2003 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament

2003 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
2003 WCHA Final Five logo
Dates	March 14–22, 2003
Teams	10
Finals site	Xcel Energy Center St. Paul, MN
Champions	Minnesota (12th title)
Winning coach	Don Lucia[1] (1st title)
MVP	Grant Potulny (Minnesota)
Attendance	72,786
WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments ← 2002 2004 →

The 2003 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 44th conference playoff in league history and 49th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The 2003 tournament was played between March 14 and March 22, 2003, at five conference arenas and the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. By winning the tournament, Minnesota was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Format[]

The first round of the postseason tournament featured a best-of-three games format. All ten conference schools participated in the tournament with teams 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. 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 the Xcel Energy Center for the WCHA Final Five, the collective name for the quarterfinal, semifinal, and championship rounds. The Final Five uses a single-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.

Conference Standings[]

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

2002–03 Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings v t
	Conference								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#5 Colorado College†	28	19	4	5	43	125	70		42	30	7	5	190	103
#2 Minnesota*	28	15	6	7	37	106	81		45	28	8	9	189	122
#11 Minnesota State-Mankato	28	15	6	7	37	116	104		41	20	11	10	155	144
#13 North Dakota	28	14	9	5	33	103	82		43	26	12	5	172	120
#14 Minnesota-Duluth	28	14	10	4	32	95	80		42	22	15	5	153	119
St. Cloud State	28	12	11	5	29	96	85		38	17	16	5	124	118
Denver	28	11	11	6	28	95	85		41	21	14	6	152	102
Wisconsin	28	7	14	4	18	61	101		40	13	23	4	93	134
Michigan Tech	28	7	18	3	17	77	116		38	10	24	4	109	154
Alaska-Anchorage	28	0	22	6	6	41	111		36	1	28	7	57	143
Championship: Minnesota † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Final rankings: USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Poll Top 15 Poll

Bracket[]

Teams are reseeded after the first round

	First round[2] March 14–16, 2003							Quarterfinal[3] March 20, 2003					Semifinals March 21, 2003					Championship March 22, 2003
	1	Colorado College	5	4	—								1	Colorado College	4*
	10	Alaska-Anchorage	3	1	—			4	North Dakota	1			5	Minnesota-Duluth	3
								5	Minnesota-Duluth	2
	2	Minnesota	3	5	—
	9	Michigan Tech	1	2	—
	3	Minnesota State	2	6**	—													1	Colorado College	2
	8	Wisconsin	1	5	—													2	Minnesota	4
	4	North Dakota	1	3*	3*
	7	Denver	4	2	2
																		Third place
	5	Minnesota-Duluth	5	2	7								2	Minnesota	3*
	6	St. Cloud State	4	3*	3								3	Minnesota State	2			3	Minnesota State	4
																		5	Minnesota-Duluth	6

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

First Round[]

(1) Colorado College vs. (10) Alaska-Anchorage[]

March 14[4]	Colorado College		5 – 3		Alaska-Anchorage	World Arena, Colorado Springs	Recap
(Sejna, Clarke) - 13:23		First period			16:33 - PP -
- 02:44 (Goolsby) - 12:22		Second period			No scoring
(Clarke, Petoit) Peter Sejna - GW - 05:43 (Sejna) Noah Clarke - SH - 12:44		Third period			13:05 - PP - (Glencross, Parez) 13:22 - (Roach)
Curtis McElhinney ( 16 saves / 19 shots )		Goalie stats			( 44 saves / 49 shots )

March 15[5]	Colorado College		4 – 1		Alaska-Anchorage	World Arena, Colorado Springs	Recap
(Canzanello, Clarke) Peter Sejna - PP - 09:05 (McElhinney) Tom Preissing - GW - 15:51 (Sertich, Stuart) - PP - 18:11		First period			No scoring
(Canzanello, Preissing) Peter Sejna - PP - 04:16		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			13:03 - PP - (Johnson, Shasby)
Curtis McElhinney ( 13 saves / 14 shots )		Goalie stats			( 15 saves / 18 shots ) / Kevin Reiter ( 27 saves / 28 shots )

Colorado College won series 2–0

(2) Minnesota vs. (9) Michigan Tech[]

March 14[6]	Minnesota		3 – 1		Michigan Tech	Mariucci Arena	Recap
(Reinholz) Andy Sertich - 01:51		First period			No scoring
(Hirsch, Weber) - GW PP - 08:42 (Hirsch, Sertich) Grant Potulny - PP - 14:51		Second period			19:15 - PP - Chris Conner (Brown, Murphy)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
( 21 saves / 22 shots )		Goalie stats			( 29 saves / 32 shots )

March 15[7]	Minnesota		5 – 2		Michigan Tech	Mariucci Arena	Recap
(Riddle, Koalska) Grant Potulny - PP - 19:59		First period			08:55 - Colin Murphy (Conner, Singer)
(Tallackson) Gino Guyer - SH - 04:35 (Harrington, Tallackson) Grant Potulny - GW - 09:23 (Potulny, Hirsch) Barry Tallackson - PP - 15:01		Second period			15:41 - Brett Engelhardt
(Martin, Ballard) Thomas Vanek - PP - 08:36		Third period			No scoring
( 4 saves / 5 shots ) / ( 11 saves / 12 shots )		Goalie stats			( 55 saves / 60 shots )

Minnesota won series 2–0

(3) Minnesota State-Mankato vs. (8) Wisconsin[]

March 14

Minnesota State-Mankato

2 – 1

Wisconsin

Verizon Wireless Center

Recap

March 15

Minnesota State-Mankato

6 – 5

2OT

Wisconsin

Verizon Wireless Center

Recap

Minnesota State-Mankato won series 2–0

(4) North Dakota vs. (7) Denver[]

March 14[8]	North Dakota		1 – 4		Denver	Ralph Engelstad Arena	Recap
No Scoring		First period			03:22 - PP - Brett Skinner (Caldwell) 13:28 - GW - Luke Fulghum (Skinner, Bull)
(Spiewak, Fylling) David Lundbohm - 08:44		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			14:08 - (Barber, Doell) 14:41 - Connor James (Halme, Drummond)
( 3 saves / 5 shots ) / ( 8 saves / 10 shots )		Goalie stats			Adam Berkhoel ( 16 saves / 17 shots )

March 15[9]	North Dakota		3 – 2	OT	Denver	Ralph Engelstad Arena	Recap
No Scoring		First period			No scoring
(Parise, Schneider) - PP - 13:13		Second period			18:29 - PP - (MacKenzie, James)
(Schneider, Parise) Brandon Bochenski - EA PP - 16:42		Third period			14:23 - Ryan Caldwell (Fulghum, Dora)
(Schneider, Fuher) Brandon Bochenski - GW - 00:46		First overtime period			No scoring
( 17 saves / 19 shots )		Goalie stats			Wade Dubielewicz ( 30 saves / 33 shots )

March 16[10]	North Dakota		3 – 2	OT	Denver	Ralph Engelstad Arena	Recap
(Bochenski, Marvin) Zach Parise - 07:31		First period			No scoring
(Schneider, Parise) Mike Prpich - 19:19		Second period			05:05 - (Doell, Barber) 13:41 - PP - Connor James (Keith, Doell)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
(Lundbohm) - GW - 18:56		First overtime period			No scoring
( 25 saves / 27 shots )		Goalie stats			Adam Berkhoel ( 37 saves / 40 shots )

North Dakota won series 2–1

(5) Minnesota-Duluth vs. (6) St. Cloud State[]

March 14[11]	Minnesota-Duluth		5 – 4		St. Cloud State	Duluth Entertainment Convention Center	Recap
- 00:27		First period			10:36 - PP - (Malone, Eastman)
(Stauffacher, Hammond) - PP - 02:58 (Lessard, Stapleton) Beau Geisler - 03:19 (Peluso, Stapleton) Junior Lessard - 06:07		Second period			17:56 - PP - (Cullen, Malone)
- GW SH - 03:08		Third period			04:23 - PP - (Motzko, Hendricks) 06:49 - (Szabo, Hendricks)
( 27 saves / 31 shots )		Goalie stats			( 24 saves / 29 shots )

March 15[12]	Minnesota-Duluth		2 – 3	OT	St. Cloud State	Duluth Entertainment Convention Center	Recap
(Anderson, Francisco) T. J. Caig - PP - 11:57 Tim Stapleton - SH - 18:56		First period			17:24 - (Hendricks, Lehun)
No scoring		Second period			17:17 - Matt Hendricks (Doyle)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		First overtime period			09:00 - GW - (Malone, Wright)
( 17 saves / 19 shots )		Goalie stats			( 30 saves / 33 shots )

March 16[13]	Minnesota-Duluth		7 – 3		St. Cloud State	Duluth Entertainment Convention Center	Recap
(Otten) - 09:15		First period			03:44 - Ryan Malone (Motzko, Hendricks)
(Anderson) - 04:57 (Stapleton, Caig) - PP - 05:59 (Stauffacher, Hammond) Beau Geisler - GW - 10:45		Second period			No scoring
(Lessard, Geris) - PP - 04:40 - SH - 05:59 Tim Stapleton - EN - 18:18		Third period			03:57 - SH - Ryan Malone (Doyle) 10:19 - Matt Hendricks (Cullen)
( 22 saves / 25 shots )		Goalie stats			( 29 saves / 35 shots )

Minnesota-Duluth won series 2–1

Quarterfinal[]

(4) North Dakota vs. (5) Minnesota-Duluth[]

March 20[14]	North Dakota		1 – 2		Minnesota-Duluth	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
(Schneider, Lundbohm) Brandon Bochenski - 07:12		First period			08:48 - (Schwabe)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			14:47 - GW - Junior Lessard (Czech, Francisco)
( 25 saves / 27 shots )		Goalie stats			( 31 saves / 32 shots )

Semifinals[]

(1) Colorado College vs. (5) Minnesota-Duluth[]

March 21[15]	Colorado College		4 – 3	OT	Minnesota-Duluth	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period			05:57 - Neil Petruic (Stauffacher, Hammond)
(Cullen) Colin Stuart - SH - 00:56 (Polaski, Stuart) Trevor Frischmon - 00:56		Second period			10:34 - Junior Lessard (Brosz, Geisler) 12:41 - Tim Stapleton (Hammond, Lessard)
(Sejna, Stuart) Tom Preissing - PP - 09:05		Third period			No scoring
(Leibel) Brett Sterling - GW - 07:18		First overtime period			No scoring
( 20 saves / 23 shots )		Goalie stats			( 37 saves / 41 shots )

(2) Minnesota vs. (3) Minnesota State-Mankato[]

March 21[16]	Minnesota		3 – 2	OT	Minnesota State-Mankato	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
(Ballard) Barry Tallackson - 04:42		First period			01:54 - Grant Stevenson (Joseph, Forscythe)
No scoring		Second period			14:30 - PP - (Bassett, Stevenson)
(Ballard, Martin) Grant Potulny - PP - 01:58		Third period			No scoring
(Riddle, Harrington) Thomas Vanek - GW - 03:57		First overtime period			No scoring
( 14 saves / 16 shots )		Goalie stats			( 46 saves / 49 shots )

Third Place[]

(3) Minnesota State-Mankato vs. (5) Minnesota-Duluth[]

March 22[17]	Minnesota State-Mankato		4 – 6		Minnesota-Duluth	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
(Stevenson, Joseph) Cole Bassett - PP - 19:04		First period			03:20 - Tim Hambly 12:12 - Junior Lessard (Petruic, Brosz) 19:45 - (Caig)
(Bassett, Stevenson) Shane Joseph - PP - 12:19 (Bassett, Abel) Shane Joseph - PP - 13:06		Second period			02:22 - (Czech)
(Dubel, Joseph) - 13:00		Third period			06:15 - (Anderson, Francisco) 12:05 - T. J. Caig (Lessard)
( 7 saves / 10 shots ) / ( 27 saves / 30 shots )		Goalie stats			( 23 saves / 27 shots )

Championship[]

(1) Colorado College vs. (2) Minnesota[]

March 22[18]	Colorado College		2 – 4		Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period			01:29 - Grant Potulny (Guyer) 01:49 - Gino Guyer (Potunly, Tallackson) 05:25 - GW PP - Grant Potulny (Vanek, Koalska)
(Preissing, Canzanello) Kevin Ulanski - PP - 19:46		Second period			No scoring
(Smaagaard) - 05:13		Third period			06:41 - PP - Peter Sejna (Clarke, Canzanello)
Curtis McElhinney ( 21 saves / 25 shots )		Goalie stats			( 36 saves / 38 shots )

Tournament awards[]

All-Tournament Team[]

• F Grant Potulny* (Minnesota)
• F Junior Lessard (Minnesota-Duluth)
• F Shane Joseph (Minnesota State-Mankato)
• D Tom Preissing (Colorado College)
• D Keith Ballard (Minnesota)
• G (Minnesota)

* Most Valuable Player(s)

^[19]

Tournament Three Stars[]

• 3 (Minnesota)
• 2 Peter Sejna (Colorado College)
• 1 Grant Potulny (Minnesota)

^[20]

See also[]

• Western Collegiate Hockey Association men's champions

References[]

External links[]

• WCHA official site
• 2002–03 WCHA Standings
• 2002–03 NCAA Standings