2002 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament

2002 WCHA Men's ice hockey tournament
Dates	March 8–16, 2002
Teams	10
Finals site	Xcel Energy Center St. Paul, Minnesota
Champions	Denver (13th title)
Winning coach	George Gwozdecky[1] (5th title)
MVP	Wade Dubielewicz (Denver)
Attendance	75,151
WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments ← 2001 2003 →

The 2002 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 43rd conference playoff in league history and 49th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The 2002 tournament was played between March 8 and March 16, 2002, at five conference arenas and the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, the home of the NHL's Minnesota Wild. By winning the tournament, Denver was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's automatic bid to the 2002 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament.

Format

The first round of the postseason tournament featured a best-of-three games format. All ten conference schools participated in the tournament with teams seeded No. 1 through No. 10 according to their final conference standing, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with an identical number of points accumulated. The top five seeded teams each earned home ice and hosted one of the lower seeded teams.

The winners of the first round series advanced to the Xcel Energy Center for the WCHA Final Five, the collective name for the quarterfinal, semifinal, and championship rounds. The Final Five uses a single-elimination format. Teams were re-seeded No. 1 through No. 5 according to the final regular season conference standings, with the top three teams automatically advancing to the semifinals.

Conference standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against

2001–02 Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings v t e
	Conference								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#5 Denver†*	28	21	6	1	43	108	63		41	32	8	1	158	86
#10 St. Cloud State	28	19	7	2	40	117	65		42	29	11	2	179	99
#1 Minnesota	28	18	7	3	39	113	84		44	32	8	4	197	119
#7 Colorado College	28	16	10	2	34	95	74		43	27	13	3	147	97
Wisconsin	28	12	13	3	27	88	90		39	16	19	4	123	120
Minnesota State-Mankato	28	11	15	2	24	84	107		38	16	20	2	124	138
Alaska-Anchorage	28	10	14	4	24	79	96		36	12	19	5	99	125
North Dakota	28	11	15	2	24	103	100		37	16	19	2	134	136
Minnesota-Duluth	28	6	19	3	15	72	112		40	13	24	3	119	153
Michigan Tech	28	4	22	2	10	66	134		38	8	28	2	92	177
Championship: Denver † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Final rankings: USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Poll Top 15 Poll

Bracket

Teams are reseeded after the first round

	First round[2] March 8–9							Quarterfinal[3] March 14					Semifinals March 15					Championship March 16
	1	Denver	5	8	–
	10	Michigan Tech	1	1	–
													1	Denver	3
	2	St. Cloud State	5*	6	–			4	Colorado College	3*			4	Colorado College	0
	9	Minnesota-Duluth	4	3	–			5	Wisconsin	2
	3	Minnesota	7	4*	–													1	Denver	5
	8	North Dakota	4	3	–													3	Minnesota	2
	4	Colorado College	6	1	—
	7	Alaska-Anchorage	1	0	—								2	St. Cloud State	1
													3	Minnesota	4
	5	Wisconsin	3*	7	—
	6	Minnesota State-Mankato	2	3	—

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

First round

(1) Denver vs. (10) Michigan Tech

March 8[4]	Denver		5 – 1		Michigan Tech	Magness Arena	Recap
(Fulghum, Bull) Greg Keith - 15:19 (Bull, MacKenzie) Jussi Halme - GW - 19:36		First period			No scoring
(Adams) Chris Paradise - 19:05		Second period			15:10 - Frank Werner (Markham)
(James, Vines) Chris Paradise - 04:07 (Foster, Weber) David Neale - 17:16		Third period			No scoring
Wade Dubielewicz ( 13 saves / 14 shots )		Goalie stats			Cam Ellsworth ( 35 saves / 40 shots )

March 9[5]	Denver		8 – 1		Michigan Tech	Magness Arena	Recap
(Foster, Paradise) Connor James - 07:54 (Weber, Dubielewicz) David Neale - GW - 11:26		First period			No scoring
(Ulanski, MacKenzie) Lukas Dora - 00:18 (Doell, James) Greg Barber - 04:31 (Caldwell, Foster) Chris Paradise - PP - 13:25		Second period			No scoring
(Foster, Neale) Matt Weber - 08:53 (Foster) David Neale - 10:36 (Caldwell, Ulanski) Kevin Doell - PP - 19:56		Third period			18:39 - Colin Murphy
Wade Dubielewicz ( 18 saves / 18 shots ) / Andy Lemelin ( 0 saves / 1 shots )		Goalie stats			Cam Ellsworth ( 23 saves / 31 shots )

Denver won series 2–0

(2) St. Cloud State vs. (9) Minnesota-Duluth

March 8[6]	St. Cloud State		5 – 4	OT	Minnesota-Duluth	National Hockey Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period			18:15 - Drew Otten (Petruic, Nelson)
(Doyle, Iannazzo) Peter Szabo - 01:45 (DiCasmirro, Hartigan) Joe Motzko - PP - 11:23 (Cullen, Motzko) Mark Hartigan - PP - 11:56		Second period			04:20 - Drew Otten (Francisco, Geisler) 12:14 - Andy Reierson (Nelson, Anderson)
(Motzko, Eastman) Matt Gens - 11:02		Third period			16:52 - Mark Carlson (Geisler, Francisco)
(Malone, Cullen) Matt Gens - GW - 17:39		First overtime period			No scoring
Dean Weasler ( 36 saves / 40 shots )		Goalie stats			Rob Anderson ( 31 saves / 37 shots )

March 9[7]	St. Cloud State		6 – 3		Minnesota-Duluth	National Hockey Center	Recap
(Meyer, Brooks) Ryan Malone - 03:50 (Hartigan, Finger) Joe Cullen - PP - 06:09 (DiCasmirro, LaMere) Mark Hartigan - 17:07		First period			18:44 - Junior Lessard (Nelson, Geisler)
(Hartigan, Motzko) Joe Cullen - GW - 07:33		Second period			No scoring
(Hartigan, Motzko) Nate DiCasmirro - PP - 10:26 (DiCasmirro, Gens) Mark Hartigan - PP - 15:17		Third period			08:40 - PP - Mark Carlson (Hambly, Geisler) 18:44 - PP - Judd Medak (Francisco, Reierson)
Jake Moreland ( 26 saves / 29 shots )		Goalie stats			Rob Anderson ( 20 saves / 26 shots )

St. Cloud State won series 2–0

(3) Minnesota vs. (8) North Dakota

March 8[8]	Minnesota		7 – 2		North Dakota	Mariucci Arena	Recap
(Anthony, Riddle) John Pohl - 02:17 (Anthony, Pohl) Troy Riddle - 04:57		First period			No scoring
(Riddle, Pohl) Nick Anthony - GW - 00:18 (Koalska, Wendell) Barry Tallackson - 02:59 (Leopold, Martin) John Pohl - PP - 04:02 (Welch, Taffe) Keith Ballard - 06:08		Second period			11:28 - Tim Skarperud
(Potulny) Jeff Taffe - 10:42		Third period			16:45 - Rory McMahon (Hale)
Adam Hauser ( 21 saves / 23 shots )		Goalie stats			Josh Siembida ( 24 saves / 30 shots ) / Andy Kollar ( 15 saves / 16 shots )

March 9[9]	Minnesota		4 – 3	OT	North Dakota	Mariucci Arena	Recap
No Scoring		First period			01:10 - SH - Rory McMahon (Hale)
(Martin) Dan Welch - 01:15 (Taffe, Welch) Jordan Leopold - 12:02		Second period			19:46 - Ryan Bayda
Jeff Taffe - 07:21		Third period			18:53 - EA PP - Chad Mazurak (Bayda, Lundbohm)
(Tallackson) Keith Ballard - GW - 18:36		First overtime period			No scoring
Adam Hauser ( 30 saves / 33 shots )		Goalie stats			Andy Kollar ( 48 saves / 52 shots )

Minnesota won series 2–0

(4) Minnesota State vs. (7) Alaska-Anchorage

March 8[10]	Colorado College		6 – 1		Alaska-Anchorage	Colorado Springs World Arena
(Preissing, Kim) Peter Sejna - PP - 17:59		First period			No scoring
(Sejna, Preissing) Jesse Heerema - GW - 13:31 (Clarke, Liebel) Alex Kim - 15:36		Second period			10:11 - Ryan Young
(Cullen) Jesse Heerema - 00:39 Noah Clarke - 01:14 (Cullen, Clarke) Peter Sejna - 08:01		Third period			No scoring
Jeff Sanger ( 21 saves / 22 shots )		Goalie stats			Kevin Reiter ( 39 saves / 45 shots )

March 9[11]	Colorado College		1 – 0		Alaska-Anchorage	Colorado Springs World Arena
(Kim, Clarke) Tom Preissing - GW - 10:51		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Jeff Sanger ( 16 saves / 16 shots )		Goalie stats			Chris King ( 31 saves / 32 shots )

Colorado College won series 2–0

(5) Wisconsin vs. (6) Minnesota State-Mankato

March 8	Wisconsin		3 – 2	OT	Minnesota State-Mankato	Alliant Energy Center	Recap
No scoring		First period			02:40 – Grant Stevenson (Sorenson, Paluczak)
(Jensen, Boeser) John Eichelberger – 10:42 (Davyduke, Krall) Matt Hussey – 16:36		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			17:32 – Cole Bassett (Jackman)
(Hussey, Boeser) Matt Murray		First overtime period			No scoring
Scott Kabotoff (28 saves / 30 shots)		Goalie stats			Jason Jensen (38 saves / 41 shots)

March 9

Wisconsin

7 – 3

Minnesota State-Mankato

Alliant Energy Center

Recap

Wisconsin won series 2–0

Quarterfinal

(4) Colorado College vs. (5) Wisconsin

March 14[12]	Minnesota		3 – 2		Wisconsin	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
(Cullen) Colin Stuart - 17:35		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			03:49 - Rene Bourque (Leavitt, Boeser)
(Stuart, Cullen) Chris Hartsburg - 14:49		Third period			18:29 - Matt Doman (Davyduke, Wozniewski)
(Cullen) Peter Sejna - GW - 00:53		Overtime			No scoring
Jeff Sanger ( 25 saves / 27 shots )		Goalie stats			Scott Kabotoff ( 17 saves / 20 shots )

Semifinals

(1) Denver vs. (4) Colorado College

March 15[13]	Denver		3 – 0		Colorado College	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
(Ulanski, Dora) Chris Paradise - GW - 08:38		First period			No scoring
Greg Keith - 14:10		Second period			No scoring
(Ulanski) Chris Paradise - 12:10		Third period			No scoring
Wade Dubielewicz ( 26 saves / 26 shots )		Goalie stats			Jeff Sanger ( 26 saves / 29 shots )

(2) St. Cloud State vs. (3) Minnesota

March 15[14]	St. Cloud State		1 – 4		Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period			00:55 - Jordan Leopold (Riddle, Pohl)
No scoring		Second period			19:43 - GW - Troy Riddle (Pohl, Fleming)
(Szabo, Eastman) Ryan Malone - PP - 11:32		Third period			00:35 - Jeff Taffe (DeMarchi, Leopold) 07:03 - PP - Matt Koalska (Riddle, Tallackson)
Jake Moreland ( 22 saves / 26 shots ) / Dean Weasler ( 7 saves / 7 shots )		Goalie stats			Adam Hauser ( 26 saves / 27 shots )

Third Place

(2) St. Cloud State vs. (4) Colorado College

March 16[15]	St. Cloud State		1 – 2		Colorado College	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
(Hendricks, Cullen) Colin Peters - 05:02		First period			06:39 - Richard Petiot (Sejna, Heerema)
No scoring		Second period			03:48 - GW PP - Chris Hartsburg (Stuart, Canzanello)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Dean Weasler ( 23 saves / 25 shots )		Goalie stats			Jeff Sanger ( 35 saves / 36 shots )

Championship

(1) Denver vs. (3) Minnesota

March 16[16]	Denver		5 – 2		Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
(Caldwell, Paradise) David Neale - PP - 03:32		First period			No scoring
(Cook, Dora) Kevin Ulanski - 01:29 Max Bull - GW - 04:03		Second period			02:29 - Keith Ballard (Tallackson, Koalska) 13:38 - Troy Riddle (Angell, Tallackson)
(James, Doell) Greg Barber - 08:11 (Barber) Kevin Doell - EN - 19:15		Third period			No scoring
Wade Dubielewicz ( 38 saves / 40 shots )		Goalie stats			Adam Hauser ( 22 saves / 26 shots )

Tournament awards

All-Tournament Team

• F Troy Riddle (Minnesota)
• F Chris Paradise (Denver)
• F Mark Cullen (Colorado College)
• D Jordan Leopold (Minnesota)
• D Ryan Caldwell (Denver)
• G Wade Dubielewicz* (Denver)

* Most Valuable Player(s)

[17]

See also

• Western Collegiate Hockey Association men's champions

References

1. "Denver Men's Team History". Retrieved June 13, 2013.
2. "WCHA men's Hockey 2001-02 Week 24". USCHO.com. March 9, 2002. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
3. "WCHA men's Hockey 2001-02 Week 25". USCHO.com. March 16, 2002. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
4. "Denver 5, Michigan Tech 1". USCHO.com. March 8, 2002. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
5. "Denver 8, Michigan Tech 1". USCHO.com. March 9, 2002. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
6. "St. Cloud State 5, Minnesota-Duluth 4". USCHO.com. March 8, 2002. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
7. "St. Cloud State 6, Minnesota-Duluth 3". USCHO.com. March 9, 2002. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
8. "Minnesota 7, North Dakota 2". USCHO.com. March 8, 2002. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
9. "Minnesota 4, North Dakota 3". USCHO.com. March 9, 2002. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
10. "Colorado College 6, Alaska-Anchorage 1". USCHO.com. March 8, 2002. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
11. "Colorado College 1, Alaska-Anchorage 0". USCHO.com. March 9, 2002. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
12. "Colorado College 3, Wisconsin 2". USCHO.com. March 14, 2002. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
13. "Denver 3, Colorado College 0". USCHO.com. March 15, 2002. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
14. "Minnesota 4, St. Cloud State 1". USCHO.com. March 15, 2002. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
15. "Colorado College 5, St. Cloud State 4". USCHO.com. March 16, 2002. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
16. "Denver 5, Minnesota 2". USCHO.com. March 16, 2002. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
17. "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 129-144" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.

External links

• WCHA.com
• 2001–02 WCHA Standings
• 2001–02 NCAA Standings