1961 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
| Teams | 4 |
|---|---|
| Finals Site | |
| Champions | Denver (3rd title) |
| Runner-Up | St. Lawrence (1st title game) |
| Semifinalists |
|
| Winning coach | Murray Armstrong (3rd title) |
| MOP | Bill Masterton Denver |
| Attendance | 19,826 |
The 1961 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 1960–61 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, the 14th such tournament in NCAA history. It was held between March 16 and 18, 1961, and concluded with Denver defeating St. Lawrence 12-2. All games were played at the University of Denver Arena in Denver, Colorado.
This was the first and only time in the history of the tournament that teams from the same conference would play each other in the opening round.
Denver's 10-point margin of victory is the largest ever for a title game and the second most for one team in the championship match, second only to Colorado College in both 1950 and 1957. (as of 2016)
Four teams qualified for the tournament, two each from the eastern and western regions. The WCHA tournament co-champions received automatic bids into the tournament. Two at-large bids were offered to eastern teams based upon both their regular season record and strength of competition.
The higher-ranked eastern team was seeded as the top eastern team while the WCHA champion with the better conference record was given the top western seed. Because the WCHA played two-game semifinal sets to determine their conference representatives and the Tri-State League did not play a postseason tournament none of the teams involved had faced each other in prior tournaments during the season and, breaking with the tradition of the tournament, the two eastern teams played against one another in the semifinal as did the WCHA representatives. All games were played at the University of Denver Arena. All matches were Single-game eliminations with the semifinal winners advancing to the national championship game and the losers playing in a consolation game.
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