The 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season began in October 1996 and concluded with the 1997 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament's championship game on March 29, 1997, at the

Bradley Center The Bradley Center (also known as the BMO Harris Bradley Center under sponsorship agreements) was a multi-purpose arena located on the northwest corner of North Vel R. Phillips Ave. and West State Streets in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United ...

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. This was the 50th

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and is the 103rd year overall where an NCAA school fielded a team.

Season Outlook

Pre-season polls

The top teams in the nation as ranked before the start of the season. The WMPL Baker's Dozen poll was voted on by coaches. The WMEB was voted on by media. The

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

/American Hockey Magazine poll was voted on by coaches and media. Adam Wodon, host of national college hockey talk show Around The Rinks, took over

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poll. The poll was voted on by coaches, media, and

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

scouts Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

. It was published by U.S. College Hockey Online.

Regular season

Season tournaments

Standings

Final regular season polls

The WMPL, WMEB, and Around The Rinks/USCHO polls were released before the conference tournaments. The USA Today poll was released before the conference tournament finals.

1997 NCAA tournament

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Player stats

Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the season. ''GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes''

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in

goals against average Goals against average (GAA), also known as average goals against (AGA), is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on spo ...

at the end of the regular season while playing at least 33% of their team's total minutes. ''GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% =

Save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various Goal (sports), goal-scoring sports that track Save (goaltender), saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse and association football, it is a sta ...

; GAA = Goals against average''

Awards

NCAA

CCHA

ECAC

Hockey East

* No Distinction was made between First- and Second-Team All-Stars

WCHA

1997 NHL Entry Draft

† incoming freshman
‡ Andersson had previous been selected by the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

in 1990.

References

External links

College Hockey Historical Archives1996–97 NCAA Standings
{{DEFAULTSORT:1996-97 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season

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. ...