2008 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

File:2008-04-29 bc hoc 04web.jpg

Boston College Eagles players and coaches celebrate their victory at the Massachusetts State House with Governor Deval Patrick and Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray

The 2008 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament involved 16 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college ice hockey. The tournament began on March 28, 2008, and ended with the championship game on April 12.

Boston College, coached by Jerry York, won its third national title after consecutive runner-up finishes with a 4–1 victory in the championship game over Notre Dame, coached by Jeff Jackson.

Nathan Gerbe, junior forward for Boston College, scored five goals in the final two games and was named the Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player.

This was the first tournament in 47 years to have two teams from the same conference play in the opening round. This occurred due to the glut of WCHA teams that received 2nd- and 3rd-seeds in the regional divisions.

Starting with this year’s Frozen Four and ending with 2013, five of the next six tournaments featured at least one team making their first appearance in the Frozen Four, with 2011 being the only year to feature four teams with previous Frozen Four appearances.

Tournament procedure

The NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Championship is a single-elimination tournament featuring 16 teams representing all six Division I conferences in the nation. The Championship Committee seeds the entire field from 1 to 16 within four regionals of 4 teams. The winners of the six Division I conference championships receive automatic bids to participate in the NCAA Championship.

In setting up the tournament, the Championship Committee seeks to ensure "competitive equity, financial success and likelihood of playoff-type atmosphere at each regional site." A team serving as the host of a regional is placed within that regional. The top four teams are assigned overall seeds and placed within the bracket such that the national semifinals will feature the No. 1 seed versus the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed versus the No. 3 seed should the top four teams win their respective regional finals. Number 1 seeds are also placed as close to their home site as possible, with the No. 1 seed receiving first preference. Conference matchups are avoided in the first round; should five or more teams from one conference make the tournament, this guideline may be disregarded in favor of preserving the bracket's integrity.

The four regionals are officially named after their geographic areas. The following were the sites for the 2008 regionals:

March 28 and 29

East Regional, Times Union Center - Albany, New York (Hosts: ECAC Hockey and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)

West Regional, Broadmoor World Arena - Colorado Springs, Colorado (Hosts: Colorado College and the Colorado Springs Sports Commission)

March 29 and 30

Midwest Regional, Kohl Center - Madison, Wisconsin (Host: University of Wisconsin–Madison)

Northeast Regional, DCU Center - Worcester, Massachusetts (Host: College of the Holy Cross)

Each regional winner advanced to the Frozen Four:

April 10 and 12

Pepsi Center - Denver, Colorado (Hosts: University of Denver and the Metro Denver Sports Commission)

Qualifying teams

The at-large bids, along with the seeding for each team in the tournament, were announced on Sunday, March 23. Six teams from the WCHA qualified for the tournament, a record for the number of teams from one conference.

East Regional – Albany					Northeast Regional – Worcester
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth Type	Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth Type
1	Michigan (1)	CCHA	31–5–4	Tournament champion	1	Miami (2)	CCHA	32–7–1	At-Large Bid
2	St. Cloud State	WCHA	19–15–5	At-Large Bid	2	Boston College	Hockey East	21–11–8	Tournament Champion
3	Clarkson	ECAC	21–12–4	At-Large Bid	3	Minnesota	WCHA	19–16–9	At-Large Bid
4	Niagara	CHA	22–10–4	Tournament champion	4	Air Force	Atlantic Hockey	21–11–6	Tournament Champion
West Regional – Colorado Springs					Midwest Regional – Madison
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth Type	Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth Type
1	New Hampshire (4)	Hockey East	25–9–3	At-Large Bid	1	North Dakota (3)	WCHA	26–10–4	At-Large Bid
2	Colorado College	WCHA	28–11–1	At-Large Bid	2	Denver	WCHA	26–13–1	Tournament champion
3	Michigan State	CCHA	24–11–5	At-Large Bid	3	Wisconsin	WCHA	15–16–7	At-Large Bid
4	Notre Dame	CCHA	24–15–4	At-Large Bid	4	Princeton	ECAC	21–13–0	Tournament champion

Brackets

The number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.

East Regional – Albany, New York

West Regional – Colorado Springs, Colorado

Northeast Regional – Worcester, Massachusetts

Midwest Regional – Madison, Wisconsin

Frozen Four – Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado

(*) denotes overtime period(s).

Results

National Championship – Denver, Colorado

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	None
2nd	align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | BC	Nathan Gerbe (34)	Gibbons and Smith	22:23	1–0 BC
	align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | BC	Nathan Gerbe (35) – GW PP	Smith and Bertram	25:37	2–0 BC
	align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | BC	Joe Whitney (11) – PP	Gerbe and Ferriero	28:11	3–0 BC
	align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | ND	Kevin Deeth (11)	Lawson and Cole	29:07	3–1 BC
3rd	align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | BC	Ben Smith (25)	Gerbe and Gibbons	45:31	4–1 BC
Penalty summary
Period	Team	Player	Penalty	Time	PIM
1st	align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | BC	Kyle Kucharski	Holding the Stick	08:41	2:00
	align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | BC	Matt Greene	Cross-Checking	14:33	2:00
	align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | ND	Brock Sheahan	Roughing	17:02	2:00
	align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | BC	Anthony Aiello	Tripping	18:24	2:00
2nd	align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | BC	Andrew Orpik	Slashing	22:51	2:00
	align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | ND	Ryan Thang	Interference	24:58	2:00
	align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | ND	Dan VeNard	Cross-Checking	26:29	2:00
	align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | ND	Dan Kissel	Hooking	27:27	2:00
	align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | BC	Kyle Kucharski	Holding	27:32	2:00
	align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | ND	Dan VeNard	High-Sticking	36:49	2:00
3rd	align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | BC	Nick Petrecki	Elbowing	40:08	2:00
	align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | BC	Matt Price	Obstruction Tripping	48:05	2:00
	align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | BC	Matt Greene	Hooking	49:54	2:00

Shots by period
Team	1	2	3	T
align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | Notre Dame	5	8	8	21
align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | Boston College	7	11	5	23

Goaltenders
Team	Name	Saves	Goals against	Time on ice
align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | ND	Jordan Pearce	19	4	58:31
align=center style="Template:CollegePrimaryStyle;" | BC	John Muse	20	1	60:00

Record by conference

Conference	# of Bids	Record	Win %	Regional Finals	Frozen Four	Championship Game	Champions
WCHA	6	3–6	.333	2	1	-	-
CCHA	4	7–4	.636	4	2	1	-
ECAC Hockey	2	1–2	.333	1	-	-	-
Hockey East	2	4–1	.800	1	1	1	1
Atlantic Hockey	1	0–1	.000	-	-	-	-
CHA	1	0–1	.000	-	-	-	-

All-Tournament team

Frozen Four

• G: John Muse (Boston College)
• D: Michael Brennan (Boston College)
• D: Kyle Lawson (Notre Dame)
• F: Kevin Deeth (Notre Dame)
• F: Nathan Gerbe* (Boston College)
• F: Ben Smith (Boston College)

* Most Outstanding Player(s)

References

General

Specific