List of WCHA men's ice hockey tournament champions

The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is the oldest active NCAA Division I ice hockey-only conference beginning in 1959–60, and based in Denver, Colorado. At the conclusion of each regular season, it holds the WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament to determine its conference champion(s), which it has done since the foundation of the conference.

The Dee Stadium was one of two buildings to host a championship game in the tournament's inaugural season.

The Xcel Energy Center hosted the WCHA tournament final from 2001 to 2013.

The tournament has had many variations over the course of its history, starting with four teams and naming two regional champions. The modern format of the tournament, where only one champion was crowned, wasn't codified until 1981–82 after four teams left to join the CCHA and the NCAA began to offer automatic bids to the National tournament rather than inviting finals participants.

Denver has won the most WCHA championships with 15.^[1] Murray Armstrong has won the most titles (10), all with Denver, and appeared in the second most title games. John MacInnes has appeared in the most title games (15) and won the second most, all with Michigan Tech. These numbers are, however, misleading as the WCHA had named two tournament champions for most of its first 22 years rather than offering a game(s) to decide a single champion, the era that both Armstrong and MacInnes coached in. Had this policy continued unabated Doug Woog would be tied with Armstrong for most titles as well as winning 5 consecutive (1990–1994) and appearing in 12 consecutive finals (1986–1997).

Champions^[2]

Year	Winning team	Coach	Losing team	Coach	Score	Location	Venue	Reference
1960	Michigan Tech† Denver‡	John MacInnes Murray Armstrong	North Dakota Colorado College	Barry Thorndycraft Tony Frasca	9–7* 12–3*	Houghton, Michigan Denver, Colorado	Dee Stadium DU Arena
1961	Minnesota† Denver‡	John Mariucci Murray Armstrong	Michigan Michigan Tech	Al Renfrew John MacInnes	6–4* 17–3*	Minneapolis, Minnesota Denver, Colorado	Williams Arena DU Arena
1962	Michigan Tech	John MacInnes	Michigan	Al Renfrew	6–4	Ann Arbor, Michigan	Weinberg Coliseum
1963	Denver	Murray Armstrong	North Dakota	Barry Thorndycraft	5–4 (OT)	Denver, Colorado	DU Arena
1964	Denver	Murray Armstrong	Michigan	Al Renfrew	6–2	Ann Arbor, Michigan	Weinberg Coliseum
1965	Michigan Tech	John MacInnes	North Dakota	Bob Peters	6–4	Grand Forks, North Dakota	Winter Sports Building
1966	Michigan State† Denver‡	Amo Bessone Murray Armstrong	Michigan Tech North Dakota	John MacInnes Bob Peters	4–3 5–4 (OT)	Houghton, Michigan Denver, Colorado	Dee Stadium DU Arena
1967	Michigan State† North Dakota‡	Amo Bessone Bill Selman	Michigan Tech Denver	John MacInnes Murray Armstrong	2–1 (OT) 3–2	Houghton, Michigan Denver, Colorado	Dee Stadium DU Arena
1968	North Dakota† Denver‡	Bill Selman Murray Armstrong	Michigan Tech Minnesota	John MacInnes Glen Sonmor	3–2* 16–3*	Houghton, Michigan Denver, Colorado	Dee Stadium DU Arena
1969	Michigan Tech† Denver‡	John MacInnes Murray Armstrong	Michigan Colorado College	Al Renfrew John Matchefts	7–4 3–1	Ann Arbor, Michigan Denver, Colorado	Weinberg Coliseum DU Arena
1970	Michigan Tech† Wisconsin‡	John MacInnes Bob Johnson	Minnesota Denver	Glen Sonmor Murray Armstrong	6–5 3–2	Duluth, Minnesota Denver, Colorado	Duluth Arena Auditorium DU Arena
1971	Minnesota† Denver‡	Glen Sonmor Murray Armstrong	North Dakota Minnesota-Duluth	Rube Bjorkman Terry Shercliffe	5–2 9–3	Madison, Wisconsin Denver, Colorado	Dane County Coliseum DU Arena
1972	Wisconsin† Denver‡	Bob Johnson Murray Armstrong	North Dakota Michigan State	Rube Bjorkman Amo Bessone	6–2* 11–4*	Madison, Wisconsin Denver, Colorado	Dane County Coliseum DU Arena
1973	Wisconsin† Denver‡	Bob Johnson Murray Armstrong	Notre Dame Michigan Tech	Lefty Smith John MacInnes	8–7* 7–3*	Notre Dame, Indiana Denver, Colorado	Edmund P. Joyce Center DU Arena
1974	Michigan Tech† Minnesota‡	John MacInnes Herb Brooks	Michigan State Denver	Amo Bessone Murray Armstrong	12–10* 5–4*	Houghton, Michigan Minneapolis, Minnesota	Student Ice Arena Williams Arena
1975	Michigan Tech† Minnesota‡	John MacInnes Herb Brooks	Michigan State Michigan	Amo Bessone Dan Farrell	15–8* 8–5*	Houghton, Michigan Minneapolis, Minnesota	Student Ice Arena Williams Arena
1976	Minnesota† Michigan Tech‡	Herb Brooks John MacInnes	Michigan State Michigan	Amo Bessone Dan Farrell	9–9* 10–7*	East Lansing, Michigan Houghton, Michigan	Munn Ice Arena Student Ice Arena
1977	Wisconsin	Bob Johnson	Michigan	Dan Farrell	9–4*	Madison, Wisconsin	Dane County Coliseum
1978	Wisconsin† Colorado College‡	Bob Johnson Jeff Sauer	Michigan Tech Denver	John MacInnes Marshall Johnston	11–7* 9–7*	Madison, Wisconsin Denver, Colorado	Dane County Coliseum DU Arena
1979	Minnesota† North Dakota‡	Herb Brooks John Gasparini	Minnesota-Duluth Wisconsin	Gus Hendrickson Bob Johnson	8–4* 11–9*	Minneapolis, Minnesota Grand Forks, North Dakota	Williams Arena Ralph Engelstad Arena
1980	Minnesota† North Dakota‡	Brad Buetow John Gasparini	Colorado College Notre Dame	Jeff Sauer Lefty Smith	13–4* 17–8*	Minneapolis, Minnesota Grand Forks, North Dakota	Williams Arena Ralph Engelstad Arena
1981	Michigan Tech† Minnesota‡	John MacInnes Brad Buetow	Colorado College Michigan	Jeff Sauer John Giordano	13–4* 17–8*	Houghton, Michigan Minneapolis, Minnesota	Student Ice Arena Williams Arena
1982	Wisconsin	Bob Johnson	North Dakota	John Gasparini	12–1*	Grand Forks, North Dakota	Ralph Engelstad Arena
1983	Wisconsin	Jeff Sauer	Minnesota	Brad Buetow	8–3*	Minneapolis, Minnesota	Williams Arena
1984	Minnesota-Duluth	Mike Sertich	North Dakota	John Gasparini	12–6*	Minneapolis, Minnesota	Williams Arena
1985	Minnesota-Duluth	Mike Sertich	Minnesota	Brad Buetow	10–8*	Duluth, Minnesota	Duluth Arena Auditorium
1986	Denver	Ralph Backstrom	Minnesota	Doug Woog	6–2*	Denver, Colorado	DU Arena
1987	North Dakota	John Gasparini	Minnesota	Doug Woog	10–6*	Grand Forks, North Dakota	Ralph Engelstad Arena
1988	Wisconsin	Jeff Sauer	Minnesota	Doug Woog	3–2	St. Paul, Minnesota	Civic Center
1989	Northern Michigan	Rick Comley	Denver	Ralph Backstrom	9–4	St. Paul, Minnesota	Civic Center
1990	Wisconsin	Jeff Sauer	Minnesota	Doug Woog	7–1	St. Paul, Minnesota	Civic Center
1991	Northern Michigan	Rick Comley	Minnesota	Doug Woog	4–2	St. Paul, Minnesota	Civic Center
1992	Northern Michigan	Rick Comley	Minnesota	Doug Woog	4–2	St. Paul, Minnesota	Civic Center
1993	Minnesota	Doug Woog	Northern Michigan	Rick Comley	5–3	St. Paul, Minnesota	Civic Center
1994	Minnesota	Doug Woog	St. Cloud State	Craig Dahl	3–2 (OT)	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Bradley Center
1995	Wisconsin	Jeff Sauer	Colorado College	Don Lucia	4–3 (OT)	St. Paul, Minnesota	Civic Center
1996	Minnesota	Doug Woog	Michigan Tech	Bob Mancini	7–2	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Bradley Center
1997	North Dakota	Dean Blais	Minnesota	Doug Woog	4–3 (OT)	St. Paul, Minnesota	Civic Center
1998	Wisconsin	Jeff Sauer	North Dakota	Dean Blais	3–2	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Bradley Center
1999	Denver	George Gwozdecky	North Dakota	Dean Blais	4–3	Minneapolis	Target Center
2000	North Dakota	Dean Blais	Wisconsin	Jeff Sauer	5–3	Minneapolis, Minnesota	Target Center
2001	St. Cloud State	Craig Dahl	North Dakota	Dean Blais	6–5 (OT)	St. Paul, Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center
2002	Denver	George Gwozdecky	Minnesota	Don Lucia	5–2	St. Paul, Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center
2003	Minnesota	Don Lucia	Colorado College	Scott Owens	4–2	St. Paul, Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center
2004	Minnesota	Don Lucia	North Dakota	Dean Blais	5–4	St. Paul, Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center
2005	Denver	George Gwozdecky	Colorado College	Scott Owens	1–0	St. Paul, Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center
2006	North Dakota	Dave Hakstol	St. Cloud State	Bob Motzko	5–3	St. Paul, Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center
2007	Minnesota	Don Lucia	North Dakota	Dave Hakstol	3–2 (OT)	St. Paul, Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center
2008	Denver	George Gwozdecky	Minnesota	Don Lucia	2–1	St. Paul, Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center
2009	Minnesota-Duluth	Scott Sandelin	Denver	George Gwozdecky	4–0	St. Paul, Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center
2010	North Dakota	Dave Hakstol	St. Cloud State	Bob Motzko	5–3	St. Paul, Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center
2011	North Dakota	Dave Hakstol	Denver	George Gwozdecky	3–2 (2OT)	St. Paul, Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center
2012	North Dakota	Dave Hakstol	Denver	George Gwozdecky	4–0	St. Paul, Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center
2013	Wisconsin	Mike Eaves	Colorado College	Scott Owens	3–2	St. Paul, Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center
2014	Minnesota State	Mike Hastings	Ferris State	Bob Daniels	4–1	Grand Rapids, Michigan	Van Andel Arena
2015	Minnesota State	Mike Hastings	Michigan Tech	Mel Pearson	5–2	St. Paul, Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center	^[3]
2016	Ferris State	Bob Daniels	Minnesota State	Mike Hastings	2–1	Grand Rapids, Michigan	Van Andel Arena
2017	Michigan Tech	Mel Pearson	Bowling Green	Chris Bergeron	3-2 (2OT)	Houghton, Michigan	MacInnes Student Ice Arena
2018	Michigan Tech	Joe Shawhan	Northern Michigan	Grant Potulny	2–0	Marquette, Michigan	Berry Events Center
2019	Minnesota State	Mike Hastings	Bowling Green	Chris Bergeron	3–2 (OT)	Mankato, Minnesota	Mankato Civic Center
2020	Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic							^[4]
2021	Lake Superior State	Damon Whitten	Northern Michigan	Grant Potulny	6–3	Mankato, Minnesota	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center

† East regional champion
‡ West regional champion
* Champion decided by a total goal sum in multiple games

References

1. "WCHA Yearbook 113-128" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved 2014-05-31.
2. "WCHA Champions". College Hockey Historical Archive. Retrieved 2014-05-31.
3. "Saturday, March 21, 2015 Michigan Tech (MTU) vs Minnesota State (MNS)". collegehockeystats.net. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
4. "Remainder Of WCHA Postseason Cancelled". wcha.com. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.

External links

• The Official Site of the WCHA