The 1956 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 1955–56 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, the 9th such tournament in NCAA history. It was held between March 15 and 17, 1956, and concluded with Michigan defeating Michigan Tech 7–5. All games were played at the Broadmoor Ice Palace in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
| Teams | 4 |
|---|---|
| Finals site | |
| Champions | Michigan Wolverines (6th title) |
| Runner-up | Michigan Tech Huskies (1st title game) |
| Semifinalists |
|
| Winning coach | Vic Heyliger (6th title) |
| MOP | Lorne Howes (Michigan) |
Vic Heyliger captured his 6th and final National title with the Wolverines, all done in the first 9 years of the tournament. As of 2016 he stands as the coach with the most championships overall and the most with one team (6).
Qualifying teams
Four teams qualified for the tournament, two each from the eastern and western regions. The two best WIHL teams and a Tri-State League representative received bids into the tournament as did one independent school.
Clarkson, who had completed a 23–0 record in the regular season, were offered a bid by the selection committee. The Golden Knights, however, had 8 four-year seniors on the team (who would not have been allowed to play in the tournament) and declined the invitation, leaving the second place team from the Tri-State League to go in their stead.[1]
| East | West | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid |
| 1 | Boston College | Independent | 14–5–0 | At-Large | 5th | 1954 | 1 | Michigan | WIHL | 18–2–1 | At-Large | 9th | 1955 |
| 2 | St. Lawrence | Tri-State League | 17–4–0 | At-Large | 3rd | 1955 | 2 | Michigan Tech | WIHL | 20–6–0 | At-Large | 1st | Never |
Format
The eastern team judged as better was seeded as the top eastern team while the WIHL champion 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 Broadmoor Ice Palace. All matches were Single-game eliminations with the semifinal winners advancing to the national championship game and the losers playing in a consolation game.
Bracket
| Semifinals March 15–16 | National championship March 17 | ||||||||
| E1 | Boston College | 4 | |||||||
| W2 | Michigan Tech | 10 | |||||||
| W2 | Michigan Tech | 5 | |||||||
| W1 | Michigan | 7 | |||||||
| W1 | Michigan | 2* | |||||||
| E2 | St. Lawrence | 1 | Third-place game | ||||||
| E1 | Boston College | 2 | |||||||
| E2 | St. Lawrence | 6 | |||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Semifinals
Boston College vs. Michigan Tech
| March 15 | Boston College | 4 – 10 | Michigan Tech | Broadmoor Ice Palace | ||||
Michigan vs. St. Lawrence
| March 16 | Michigan | 2 – 1 | OT | St. Lawrence | Broadmoor Ice Palace | Recap | ||
| No Scoring | First period | |||||||
| Second period | 19:52 - Bernie McKinnon (unassisted) | |||||||
| (McDonald, Pitts) Ed Switzer - 03:59 | Third period | |||||||
| (McIntosh) Tom Rendall - GW - 01:21 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Lorne Howes | Goalie stats | Sarge Whittier | ||||||
Consolation Game
Boston College vs. St. Lawrence
| March 17 | Boston College | 2 – 6 | St. Lawrence | Broadmoor Ice Palace | Recap | |||
| (Cassidy) Francis Quinn - 06:33 (unassisted) Bill Leary - 11:16 |
First period | 07:03 - Bernie McKinnon (Coluccio, Henry) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 06:22 - Joe McLean (unassisted) 07:14 - William Brown (Bigelow) 07:17 - Bill Renner (Stitt, Riopelle) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 01:21 - Ron O'Brien (unassisted) 03:47 - Bernie McKinnon (Coluccio, Morrison) | ||||||
Championship Game
Michigan vs. Michigan Tech
| March 17[3] | Michigan | 7 – 5 | Michigan Tech | Broadmoor Ice Palace | ||||
| Scoring summary | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period | Team | Goal | Assist(s) | Time | Score |
| 1st | UM | Ed Switzer | McDonald | 00:23 | 1–0 UM |
| MTU | Dick Wilson | J. McManus | 02:42 | 1–1 | |
| UM | Neil McDonald | Schiller | 09:22 | 2–1 UM | |
| UM | Don McIntosh | Rendall | 10:14 | 3–1 UM | |
| MTU | Pete Aubry | unassisted | 11:04 | 3–2 UM | |
| UM | Bob Schiller | McDonald | 13:11 | 4–2 UM | |
| MTU | Dick Wilson | unassisted | 19:45 | 4–3 UM | |
| 2nd | MTU | Tom Kennedy | Wilson | 24:47 | 4–4 |
| MTU | Pete Aubry – PP | Wilson | 27:25 | 5–4 MTU | |
| UM | Ed Switzer | Hanna | 27:58 | 5–5 | |
| UM | Ed Switzer – GW PP | Dunnigan | 34:28 | 6–5 UM | |
| UM | Neil McDonald | unassisted | 34:49 | 7–5 UM | |
| 3rd | None | ||||
|
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All-Tournament team
First Team
|
Second Team
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References
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