2005 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament

2005 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
Dates	March 11–19, 2005
Teams	10
Finals site	Xcel Energy Center St. Paul, Minnesota
Champions	Denver (14th title)
Winning coach	George Gwozdecky[1] (3rd title)
MVP	Brett Sterling (Colorado College)
Attendance	77,746
WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments ← 2004 2006 →

The 2005 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 46th conference playoff in league history and 51st season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The 2005 tournament was played between March 11 and March 19, 2005, at five conference arenas and the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. By winning the tournament, Denver was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the WCHA'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

2004–05 Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings v t
	Conference								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#1 Denver†*	28	19	7	2	40	114	81		43	32	9	2	174	110
#2 Colorado College†	28	19	7	2	40	98	66		43	31	9	3	160	101
#4 Minnesota	28	17	10	1	35	105	80		44	28	15	1	155	109
#13 Wisconsin	28	16	9	3	35	94	64		41	23	14	4	127	91
#3 North Dakota	28	13	12	3	29	71	67		45	25	15	5	136	103
Minnesota–Duluth	28	11	13	4	26	90	89		38	15	17	6	119	118
Alaska–Anchorage	28	9	15	4	22	72	102		37	12	19	6	94	129
Minnesota State-Mankato	28	8	16	4	20	82	109		38	13	19	6	118	140
St. Cloud State	28	8	19	1	17	66	100		40	14	23	3	109	126
Michigan Tech	28	7	19	2	16	64	98		37	8	25	4	91	136
Championship: Denver † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Final rankings: USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 15 Poll

Bracket[]

Teams are reseeded after the first round

	First round[2] March 11–13							Quarterfinal[3] March 17					Semifinals March 18					Championship March 19
	1	Denver	7	1	—								1	Denver	2*
	10	Michigan Tech	1	0	—			4	Wisconsin	1			5	North Dakota	1
								5	North Dakota	3
	2	Colorado College	8	4	–
	9	St. Cloud State	2	2	–
	3	Minnesota	7	5	–													1	Denver	1
	8	Minnesota State	2	3	–													2	Colorado College	0
	4	Wisconsin	5	1	2
	7	Alaska-Anchorage	4	2	1
																		Third Place
	5	North Dakota	8	6	–								2	Colorado College	3
	6	Minnesota-Duluth	2	1	–								3	Minnesota	0			3	Minnesota	2
																		5	North Dakota	4

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

First Round[]

(1) Denver vs. (10) Michigan Tech[]

March 11[4]	Denver		7 – 1		Michigan Tech	Magness Arena	Recap
– 10:30 (Halme, Corbin) Ryan Dingle – GW SH – 18:01		First period			15:10 – (Desmet, Wilson)
(Helgason, Stastny) Gabe Gauthier - 08:41 (Drummond, Laatsch) Gabe Gauthier - 17:05		Second period			No scoring
(Dingle) Paul Stastny - 06:26 (Handza, Thomas) - 08:30 (Dingle, Fulghum) Paul Stastny - 09:24		Third period			No scoring
( 11 saves / 12 shots ) Glenn Fisher		Goalie stats			( 22 saves / 27 shots ) / ( 6 saves / 8 shots )

March 12[5]	Denver		1 – 0		Michigan Tech	Magness Arena	Recap
No Scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
(Gauthier, Handza) – GW – 18:02		Third period			No scoring
( 24 saves / 24 shots ) Peter Mannino		Goalie stats			( 45 saves / 46 shots )

Denver won series 2–0

(2) Colorado College vs. (9) St. Cloud State[]

March 11[6]	Colorado College		8 – 2		St. Cloud State	World Arena, Colorado Springs	Recap
(Polaski, Hillen) Marty Sertich – 01:22 (Polaski, Sweatt) Brett Sterling – 07:05 (Cox) – GW – 11:03 (Kilpatrick) – 13:54		First period			03:19 – PP – Nate Raduns (Gordon, Jensen)
(Polich, Frischmon) Mark Stuart – PP – 02:31 (Sterling, Hillen) – 05:04 (Sertich, Crabb) Brett Sterling – PP – 13:32		Second period			No scoring
– 17:18		Third period			No scoring
( 34 saves / 38 shots ) Curtis McElhinney		Goalie stats			( 25 saves / 29 shots ) / ( 12 saves / 16 shots )

March 12[7]	Colorado College		4 – 2		St. Cloud State	World Arena, Colorado Springs	Recap
(Polaski) Brett Sterling – 11:51		First period			11:01 – (Jensen, Borer)
No scoring		Second period			13:34 – PP – Justin Fletcher (Hengen, Gens)
(Frischmon) Mark Stuart – 02:20 (Sterling, Salcido) Joey Crabb – GW PP – 10:19 (Slattengren, Stuart) – 10:38		Third period			No scoring
( 27 saves / 29 shots ) Matt Zaba		Goalie stats			( 27 saves / 31 shots )

Colorado College won series 2–0

(3) Minnesota vs. (8) Minnesota State[]

March 11[8]	Minnesota		7 – 2		Minnesota State	Mariucci Arena	Recap
(Stevens, Sertich) – 03:59 (Hirsch, Sertich) Evan Kaufmann – 06:38 (Hagemo, Stevens) Barry Tallackson – GW – 14:12 (Guyer) Kris Chucko – 19:00		First period			03:02 – (McKelvie, Brenk) 05:54 – PP – (Morin)
(Potulny, Goligoski) Danny Irmen – PP – 03:39 (Vannelli, Guyer) Barry Tallackson – 15:27 (Vannelli, Peltier) Danny Irmen – PP – 19:48		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
( 25 saves / 27 shots )		Goalie stats			( 27 saves / 34 shots )

March 12[9]	Minnesota		5 – 3		Minnesota State	Mariucci Arena	Recap
(Fleming) – 14:54		First period			No scoring
(Hirsch, Goligoski) Danny Irmen – 08:01 (Stevens, Fleming) – 12:56 (Irmen, Vannelli) – 14:41		Second period			00:57 – (Thompson) 10:14 – PP – (Brenk, Backes) 14:08 – PP – (Thompson, Morin)
(Harrington) Barry Tallackson – 14:24		Third period			No scoring
( 25 saves / 28 shots )		Goalie stats			( 31 saves / 36 shots )

Minnesota won series 2–0

(4) Wisconsin vs. (7) Alaska-Anchorage[]

March 11[10]	Wisconsin		5 – 4		Alaska-Anchorage	Veterans Memorial Coliseum	Recap
(Engel, Earl) Joe Pavelski – 00:46 (Gilbert, Joudrey) Joe Pavelski – PP – 04:30		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			07:05 – (Cartwright) 11:15 – (Johnson)
(Pavelski, MacMurchy) Robbie Earl – PP – 05:01 (Piskula, Pavelski) Robbie Earl – 13:11 (Licari, Likens) Adam Burish – GW – 16:40		Third period			01:29 – PP – (Bourne, Segal) 02:51 – SH –
( 16 saves / 20 shots ) Bernd Brückler / ( 4 saves / 4 shots ) Brian Elliott		Goalie stats			John DeCaro ( 2 saves / 4 shots ) / Nathan Lawson ( 45 saves / 48 shots )

March 12[11]	Wisconsin		1 – 2		Alaska-Anchorage	Veterans Memorial Coliseum	Recap
No Scoring		First period			09:52 – SH – Justin Johnson (Polaski, Sweatt)
(Earl, MacMurchy) Joe Pavelski – 00:59		Second period			09:35 – GW – (Segal, Bourne)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
( 21 saves / 23 shots ) Brian Elliott		Goalie stats			Nathan Lawson ( 44 saves / 45 shots )

March 13[12]	Wisconsin		2 – 1		Alaska-Anchorage	Veterans Memorial Coliseum	Recap
No Scoring		First period			08:39 – PP – Chad Anderson (Waldrop, Segal)
(Piskula) Joe Pavelski – 07:13 (Licari, Degenhardt) Adam Burish – GW – 11:13		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
( 27 saves / 28 shots ) Bernd Brückler		Goalie stats			Nathan Lawson ( 37 saves / 39 shots )

Wisconsin won series 2–1

(5) North Dakota vs. (6) Minnesota-Duluth[]

March 11[13]	North Dakota		8 – 2		Minnesota-Duluth	Ralph Engelstad Arena	Recap
(McMahon, Špirko) Colby Genoway – 03:12 (Murray, Genoway) Travis Zajac – 13:02 (Genoway, Bina) Rastislav Špirko – GW – 16:15 (Murray) Matt Jones – 17:59		First period			No scoring
(Canady, Massen) – 02:22		Second period			08:02 – Tim Stapleton (Hambly, Schwabe)
(Zajac) – 05:21 (Massen, Fabian) – 07:57 (McMahon, Špirko) Colby Genoway – 09:14		Third period			15:24 – Matt McKnight (Peluso, Stapleton)
( 17 saves / 19 shots ) Jordan Parise		Goalie stats			( 10 saves / 14 shots ) / ( 12 saves / 16 shots )

March 12[14]	North Dakota		6 – 1		Minnesota-Duluth	Ralph Engelstad Arena	Recap
No Scoring		First period			15:22 – Tim Stapleton
(McMahon) Rastislav Špirko – 02:30 – GW – 05:02 (Stafford, Zajac) Colby Genoway – PP – 09:39 (Jones) -09:58		Second period			No scoring
(McMahon, Schneider) Rastislav Špirko – 11:31 (McMahon, Špirko) – PP – 18:12		Third period			No scoring
( 17 saves / 18 shots ) Jordan Parise		Goalie stats			( 17 saves / 21 shots ) / ( 8 saves / 10 shots )

North Dakota won series 2–0

Quarterfinal[]

(4) Wisconsin vs. (5) North Dakota[]

March 17[15]	Wisconsin		2 – 3		North Dakota	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
(Pavelski, Carlson) Robbie Earl – 09:21		First period			01:22 – Brady Murray (Zajac, Stafford) 14:08 – (Canady, Fabian)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Adam Burish – 10:43		Third period			09:44 – GW PP – Colby Genoway (Špirko, Fuher)
( 25 saves / 28 shots ) Bernd Brückler		Goalie stats			Jordan Parise ( 33 saves / 35 shots )

Semifinals[]

(1) Denver vs. (8) North Dakota[]

March 18[16]	Denver		2 – 1	OT	North Dakota	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
(Stastny, Carle) Gabe Gauthier - PP - 04:29		First period			10:03 – PP – (Murray)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
(Veideman) Gabe Gauthier – GW – 00:42		First overtime period			No scoring
( 29 saves / 30 shots ) Glenn Fisher		Goalie stats			( 30 saves / 32 shots )

(2) Colorado College vs. (3) Minnesota[]

March 18[17]	Colorado College		3 – 0		Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period			No scoring
(Hillen, McElhinney) Brett Sterling – GW – 01:57 (Sterling) – PP – 06:46		Second period			No scoring
Brett Sterling – PP – 04:55		Third period			No scoring
( 32 saves / 32 shots ) Curtis McElhinney		Goalie stats			( 19 saves / 22 shots )

Third Place[]

(3) Minnesota vs. (5) North Dakota[]

March 19[18]	Minnesota		2 – 4		North Dakota	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
(Potulny, Howe) Danny Irmen – 10:30		First period			09:23 – (Foyt)
(Gordon, Harrington) – PP – 06:04		Second period			10:56 – SH – Rastislav Špirko (Fylling)
No scoring		Third period			03:03 – Matt Greene (Marvin, Stafford) 18:12 –
( 18 saves / 22 shots ) Kellen Briggs		Goalie stats			Jordan Parise ( 25 saves / 27 shots )

Championship[]

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

March 19[19]	Denver		1 – 0		Colorado College	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period			No scoring
(Carle) Luke Fulghum – GW PP – 16:56		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
( 25 saves / 25 shots ) Peter Mannino		Goalie stats			Curtis McElhinney ( 26 saves / 27 shots )

Tournament awards[]

All-Tournament Team[]

• F Rastislav Špirko (North Dakota)
• F Brett Sterling* (Colorado College)
• F Gabe Gauthier (Denver)
• D (Denver)
• D (Denver)
• G Curtis McElhinney (Colorado College)

* Most Valuable Player(s)

^[20]

See also[]

• Western Collegiate Hockey Association men's champions

References[]

External links[]

• WCHA official site
• 2004–05 WCHA Standings
• 2004–05 NCAA Standings