Tournament Procedure
The 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Championship was a single-elimination tournament featuring 16 teams representing all six Division I conferences in the nation. The Championship Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 16 within four regionals of 4 teams. The winners of the six Division I conference championships received automatic bids to participate in the NCAA Championship.
In setting up the tournament, the Championship Committee sought to ensure "competitive equity, financial success and likelihood of playoff-type atmosphere at each regional site." A team serving as the host of a regional was placed within that regional. The top four teams were assigned overall seeds and placed within the bracket such that the national semifinals would feature the No. 1 seed versus the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed versus the No. 3 seed had the top four teams have won their respective regional finals. Number 1 seeds were also placed as close to their home site as possible, with the No. 1 seed receiving first preference. Conference matchups were avoided in the first round; should five or more teams from one conference have made the tournament, this guideline may have been disregarded in favor of preserving the bracket's integrity.
The four regionals were officially named after their geographic areas. The following were the sites for the 2009 regionals:
- March 27 and 28
- East Regional, Arena at Harbor Yard - Bridgeport, Connecticut (Hosts: Yale University and Fairfield University)
- West Regional, Mariucci Arena - Minneapolis, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota)
- March 28 and 29
- Midwest Regional, Van Andel Arena - Grand Rapids, Michigan (Hosts: Central Collegiate Hockey Association and Western Michigan University)
- Northeast Regional, Verizon Wireless Arena - Manchester, New Hampshire (Host: University of New Hampshire)
Each regional winner advanced to the Frozen Four:
- April 9 and 11
- Verizon Center - Washington, D.C. (Hosts: United States Naval Academy and the Greater Washington Sports Alliance)
Read more about this topic: 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament