# 1976 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament

The 1976 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 17th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 10 and March 15, 1976. All games were played at home team campus sites, including each of the two regional final series. By winning the regional tournaments, both Minnesota and Michigan Tech were invited to participate in the 1976 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
Though not official designations, Minnesota is considered as the East Regional Champion† and Michigan Tech 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
1975–76 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 |
| Michigan Tech†* | 32 | 25 | 7 | 0 | 50 | 190 | 134 | 43 | 34 | 9 | 0 | 255 | 177 |
| Michigan State | 32 | 20 | 12 | 0 | 40 | 154 | 139 | 40 | 23 | 15 | 2 | 193 | 176 |
| Minnesota* | 32 | 18 | 13 | 1 | 37 | 129 | 119 | 44 | 28 | 14 | 2 | 190 | 158 |
| Michigan | 32 | 17 | 15 | 0 | 34 | 157 | 141 | 39 | 21 | 18 | 0 | 196 | 176 |
| Notre Dame | 32 | 15 | 15 | 2 | 32 | 143 | 140 | 38 | 19 | 17 | 2 | 171 | 173 |
| Colorado College | 32 | 15 | 16 | 1 | 31 | 131 | 133 | 38 | 15 | 22 | 1 | 151 | 181 |
| Wisconsin | 32 | 11 | 19 | 2 | 24 | 137 | 151 | 38 | 12 | 24 | 2 | 153 | 177 |
| Denver | 32 | 12 | 20 | 0 | 24 | 120 | 140 | 39 | 16 | 23 | 0 | 165 | 175 |
| Minnesota-Duluth | 32 | 12 | 20 | 0 | 24 | 132 | 160 | 36 | 15 | 21 | 0 | 159 | 179 |
| North Dakota | 32 | 12 | 20 | 0 | 24 | 119 | 155 | 36 | 15 | 21 | 0 | 142 | 168 |
| Championship: Minnesota, Michigan Tech † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion |||||||||||||||

## Bracket

Teams are reseeded after the first round
| First Round March 10–11 | First Round March 10–11 | First Round March 10–11 | First Round March 10–11 | Second Round March 13–15 | Second Round March 13–15 | Second Round March 13–15 | Second Round March 13–15 |
| 1 | Michigan Tech | 5 | 8 | | | | |
| 8 | Denver | 4 | 6 | | | | |
| 8 | Denver | 4 | 6 | 1 | Michigan Tech | 4 | 6 |
| | | | | 4 | Michigan | 2 | 5 |
| 2 | Michigan State | 6 | 6 | 4 | Michigan | 2 | 5 |
| 7 | Wisconsin | 4 | 4 | | | | |
| 3 | Minnesota | 7 | 5 | | | | |
| 6 | Colorado College | 4 | 1 | | | | |
| 6 | Colorado College | 4 | 1 | 2 | Michigan State | 2 | 6 |
| | | | | 3 | Minnesota | 2 | 7*** |
| 4 | Michigan | 8 | 4 | 3 | Minnesota | 2 | 7*** |
| 5 | Notre Dame | 3 | 5 | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

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

* Michigan Tech won series 13–10

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

* Michigan State won series 12–8

#### (3) Minnesota vs. (6) Colorado College

* Minnesota won series 12–5

#### (4) Michigan vs. (5) Notre Dame

* Michigan won series 12–8

### Second round
#### (1) Michigan Tech vs. (4) Michigan

* Michigan Tech won series 10–7

#### (2) Michigan State vs. (3) Minnesota

* Minnesota won series 9–8

## Tournament awards

None