1973 NCAA University Division Men's Ice Hockey Tournament

The 1973 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 1972–73 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, the 26th such tournament in NCAA history. It was held between March 15 and 17, 1973, and concluded with Wisconsin defeating Denver 4-2. All games were played at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.

1973 NCAA Men's University Division
Ice Hockey Tournament

Teams	4
Finals site	Boston Garden Boston, Massachusetts
Champions	Wisconsin Badgers (1st title)
Runner-up	none (Denver Pioneers vacated)[1] (- title game)
Semifinalists	Boston College Eagles (10th Frozen Four) Cornell Big Red (6th Frozen Four)
Winning coach	Bob Johnson (1st title)
MOP	Dean Talafous, Wisconsin
Attendance	23,368

After the tournament Denver's participation was vacated as a result of NCAA recruiting violations.[1]

Qualifying teams

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

East							West
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid	Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid
1	Cornell	ECAC Hockey	23–3–1	Tournament champion	6th	1972	1	Denver	WCHA	28–8–1	Tournament co-champion	11th (vacated)	1972
2	Boston College	ECAC Hockey	21–6–1	At-Large	10th	1968	2	Wisconsin	WCHA	27–9–2	Tournament co-champion	3rd	1972

[2]

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

[3]

	Semifinals March 15–16					National Championship March 17
	E1	Cornell	5
	W2	Wisconsin	6*
						W2	Wisconsin	4
						W1	Denver†	2
	W1	Denver†	10
	E2	Boston College	4			Third place game
						E1	Cornell	1
						E2	Boston College	3

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

(W1) Denver vs. (E2) Boston College

March 15

Denver

10 – 4

Boston College

Boston Garden

(E1) Cornell vs. (W2) Wisconsin

March 16	Cornell		5 – 6	OT	Wisconsin	Boston Garden
(Kuzmicz, Bo. Murray) Doug Marrett - 00:40 (Ceci) Paul Perras - 08:52		First period			No scoring
(Bi. Murray, Bo. Murray) George Kuzmicz - 00:31 (Skillins, Peace) Mike McGuire - 04:39		Second period			12:03 - PP - Norm Cherrey (Bentley, Talafous) 18:28 - Dennis Olmstead (Hinkley)
(unassisted) Bill Murray - 00:40		Third period			08:16 - Gary Winchester (Pay, Hinkley) 16:49 - Jack Johnson (Winchester, Taft) 19:55 - EA - Dean Talafous (Hinkley, Olmstead)
No scoring		First overtime period			09:27 - GW - Dean Talafous (Olmstead, Alley)
( 35 saves / 36 shots ) Dave Elenbaas		Goalie stats			Dick Perkins ( 24 saves / 27 shots )

(E1) Cornell vs. (E2) Boston College

March 17	Cornell		1 – 3		Boston College	Boston Garden
No Scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			00:22 - Bob Reardon (Mellor) 12:25 - Ed Kenty (unassisted)
(Ugolini) Doug Marrett - 08:42		Third period			19:59 - EN - Jim Doyle (Smith, Reardon)
( 26 saves / 28 shots ) Dave Elenbaas		Goalie stats			Neil Higgins ( 46 saves / 47 shots )

(W1) Denver vs. (W2) Wisconsin

March 17[4][5]

Denver

2 – 4

Wisconsin

Boston Garden

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	WIS	Dave Pay	Johnston and Eaves	3:05	1–0 WIS
	DEN	Jim Miller	McNab and Pearson	3:55	1–1
2nd	DEN	John Pearson – PP	McNab	20:54	2–1 DEN
	WIS	Tim Dool – PP	Cherrey and Bentley	24:17	2–2
	WIS	Dean Talafous – GW	Lundeen and Deprez	28:30	3–2 WIS
3rd	WIS	Jim Johnston	Winchester and Pay	42:34	4–2 WIS
Penalty summary
Period	Team	Player	Penalty	Time	PIM
1st	WIS	Jim Johnston	Tripping	19:32	2:00
2nd	DEN	Bob Young	Interference	24:01	2:00
	DEN	Peter McNab	High–Sticking	33:07	2:00
	WIS	Dave Pay	Tripping	37:59	2:00
3rd	WIS	Dave Pay	High–Sticking	54:18	2:00

Shots by period Team 1 2 3 T Wisconsin 12 9 8 29 Denver 14 11 9 34

Goaltenders Team Name Saves Goals against Time on ice WIS Jim Makey 32 2 DEN Ron Grahame 25 4

All-Tournament Team

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

* Most Outstanding Player(s)[6]
† Recognition of Denver's D: Bruce Affleck and F: Peter McNab was vacated when Denver's participation in tournament was vacated[1]

[7]

References

1. "Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship History". NCAA. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
2. "NCAA Division 1 Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archives. Archived from the original on 2013-06-21. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
3. "NCAA Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
4. "1973 Championship Boxscore" (PDF). Wisconsin Badgers. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
5. "1994-95 Wisconsin Hockey Media Guide" (PDF). Wisconsin Badgers. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
6. "NCAA Division I Awards". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
7. "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-06-22. Retrieved 2013-06-19.

• Official 2008 NCAA Men's and Women's Ice Hockey Records Book (PDF). Indianapolis: National Collegiate Athletic Association. pp. 54, 58. ISSN 1089-0092. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
• "1973 NCAA Tournament". Inside College Hockey. Archived from the original on 23 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
• "NCAA Division 1 Tournament". College Hockey historical Archive. Archived from the original on 2013-07-01. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
• "NCAA Division 1 Awards". College Hockey historical Archive. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
• "Bob Johnson Year-by-Year Coaching Record". USCHO.com. Archived from the original on 2013-07-05. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
• "Attendance Records and Sites" (PDF). NCAA.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-07-01. Retrieved 2013-07-02.