1997 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey tournament

1997 NCAA Division III men's
ice hockey tournament
Teams8
Finals site
ChampionsMiddlebury Panthers (3rd title)
Runner-upWisconsin–Superior Yellowjackets (2nd title game)
Semifinalists
Winning coachBill Beaney (3rd title)
Attendance16,850

The 1997 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 1996–97 season, the 14th such tournament in NCAA history. It concluded with Middlebury defeating Wisconsin-Superior in the championship game 3-2. All Quarterfinals matchups were held at home team venues, while all succeeding games were played in Middlebury, Vermont.

The championship marked the third in a row for Middlebury.

Qualifying teams

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
Elmira ECAC West 15–8–4 At-Large 8th 1994 Saint John's MIAC 24–5–0 Tournament Champion 2nd 1996
Middlebury ECAC East 18–3–2 At-Large 3rd 1996 St. Norbert NCHA 20–8–1 At-Large 1st Never
Norwich ECAC East 20–4–2 At-Large 2nd 1987 Wisconsin–Superior NCHA 21–7–2 Tournament Champion 6th 1996
Plattsburgh State SUNYAC 22–5–2 Tournament Champion 6th 1995
RIT ECAC West 21–5–2 Tournament Champion 7th 1996

Format

The tournament featured three rounds of play. In the Quarterfinals, teams played a two-game series where the first team to reach 3 points was declared a winner (2 points for winning a game, 1 point each for tying). If both teams ended up with 2 points after the first two games a 20-minute mini-game used to determine a winner. Mini-game scores are in italics. 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.

Bracket

Quarterfinals
March 14–15 		Semifinals
March 21 		National Championship
March 22
           
Norwich 3 5 -
Plattsburgh State 3 2 -
Norwich 1
Wisconsin–Superior 2**
St. Norbert 2 1 0
Wisconsin–Superior 0 4 1
Wisconsin–Superior 2
Middlebury 3
Saint John's 2 4 -
Elmira 2 2 -
Saint John's 1 Third Place Game
Middlebury 4
Middlebury 6 6 - Norwich 3
RIT 4 3 - Saint John's 4

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

Record by conference

Conference # of Bids Record Win % Frozen Four Championship Game Champions
ECAC East 2 5–2–1 .688 2 1 1
NCHA 2 3–3–0 .500 1 1 -
ECAC West 2 0–3–1 .125 - - -
MIAC 1 2–1–1 .625 1 - -
SUNYAC 1 0–1–1 .250 - - -

References

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