | 20 | 16 | 0 | 154 | 129 |
| Minnesota-Duluth | 28 | 15 | 13 | 0 | 40 | 129 | 123 | 35 | 16 | 18 | 1 | 148 | 150 |
| Michigan | 28 | 12 | 16 | 0 | 32 | 108 | 163 | 34 | 16 | 18 | 0 | 132 | 186 |
| Michigan Tech | 26 | 11 | 15 | 0 | 30 | 120 | 124 | 34 | 16 | 17 | 1 | 152 | 148 |
| Notre Dame | 26 | 10 | 16 | 0 | 28 | 120 | 121 | 34 | 14 | 20 | 0 | 164 | 160 |
| Colorado College | 28 | 11 | 17 | 0 | 28 | 140 | 165 | 32 | 13 | 19 | 0 | 170 | 184 |
| Minnesota | 28 | 7 | 21 | 0 | 14 | 83 | 132 | 32 | 8 | 24 | 0 | 97 | 157 |
| Championship: Wisconsin, Denver † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion |||||||||||||||

## Bracket

Teams are reseeded after the first round
| First Round March 7–8 | First Round March 7–8 | First Round March 7–8 | First Round March 7–8 | Second Round March 10–11 | Second Round March 10–11 | Second Round March 10–11 | Second Round March 10–11 |
| 1 | Denver | 7 | 4 | | | | |
| 8 | Notre Dame | 2 | 2 | | | | |
| 8 | Notre Dame | 2 | 2 | 1 | Denver | 2 | 9 |
| | | | | 4 | Michigan State | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Wisconsin | 3 | 6 | 4 | Michigan State | 1 | 3 |
| 7 | Michigan Tech | 5 | 1 | | | | |
| 3 | North Dakota | 5 | 10 | | | | |
| 6 | Michigan | 1 | 2 | | | | |
| 6 | Michigan | 1 | 2 | 2 | Wisconsin | 1 | 5 |
| | | | | 3 | North Dakota | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Michigan State | 4 | 4 | 3 | North Dakota | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Minnesota-Duluth | 2 | 2 | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

### First round
#### (1) Denver vs. (8) Notre Dame

* Denver won series 11–4

#### (2) Wisconsin vs. (7) Michigan Tech

* Wisconsin won series 9–6

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

* North Dakota won series 15–3

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

* Michigan State won series 8–4

### Second round
#### (1) Denver vs. (4) Michigan State

* Denver won series 11–4

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

* Wisconsin won series 6–2

## Tournament awards

None