1984 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament

The 1984 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was a tournament to determine the Division III national champion in men's ice hockey.  Despite being the 11th season of Division III college hockey, this was the first time a national championship tournament at the Division III level had been held.
While most of the teams that were eligible for tournament continued to play at the Division II level, they submitted bids for the new championship at the end of the season. Due to the level of interest, the tournament was founded as an 8-team championship with no automatic bids being offered. Additionally, with an NCAA-sponsored tournament for Division III schools, most NAIA teams switched to NCAA classification and, with the NAIA Ice Hockey Championship becoming a superfluous tournament, the NAIA ended its sponsorship of ice hockey in 1984.
Because only one Division III tournament existed at the time, and it permitted its Division II members to participate in the conference tournament, no automatic bids could be offered to conference tournament champions. The NCAA continued to refrain from offering automatic bids until 2000.
== Western Intercollegiate Hockey Association (WIHA) Tournament ==
Because neither of the two western conferences held a conference tournament, the NCAA had all western schools play collectively in the Western Intercollegiate Hockey Association. At the conclusion of the regular season, the top 8 teams, regardless of their conference, were invited to play in the WIHA tournament. The regional tournament was discontinued after 1985 when the western conferences began their conference tournaments. Though the tournament was arranged by the NCAA, it is not considered as part of the NCAA tournament and is displayed here for reference. This tournament had been used to determine the Division II tournament invitees but, with the majority of bids being submitted to the Division III tournament, the regional tournament was now used for this championship, with the top 3 finishers in the tournament qualifying for the NCAA championship.
;Seeds
#Wisconsin-River Falls
#St. Thomas
#Gustavus
#Augsburg
#Lake Forest
#Hamline
#Bethel
#St. Olaf
;Quarterfinals
;Held at campus sites
;-Hunt Arena- River Falls, WI
-Augsburg Ice Arena- Minneapolis, MN
*
-Lund Arena- St. Peter, MN
-St. Paul, MN
*
;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
== Format ==
Eight teams qualify for the tournament. In the quarterfinals, teams played two-game aggregate series to determine which school advanced to the semifinals. Beginning with the semifinals, all rounds became single-game eliminations. 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 9 and 10. The semifinal and final rounds were held March 16 and 17 at Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena of Rochester Institute of Technology, in Henrietta, 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. Because the Division III level was skewed towards eastern teams, the East Region initially received 5 bids, while the West Region received 3 bids.
=== At-Large Bids ===
==== East ====
* Babson Beavers - ECAC 2 East (1st appearance)
** ECAC 2 East Tournament Champions (24-5-0)
* New England College Pilgrims - ECAC 2 East (1st appearance)
** (16-7-2)
* Oswego Lakers - ECAC 2 West (1st appearance)
** (21-9-0)
* RIT Tigers - ECAC 2 West (1st appearance)
** ECAC 2 West Tournament Champions (26-5-0)
* Union Dutchmen - ECAC 2 West (1st appearance)
** (17-9-1)
==== West ====
* Augsburg Auggies - MIAC (1st appearance)
** WIHA Tournament Third Place (20-11-0)
* St. Thomas Tommies - MIAC (1st appearance)
** WIHA Tournament Champions (19-9-1)
* Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons - NCHA (1st appearance)
** WIHA Tournament Runner-Up (20-9-1)
== Misc. ==
* This is the 1st of 10 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Babson.
* Pairings were determined strictly off of geography for the quarterfinal matches. However, the likely seedings would have likely been as follows;
** East: 
*** 1. RIT
*** 2. Babson
*** 3. Oswego
*** 4. Union
*** 5. New England College
** West: 
*** 1. St. Thomas
*** 2. UW-River Falls
*** 3. Augsburg
==Results==
=== Quarterfinals ===
Held at campus sites
-St. Paul, MN
Augsburg advances, 13 goals to 12 
-Babson Park, MA
Babson advances, 6 goals to 5 
-Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena- Henrietta, NY
RIT advances, 23 goals to 3
-Hunt Arena- River Falls, WI
Union advances, 8 goals to 6
=== Semifinals ===
Hosted by Rochester Institute of Technology: Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena- Henrietta, NY
=== Third Place ===
Hosted by Rochester Institute of Technology: Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena- Henrietta, NY
=== Championship ===
Hosted by Rochester Institute of Technology: Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena- Henrietta, NY
== Bracket ==
== Tournament Notes ==
* In the inaugural Division III national tournament, Babson wins its first and only national championship to date.
* Union finishes 2nd, the highest it ever would at the Division III level before moving to D-1 in the 1991-92 season.
* RIT finishes 3rd in its first chance at hosting the Frozen Four.
* Augsburg reaches the Frozen Four in the first-ever tournament, a feat the program has only done twice more since then.
== All-Tournament Team ==
* F: Paul Donato- Babson (MVP)
* F: Gill Egan- Union
* F: Richie Herbert- RIT
* F: Russ McKinnon- Babson
* D: John MacKenzie- Union
* D: Joe Thibert- Babson
* G: Keith Houghton- Babson
*
Category:1984 in hockey
Category:NCAA Division III Tournaments