2003 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

The 2003 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, 2003, and ended with the championship game on April 12. A total of 15 games were played. 2003 was the first year 16 teams were invited to the tournament and was the first expansion of the tournament since 1988 when it increased from eight to 12 teams. The first and second rounds of the 2003 tournament were divided across four regional sites, an increase from the two regional format in place since 1992.

2003 NCAA Division I men's
ice hockey tournament

2003 Frozen Four logo
Teams	16
Finals site	HSBC Arena Buffalo, New York
Champions	Minnesota Golden Gophers (5th title)
Runner-up	New Hampshire Wildcats (2nd title game)
Semifinalists	Cornell Big Red (8th Frozen Four) Michigan Wolverines (22nd Frozen Four)
Winning coach	Don Lucia (2nd title)
MOP	Thomas Vanek (Minnesota)
Attendance	111,224
← 2002  NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournaments 2004 →

This year’s tournament was the first since 1998 to feature multiple programs, Minnesota State and Wayne State, making their first appearance in the NCAA playoffs.

Minnesota became the first team to successfully defend their title since Boston University won back-to-back titles in 1971 and 1972.

Game locations

Providence

Ann Arbor

Worcester

Minneapolis

Buffalo

2003 Regionals (blue) and Frozen Four (red)

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. Regional placements are based primarily on the home location of the top seed in each bracket with an attempt made to put the top-ranked teams close to their home site.

First round and regional finals

• East – Dunkin' Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island — Host: Providence College
• Midwest – Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan — Host: Michigan
• Northeast – Centrum Centre, Worcester, Massachusetts — Host: Boston University
• West – Mariucci Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota Host: Minnesota

Frozen Four

• HSBC Arena, Buffalo, New York

Qualifying teams

The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament was announced on March 23, 2003.^[1] The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) had five teams receive a berth in the tournament, Hockey East had four teams receive a berth in the tournament, the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) had three teams receive a berth in the tournament, the ECAC had two berths, while both the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and College Hockey America (CHA) received one bid for their tournament champions.

East Regional – Providence							Midwest Regional – Ann Arbor
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid	Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid
1	Cornell (1)	ECAC	28–4–1	Tournament champion	14th	2002	1	Colorado College (2)	WCHA	29–6–5	At-large bid	16th	2002
2	Boston College	Hockey East	23–10–4	At-large bid	23rd	2001	2	Maine	Hockey East	24–9–5	At-large bid	13th	2002
3	Ohio State	CCHA	24–12–5	At-large bid	3rd	1999	3	Michigan	CCHA	28–9–3	Tournament champion	26th	2002
4	Minnesota State-Mankato	WCHA	20–10–10	At-large bid	1st	Never	4	Wayne State	CHA	21–16–2	Tournament champion	1st	Never
Northeast Regional – Worcester							West Regional – Minneapolis
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid	Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid
1	New Hampshire (3)	Hockey East	25–7–6	Tournament champion	13th	2002	1	Minnesota (4)	WCHA	24–8–9	Tournament champion	27th	2002
2	Boston University	Hockey East	24–13–3	At-large bid	27th	2002	2	Ferris State	CCHA	30–10–1	At-large bid	1st	Never
3	Harvard	ECAC	22–9–2	At-large bid	18th	2002	3	North Dakota	WCHA	26–11–5	At-large bid	18th	2001
4	St. Cloud State	WCHA	17–15–5	At-large bid	5th	2002	4	Mercyhurst	MAAC	22–12–2	Tournament champion	2nd	2001

Number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.

^[2]

Tournament bracket

	Regional semifinals March 28–29					Regional Finals March 29–30					National semifinals April 10					National championship April 12
	1	Cornell (1)	5
	4	Minnesota State	2
						1	Cornell	2**
	Providence, Rhode Island – Sat/Sun
						2	Boston College	1
	2	Boston College	1
	3	Ohio State	0
											E1	Cornell	2
											N1	New Hampshire	3
	1	New Hampshire (3)	5
	4	St. Cloud State	2
						1	New Hampshire	3
	Worcester, Massachusetts – Fri/Sat
						2	Boston University	0
	2	Boston University	6
	3	Harvard	4
																N1	New Hampshire	1
																W1	Minnesota	5
	1	Colorado College (2)	4
	4	Wayne State	2
						1	Colorado College	3
	Ann Arbor, Michigan – Sat/Sun
						3	Michigan	5
	2	Maine	1
	3	Michigan	2
											M3	Michigan	2
											W1	Minnesota	3*
	1	Minnesota (4)	9
	4	Mercyhurst	2
						1	Minnesota	7
	Minneapolis – Fri/Sat
						2	Ferris State	4
	2	Ferris State	5
	3	North Dakota	2

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Regional semifinals

^[3]

East Regional

(1) Cornell vs. (4) Minnesota State-Mankato

March 29[4]	Cornell		5 – 2		Minnesota State-Mankato	Dunkin' Donuts Center	Recap
(Murray) Mike Knoepfli – 01:53 (Knoepfli, Moulson) Shane Hynes – PP – 09:07		First period			01:53 – Dana Sorenson (Stevenson)
(Moulson, Cook) Shane Hynes – GW PP – 13:56		Second period			03:24 – PP – Brock Becker (Marler, Runkel)
(Cook) Mike Knoepfli – 06:42 (Vesce, Bâby) Sam Paolini – PP – 10:34		Third period			No scoring
( 18 saves / 20 shots ) David LeNeveu		Goalie stats			Jon Volp ( 32 saves / 37 shots )

(2) Boston College vs. (3) Ohio State

March 29[5]	Boston College		1 – 0		Ohio State	Dunkin' Donuts Center	Recap
(Forrest) Tony Voce – GW SH – 05:56		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
( 26 saves / 26 shots ) Matti Kaltiainen		Goalie stats			Mike Betz ( 20 saves / 21 shots )

Midwest Regional

(1) Colorado College vs. (4) Wayne State

March 29[6]	Colorado College		4 – 2		Wayne State	Yost Ice Arena	Recap
(Laux, Preissing) Brett Sterling – PP – 16:26		First period			No scoring
(Stuart) James Laux – 05:31 (Sterling, Preissing) Noah Clarke – GW PP – 14:09		Second period			04:51 – Keith Stanich (Kingston, Durbin)
(Sejna, Clarke) Tom Preissing – PP – 10:02		Third period			06:31 – Billy Collins (Poupard, Stanich)
Curtis McElhinney ( 23 saves / 25 shots )		Goalie stats			David Guerrera ( 27 saves / 31 shots )

(2) Maine vs. (3) Michigan

March 29[7]	Maine		1 – 2		Michigan	Yost Ice Arena	Recap
No Scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
(Kariya, Lawson) Colin Shields – 16:06		Third period			06:47 – Eric Nystrom (Woodford) 18:29 – GW PP – Jed Ortmeyer (Tambellini, Nystrom)
( 25 saves / 27 shots ) Frank Doyle		Goalie stats			Al Montoya ( 34 saves / 35 shots )

Northeast Regional

(1) New Hampshire vs. (4) St. Cloud State

March 28[8]	New Hampshire		5 – 2		St. Cloud State	Worcester Centrum	Recap
(Gare, Prudden) Colin Hemingway – 00:10 (Stafford) Colin Hemingway – PP – 18:47		First period			08:11 – Ryan Malone (Hendricks, Motzko)
(Abbott, Aikins) Preston Callander – GW – 01:20 (Saviano, Martz) Sean Collins – PP – 07:08		Second period			03:53 – Jeff Finger (Hendricks)
(Aikins, Hemingway) Preston Callander – PP – 12:08		Third period			No scoring
( 23 saves / 25 shots ) Mike Ayers		Goalie stats			Jake Moreland ( 27 saves / 31 shots )

(2) Boston University vs. (3) Harvard

March 28[9]	Boston University		6 – 4		Harvard	Worcester Centrum	Recap
(Miller, Van der Gulik) Brian Collins – PP – 03:39 (Priem) Matt Radoslovich – 14:57		First period			04:07 – Brendan Bernakevitch (Pettit) 17:06 – PP – Tyler Kolarik (Pettit, Welch)
(Magowan, Skladany) Brad Zancanaro – 14:44		Second period			08:33 – Brett Nowak (Kolarik)
(McConnell) Mark Mullen – 00:45 (McConnell) Bryan Miller – GW PP – 02:03 František Skladaný – 03:34		Third period			07:53 – Dominic Moore (Johnson, Pettit)
( 34 saves / 38 shots ) Sean Fields		Goalie stats			Dov Grumet-Morris ( 25 saves / 31 shots )

West Regional

(1) Minnesota vs. (4) Mercyhurst

March 28[10]	Minnesota		9 – 2		Mercyhurst	Mariucci Arena	Recap
(Guyer, Tallackson) Grant Potulny – 01:15 (Guyer) Keith Ballard – 04:33 (DeMarchi, Guyer) Grant Potulny – GW – 14:59		First period			No scoring
(Guyer) Barry Tallackson – 01:40 (Ballard) Thomas Vanek – 04:10 (Reinholz) Paul Martin – 05:07 (Fleming, Smaagaard) Jon Waibel – 05:34 (Fleming) Keith Ballard – 13:57		Second period			No scoring
(Guyer, Tallackson) Grant Potulny – 01:05		Third period			04:33 – PP – David Wrigley (Tackaberry) 07:21 – PP – Scott Reynolds (Borrelli, Rivers)
( 16 saves / 18 shots ) Travis Weber		Goalie stats			Andy Franck ( 47 saves / 56 shots )

(2) Ferris State vs. (3) North Dakota

March 28[11]	Ferris State		5 – 2		North Dakota	Mariucci Arena	Recap
(Kunitz, Kinnie) Derek Nesbitt – PP – 14:01		First period			No scoring
(Kunitz, Milam) Simon Mangos – PP – 15:42 (Nesbitt, Kunitz) Jeff Legue – GW – 18:04		Second period			No scoring
(Large) Greg Rallo – 09:11 (Meyer) Trevor Large – EN – 19:42		Third period			07:25 – David Lundbohm (Bochenski, Jones) 15:34 – Ryan Hale (Prpich, Fuher)
( 44 saves / 46 shots ) Mike Brown		Goalie stats			Jake Brandt ( 17 saves / 20 shots ) / Josh Siembida ( 5 saves / 6 shots )

Regional Finals

East Regional

(1) Cornell vs. (2) Boston College

March 30[12]	Cornell		2 – 1	2OT	Boston College	Dunkin' Donuts Center	Recap
Ryan Vesce – 10:05		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			08:00 – J. D. Forrest (Voce, Eaves)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Matt McRae – GW – 10:05		Second overtime period			No scoring
( 26 saves / 27 shots ) David LeNeveu		Goalie stats			Matti Kaltiainen ( 34 saves / 36 shots )

Midwest Regional

(1) Colorado College vs. (3) Michigan

March 30[13]	Colorado College		3 – 5		Michigan	Yost Ice Arena	Recap
(Sejna, Clarke) Brett Sterling – PP – 08:10 (Clarke, Preissing) Peter Sejna – PP – 10:42		First period			02:22 – Eric Nystrom (Helminen, Mink) 17:18 – Milan Gajic (Moss, Roemensky)
(Liebel) Brett Sterling – 11:57		Second period			01:23 – SH – Mark Mink
No scoring		Third period			04:25 – GW – Jason Ryznar 19:42 – EN PP – Mark Mink (Nystrom)
( 27 saves / 31 shots ) Curtis McElhinney		Goalie stats			Al Montoya ( 21 saves / 24 shots )

Northeast Regional

(1) New Hampshire vs. (2) Boston University

March 29[14]	New Hampshire		3 – 0		Boston University	Worcester Centrum	Recap
(Callander, Abbott) Joshua Prudden – GW PP – 13:09		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
(Aikins, Abbott) Patrick Foley – 09:12 Sean Collins – EN – 18:55		Third period			No scoring
( 27 saves / 27 shots ) Mike Ayers		Goalie stats			Sean Fields ( 24 saves / 26 shots )

West Regional

(1) Minnesota vs. (2) Ferris State

March 29[15]	Minnesota		7 – 4		Ferris State	Mariucci Arena	Recap
(Vanek, DeMarchi) Matt Koalska – 00:13 Keith Ballard – PP – 01:38 (Smaagaard) Jake Flemming – 06:09 Thomas Vanek – 12:41 (Hirsch, Tallackson) Matt DeMarchi – GW PP – 18:54		First period			12:02 – Chris Kunitz (Meyer) 17:48 – SH – Chris Kunitz (Nesbitt)
(Koalska) Thomas Vanek – 19:31		Second period			12:43 – Derek Nesbitt
(Smaagaard, Fleming) Jon Waibel – 10:31		Third period			02:04 – Phil Lewandowski (Field)
( 4 saves / 6 shots ) Justin Johnson / ( 12 saves / 14 shots ) Travis Weber		Goalie stats			Mike Brown ( 42 saves / 49 shots )

Frozen Four

^[16]

National semifinal

(E1) Cornell vs. (NE1) New Hampshire

April 10[17]	Cornell		2 – 3		New Hampshire	HSBC Arena	Recap
No Scoring		First period			14:21 – Tim Horst (Scott)
(Bâby, Murray) Ryan Vesce – PP – 09:38		Second period			01:23 – Steve Saviano (Martz, Collins) 07:10 – GW PP – Steve Saviano (Martz)
(Abbott, Hornby) Chris Abbott – 09:52		Third period			No scoring
( 18 saves / 21 shots ) David LeNeveu		Goalie stats			Mike Ayers ( 19 saves / 21 shots )

(W1) Minnesota vs. (MW3) Michigan

April 10[18]	Minnesota		3 – 2	OT	Michigan	HSBC Arena	Recap
No Scoring		First period			09:33 – Brandon Kaleniecki (Ebbett)
(Vanek, Koalska) Troy Riddle – 17:45		Second period			14:38 – Jed Ortmeyer (Tambellini)
(Tallackson, Harrington) Gino Guyer – 01:35		Third period			No scoring
Thomas Vanek – GW – 08:55		First overtime period			No scoring
( 31 saves / 33 shots ) Travis Weber		Goalie stats			Al Montoya ( 29 saves / 32 shots )

National Championship

(W1) Minnesota vs. (NE1) New Hampshire

April 12[19]

Minnesota

5 – 1

New Hampshire

HSBC Arena

Recap

Scoring summary[20]
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	MIN	Matt DeMarchi (8)	Smaagaard	10:58	1–0 MIN
	UNH	Sean Collins (22) – PP	Martz and Aikins	19:41	1–1
2nd	None
3rd	MIN	Thomas Vanek (31) – GW	Koalska	48:14	2–1 MIN
	MIN	Jon Waibel (9)	Vanek	51:25	3–1 MIN
	MIN	Barry Tallackson (8) – PP	Guyer and Harrington	53:34	4–1 MIN
	MIN	Barry Tallackson (9) – EN	Potulny	58:31	5–1 MIN
Penalty summary
Period	Team	Player	Penalty	Time	PIM
1st	UNH	Colin Hemingway	Charging	8:57	2:00
	MIN	Keith Ballard	Roughing	11:35	2:00
	UNH	Justin Aikins	Hooking	13:12	2:00
	MIN	Garrett Smaagaard	Hitting after the Whistle	18:01	2:00
2nd	UNH	Patrick Foley	Charging	22:33	2:00
	MIN	Thomas Vanek	Cross-Checking	23:10	2:00
	UNH	Brian Yandle	Interference	35:27	2:00
	MIN	Judd Stevens	Obstruction Holding	38:39	2:00
3rd	MIN	Jon Waibel	Hooking	48:59	2:00
	UNH	Nathan Martz	Roughing	51:43	2:00
	UNH	Tim Horst	Hooking	58:46	2:00
	MIN	Jake Fleming	Slashing	58:46	2:00

Shots by period Team 1 2 3 T New Hampshire 7 9 11 27 Minnesota 16 14 15 45

Goaltenders Team Name Saves Goals against Time on ice UNH Mike Ayers 40 4 59:28 MIN Travis Weber 26 1 60:00

All-Tournament team

• G: Travis Weber (Minnesota)
• D: Paul Martin (Minnesota)
• D: Matt DeMarchi (Minnesota)
• F: Steve Saviano (New Hampshire)
• F: Thomas Vanek* (Minnesota)
• F: Nathan Martz (New Hampshire)

* Most Outstanding Player(s)^[21]

^[22]

Record by conference

Conference	# of Bids	Record	Win %	Regional Finals	Frozen Four	Championship Game	Champions
WCHA	5	5-4	.556	2	1	1	1
Hockey East	4	5-4	.556	3	1	1	-
CCHA	3	3-3	.500	2	1	-	-
ECAC	2	2-2	.500	1	1	-	-
MAAC	1	0-1	.000	-	-	-	-
CHA	1	0-1	.000	-	-	-	-