2015 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament

The 2015 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was played between March 13 and March 21, 2015, at four conference arenas and the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. By winning the tournament, Minnesota State was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the WCHA's automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Format

The first round of the postseason tournament features a best-of-three games format. The top eight or ten conference teams participate in the tournament. Teams are seeded No. 1 through No. 8 according to their final conference standing, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with an identical number of points accumulated. The top four seeded teams each earn home ice and host one of the lower seeded teams.

The winners of the first round series advance to the Xcel Energy Center for the WCHA Final Five, a holdover from previous tournaments where it was used as the collective name of the quarterfinal, semifinal, and championship rounds. The Final Five uses a single-elimination format. Teams are re-seeded No. 1 through No. 4 according to the final regular season conference standings.[1]

Conference Standings

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

2014–15 Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings
Conference record Overall record
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#7 Minnesota State *28214345984740298314577
#9 Michigan Tech2821524410348412910214474
#18 Bowling Green281783378766392311511993
Alaska^281412230756934191329281
Bemidji State2812115297362381617510190
Ferris State281314127665840182028888
Northern Michigan2811134265971381418686100
Alabama–Huntsville28720115449538826462121
Lake Superior State28720115449138828260131
Alaska Anchorage28521212529434822470107
Championship: March 21, 2015
indicates conference regular season champion (MacNaughton Cup); * indicates conference tournament champion (Broadmoor Trophy)
^ indicates ineligible for postseason play due to NCAA sanctions
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll; updated March 9, 2015

Bracket

Teams are reseeded after the first round

  First round
March 13–15
Semifinals
March 20
Championship
March 21
                               
  1 Minnesota State 9 4 1 Minnesota State 4  
8 Lake Superior State 2 2 5 Ferris State 0  
  2 Michigan Tech 1*** 3
7 Alabama–Huntsville 0 0     1 Minnesota State 5
  2 Michigan Tech 2
  3 Bowling Green 3* 4
6 Northern Michigan 2 1
  4 Bemidji State 1 2 2 Michigan Tech 5
5 Ferris State 4 3*** 3 Bowling Green 2  

Note: * denotes overtime periods

Results

First Round

All times are local.

(1) Minnesota State vs. (8) Lake Superior State

March 13, 2015
7:00 pm CDT
(8) Lake Superior State2 – 9
(1–2, 1–4, 0–3)
(1) Minnesota StateVerizon Wireless Center, Mankato, MN
Attendance: 3,325
March 14, 2015
7:00 pm CDT
(8) Lake Superior State2 – 4
(0–1, 1–1, 1–2)
(1) Minnesota StateVerizon Wireless Center, Mankato, MN
Attendance: 3,685

(2) Michigan Tech vs. (7) Alabama–Huntsville

March 13, 2015
7:00 pm EDT
(7) Alabama–Huntsville0 – 1 (3OT)
(0–0, 0–0, 0–0, 0–0, 0–0, 0–1)
(2) Michigan TechMacInnes Student Ice Arena, Houghton, MI
Attendance: 3,038
March 14, 2015
7:00 pm EDT
(7) Alabama–Huntsville0 – 3
(0–1, 0–1, 0–1)
(2) Michigan TechMacInnes Student Ice Arena, Houghton, MI
Attendance: 3,629

(3) Bowling Green vs. (6) Northern Michigan

March 13, 2015
7:00 pm EDT
(6) Northern Michigan2 – 3 (OT)
(0–0, 1–0, 1–2, 0–1)
(3) Bowling GreenBGSU Ice Arena, Bowling Green, OH
Attendance: 1,475
March 14, 2015
7:00 pm EDT
(6) Northern Michigan1 – 4
(0–0, 1–2, 0–2)
(3) Bowling GreenBGSU Ice Arena, Bowling Green, OH
Attendance: 1,915

(4) Bemidji State vs. (5) Ferris State

March 13, 2015
7:30 pm CDT
(5) Ferris State4 – 1
(1–0, 2–0, 1–1)
(4) Bemidji StateSanford Center, Bemidji, MN
Attendance: 2,218
March 14, 2015
7:00 pm CDT
(5) Ferris State3 – 2 (3 OT)
(1–0, 0–1, 1–1, 0–0, 0–0, 1–0)
(4) Bemidji StateSanford Center, Bemidji, MN
Attendance: 2,279

Semifinals

All times are local (UTC−5).

(3) Bowling Green vs. (2) Michigan Tech

March 20, 2015
4:00 pm CDT
(3) Bowling Green2 – 5
(1–2, 0–0, 1–3)
(2) Michigan TechXcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Attendance: 6,844

(5) Ferris State vs. (1) Minnesota State

March 20, 2015
7:30 pm CDT
(5) Ferris State0 – 4
(0–1, 0–2, 0–1)
(1) Minnesota StateXcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Attendance: 6,844

Championship

All times are local (UTC−5).

(2) Michigan Tech vs. (1) Minnesota State

March 21, 2015
6:00 pm CDT
(2) Michigan Tech2 – 5
(1–1, 1–0, 0–4)
(1) Minnesota StateXcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Attendance: 8,204

Tournament awards

All-Tournament Team

  • F Tyler Heinonen, So. (Michigan Tech)
  • F David Johnstone, Sr. (Michigan Tech)
  • F Brad McClure*, Fr. (Minnesota State)
  • D Zach Palmquist, Sr. (Minnesota State)
  • D Brett Stern, Sr. (Minnesota State)
  • G Stephon Williams, Jr. (Minnesota State)

* Most Valuable Player[2]

References

  1. "WCHA playoff central". U.S. College Hockey Online. Archived from the original on March 22, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  2. "Final Five MVP McClure Scores Three as Minnesota State Repeats as Broadmoor Trophy Champions". Western Collegiate Hockey Association. March 21, 2015. Archived from the original on March 22, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
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