2006 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament



The 2006 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. It began on March 24, 2006, and ended with the championship game on April 8. A total of 15 games were played.

The tournament is remembered for the win by Holy Cross over Minnesota which is typically considered one of if not the biggest upset in tournament history.

Game locations
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.

Regional Sites

 * East – Pepsi Arena, Albany, New York — Host: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the ECAC Hockey League
 * Midwest – Resch Center, Green Bay, Wisconsin — Host: Michigan Technological University
 * Northeast – DCU Center, Worcester, Massachusetts — Host: Boston University
 * West – Ralph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, North Dakota — Host: University of North Dakota

Frozen Four

 * Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin — Host: University of Wisconsin–Madison

Qualifying teams
The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament was announced on March 19, 2006. The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), Hockey East and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) each had four teams receive a berth in the tournament, the ECACHL had two teams receive a berth in the tournament, while Atlantic Hockey and College Hockey America (CHA) both received a single bid for their tournament champions.

Number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.

Frozen Four
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

All-Tournament team
* Most Outstanding Player(s)
 * G: Brian Elliott (Wisconsin)
 * D: Tom Gilbert (Wisconsin)
 * D: Brett Motherwell (Boston College)
 * F: Adam Burish (Wisconsin)
 * F: Chris Collins (Boston College)
 * F: Robbie Earl* (Wisconsin)