1986 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

The 1986 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament was the culmination of the 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, the 39th such tournament in NCAA history. It was held between March 21 and 29, 1986, and concluded with Michigan State defeating Harvard 6-5. All Quarterfinals matchups were held at home team venues while all succeeding games were played at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

1986 NCAA Division I men's
ice hockey tournament

Teams	8
Finals site	Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island
Champions	Michigan State Spartans (2nd title)
Runner-up	Harvard Crimson (2nd title game)
Semifinalists	Minnesota Golden Gophers (11th Frozen Four) Denver Pioneers (12th Frozen Four)
Winning coach	Ron Mason (1st title)
MOP	Mike Donnelly (Michigan State)
Attendance	24,836
← 1985  NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournaments 1987 →

Qualifying teams

The NCAA permitted 8 teams to qualify for the tournament and divided its qualifiers into two regions (East and West). Each of the tournament champions from the four Division I conferences (CCHA, ECAC, Hockey East and WCHA) received automatic invitations into the tournament with At-large bids making up the remaining 4 teams, 1 from each conference.

East							West
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid	Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid
1	Boston University	Hockey East	25–12–4	Tournament champion	15th	1984	1	Denver	WCHA	33–10–1	Tournament champion	12th	1973
2	Harvard	ECAC Hockey	22–7–1	At-large bid	11th	1985	2	Michigan State	CCHA	30–9–2	At-large bid	8th	1985
3	Boston College	Hockey East	26–11–3	At-large bid	14th	1985	3	Western Michigan	CCHA	32–10–0	Tournament champion	1st	Never
4	Cornell	ECAC Hockey	20–6–4	Tournament champion	9th	1981	4	Minnesota	WCHA	32–12–0	At-large bid	13th	1985

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Format

The tournament featured three rounds of play. The two odd-number ranked teams from one region were placed into a bracket with the two even-number ranked teams of the other region. The teams were then seeded according to their ranking. In the Quarterfinals the first and fourth seeds and the second and third seeds played two-game aggregate series to determine which school advanced to the Semifinals. Beginning with the Semifinals all games were played at the Providence Civic Center and all series became Single-game eliminations. The winning teams in the semifinals advanced to the National Championship Game with the losers playing in a Third Place game.

Tournament bracket

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	Quarterfinals March 21–23							Semifinals March 27–28					National championship March 29
	E1	Boston University	4	3	7
	W4	Minnesota	6	5	11
								W4	Minnesota	4
								W2	Michigan State	6
	W2	Michigan State	6	4	10
	E3	Boston College	4	2	6
													W2	Michigan State	6
													E2	Harvard	5
	W1	Denver	4	3	7
	E4	Cornell	2	4	6
								W1	Denver	2			Third-place game
								E2	Harvard	5
	E2	Harvard	4	7	11								W4	Minnesota	6
	W3	Western Michigan	2	2	4								W1	Denver	4

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Quarterfinals

(E1) Boston University vs. (W4) Minnesota

March 21

Boston University

4 – 6

Minnesota

Walter Brown Arena

March 22

Boston University

3 – 5

Minnesota

Walter Brown Arena

Minnesota won series 11–7

(E2) Harvard vs. (W3) Western Michigan

March 21

Harvard

4 – 2

Western Michigan

Bright Hockey Center

March 22

Harvard

7 – 2

Western Michigan

Bright Hockey Center

Harvard won series 11–4

(W1) Denver vs. (E4) Cornell

March 21

Denver

4 – 2

Cornell

DU Arena

March 22

Denver

3 – 4

Cornell

DU Arena

Denver won series 7–6

(W2) Michigan State vs. (E3) Boston College

March 22[3]	Michigan State		6 – 4		Boston College	Munn Ice Arena
(Miller, Messier) Don McSween – 08:17 (Miller, Messier) Mike Donnelly – 09:30 (Donnelly, Shibicky) Mitch Messier – 16:35		First period			01:45 – Kevin Stevens (Janney)
(Miller, Messier) Mike Donnelly – 13:07 (Miller, Donnelly) Mitch Messier – GW – 16:34		Second period			07:58 – Chris Stapleton (T. Sweeney) 15:39 – Doug Brown (Harlow, Hodge)
(Miller) Mike Donnelly – 00:15		Third period			01:45 – Tim Sweeney (Stapleton)

March 23[3]	Michigan State		4 – 2		Boston College	Munn Ice Arena
No scoring		First period			No scoring
(Shibicky, Murphy) Mitch Messier – 08:43 (Messier, Donnelly) Brad Hamilton – 09:11 (Donnelly) Jeff Parker – 13:42		Second period			04:57 – Kevin Stevens (Marshall, Stapleton)
(unassisted) Kevin Miller – 13:22		Third period			02:28 – Doug Brown (Harlow, Marshall)

Michigan State won series 10–6

Semifinal

(W2) Michigan State vs. (W4) Minnesota

March 27[3]	Michigan State		6 – 4		Minnesota	Providence Civic Center
(Hoff, Shibicky) Mitch Messier – 04:44 (McReynolds, Parker) Bruce Rendall – 05:22		First period			03:13 – Steve Orth (Nanne)
(Foster) Brian McReynolds – 05:07 (unassisted) Kevin Miller – 12:03 (unassisted) Don McSween – GW – 14:16		Second period			07:58 – Paul Broten (Micheletti, Snuggerud) 15:15 – Pat Micheletti (Millen, Cates)
(Tilley) Jeff Parker – 19:24		Third period			01:45 – Tony Kellin (Okerlund, MacSwain)

(W1) Denver vs. (E2) Harvard

March 28	Denver		2 – 5		Harvard	Providence Civic Center	Recap
(Ecklebarger, Gaume) Dwight Mathiasen – 15:16		First period			12:35 – Allen Bourbeau (Taylor, Benning)
(Mathias, Weiss) David Hanson – 09:37		Second period			00:08 – PP – Tim Smith (MacDonald)
		Third period			06:31 – GW PP – Tim Smith (Taylor, MacDonald) 16:04 – Andy Janfaza (Pawloski, Chiarelli) 17:05 – Tim Smith (unassisted)
( 25 saves / 30 shots ) Chris Olson		Goalie stats			Grant Blair ( 38 saves / 40 shots )

Third-place game

(W1) Denver vs. (W4) Minnesota

March 29

Denver

4 – 6

Minnesota

Providence Civic Center

National Championship

(W2) Michigan State vs. (E2) Harvard

March 29[3]

Michigan State

6 – 5

Harvard

Providence Civic Center

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	HAR	Steve Armstrong	Follows and Ohno	2:15	1–0 HAR
	HAR	Allen Bourbeau	MacDonald and Smith	8:10	2–0 HAR
	MSU	Mitch Messier	Shibicky	17:55	2–1 HAR
2nd	HAR	Allen Bourbeau	Barakett and Pawlowski	20:53	3–1 HAR
	MSU	Jeff Parker	Miller and Tilley	26:48	3–2 HAR
	HAR	Allen Bourbeau	Krayer and Benning	36:09	4–2 HAR
	MSU	Mike Donnelly	Miller and Messier	38:30	4–3 HAR
3rd	MSU	Brad Hamilton	Messier and Shibicky	41:06	4–4
	MSU	Brian McReynolds	Rendall and Parker	42:15	5–4 MSU
	HAR	Andy Janfaza	Carone and Chiarelli	46:46	5–5
	MSU	Mike Donnelly – GW	Murphy	57:09	6–5 MSU

All-Tournament team

• G: Norm Foster (Michigan State)
• D: Mark Benning (Harvard)
• D: Don McSween (Michigan State)
• F: Allen Bourbeau (Harvard)
• F: Mike Donnelly* (Michigan State)
• F: Jeff Parker (Michigan State)

* Most Outstanding Player(s)^[4]

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Quick facts

• The total championship attendance was 57,826
• Lane MacDonald (4 G, 7 A) of Harvard and Mitch Messier (5 G, 6 A) of Michigan St each tallied 11 points in the tournament, most by any players
• The following records were set or tied:
  • Most Assists, Individual, Game – 5, Kevin Miller, Michigan St, first round, game 1, tied
  • Shots on Goal, Both Teams, Period – 40, Minnesota (23) vs Michigan St (17), semifinals, second period, 5 goals