The 1973 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament was the culmination of the

1972–73 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season Year 197 (Roman numerals, CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

, the 26th such tournament in

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

history. It was held between March 15 and 17, 1973, and concluded with

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

defeating

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

4–2. All games were played at the

Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (later ...

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. After the tournament Denver's participation was vacated as a result of NCAA recruiting violations.

Qualifying teams

Four teams qualified for the tournament, two each from the eastern and western regions. The ECAC tournament champion and the two

WCHA The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college ice hockey conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated as a men ...

tournament co-champions received automatic bids into the tournament. An at-large bid was offered to a second eastern team based upon both their ECAC tournament finish as well as their regular season record.

Format

The ECAC champion was seeded as the top eastern team while the WCHA co-champion with the better regular season record was given the top western seed. The second eastern seed was slotted to play the top western seed and vice versa. All games were played at the Boston Garden. All matches were single-game eliminations with the semifinal winners advancing to the national championship game and the losers playing in a consolation game.

Tournament bracket

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: † Denver's participation was later vacated due to NCAA violations

Semifinals

(W1) Denver vs. (E2) Boston College

(E1) Cornell vs. (W2) Wisconsin

Consolation Game

(E1) Cornell vs. (E2) Boston College

National Championship

(W1) Denver vs. (W2) Wisconsin

All-Tournament Team

*G: Jim Makey (Wisconsin) *D: vacated† *D: John Taft (Wisconsin) *F: Stan Hinkley (Wisconsin) *F: vacated† *F:

Dean Talafous Dean Charles Talafous (born August 25, 1953) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played 497 regular season games in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1974 and 1981 for the Atlanta Flames, Minnesota North Stars and New ...

* (Wisconsin) * Most Outstanding Player(s)
† Recognition of Denver's D:

Bruce Affleck Robert Bruce Affleck (born May 5, 1954) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League between 1975 and 1984. Currently he serves as an executive for the St. Louis Blues, the team with which he spe ...

and F: Peter McNab was vacated when Denver's participation in the tournament was vacated

References

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:1973 Ncaa University Division Men's Ice Hockey Tournament

Tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament NCAA University Division Men's Ice Hockey Tournament NCAA University Division Men's Ice Hockey Tournament NCAA University Division Men's Ice Hockey Tournament Ice hockey competitions in Boston College ice hockey tournaments in Massachusetts