1985 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey tournament

1985 NCAA Division III men's
ice hockey tournament
Teams8
Finals site
ChampionsRIT Tigers (1st title)
Runner-upBemidji State Beavers (1st title game)
Semifinalists
Winning coachBruce Delventhal (1st title)
MOPChet Hallice (RIT)
Attendance14,557

The 1985 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 1984–85 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey season, the 2nd such tournament in NCAA history. It concluded with RIT defeating Bemidji State 5-1. All Quarterfinals matchups were held at home team venues, while all succeeding games were played in Schenectady, New York.

Qualifying teams

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. Though the tournament was arranged by the NCAA it is not considered as part of the NCAA tournament and is displayed here for reference. As a result of both the MIAC and NCHA beginning conference playoffs the following year the WIHA was dissolved.

WIHA Tournament

Regional Quarterfinals
March 1–3 		Regional semifinals
March 4 		Regional Final
March 10
           
  Bemidji State 5 5 -
  St. Scholastica 5 1 -
  Bemidji State 4
  Gustavus Adolphus 2
  Gustavus Adolphus 5 6 -
  Saint Mary's 4 3 -
  Bemidji State 4
(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
  St. Thomas 1
  Mankato State 9 6 -
  Wisconsin–River Falls 0 2 -
  Mankato State 1 Third place
  St. Thomas 4
  St. Thomas 6 3 -   Mankato State 6
  Lake Forest 1 1 -   Gustavus Adolphus 5

NCAA Qualifiers

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.

East West
School Conference Record Berth Type Appearance Last Bid School Conference Record Berth Type Appearance Last Bid
Babson ECAC East 21–8–0 At-Large 2nd 1984 Bemidji State NCHA 25–4–2 WIHA Champion 1st Never
Plattsburgh State ECAC West 24–9–0 At-Large 1st Never Mankato State NCHA 18–11–4 WIHA Third Place 1st Never
RIT ECAC West 22–6–1 At-Large 2nd 1984 St. Thomas MIAC 25–5–0 WIHA Runner-Up 2nd 1984
Salem State ECAC East 24–7–0 Tournament Champion 1st Never
Union ECAC West 20–7–0 Tournament Champion 2nd 1984

Format

The tournament featured three rounds of play. In the Quarterfinals, teams played two-game aggregate series to determine which school advanced to the semifinals. Beginning with the semifinals all games became Single-game eliminations. The winning teams in the semifinals advanced to the National Championship Game with the losers playing in a Third Place game. The teams were seeded according to geographic proximity in the quarterfinals so the visiting team would have the shortest feasible distance to travel.

Tournament bracket

Quarterfinals
March 15–17 		Semifinals
March 22 		National championship
March 23
           
Union 5 2 7
Babson 1 3 4
Union 2
RIT 3
RIT 5 5 10
St. Thomas 4 2 6
RIT 5
Bemidji State 1
Plattsburgh State 6 4 10
Salem State 1 2 3
Plattsburgh State 7 Third-place game
Bemidji State 8***
Mankato State 4 2 6 Union 9
Bemidji State 2 9 11 Plattsburgh State 6

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

All-Tournament team

  • G: Chet Hallice* (RIT)
  • D: John Hawkins (RIT)
  • D: Dave Geatz (Babson)
  • F: Bobby Trowell (RIT)
  • F: Peter DeArmas (Plattsburgh State)
  • F: Jamie Knight (Union)

* Most Outstanding Player(s)

Record by conference

Conference # of Bids Record Win % Frozen Four Championship Game Champions
ECAC West 3 8–4 .667 3 1 1
NCHA 2 3–3 .500 1 1 -
ECAC East 2 1–3 .250 - - -
MIAC 1 0–2 .000 - - -

References

  • "Division III Men's Ice Hockey Record Book" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved March 4, 2019.