2005 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament

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.

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 →

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
	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
Ryan Helgason – 10:30 (Halme, Corbin) Ryan Dingle – GW SH – 18:01		First period			15:10 – Chris Connor (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) Ryan Helgason - 08:30 (Dingle, Fulghum) Paul Stastny - 09:24		Third period			No scoring
( 11 saves / 12 shots ) Glenn Fisher		Goalie stats			Cam Ellsworth ( 22 saves / 27 shots ) / Bryce Luker ( 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) Adrian Veidman – GW – 18:02		Third period			No scoring
( 24 saves / 24 shots ) Peter Mannino		Goalie stats			Cam Ellsworth ( 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) Aaron Slattengren – GW – 11:03 (Kilpatrick) Aaron Slattengren – 13:54		First period			03:19 – PP – Nate Raduns (Gordon, Jensen)
(Polich, Frischmon) Mark Stuart – PP – 02:31 (Sterling, Hillen) James Brannigan – 05:04 (Sertich, Crabb) Brett Sterling – PP – 13:32		Second period			No scoring
James Brannigan – 17:18		Third period			No scoring
( 34 saves / 38 shots ) Curtis McElhinney		Goalie stats			Tim Boron ( 25 saves / 29 shots ) / Jason Montgomery ( 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 – Konrad Reeder (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) Jimmy Kilpatrick – 10:38		Third period			No scoring
( 27 saves / 29 shots ) Matt Zaba		Goalie stats			Tim Boron ( 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) Garrett Smaagaard – 03:59 (Hirsch, Sertich) Evan Kaufmann – 06:38 (Hagemo, Stevens) Barry Tallackson – GW – 14:12 (Guyer) Kris Chucko – 19:00		First period			03:02 – Christian Toll (McKelvie, Brenk) 05:54 – PP – Brad Thompson (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 ) Justin Johnson		Goalie stats			Jon Volp ( 27 saves / 34 shots )

March 12[9]	Minnesota		5 – 3		Minnesota State	Mariucci Arena	Recap
(Fleming) Jerrid Reinholz – 14:54		First period			No scoring
(Hirsch, Goligoski) Danny Irmen – 08:01 (Stevens, Fleming) P.J. Atherton – 12:56 (Irmen, Vannelli) Mike Howe – 14:41		Second period			00:57 – Adam Gerlach (Thompson) 10:14 – PP – Brad Thompson (Brenk, Backes) 14:08 – PP – Jake Brenk (Thompson, Morin)
(Harrington) Barry Tallackson – 14:24		Third period			No scoring
( 25 saves / 28 shots ) Justin Johnson		Goalie stats			Chris Clark ( 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 – Chris Tarkir (Cartwright) 11:15 – Martin Stuchlik (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 – Martin Stuchlik (Bourne, Segal) 02:51 – SH – Brent McMann
( 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 – Shea Hamilton (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) Erik Fabian – 02:22		Second period			08:02 – Tim Stapleton (Hambly, Schwabe)
(Zajac) Erik Fabian – 05:21 (Massen, Fabian) Rory McMahon – 07:57 (McMahon, Špirko) Colby Genoway – 09:14		Third period			15:24 – Matt McKnight (Peluso, Stapleton)
( 17 saves / 19 shots ) Jordan Parise		Goalie stats			Isaac Reichmuth ( 10 saves / 14 shots ) / Josh Johnson ( 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 Rory McMahon – GW – 05:02 (Stafford, Zajac) Colby Genoway – PP – 09:39 (Jones) Brian Canady -09:58		Second period			No scoring
(McMahon, Schneider) Rastislav Špirko – 11:31 (McMahon, Špirko) Nick Fuher – PP – 18:12		Third period			No scoring
( 17 saves / 18 shots ) Jordan Parise		Goalie stats			Isaac Reichmuth ( 17 saves / 21 shots ) / Josh Johnson ( 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 – James Massen (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 – Nick Fuher (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			Philippe Lamoureux ( 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) Aaron Slattengren – PP – 06:46		Second period			No scoring
Brett Sterling – PP – 04:55		Third period			No scoring
( 32 saves / 32 shots ) Curtis McElhinney		Goalie stats			Justin Johnson ( 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 – Quinn Fylling (Foyt)
(Gordon, Harrington) Mike Howe – PP – 06:04		Second period			10:56 – SH – Rastislav Špirko (Fylling)
No scoring		Third period			03:03 – Matt Greene (Marvin, Stafford) 18:12 – Nick Fuher
( 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 Nick Fuher (Denver)
• D Matt Laasch (Denver)
• G Curtis McElhinney (Colorado College)

* Most Valuable Player(s)

[20]

See also

• Western Collegiate Hockey Association men's champions

References

1. "Denver Men's Team History". Archived from the original on 2013-07-06. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
2. "WCHA men's Hockey 2004-05 Week 24". USCHO.com. 2005-03-13. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
3. "WCHA men's Hockey 2004-05 Week 25". USCHO.com. 2005-03-19. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
4. "Denver 7, Michigan Tech 1". USCHO.com. 2005-03-11. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
5. "Denver 1, Michigan Tech 0". USCHO.com. 2005-03-12. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
6. "Colorado College 8, St. Cloud State 2". USCHO.com. 2005-03-11. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
7. "Colorado College 4, St. Cloud State 2". USCHO.com. 2005-03-12. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
8. "Minnesota 7, Minnesota State 2". USCHO.com. 2005-03-11. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
9. "Minnesota 5, Minnesota State 3". USCHO.com. 2005-03-12. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
10. "Wisconsin 5, Alaska-Anchorage 4". USCHO.com. 2005-03-11. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
11. "Alaska-Anchorage 2, Wisconsin 1". USCHO.com. 2005-03-12. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
12. "Wisconsin 2, Alaska-Anchorage 1". USCHO.com. 2005-03-13. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
13. "North Dakota 8, Minnesota-Duluth 2". USCHO.com. 2005-03-11. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
14. "North Dakota 6, Minnesota-Duluth 1". USCHO.com. 2005-03-12. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
15. "North Dakota 3, Wisconsin 2". USCHO.com. 2005-03-17. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
16. "Denver 2, North Dakota 1". USCHO.com. 2005-03-18. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
17. "Colorado College 3, Minnesota 0". USCHO.com. 2005-03-18. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
18. "North Dakota 4, Minnesota 2". USCHO.com. 2005-03-19. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
19. "Denver 1, Colorado College 0". USCHO.com. 2005-03-19. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
20. "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 129-144" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved 2014-06-01.

External links

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