2012 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

The 2012 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament involved sixteen schools in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey for the 2011–12 season. The tournament began on March 23, 2012, with regional semifinals and ended on April 7 with the national championship game.^[1] The Boston College Eagles won their third national championship in five years, beating the Ferris State Bulldogs, 4–1, in the championship game. BC won nineteen consecutive games to end the season. It is the fifth title for both the program and the last under head coach Jerry York – York previously coached Bowling Green to a championship in 1984. and retired in 2022.

2012 NCAA Division I men's
ice hockey tournament

2012 Frozen Four logo
Teams	16
Finals site	Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa, Florida
Champions	Boston College Eagles (5th title)
Runner-up	Ferris State Bulldogs (1st title game)
Semifinalists	Union Dutchmen (1st Frozen Four) Minnesota Golden Gophers (20th Frozen Four)
Winning coach	Jerry York (Fifth title)
MOP	Parker Milner (Boston College)
Attendance	18,818 (Championship) 56,028 (Frozen Four) 127,640 (Tournament)
← 2011  NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournaments 2013 →

This year’s Frozen Four featured multiple teams, Ferris State and Union, making their first appearance. This last occurred in 2009, when Bemidji State and Miami both made their first Frozen Four appearances.

Tournament procedure

Bridgeport

Saint Paul

Worcester

Green Bay

Tampa

2012 Regionals (blue) and Frozen Four (red)

The four regionals are officially named after their geographic areas. The following are the sites for the 2012 regionals:^[1]

March 23 and 24

East Regional, Webster Bank Arena – Bridgeport, Connecticut (Hosts: Yale University and Fairfield University)

Midwest Regional, Resch Center – Green Bay, Wisconsin (Host: Michigan Technological University)

March 24 and 25

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

West Regional, Xcel Energy Center – Saint Paul, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota)

Each regional winner will advance to the Frozen Four:^[1]

April 5 and 7

Tampa Bay Times Forum – Tampa, Florida (Hosts: University of Alabama in Huntsville and the Tampa Bay Sports Commission)

Qualifying teams

The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament were announced on March 18.^[2] The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) had five teams receive a berth in the tournament, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and Hockey East had four teams receive a berth, ECAC Hockey had two teams receive a berth, and Atlantic Hockey had one team receive a berth.

East Regional – Bridgeport					Midwest Regional – Green Bay
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type
1	Union (3)	ECAC Hockey	24–7–7	Tournament champion	1	Michigan (2)	CCHA	24–12–4	At-large bid
2	Miami	CCHA	24–14–2	At-large bid	2	Ferris State	CCHA	23–11–5	At-large bid
3	Massachusetts–Lowell	Hockey East	23–12–1	At-large bid	3	Denver	WCHA	25–13–4	At-large bid
4	Michigan State	CCHA	19–15–4	At-large bid	4	Cornell	ECAC Hockey	18–8–7	At-large bid
Northeast Regional – Worcester					West Regional – Saint Paul
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type
1	Boston College (1)	Hockey East	29–10–1	Tournament champion	1	North Dakota (4)	WCHA	25–12–3	Tournament champion
2	Minnesota–Duluth	WCHA	24–9–6	At-large bid	2	Minnesota	WCHA	26–13–1	At-large bid
3	Maine	Hockey East	23–13–3	At-large bid	3	Boston University	Hockey East	23–14–1	At-large bid
4	Air Force	Atlantic Hockey	21–10–7	Tournament champion	4	Western Michigan	CCHA	21–13–6	Tournament champion

Number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.

Regionals

Northeast Regional – Worcester, Massachusetts

	Regional semifinals March 24					Regional Final March 25
	1	Boston College (1)	2
	4	Air Force	0
						1	Boston College	4
						2	Minnesota-Duluth	0
	3	Maine	2
	2	Minnesota–Duluth	5

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
All times are local (UTC−4).

Regional semifinals

March 24, 2012 4:00 pm

(4) Air Force

0–2 (0–1, 0–0, 0–1)

(1) Boston College

DCU Center, Worcester Attendance: 5,925

Game reference
	Jason Torf	Goalies	Parker Milner	Referees: Mark Wilkins Barry Pochmara
	0–1 07:39 – Chris Kreider (21) (Hayes, Straight) 0–2 18:39 – PP – Chris Kreider (22) (Wey)
	10 min	Penalties	4 min
	20	Shots	34

March 24, 2012 7:30 pm

(3) Maine

2–5 (1–0, 1–3, 0–2)

(2) Minnesota–Duluth

DCU Center, Worcester Attendance: 5,925

Game reference
	Dan Sullivan	Goalies	Kenny Reiter	Referees: Steve McInchak Brian Aaron
	Spencer Abbott (21) (Flynn, O'Neill) – PP – 17:16 1–0 Matt Mangene (16) (Cornell, O'Neill) – 07:10 2–0 2–1 10:47 – PP – Jack Connolly (20) (Oleksuk, McManus) 2–2 16:28 – Caleb Herbert (14) (unassisted) 2–3 17:28 – Jake Hendrickson (4) (Lamb) 2–4 09:15 – J.T. Brown (24) (Oleksuk) 2–5 19:19 – EN – Jake Hendrickson (5) (Connolly, Casto)
	6 min	Penalties	10 min
	27	Shots	26

Regional Final

March 25, 2012 8:00 pm

(2) Minnesota-Duluth

0–4 (0–0, 0–2, 0–2)

(1) Boston College

DCU Center, Worcester Attendance: 4,470

Game reference
	Kenny Reiter	Goalies	Parker Milner	Referees: Barry Pochmara Steve McInchak
	0–1 04:01 – Pat Mullane (10) (Carey, Gaudreau) 0–2 05:27 – Bill Arnold (17) (Whitney) 0–3 01:13 – Patrick Wey (2) (unassisted) 0–4 11:47 – PP – Johnny Gaudreau (20) (Wey)
	8 min	Penalties	12 min
	33	Shots	24

Midwest Regional – Green Bay, Wisconsin

Midwest Regional games were played at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

	Regional semifinals March 23					Regional Final March 24
	1	Michigan (2)	2
	4	Cornell	3*
						4	Cornell	1
						2	Ferris State	2
	3	Denver	1
	2	Ferris State	2

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
All times are local (UTC−5).

Regional semifinals

March 23, 2012 4:30pm

(3) Denver

1–2 (0–0, 0–1, 1–1)

(2) Ferris State

Resch Center, Green Bay Attendance: 3,465

Game reference
	Sam Brittain	Goalies	Taylor Nelson	Referees: Tom Fyrer Tim Benedetto
	0–1 04:30 – Jordie Johnston (19) (Thompson, Kirzinger) 0–2 02:54 – Simon Denis (1) (Alexander, Kane) Drew Shore (22) (Salazar, Ryder) – 05:22 1–2
	8 min	Penalties	10 min
	26	Shots	34

March 23, 2012 8:00pm

(4) Cornell

3 – 2 OT (1–1, 1–0, 0–1, 1–0)

(1) Michigan

Resch Center, Green Bay Attendance: 3,465

Game reference
	Andy Iles	Goalies	Shawn Hunwick	Referees: Steve Morofsky Ryan Sweeney
	0–1 01:11 – Luke Glendening (10) (Treais, Di Giuseppe) John McCarron (6) (Collins, Birch) – PP – 10:10 1–1 Joakim Ryan (7) (Collins) – SH – 00:40 2–1 2–2 15:59 – Kevin Lynch (8) (Moffatt, Bennett) Rodger Craig (2) (Miller, Mowrey) – 03:35 3–2
	27 min	Penalties	10 min
	24	Shots	33

Regional Final

March 24, 2012 8:00pm

(4) Cornell

1–2 (0–0, 0–0, 1–2)

(2) Ferris State

Resch Center, Green Bay Attendance: 3,108

Game reference
	Andy Iles	Goalies	Taylor Nelson	Referees: Bob Bernard Brandan Kelleher
	0–1 00:11 – PP – Garrett Thompson (10) (Kirzlinger, Johnston) Dustin Mowrey (8) (Gotovets) – 01:32 1–1 1–2 06:54 – Jordie Johnston (20) (Huff, Kane)
	12 min	Penalties	27 min
	23	Shots	21

East Regional – Bridgeport, Connecticut

	Regional semifinals March 23					Regional Final March 24
	1	Union (3)	3
	4	Michigan State	1
						1	Union	4
						3	Massachusetts–Lowell	2
	3	Massachusetts–Lowell	4*
	2	Miami	3

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
All times are local (UTC−4).

Regional semifinals

March 23, 2012 3:00pm

(4) Michigan State

1–3 (0–1, 1–1, 0–1)

(1) Union

Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport Attendance: 5,090

Game reference
	Will Yanakeff	Goalies	Troy Grosenick	Referees: Derek Sheperd Marco Hunt
	0–1 15:09 – Max Novak (9) (Welsh) 0–2 03:20 – Jeremy Welsh (26) (Bodie) Matt Berry (11) (Perlini, Krug) – PP – 19:21 1–2 1–3 18:42 – PP – Wayne Simpson (18) (Zajac)
	23 min	Penalties	8 min
	21	Shots	32

March 23, 2012 6:30pm

(3) Massachusetts–Lowell

4 – 3 OT (2–0, 1–0, 0–3, 1–0)

(2) Miami

Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport Attendance: 5,090

Game reference
	Doug Carr	Goalies	Connor Knapp	Referees: Don Adam Tim Walsh
	Josh Holmstrom (12) (Wallin, Wilson) – PP – 01:34 1–0 Colin Wright (4) (unassisted) – SH – 14:58 2–0 Riley Wetmore (13) (Vallorani, Arnold) – 02:21 3–0 3–1 03:06 – Trent Vogelhuber (4) (McKenzie, Wideman) 3–2 03:20 – Austin Czarnik (10) (unassisted) 3–3 09:56 – Alden Hirschfeld (11) (Spinell) Riley Wetmore (13) (Arnold, Vallorani) – 02:13 4–3
	21 min	Penalties	20 min
	30	Shots	33

Regional Final

March 24, 2012 6:30pm

(3) Massachusetts–Lowell

2–4 (0–1, 1–2, 1–1)

(1) Union

Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport Attendance: 5,328

Game reference
	Doug Carr	Goalies	Troy Grosenick	Referees: Derek Sheperd Marco Hunt
	0–1 03:03 – Daniel Ciampini (3) (Bodie) 0–2 07:12 – Jeremy Welsh (27) (Carr, Jooris) Terrence Wallin (8) (Vallorani, Eiserman) – 14:06 1–2 1–3 17:23 – PP – Josh Jooris (8) (Gostisbehere) Matt Ferreira (14) (unassisted) – 05:40 2–3 2–4 19:19 – EN – Kyle Bodie (6) (unassisted)
	6 min	Penalties	10 min
	21	Shots	39

West Regional – Saint Paul, Minnesota

	Regional semifinals March 24					Regional Final March 25
	1	North Dakota (4)	3
	4	Western Michigan	1
						1	North Dakota	2
						2	Minnesota	5
	3	Boston University	3
	2	Minnesota	7

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
All times are local (UTC−5).

Regional semifinals

March 24, 2012 12:30 pm

(4) Western Michigan

1–3 (0–1, 1–1, 0–1)

(1) North Dakota

Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul Attendance: 9,386

Game reference
	Frank Slubowski	Goalies	Aaron Dell	Referees: Tim Kotyra Scott Whittemore
	0–1 06:04 – Michael Parks (12) (MacMillan, Blood) 0–2 03:16 – Corban Knight (16) (Kristo, Nelson) Kyle O'Kane (7) (Roehl, DeKeyser) – 12:57 1–2 1–3 19:19 – EN – Brock Nelson (28) (unassisted)
	6 min	Penalties	8 min
	25	Shots	28

March 24, 2012 4:00 pm

(3) Boston University

3–7 (0–1, 2–3, 1–3)

(2) Minnesota

Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul Attendance: 9,386

Game reference
	Kieran Millan	Goalies	Kent Patterson	Referees: Chip McDonald Peter Feola
	0–1 05:55 – PP – Kyle Rau (18) (Schmidt, Haula) Wade Megan (20) (Clendening, Chiasson) – PP – 07:49 1–1 1–2 09:21 – Jake Parenteau (2) (Condon, Boyd) Ross Gaudet (5) (unassisted) – 13:20 2–2 2–3 15:09 – Seth Helgeson (5) (Budish, Rau) 2–4 15:38 – PP – Jake Hansen (14) (Schmidt, Rau) Adam Clendening (4) (Noonan, Chiasson) – PP – 03:09 3–4 3–5 08:08 – Nico Sacchetti (4) (unassisted) 3–6 18:04 – EN – Jake Hansen (15) (Warning) 3–7 18:56 – EN – Nick Bjugstad (25) (Budish, Rau)
	29 min	Penalties	18 min
	34	Shots	42

Regional Final

March 25, 2012 4:30 pm

(2) Minnesota

5–2 (1–0, 3–1, 1–1)

(1) North Dakota

Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul Attendance: 10,974

Game reference
	Kent Patterson	Goalies	Aaron Dell	Referees: Peter Feola Tim Kotyra
	Ben Marshall (4) (Budish, Rau) – 12:19 1–0 Erik Haula (20) (Bjugstad, Hansen) – PP – 00:20 2–0 2–1 01:43 – Danny Kristo (19) (Nelson, Panzarella) Taylor Matson (8) (Schmidt, Parenteau) – 09:08 3–1 Travis Boyd (1) (Condon, Matson) – 14:28 4–1 Nate Condon (11) (Boyd, Budish) – 15:53 5–1 5–2 16:07 – Mario Lamoureux (4) (Gleason)
	6 min	Penalties	8 min
	24	Shots	26

Frozen Four – Tampa, Florida

	National semifinals April 5					National Championship April 7
	NE1	Boston College	6
	W2	Minnesota	1
						NE1	Boston College	4
						MW2	Ferris State	1
	E1	Union	1
	MW2	Ferris State	3

National semifinals

April 5, 2012 4:30 pm

Union

1–3 (0–0, 1–1, 0–2)

Ferris State

Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa Attendance: 18,605

Game reference
	Troy Grosenick	Goalies	Taylor Nelson	Referees: Kevin Shea, Scott Hansen Linesmen: Chris Aughe, Bob Bernard
	Daniel Carr (20) (Coburn, Welsh) – 7:56 1–0 1–1 17:02 – Aaron Schmit (7) (Bonis, Czarnowczan) 1–2 15:17 – Kyle Bonis (19) (Wysopal) 1–3 19:05 – EN – Aaron Schmit (8)
	10 min	Penalties	4 min
	28	Shots	37

April 5, 2012 8:00 pm

Boston College

6–1 (1–0, 3–0, 2–1)

Minnesota

Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa Attendance: 18,605

Game reference
	Parker Milner	Goalies	Kent Patterson	Referees: Tim Kotyra, Pete Feola Linesmen: Glenn Cooke, Dave Brown
	Steven Whitney (14) (Almeida, Arnold) – 6:03 1–0 Kevin Hayes (7) (Whitney, Cross) – PP – 6:35 2–0 Chris Kreider (23) (Straight) – 17:45 3–0 Paul Carey (16) (Mullane, Gaudreau) – 19:43 4–0 4–1 1:26 – Jake Hansen (16) (Haula, Warning) Paul Carey (17) (Gaudreau) – 1:48 5–1 Brian Dumoulin (7) (Kreider, Mullane) – PP – 5:51 6–1
	25 min	Penalties	14 min
	31	Shots	25

National Championship

April 7, 2012 7:00 pm

Boston College

4–1 (2–1, 0–0, 2–0)

Ferris State

Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa Attendance: 18,818

Game reference
				Referees: Tim Kotyra Peter Feola Linesmen: Dave Brown Glenn Cooke

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	BC	Steven Whitney (15)	Almeida	03:18	1–0 BC
	FSU	Garrett Thompson (11)	Huff and Ouellette	05:19	1–1
	BC	Paul Carey (18) – GW PP	Dumoulin and Mullane	10:33	2–1 BC
2nd	None
3rd	BC	Johnny Gaudreau (21)	Hayes and Wey	56:58	3–1 BC
	BC	Steven Whitney (16) – EN	Arnold	58:57	4–1 BC
Penalty summary
Period	Team	Player	Penalty	Time	PIM
1st	FSU	Brett Wysopal	Tripping	08:42	2:00
2nd	FSU	Scott Czarnowczan	Roughing	22:31	2:00
	BC	Michael Sit	Roughing	22:31	2:00
	BC	Paul Carey	Tripping	24:48	2:00
	BC	Tommy Cross	Hooking	30:35	2:00
	BC	Bench (Served by Quinn Smith)	Too many men on ice	35:06	2:00
	BC	Bill Arnold	Roughing	39:36	2:00
3rd	FSU	Brett Wysopal	Hooking	41:47	2:00
	FSU	Brett Wysopal	Holding	48:32	2:00

Shots by period Team 1 2 3 T Ferris State 7 15 6 28 Boston College 8 14 15 37

Goaltenders Team Name Saves Goals against Time on ice FSU Taylor Nelson 33 3 59:23 BC Parker Milner 27 1 60:00

Record by conference

Conference	# of Bids	Record	Win %	Regional Finals	Frozen Four	Championship Game	Champions
CCHA	5	3–5	.375	1	1	1	-
Hockey East	4	5–3	.625	2	1	1	1
WCHA	4	4–4	.500	3	1	-	-
ECAC Hockey	2	3–2	.600	2	1	-	-
Atlantic Hockey	1	0–1	.000	-	-	-	-

Media

Television

ESPN had US television rights to all games during the tournament.^[3] For the eighth consecutive year ESPN aired every game, beginning with the regionals, on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU, and ESPN3. They also streamed them online via WatchESPN.

Broadcast Assignments

Regionals

• East Regional: John Buccigross & Barry Melrose – Bridgeport, Connecticut
• Midwest Regional: Ben Holden & Sean Ritchlin – Green Bay, Wisconsin
• Northeast Regional: Joe Beninati & Billy Jaffe – Worcester, Massachusetts
• West Regional: Clay Matvick & Dave Starman – St. Paul, Minnesota

Frozen Four & Championship

• Gary Thorne, Barry Melrose, & Clay Matvick – Tampa, Florida

Radio

Dial Global Sports used exclusive radio rights to air both the semifinals and the championship, AKA the "Frozen Four."^[4]

• Sean Grande & Cap Raeder

All-Tournament team

Frozen Four

• G: Parker Milner* (Boston College)
• D: Brian Dumoulin (Boston College)
• D: Chad Billins (Ferris State)
• F: Kyle Bonis (Ferris State)
• F: Paul Carey (Boston College)
• F: Steven Whitney (Boston College)

* Most Outstanding Player(s)^[5]

See also

• 2012 NCAA Division I Women's Ice Hockey Tournament