Michigan Hockey and History of the NCAA Hockey National Championship

I have had questions over the year's regarding the history of the Frozen Four and in particular the Champsionships that Michigan has won in that tournament. Those requests resulted in this synopsis of the tournament with a focus on the Wolverines. So let’s take a look by decade at this special tournament.

1940’s starting in 1948

The very first NCAA Frozen Four was played in 1948 with only four teams invited to play (and we thought the current twelve team field was small). This was a single elimination tournament played in Colorado Springs (where all tournament games were played for the first decade of the tournament). The honor of scoring the first Frozen Four goal went to Jim Malone from Dartmouth as Dartmouth put the hurt on Colorado College 8-4 in the very first Frozen Four game. The winner of the first Frozen Four was our very own Michigan Wolverine's as they defeated Dartmouth 8-4. The next year, 1949, saw the addition of the consolation game game.

1950’s

While the decade of the 1950’s started with Colorado College destroying Boston University 13 to 4 to win the 1950 Frozen Four, a large part of this decade belonged to the Michigan Wolverine's. Michigan went on to win the Championship in 1951, 1952, and 1953. After finishing third in 1954 Michigan again returned to their winning ways, winning the next two Championships in 1955 and 1956. They followed this up with a runner-up finish in 1957. The final appearance by the Wolverine's in the Frozen Four in this decade was the runner-up contest in 1957. In 1958 the Championship moved out of Colorado Springs for the very first time and was played on the University of Minnesota campus at Williams Arena. This game drew a then record crowd of 7,878 as they watched Denver win their first National Championship.

1960’s

There was a bit more history during this decade and again it started in the first year of the decade. In 1960 the 50th NCAA tournament game was played between Boston University and St. Lawrence. Boston University came away with a close 7-6 win to lay claim to third place. The following year St. Lawrence was involved in more NCAA tournament history as John Mason from St. Lawrence scored the 500th goal in NCAA tournament history. This goal came in the second period of a game that saw St. Lawrence win their first round game over Rensselaer. While the Wolverine's were in the tournament in 1962 they made their final appearance of this decade in 1964. This appearance led to Michigan’s seventh Ice Hockey Championship in the Frozen Four’s 17-year history. Michigan won this game by a score of 6-3 over Denver, on Denver’s home ice. In 1969 Denver captured their second straight title, their fifth in twelve years.

1970’s

Again the first year of the decade saw some NCAA history, but this time it didn’t just involve the tournament. Cornell won the Championship in Lake Placid by a score of 6-4 over Clarkson to finish the one and only perfect season in NCAA Division I history. Cornell ended the year with a record of 29-0 and no team has seen an undefeated season since. It was also in 1970 that the NCAA Ice Hockey committee began seeding the two teams from the East and West regions for the purpose of national Semi-Final pairings.

In 1972 a sellout crowd of 14,995 (almost double the previous record) watched hometown favorite Boston University win their second straight Championship by a score of 4-0 over Cornell. This was also the last time any team has repeated as National Champions. In 1973 the 100th tournament game was played and it was played in Boston. In this game Denver advanced to the Championship game with a 10-4 win over Boston College. Also in 1973 Wisconsin beat Denver 4-2 to win the Championship. The item of significance involving this game and tournament was that after the game Denver’s participation in the tournament was vacated by the NCAA Infractions Committee.

In 1977 the tournament committee started adding a third team to the Championship bracket from each region when necessary. The first ever opening round game involved our Michigan Wolverine's and also saw the 1,000th goal in tournament history scored. This was a Michigan power play goal scored by Kris Manery that led to a 7-5 victory over Bowling Green. The following week saw Michigan take Wisconsin into overtime before finally falling by a score of 6-5. It took Wisconsin only 23 seconds of the overtime period to beat the Wolverine's and this was the only year in the 1970’s that Michigan was in the tournament.

The decade ended with Minnesota picking up their third title in six years in 1979 when they beat North Dakota by a score of 4-3. During this stretch Herb Brooks compiled a NCAA tournament best .889 winning percentage by going 8-1 over this six-year stretch.

1980’s

In 1981 the tournament bracket was increased to include eight teams, four from the East and four from the West. The first round games were played as a two game, total goals series while the Semi-Finals and finals continued as single elimination.

In 1984 Bowling Green won the Championship in Lake Placid in a four overtime classic against Minnesota-Duluth. At the time this game was the longest tournament game ever played as it ran 97:11 before Bowling Green finally pulled out the 504 win. In 1986 the tournament passed the 200 game mark in quarterfinal action. In 1987 North Dakota joined Michigan and Denver as a five-time Champion with a 5-3 triumph over Michigan State.

In 1988 the tournament bracket was again increased to its current twelve-team configuration. First round and quarterfinal games continued to be decided in a two-game, total goals format. The Semi-Finals and finals remained single elimination. In 1989 the first round and quarterfinals were changed to a best two out of three format.

1990’s

In 1990 the third place game was eliminated from the tournament format. Also in this year Wisconsin became the fourth team to reach the five-Championship level with a 7-3 win over Colgate in Detroit. In 1991 several tournament milestones were reached. In the quarterfinals the 300th NCAA tournament game was played. Northern Michigan won the Championship in a 3 overtime game with an 8-7 win over Boston University. Northern was led by Darryl Plandowski who scored a hat trick, one of which was the game winner. One of his other goals was picked up in the second period and was the 2,500th goal in NCAA tournament history. A busy night for the Wildcats.

In 1992 the preliminary rounds are divided into the East and West regional’s and changed to a single elimination format. In 1993 Wisconsin hosts the Championship finals for the first time and single-session and per-game attendance records were set (17,704 for single session and 17,397 per game). In 1994 there were a record-tying four overtime games played in the tournament. Three of those games involved eventual Champion Lake Superior State. One of the Lakers overtime games, a 6-5 win over Northeastern, went only 15 seconds into the overtime period and was the shortest ever overtime game in NCAA tournament history.

In 1995 the first Semi-Final game of the tournament Michigan lost a heart breaker to Maine by a score of 4-3. This was a triple overtime game and stands as the longest game in NCAA tournament history at 100:28. The second Semi-Final game, a 7-3 win by Boston University over Minnesota, was the 350th tournament game. In 1996 Colorado College returned to the Championship round for the first time since 1957 where they outlasted Vermont 4-3 in the third longest game in NCAA tournament history. Colorado College’s triumph was short lived as they lost in the finals to Michigan by a score of 3-2. This was also an overtime game and this win marked Michigan’s first win since 1964 and their eighth overall Championship. In regional action a new record crowd of 12,407 (this is a regional record) saw both Vermont and Boston University advance to the Semi-Finals.

In 1997 North Dakota became only the sixth team in NCAA history to win six Championships when they beat Boston University by a score of 6-4. The North Dakota coach, Dean Blais, became the first coach since Herb Brooks to win the title in his first tournament appearance. This win also ended Michigan’s bid to be the first repeat Champion since Boston University in the early 1970’s as they fell to an inspired Boston University team in the Semi-Finals. Finally the Championships overall per session attendance record fell as an average crowd of 12,104 saw each of the seven sessions.

In 1998 both of the countries top seeded teams fell in regional action and an unexpected Champion is crowned as Michigan picks up their ninth NCAA Ice Hockey Championship. This game was very similar to their 1996 Championship as it also goes to overtime and it is also won by a score of 3-2. The only real difference this time is that Boston College was the vanquished foe, not Colorado College. Much like Colorado College, this was Boston College’s first appearance in the title game in 20 years. Boston College played in front of a hometown crowd as Boston played host to the national title game for the first time in 24 years. All three of the sessions at the Fleet Center draw record crowds including 18,276 for the title game. Yale made it back to the tournament for the first time in 45 years. Minnesota’s record streak of 13 straight NCAA tournament appearances was ended and New Hampshire’s Dylan Dellezay scores the 3,000th goal in tournament history.

In 1999 the hockey Championship round officially took the name "Frozen Four" as the Championship was held West of the Rockies for the first time.

Michigan's Champsionships

As you can see as the decades have gone by the history surrounding this tournament has increased with close games, long games, and record crowds. For all of us Michigan fans a summary of Michigan Championships is as follows:

  • 1948, 8-4 over Dartmouth (first ever Championship game)
  • 1951, 7-1 over Brown
  • 1952, 4-1 over Colorado College
  • 1953, 7-3 over Minnesota
  • 1955, 5-3 over Colorado College
  • 1956, 7-5 over Michigan Tech
  • 1964, 6-3 over Denver
  • 1996, 3-2 over Colorado College (overtime)
  • 1998, 3-2 over Boston College (overtime)
Tournament Facts

Boston University currently holds the record with most Frozen Four appearances with 20 from 1950 through 1997. Michigan is second with 19 appearances from 1948 through 1998 (hopefully we can make that 20 this year).

Michigan currently holds the record for consecutive Frozen Four appearances with 10 from 1948 through 1957. Colorado College (1948-1952) and Boston University (1974-1978 and 1993-1997) are tied for the next consecutive appearances with 5. The current streak for consecutive Frozen Four appearances belongs to both Boston College and New Hampshire each with 2 from 1998 through 1999.

Michigan currently holds the record for most Frozen Four wins with 24 from 1948 through 1998. Boston University sits in second place with 18 from 1950 through 1997. Finally, Michigan holds the record for most NCAA Championships with 9 from 1948 through 1998. North Dakota sits in second place in this category with 6 from 1959 through 1997.