The final four teams for men’s college hockey were decided in regional finals over the weekend. The defending national champions from Minnesota-Duluth are back in this years field when the national semifinals face off on April 11th at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. Hockey East will be well represented in this years Frozen Four, sending two teams to represent one of the best conferences in all of college hockey. This is the first year since Boston University and Providence made it in 2015 that Hockey East is getting two teams in the Frozen Four. Below is a schedule of games and a look at both matchups:
Minnesota-Duluth (27-11-2) vs Providence (24-11-6) Thurs, April 11th 5 pm- The Friars from Hockey East make their first Frozen Four appearance since winning the national title in 2015. Providence rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the first round of regional play to defeat Minnesota State 6-3, before blanking Cornell 3-0 in the regional final on Sunday. Goalie Hayden Hawkey recorded his eighth shutout of the season in the win over the Big Red. PC also has nine NHL draft picks on their roster more than any other team in the Frozen Four, with draft picks Jack Dugan, Brandon Duhaime, and Kasper Bjorkqvist being three of the top four point producers on the team. The Bulldogs from Minnesota-Duluth are back for a school record third straight appearance in the Frozen Four. UMD had a pair of tough wins in regional play, 2-1 over Bowling Green in overtime, and two late goals in the last five minutes of the third period including an empty netter to take down Quinnipiac 3-1 in Sundays regional final. The defending national champions are getting some timely hot play from senior forward Parker MacKay, who has registered four points and three goals in the last three games, including both goals in the overtime win over Bowling Green. Goalie Hunter Shepard made his school record 79th consecutive start Sunday for the Bulldogs, making 22 saves in the win over Quinnipiac. Before 2017 which was the first year of what is now three consecutive trips to the Frozen Four, UMD had only made four Frozen Fours in school history.
Massachusetts (29-9) vs Denver (24-11-5) Thurs, April 11th 8:30 pm- The second team to qualify for the Frozen Four from Hockey East is the Minutemen from the University of Massachusetts. UMass ran through their regional tournament on their way to Buffalo, by shutting out Harvard 4-0 and then Notre Dame 3-0 in the regional final. The Minutemen are in their first ever Frozen Four. Defenseman Cale Makar is an NHL draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche, and a finalist for college hockeys most prestigious award, the Hobey Baker. Makar is second in the NCAA with 32 assists, and leads the Minutemen with 48 points. UMass has also made a change in net, as goalie Matt Murray was lifted in the first game of the Hockey East quarterfinals and hasn’t seen action since. Freshman netminder Filip Lindberg has gone 4-1 in relief, allowing just three goals on 93 shots faced with three shutouts. Last season UMass only had 17 total wins, and in 2017 only had five total wins. The Denver Pioneers are back in the Frozen Four by also dominating their regional tournament. Denver blanked Ohio State 2-0, then shutout tournament surprise American International 3-0 to capture the regional title over the weekend. After last years regional championship game loss to Ohio State, head coach Jim Montgomery who had been with the program five seasons took a coaching job with the Dallas Stars. Montgomery had the third highest winning percentage of any coach at the school (125-57-26/.663) and helped the Pioneers win a national title in 2017. This season the team is being coached by first year head man 29 year old David Carle, who had no coaching experience and is the youngest coach in college hockey. DU is also enjoying the longest active streak in NCAA Division I men’s college hockey, qualifying this season for a record 12th consecutive NCAA tournament. Freshman goalie Filip Larsson stopped 50 shots and posted two shutouts in his two regional tournament games. Larsson is a draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings and owns a .936 save percentage this season. Denver will be trying to win a ninth national championship, and is making their 17th appearance in a Frozen Four and their fifth since 2004.
The Hobey Baker Award for the nations top collegiate hockey player will be announced on Friday, April 12th during a banquet at 6 pm, which is the off day of the three day event at the Frozen Four. The two national semifinal winners will then meet on Saturday, April 13th at 8 pm for the national championship. All games of the Frozen Four can be seen live on ESPN 2.
