The 2003 CCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 32nd

CCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament The CCHA Tournament is the conference tournament for the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), an NCAA Division I men's ice hockey conference that originally operated from 1971 to 2013 and has been revived effective in 2021. The winner o ...

in conference history. It was played between March 14 and March 22, 2003. First round games were played at campus sites, while all 'super six' games were played at

Joe Louis Arena Joe Louis Arena was an arena in Downtown Detroit. Completed in 1979 at a cost of US$57 million as a replacement for Olympia Stadium, it sat adjacent to TCF Center, Cobo Center on the bank of the Detroit River and was accessible by the Joe Lou ...

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. By winning the tournament,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

won the

Mason Cup The Mason Cup is the trophy awarded to the champion of the CCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, the postseason championship event of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, an NCAA Division I college ice hockey league. The Cup was awarded from 20 ...

and received the

Central Collegiate Hockey Association The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) is a college athletic conference that participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. The current CCHA began play in the 2021–22 season; a previous incarnation, which the curre ...

's automatic bid to the 2003 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Format

The tournament featured four rounds of play. In the First Round, the first and twelfth seeds, the second and eleventh seeds, the third and tenth seeds, the fourth and ninth seeds, the fifth and eighth seeds and the sixth and seventh seeds played a

best-of-three There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

series. All six victors in the first round advance as the newly minted 'Super Six' and play only

single-elimination A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

for the duration of the tournament. The top two ranked winners receive byes into the semifinals while the four other teams play in the quarterfinals to determine the other qualifiers. In the semifinals, the remaining highest and lowest seeds and second highest and second lowest seeds play a single-game, with the winners advancing to the finals. The tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the 2003 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament.

Conference standings

''Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against''

Bracket

Teams are reseeded after the first round and quarterfinals Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

First round

(1) Ferris State vs. (12) Lake Superior State

(2) Michigan vs. (11) Bowling Green

(3) Ohio State vs. (10) Nebraska-Omaha

(4) Michigan State vs. (9) Alaska-Fairbanks

(5) Northern Michigan vs. (8) Western Michigan

(6) Miami vs. (7) Notre Dame

Quarterfinals

(3) Ohio State vs. (7) Notre Dame

(4) Michigan State vs. (5) Northern Michigan

Semifinals

(1) Ferris State vs. (5) Northern Michigan

(2) Michigan vs. (3) Ohio State

Third Place

(3) Ohio State vs. (5) Northern Michigan

Championship

(1) Ferris State vs. (2) Michigan

Tournament awards

All-Tournament Team

Jed Ortmeyer Jed Ortmeyer (born September 3, 1978) is an American former professional ice hockey winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the New York Rangers, Nashville Predators, San Jose Sharks and Minnesota Wild. After his retirement he ...

(Michigan) *F

Chris Kunitz Christopher Kunitz (born September 26, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Anaheim Ducks (where he won his first Stanley Cup in 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs, 20 ...

(Ferris State) *F

Dwight Helminen Dwight Edward Helminen (born June 22, 1983) is an American former professional ice hockey center who most recently played with the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL. His brother Lars plays with Linz EHC of the EBEL. Playing career Helminen was born in ...

* (Michigan) *D Simon Mangos (Ferris State) *D Brandon Rogers (Michigan) *G

Al Montoya Álvaro Montoya (born February 13, 1985) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played for parts of nine seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Arizona Coyotes, New York Islanders, Winnipeg Jets, Flor ...

(Michigan) * Most Valuable Player(s)

Tournament Three Stars

Craig Kowalski Craig Kowalski (born January 15, 1981) is a former American professional ice hockey goaltender who most recently played for the Nottingham Panthers of the EIHL. Playing career Kowalski's Pro career begun on June 25, 2000, when he was selected by ...

(Northern Michigan) *2

(Ferris State) *1

(Michigan)

References

External links

{{2003 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament navbox CCHA men's ice hockey tournament Ccha tournament