As promised, I have found some media accounts of the game.  I went to my local
public library to see what I could find.  I had hopes of finding some a
non-local description, but had no luck.

Sports Illustrated devoted exactly one sentence to the tournament, noting that
Minnesota had beaten Michigan Tech.  The New York Times ran a brief article
about the championship game, but did not mention the semifinals at all.

That left me with the Twin Cities newspapers, from which I shall quote (taking
credit for all typos).  First, from an article by Gregg Wong in the St Paul
Pioneer Press of April 27, 1976:

--** begin quote **--

However, the Gophers and Terriers almost never got the chance to play the game
after the first 68 seconds of action.  A bench-clearing altercation erupted
which delayed the game 15 minutes, and it's conceivable referees Dino Paniccia
and Craig Kelly could have sent 15 players from each side to the dressing
room.

Instead only Minnesota's Russ Anderson and B.U.'s Terry Meagher (the
Terriers' leading scorer) were banished for leaving the penalty box to enter
an altercation.  Both will sit out their team's games today.

It started when Meagher entered the penalty box after slashing Joe Micheletti.
The Gopher players in the bench chided the Terrier star, who in turn spit in
the face of Gopher trainer Gary Smith.

The trainer pulled the stick away from Meagher and then Anderson, already in
the penalty box for an earlier infraction, started swinging at Meagher.
Minnesota's bench then emptied, followed by Boston's.  When order was
restored, Anderson and Meagher were sent to the dressing room and the Gophers
also received a minor penalty for slashing Meagher while he was in the box.

"There was a lot of emotion on both sides," Brooks said.  "But after that, the
officials took control.  They made the correct decision in kicking out the two
players.  It's too bad it happened, but it was handled correctly."

Boston U. coach Jackie Parker was irate.  "The officiating was horse-bleep,"
he blasted.  "They (the Gophers) lost a little bleeping player (the "little"
6-foot-2, 210-pound Anderson) and we lose our 30-goal scorer.  It was
disgusting."

--** end quote **--

Next from an article by John Gilbert in the Minneapolis Tribune of April 27,
1976:

--** begin quote **--

The first period was scoreless, but the action started early when Gopher
defenseman Russ Anderson drew a cross-checking penalty after only 33 seconds,
the amount of time Anderson was ultimately able to play for the weekend.

After 1:08, while B.U. was on its potent power play, Terry Meagher and Gopher
Tom Younghans jostled each other while awaiting a face-off.  Meagher slashed
Younghans and was penalized.  As he went to the tiny penalty box, where
Anderson was sitting, words were exchanged between Meagher and the adjacent
Minnesota bench.  Meagher entered the penalty box.

"The players were jawing at him all the way to the penalty box," said Gopher
trainer Gary Smith.  "When he got into the box he stood up.  There's no glass
between the penalty box and our bench and there I was between him and our
players.  He spit on me and when some of our players looked like they might go
after him he reached around and shoved his stick toward them, but it hit me.
I grabbed the stick and took it away and everything broke loose."

The scene erupted violently, with both benches emptying and Anderson and
Meagher were ejected with game misconducts after the 15-minute free-for-all.
It was stopped briefly,  but then B.U.'s Mike Fidler came over and said
something to Smith at the bench and the brawling resumed.

--** end quote **--

Some observations:

1.  Wong's and Gilbert's accounts do not agree on some points.

2.  Both accounts differ significantly from Ed's and Bill's memories of the
proceedings.

3.  Anderson and Meagher were ejected for leaving the penalty box during the
altercation, not for slashing each other.  This contradicts Ed's assertion
that Coach Brooks sent Russ Anderson to remove Terry Meagher from the game.
That is, unless it was a particularly devious plan that required Anderson to
take a penalty then wait to ambush Meagher in the penalty box.

4. Meagher should not have spat on Smith.  Smith should not have grabbed
Meagher's stick.  No one should have resorted to slurs and epithets.

4.  Nobody on the ice behaved like gentlemen, as far as I can tell.

5.  I have no verification of the Minnesota band playing the Battle Hymn
during the fight.  It seems unlikely, and I will regard it as aprocryphal
unless proven otherwise.

6.  I have not yet found an account of inappropriate behavior by fans of
either team.

6. I expect that articles from the Boston newspapers will shine a different
light on the brawl than did the Minnesota reporters.  That's why I tried to
find an out-of-town source.  Perhaps the Denver newspapers could be consulted.

7. I reject the assertion that there is no honor in the Gophers' 1976
championship banner.

8. Even though HOCKEY-L has slipped into near dormancy, there's nothing like a
an opportunity to bash the Gophers to liven things up.  Minnesota is truly the
"straw that stirs the drink" of college hockey.

-- Erik