# 1997 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

The 1997 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament involved 12 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college ice hockey. It began on March 21, 1997, and ended with the championship game on March 29. A total of 11 games were played.

## Qualifying teams

The at-large bids and seedings for each team in the tournament were announced after the conference tournaments concluded. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) had four teams receive a berth in the tournament, the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) and the ECAC each had three teams receive a berth in the tournament, and Hockey East had two berths.
| East Regional – Worcester | East Regional – Worcester | East Regional – Worcester | East Regional – Worcester | East Regional – Worcester | East Regional – Worcester | East Regional – Worcester | West Regional – Grand Rapids | West Regional – Grand Rapids | West Regional – Grand Rapids | West Regional – Grand Rapids | West Regional – Grand Rapids | West Regional – Grand Rapids | West Regional – Grand Rapids |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid |
| 1 | Clarkson | ECAC | 27–9–0 | At-large bid | 16th | 1996 | 1 | Michigan | CCHA | 34–3–4 | Tournament champion | 20th | 1996 |
| 2 | Boston University | Hockey East | 24–8–6 | Tournament champion | 23rd | 1996 | 2 | North Dakota | WCHA | 28–10–2 | Tournament champion | 13th | 1990 |
| 3 | Vermont | ECAC | 22–10–3 | At-large bid | 3rd | 1996 | 3 | Miami | CCHA | 27–11–1 | At-large bid | 2nd | 1993 |
| 4 | New Hampshire | Hockey East | 28–10–0 | At-large bid | 8th | 1995 | 4 | Minnesota | WCHA | 27–12–1 | At-large bid | 24th | 1996 |
| 5 | Colorado College | WCHA | 23–14–4 | At-large bid | 11th | 1996 | 5 | Michigan State | CCHA | 23–12–4 | At-large bid | 17th | 1996 |
| 6 | Denver | WCHA | 23–12–4 | At-large bid | 14th | 1995 | 6 | Cornell | ECAC | 20–8–4 | Tournament champion | 12th | 1996 |

## Game locations

* East Regional – Centrum Centre, Worcester, Massachusetts
* West Regional – Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan
* Frozen Four – Bradley Center, Milwaukee

## Brackets
### Regionals

| Regional Quarterfinals March 21–22 | Regional Quarterfinals March 21–22 | Regional Quarterfinals March 21–22 | Regional semifinals March 22–23 | Regional semifinals March 22–23 | Regional semifinals March 22–23 |
| | | | E1 | Clarkson | 4 |
| East Regional | East Regional | East Regional | E1 | Clarkson | 4 |
| East Regional | East Regional | East Regional | E5 | Colorado College | 5 |
| E4 | New Hampshire | 2 | E5 | Colorado College | 5 |
| E5 | Colorado College | 3 | | | |
| | | | W2 | North Dakota | 6 |
| West Regional | West Regional | West Regional | W2 | North Dakota | 6 |
| West Regional | West Regional | West Regional | W6 | Cornell | 2 |
| W3 | Miami | 2 | W6 | Cornell | 2 |
| W6 | Cornell | 4 | | | |
| Regional Quarterfinals March 21–22 | Regional Quarterfinals March 21–22 | Regional Quarterfinals March 21–22 | Regional semifinals March 22–23 | Regional semifinals March 22–23 | Regional semifinals March 22–23 |
| | | | E2 | Boston University | 4* |
| East Regional | East Regional | East Regional | E2 | Boston University | 4* |
| East Regional | East Regional | East Regional | E6 | Denver | 3 |
| E3 | Vermont | 3 | E6 | Denver | 3 |
| E6 | Denver | 6 | | | |
| | | | W1 | Michigan | 7 |
| West Regional | West Regional | West Regional | W1 | Michigan | 7 |
| West Regional | West Regional | West Regional | W4 | Minnesota | 4 |
| W4 | Minnesota | 6 | W4 | Minnesota | 4 |
| W5 | Michigan State | 3 | | | |

### Frozen Four

| National semifinals March 27 | National semifinals March 27 | National semifinals March 27 | National championship March 29 | National championship March 29 | National championship March 29 |
| E5 | Colorado College | 2 | | | |
| W2 | North Dakota | 6 | | | |
| W2 | North Dakota | 6 | W2 | North Dakota | 6 |
| | | | E2 | Boston University | 4 |
| E2 | Boston University | 3 | E2 | Boston University | 4 |
| W1 | Michigan | 2 | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

## Frozen Four
### National semifinal
#### (E2) Boston University vs. (W1) Michigan
### National Championship
#### (W2) North Dakota vs. (E2) Boston University

Scoring summary :
| Period | Team | Goal | Assist(s) | Time | Score |
| 1st | BU | Peter Donatelli | Poti | 8:44 | 1–0 BU |
| 1st | BU | Chris Drury – PP | Poti and O'Connell | 15:08 | 2–0 BU |
| 2nd | UND | Curtis Murphy | Panzer and Henderson | 27:06 | 2–1 BU |
| 2nd | UND | David Hoogsteen | unassisted | 28:38 | 2–2 |
| 2nd | UND | Matt Henderson – SH | unassisted | 32:35 | 3–2 UND |
| 2nd | BU | Chris Kelleher – PP | unassisted | 33:56 | 3–3 |
| 2nd | UND | Matt Henderson – PP | Calder and Litke | 35:49 | 4–3 UND |
| 2nd | UND | David Hoogsteen – GW | Murphy | 39:54 | 5–3 UND |
| 3rd | BU | Jon Coleman | Kelleher and Sylvia | 59:24 | 5–4 UND |
| 3rd | UND | Adam Calder – EN | unassisted | 59:41 | 6–4 UND |
Shots by period :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
| Boston University | 11 | 10 | 8 | 29 |
| North Dakota | 10 | 16 | 4 | 30 |
Goaltenders :
| Team | Name | Saves | Goals against | Time on ice |
| BU | Michel Larocque | 24 | 5 | 58:28 |
| UND | Aaron Schweitzer | 25 | 4 | 60:00 |

## All-Tournament team

* G: Aaron Schweitzer (North Dakota)
* D: Curtis Murphy (North Dakota)
* D: Tom Poti (Boston University)
* F: Chris Drury (Boston University)
* F: Matt Henderson* (North Dakota)
* F: David Hoogsteen (North Dakota)
* Most Outstanding Player(s)

## Record by conference

| Conference | # of Bids | Record | Win % | Regional semifinals | Frozen Four | Championship Game | Champions |
| WCHA | 4 | 7-3 | .700 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| CCHA | 3 | 1-3 | .250 | 1 | 1 | – | – |
| ECAC | 3 | 1-3 | .250 | 2 | - | - | - |
| Hockey East | 2 | 2-2 | .500 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |