1996 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament

The 1996 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was a tournament to determine the Division III national champion in men's ice hockey.  This was the 13th time a national championship tournament at the Division III level had been held, in the 23rd overall season of Division III hockey.
== Format ==
Eight teams qualify for the tournament. In the quarterfinal round, the teams played two game series to determine which school advanced. If the series was tied, teams played a 20 minute mini-game to determine who advances. The teams were seeded according to geographic proximity in the quarterfinals, so the visiting team would have the shortest feasible distance to travel. The quarterfinals were held at campus sites on March 8 and 9. The semifinal and final rounds were held March 15 and 16 at Hunt Arena of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, in River Falls, Wisconsin.
== Bids ==
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. This was the first tournament where there were no required number of bids per region. Previously, the East and West had gotten 5 and 3 bids respectively from 1984-1987. From 1988 to 1995, they each received 4 bids. Now, there was no limit to how many schools could come from each region.
=== At-Large Bids ===
==== East ====
* Bowdoin Polar Bears - ECAC East (1st appearance)
** (18-5-1)
* Colby Mules - ECAC East (1st appearance)
** (19-4-0)
* Middlebury Panthers - ECAC East (2nd appearance)
** (22-2-2)
* Potsdam Bears - SUNYAC (1st appearance)
** SUNYAC Tournament Champions (18-8-2)
* RIT Tigers - ECAC West (6th appearance)
** ECAC West Tournament Champions (22-5-1)
==== West ====
* Saint John's Johnnies - MIAC (1st appearance)
** MIAC Tournament Champions (17-8-4)
* Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons - NCHA (6th appearance)
** NCHA Tournament Champions (23-4-2)
* Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets - NCHA (5th appearance)
** (18-9-4)
== Misc. ==
* Just three of the eight schools who earned bids appeared in the previous NCAA tournament.
* This is the 5th of 6 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for UW-Superior.
* This is the 4th of 4 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for UW-River Falls.
* This is the 2nd of 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Middlebury.
* This is the 1st of 7 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for RIT.
* This is the first NCAA Tournament without UW-Stevens Point since 1987.
* This is the first NCAA Tournament without Salem State since 1991.
* Four schools make their NCAA Tournament debut.
* The ECAC East receives three bids, all NESCAC schools, for the first time since 1987.
* Pairings were determined strictly off of geography for the quarterfinal matches.
== Results ==
=== Quarterfinals ===
Held at campus sites
-Hunt Arena- River Falls, WI-Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena- Henrietta, NY-Slinto S. Wessman Arena- Superior, WI-Duke Nelson Arena- Middlebury, VT
=== Semifinals ===
Hosted by University of Wisconsin-River Falls: Hunt Arena- River Falls, WI
=== Third Place ===
Hosted by University of Wisconsin-River Falls: Hunt Arena- River Falls, WI
=== Championship ===
Hosted by University of Wisconsin-River Falls: Hunt Arena- River Falls, WI
== Bracket ==
== Tournament Notes ==
* Middlebury wins the program's second national title and second consecutive championship.
** The Panthers become the first program to win consecutive national titles since UW-Stevens Point winning three straight from 1989-1991.
* RIT finishes as National Runner-Up for the second time in program history, with the first coming in 1989, falling to 1-2 in national championship games.
** RIT earns its fifth Frozen Four berth.
* UW-River Falls beats conference rival UW-Superior in the Third Place game for the second straight year.
** This marks both UWS and UWRF's fifth Frozen Four as a program.
*** This is the Falcons' fourth consecutive Frozen Four, and the Yellow Jackets' third consecutive Frozen Four.
* The national title game features two East teams facing off in consecutive years for the first time ever.
* No All-Tournament Team or Tournament MVP was named.
Category:1996 in hockey
Category:NCAA Division III Tournaments