# 1977 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament

The 1977 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 18th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 9 and March 17, 1977. All games were played at home team campus sites including the championship series. By reaching the finals both Wisconsin and Michigan were invited to participate in the 1977 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
This was the first year that the WCHA had named one tournament champion in twelve years. After this championship the conference would revert to awarding two teams the postseason title for an additional four years.

## 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 advancing to the championship series, again a two-game, total goal match.

### Conference standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against
1976–77 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 |
| Wisconsin†* | 32 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 53 | 192 | 122 | 45 | 37 | 7 | 1 | 264 | 161 |
| Notre Dame | 32 | 19 | 10 | 3 | 41 | 164 | 127 | 38 | 22 | 13 | 3 | 191 | 147 |
| Michigan | 32 | 20 | 12 | 0 | 40 | 183 | 151 | 45 | 28 | 17 | 0 | 260 | 211 |
| Denver | 32 | 16 | 14 | 2 | 34 | 154 | 151 | 40 | 21 | 17 | 2 | 206 | 187 |
| North Dakota | 32 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 32 | 168 | 158 | 38 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 202 | 184 |
| Michigan Tech | 32 | 15 | 16 | 1 | 31 | 143 | 150 | 38 | 19 | 18 | 1 | 177 | 178 |
| Minnesota | 32 | 13 | 16 | 3 | 29 | 135 | 144 | 41 | 17 | 21 | 3 | 177 | 202 |
| Colorado College | 32 | 11 | 20 | 1 | 23 | 156 | 170 | 40 | 13 | 25 | 2 | 194 | 209 |
| Michigan State | 32 | 11 | 20 | 1 | 23 | 122 | 171 | 36 | 14 | 21 | 1 | 145 | 189 |
| Minnesota-Duluth | 32 | 6 | 24 | 2 | 14 | 119 | 192 | 37 | 9 | 26 | 2 | 148 | 219 |
| Championship: Wisconsin † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion |||||||||||||||

## Bracket

Teams are reseeded after the first round
| First Round March 9–10 | First Round March 9–10 | First Round March 9–10 | First Round March 9–10 | First Round March 9–10 | Semifinals March 12–13 | Semifinals March 12–13 | Semifinals March 12–13 | Semifinals March 12–13 | Semifinals March 12–13 | Championship March 16–17 | Championship March 16–17 | Championship March 16–17 | Championship March 16–17 | Championship March 16–17 |
| 1 | Wisconsin | 3 | 3 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Colorado College | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Colorado College | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Wisconsin | 9 | 8 | 17 | | | | | |
| | | | | | 7 | Minnesota | 5 | 3 | 8 | | | | | |
| 2 | Notre Dame | 5 | 2 | 7 | 7 | Minnesota | 5 | 3 | 8 | | | | | |
| 7 | Minnesota | 1 | 9 | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Minnesota | 1 | 9 | 10 | | | | | | 1 | Wisconsin | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 3 | Michigan | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 3 | Michigan | 6 | 5 | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | Michigan | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 6 | Michigan Tech | 5 | 2 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Michigan Tech | 5 | 2 | 7 | 3 | Michigan | 6 | 11 | 17 | | | | | |
| | | | | | 4 | Denver | 4 | 4 | 8 | | | | | |
| 4 | Denver | 8 | 7 | 15 | 4 | Denver | 4 | 4 | 8 | | | | | |
| 5 | North Dakota | 3 | 2 | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

### First round
#### (1) Wisconsin vs. (8) Colorado College

* Wisconsin won series 6–2

#### (2) Notre Dame vs. (7) Minnesota

* Minnesota won series 10–7

#### (3) Michigan vs. (6) Michigan Tech

* Michigan won series 11–7

#### (4) Denver vs. (5) North Dakota

* Denver won series 15–5

### Semifinals
#### (1) Wisconsin vs. (7) Minnesota

* Wisconsin won series 17–8

#### (3) Michigan vs. (4) Denver

* Michigan won series 17–8

### Championship
#### (1) Wisconsin vs. (3) Michigan

* Wisconsin won series 9–4

## Tournament awards

None