| 2008WCHA Men's ice hockey tournament | |
|---|---|
 2008 WCHA Final Five logo | |
| Dates | March 14–22, 2008 |
| Teams | 10 |
| Finals site | Xcel Energy Center St. Paul, Minnesota |
| Champions | Denver(15th title) |
| Winning coach | George Gwozdecky(4th title) |
| MVP | Alex Kangas(Minnesota) |
WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments | |
The2008 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 49thconference playoff in league history and 54th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The2008tournament was played between March 14 and March 22, 2008, at five conference arenas and theXcel Energy Center inSt. Paul, Minnesota. By winning the tournament,Denver was awarded theBroadmoor Trophy and received theWestern Collegiate Hockey Association's automatic bid to the2008 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament.
The first round of the postseason tournament featured a best-of-three games format. All ten conference teams participated in the tournament. Teams were 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.[1] 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 theXcel Energy Center for theWCHA Final Five, the collective name for the quarterfinal, semifinal, and championship rounds. The Final Five uses asingle-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.
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against
| Conference | Overall | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | ||
| #8 Colorado College† | 28 | 21 | 6 | 1 | 43 | 95 | 52 | 41 | 28 | 12 | 1 | 136 | 88 | |
| #4 North Dakota | 28 | 18 | 7 | 3 | 39 | 85 | 53 | 43 | 28 | 11 | 4 | 129 | 80 | |
| #9 Denver* | 28 | 16 | 11 | 1 | 33 | 75 | 67 | 41 | 26 | 14 | 1 | 116 | 94 | |
| #15 Minnesota State | 28 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 28 | 71 | 75 | 39 | 19 | 16 | 4 | 106 | 97 | |
| #14 St. Cloud State | 28 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 28 | 79 | 74 | 40 | 19 | 16 | 5 | 118 | 94 | |
| #13 Wisconsin | 28 | 11 | 12 | 5 | 27 | 68 | 68 | 40 | 16 | 17 | 7 | 114 | 102 | |
| #12 Minnesota | 28 | 9 | 12 | 7 | 25 | 64 | 70 | 45 | 19 | 17 | 9 | 109 | 109 | |
| Minnesota–Duluth | 28 | 9 | 14 | 5 | 23 | 55 | 76 | 36 | 13 | 17 | 6 | 74 | 91 | |
| Michigan Tech | 28 | 9 | 15 | 4 | 22 | 55 | 77 | 39 | 14 | 20 | 5 | 78 | 99 | |
| Alaska–Anchorage | 28 | 3 | 19 | 6 | 12 | 54 | 89 | 36 | 7 | 21 | 8 | 81 | 112 | |
| Championship: Denver †indicates conference regular season champion *indicates conference tournament champion Final rankings:USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 15 Poll | ||||||||||||||
Teams are reseeded after the first round
| First round March 14–16, 2008 | Quarterfinal March 20, 2008 | Semifinals March 21, 2008 | Championship March 22, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Colorado College | 4 | 3* | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Alaska-Anchorage | 1 | 2 | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Colorado College | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | North Dakota | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | St. Cloud State | 2 | 7 | Minnesota | 2* | ||||||||||
| 9 | Michigan Tech | 0 | 3* | 1 | 7 | Minnesota | 3 | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Denver | 6 | 1 | — | 3 | Denver | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 8 | Minnesota-Duluth | 3 | 0 | — | 7 | Minnesota | 1 | |||||||||||||
| 4 | Minnesota State | 1** | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Minnesota | 0 | 2* | 3** | 2 | North Dakota | 1 | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Denver | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | St. Cloud State | 3 | 4* | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Wisconsin | 0 | 3 | — | ||||||||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
| March 14 | Colorado College | 4 – 1 | Alaska-Anchorage | World Arena | Recap | |||
| (Sweatt, Hillen)Mike Testwuide - 00:37 | First period | No Scoring | ||||||
(Hillen)Tyler Johnson -GW - 18:06 | Second period | 02:15 -PP -Brad McCabe(Lunden, Lafranchise) | ||||||
| (Johnson)Scott Thauwald - 02:47 (unassisted)Scott McCulloch -EN - 19:39 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| ( 27 saves / 28 shots )Richard Bachman | Goalie stats | Jon Olthuis ( 16 saves / 19 shots ) | ||||||
| March 15 | Colorado College | 3 – 2 | OT | Alaska-Anchorage | World Arena | Recap | ||
| No Scoring | First period | 06:05 -Kane Lafranchise(Parkinson, Lunden) | ||||||
| (Testwuide, Kilpatrick)Bill Sweatt - 04:22 | Second period | 16:37 -Josh Lunden(Crowder) | ||||||
| (Rau, Prosser)Mike Testwuide - 05:54 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| (Sweatt, Hillen)Mike Testwuide - 02:58 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| ( 18 saves / 20 shots )Richard Bachman | Goalie stats | Jon Olthuis ( 27 saves / 30 shots ) | ||||||
| Colorado College won series 2–0 | |
| March 14 | North Dakota | 4 – 0 | Michigan Tech | Ralph Engelstad Arena | Recap | |||
| (Oshie, Genoway)Ryan Duncan -GW - 05:25 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| (Duncan, VandeVelde)T. J. Oshie - 08:21 (Marto, Genoway)Darcy Zajac - 09:10 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| (Miller, Martens)Andrew Kozek - 06:58 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| ( 14 saves / 14 shots )Jean-Philippe Lamoureux | Goalie stats | Michael-Lee Teslak ( 27 saves / 31 shots ) | ||||||
| March 15 | North Dakota | 2 – 3 | OT | Michigan Tech | Ralph Engelstad Arena | Recap | ||
| (Frattin, Martens)Brad Miller - 04:19 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| (Miller)Matt Frattin - 16:58 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 01:19 -PP -Jimmy Kerr(Kinrade, Kattelus) 19:54 -SH -Tyler Shelast(Kerr, Baker) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 01:59 -GW PP -Tyler Shelast(Kinrade, Rouleau) | ||||||
| ( 23 saves / 26 shots )Jean-Philippe Lamoureux | Goalie stats | Michael-Lee Teslak ( 24 saves / 26 shots ) | ||||||
| March 16 | North Dakota | 2 – 1 | Michigan Tech | Ralph Engelstad Arena | Recap | |||
(Duncan, Genoway)T. J. Oshie - 14:09 | First period | 11:27 -Tyler Shelast(Gagne) | ||||||
| (Bina, Chorney)T. J. Oshie - 00:19 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| ( 10 saves / 11 shots )Jean-Philippe Lamoureux | Goalie stats | Michael-Lee Teslak ( 22 saves / 24 shots ) | ||||||
| North Dakota won series 2–1 | |
| March 14 | Denver | 6 – 3 | Minnesota–Duluth | Magness Arena | Recap | |||
| (Vossberg, Thomas)Dustin Jackson - 02:15 (May, Testwuide)Dustin Jackson - 04:58 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
(Jackson)Matt Glasser - 09:29 (Ostrow)Tyler Bozak -GW PP - 13:39 | Second period | 08:23 -PP -Andrew Carroll(Curry, Akins) 14:24 -Mike Curry(Bordson, Greer) | ||||||
| (Testwuide)Tyler Bozak - 00:23 (unassisted)Cody Brookwell - 07:50 | Third period | 05:55 -PP -Josh Meyers(Bordson, McKnight) | ||||||
| ( 24 saves / 27 shots )Peter Mannino | Goalie stats | Alex Stalock ( 22 saves / 28 shots ) | ||||||
| March 15 | Denver | 1 – 0 | Minnesota–Duluth | Magness Arena | Recap | |||
| No Scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| (unassisted)Anthony Maiani -GW - 07:44 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| ( 25 saves / 25 shots )Peter Mannino | Goalie stats | Alex Stalock ( 14 saves / 15 shots ) | ||||||
| Denver won series 2–0 | |
| March 14 | Minnesota State | 1 – 0 | 2OT | Minnesota | Verizon Center | Recap | ||
| No Scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| (Kalinski) Trevor Bruess - 17:36 | Second overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| ( 34 saves / 34 shots )Mike Zacharias | Goalie stats | Alex Kangas ( 44 saves / 45 shots ) | ||||||
| March 15 | Minnesota State | 1 – 2 | OT | Minnesota | Verizon Center | Recap | ||
| No Scoring | First period | 06:07 -Justin Bostrom(Pohl, Wehrs) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| (Irwin, Hanson)Andrew Sackrison - 11:09 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 07:33 -Mike Carman(Peltier) | ||||||
| ( 35 saves / 37 shots )Mike Zacharias | Goalie stats | Alex Kangas ( 27 saves / 28 shots ) | ||||||
| March 16 | Minnesota State | 2 – 3 | 2OT | Minnesota | Verizon Center | Recap | ||
| (Davis, Irwin)Mick Berge - 08:38 | First period | 18:12 -Jay Barriball(Wheeler, Gordon) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 13:51 -Patrick White(Howe, Lucia) | ||||||
| (Bruess, Youds)Kael Mouillierat - 03:20 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second overtime period | 16:59 -Tony Lucia(Kaufmann, Flynn) | ||||||
| ( 47 saves / 50 shots )Mike Zacharias | Goalie stats | Alex Kangas ( 44 saves / 46 shots ) | ||||||
| Minnesota won series 2–1 | |
| March 14 | St. Cloud State | 3 – 0 | Wisconsin | National Hockey Center | Recap | |||
| (Nödl, Roe)John Swanson -GW PP - 19:29 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| (Borgen)Ryan Lasch - 17:42 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| (Dey, Roe)Andreas Nödl - 10:03 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| ( 24 saves / 24 shots )Jase Weslosky | Goalie stats | Shane Connelly ( 28 saves / 31 shots ) | ||||||
| March 15 | St. Cloud State | 4 – 3 | OT | Wisconsin | National Hockey Center | Recap | ||
| (Lasch, Swanson)Aaron Brocklehurst - 00:26 (Brocklehurst, Marvin)Matt Stephenson -GW - 17:17 | First period | 05:24 -Blake Geoffrion(Turris, Davies) | ||||||
(Roe, Nödl)John Swanson -PP - 14:58 | Second period | 00:51 -Davis Drewiske(Klubertanz, Geoffrion) 06:02 -Aaron Bendickson(McBain, Turris) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| (Raboin)Ryan Lasch -GW - 03:57 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| ( 46 saves / 47 shots )Jake Weslosky | Goalie stats | Shane Connelly ( 7 saves / 9 shots ) /Scott Gudmandson ( 10 saves / 12 shots ) | ||||||
| St. Cloud State won series 2–0 | |
| March 20 | St. Cloud State | 2 – 3 | Minnesota | Xcel Energy Center | Recap | |||
(Lasch, Brocklehurst)Garrett Raboin -PP - 07:33 | First period | 00:25 -Tony Lucia(Kaufmann, Peltier) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 04:35 -PP -Evan Kaufmann(Wheeler, Fairchild) | ||||||
| (Peltier, Fischer)Mike Howe -GW - 19:47 | Third period | 15:34 -Tony Mosey(Lasch, Raboin) | ||||||
| ( 26 saves / 29 shots )Jase Weslosky | Goalie stats | Alex Kangas ( 25 saves / 27 shots ) | ||||||
| March 21 | Colorado College | 1 – 2 | OT | Minnesota | Xcel Energy Center | Recap | ||
| No Scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| (Hillen, Prosser)Andreas Vlassopoulos - 00:39 | Second period | 01:38 -Mike Hoeffel(Barriball) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 04:47 -Mike Hoeffel(Carman, Wehrs) | ||||||
| ( 33 saves / 35 shots )Richard Bachman | Goalie stats | Alex Kangas ( 37 saves / 38 shots ) | ||||||
| March 21 | North Dakota | 1 – 3 | Denver | Xcel Energy Center | Recap | |||
| No Scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 05:58 -PP -Rhett Rakhshani(Mullen, Bozak) | ||||||
| (Zajac, Marto)Taylor Chorney - 06:16 | Third period | 18:40 -GW -Anthony Maiani(unassisted) 19:54 -EN -Matt Glasser(Ruegsegger) | ||||||
| ( 29 saves / 35 shots )Bobby Goepfert | Goalie stats | Philippe Lamoureux ( 25 saves / 27 shots ) | ||||||
| March 22 | Colorado College | 2 – 4 | North Dakota | Xcel Energy Center | Recap | |||
| (Testwuide)Chad Rau - 07:56 | First period | 19:20 -PP -T. J. Oshie(Chorney, VandeVelde) | ||||||
(Connelly, Lowery)Jimmy Kilpatrick -PP - 16:36 | Second period | 05:01 -PP -Chris VandeVelde(Chorney, Oshie) 10:27 -GW PP -Chay Genoway(Marto, Malone) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 10:02 -Darcy Zajac(Radke, Marto) | ||||||
| ( 31 saves / 35 shots )Richard Bachman | Goalie stats | Jean-Philippe Lamoureux ( 33 saves / 25 shots ) | ||||||
| March 22 | Denver | 2 – 1 | Minnesota | Xcel Energy Center | Recap | |||
| No Scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
(Rakhshani)Tyler Bozak - 09:10 (Maiani, Martin)Tom May -GW - 19:34 | Second period | 05:39 -Ryan Flynn(Bickel, Fairchild) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| ( 34 saves / 35 shots )Peter Mannino | Goalie stats | Alex Kangas ( 32 saves / 34 shots ) | ||||||
Alex Kangas,(Minnesota)
"2008 WCHA Tournament".Inside College Hockey.Archived from the original on March 16, 2008. RetrievedMarch 22, 2008.