1991 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament

The 1991 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 eighth time a national championship tournament at the Division III level had been held, in the 18th overall season of Division III hockey.
== Format ==
The format returned to what was used from 1986-1987, with a single-elimination Frozen Four all held at one site, and the return of the 3rd Place Game. Eight teams qualify for the tournament. For only 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 Murray Athletic Center of Elmira College, in Horseheads, New York.
== 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. Both the East and West regions each received four bids to the tournament.
=== At-Large Bids ===
==== East ====
* Babson Beavers - ECAC East (8th appearance)
** (17-7-0)
* Elmira Soaring Eagles - ECAC West (4th appearance)
** ECAC West Tournament Champions (26-3-0)
* Mercyhurst Lakers - ECAC West (1st appearance)
** (18-11-1)
* Oswego Lakers - ECAC West (5th appearance)
** (14-11-1)
==== West ====
* Gustavus Adolphus Golden Gusties - MIAC (2nd appearance)
** MIAC Tournament Champions (17-5-2)
* Lake Forest Foresters - Independent (1st appearance)
** (18-4-1)
* Mankato State Mavericks - NCHA (4th appearance)
** (21-5-6)
* Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers - NCHA (4th appearance)
** NCHA Tournament Champions (23-9-0)
== Misc. ==
* Five of the eight schools who earned bids appeared in the previous NCAA tournament.
* This is the 8th of 10 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Babson.
* This is the 4th of 8 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for UW-Stevens Point.
* This is the 2nd of 5 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Elmira.
* Pairings were determined strictly off of geography for the quarterfinal matches
* Mercyhurst makes its one and only appearance in the Division III tournament.
* Lake Forest becomes the first Independent program to be selected to the tournament.
== Results ==
=== Quarterfinals ===
Held at campus sites
-Murray Athletic Center- Horseheads, NY
*MINIGAME*-All Seasons Arena- Mankato, MN
-Babson Skating Center- Wellesley, MA-K.B. Willett Arena- Stevens Point, WI
=== Semifinals ===
Hosted by Elmira College: Murray Athletic Center- Horseheads, NY
=== Third Place ===
Hosted by Elmira College: Murray Athletic Center- Horseheads, NY
=== Championship ===
Hosted by Elmira College: Murray Athletic Center- Horseheads, NY
== Bracket ==
== Tournament Notes ==
* A year after becoming the first-ever back-to-back champions, Stevens Point follows it up with a third consecutive title, and the third in program history.
* The NCHA wins its fourth consecutive national championship as a conference.
* Mankato State reaches the program's first-ever title game at the D-III level, and notching the program's third Frozen Four.
* Babson reaches the national semifinals for the fourth straight year, this time earning third place with the return of the consolation game.
** This is the 5th total Frozen Four appearance for the Beavers.
* Elmira's 4th-place finish marks the program's second Frozen Four appearance.
* The UW-Stevens Point vs. Mankato State title game would become the second time an intraconference matchup decided the national championship, and first since 1987.
** This is also the first time the national championship game featured two western teams.
* In the fifth instance of this format, which involved a Frozen Four (both semifinals, and finals) at one site, Elmira becomes the first host school to not win a game, finishing in 4th place out of 4. (Previous host schools in this format finished 3rd, 3rd, 1st, 1st)
* This was only the second time that neither an All-Tournament Team, or Tournament MVP was named, with the first coming in 1988. These both would not be awarded again until 2009.
Category:1991 in hockey
Category:NCAA Division III Tournaments