Frozen Four set
Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2026 7:55 am
Frozen 4 is set.
10 time winner Denver U (5 times in the old days when ncaa hockey was rarely part of the paths to the nhl, 5 times in the modern era, most recently 2 years ago) knocked off defending champion Western Michigan to advance. They will play 9 time winner Michigan, who is the #1 overall seed. Despite all the good players in Ann Arbor in recent years, they haven’t won since 1998. Sort of a thing about NCAA hockey—you can try and build a team of high end talent who are drafted in the top 2 rounds and leave before they mature, so or you can go for kids who went through U20 (formerly ushl, jr a, euro leagues and now including the CHL) who are aren’t making to the nhl but who are going to play college hockey through age 24/25 and give you strength and experience.
The other game features 6 time champ Wisconsin v 7 time champ North Dakota — two teams that were the powerhouses of the old WCHA in the 80s and 90s when I started following college hockey, before the Big 10 was reconstituted for hockey. North Dakota is the #2 overall seed; Wisconsin gets there by upsetting the NHL-prospect-stacked Michigan State Spartans after being down 3-1 with 5 minutes left. Top NCAA goalie Trey Augustine whiffed on a muffin in OT….
That’s 32 of 78 NCAA titles. These are the blue bloods of the sport.
Wisconsin is the UW in UWSaint. (The saint is obvious, no?). Haven’t been to a final since 2010 (led by Boom Boom’s grandson and early nhl retiree due to concussion concerns Blake Geoffrion); haven’t won since Joe Pavelski led them to victory in 2006. I give them the longest odds of the group, tbh, but they’ve played top teams well all year. Well, not including an ugly stretch mid season.
Go Badgers!
10 time winner Denver U (5 times in the old days when ncaa hockey was rarely part of the paths to the nhl, 5 times in the modern era, most recently 2 years ago) knocked off defending champion Western Michigan to advance. They will play 9 time winner Michigan, who is the #1 overall seed. Despite all the good players in Ann Arbor in recent years, they haven’t won since 1998. Sort of a thing about NCAA hockey—you can try and build a team of high end talent who are drafted in the top 2 rounds and leave before they mature, so or you can go for kids who went through U20 (formerly ushl, jr a, euro leagues and now including the CHL) who are aren’t making to the nhl but who are going to play college hockey through age 24/25 and give you strength and experience.
The other game features 6 time champ Wisconsin v 7 time champ North Dakota — two teams that were the powerhouses of the old WCHA in the 80s and 90s when I started following college hockey, before the Big 10 was reconstituted for hockey. North Dakota is the #2 overall seed; Wisconsin gets there by upsetting the NHL-prospect-stacked Michigan State Spartans after being down 3-1 with 5 minutes left. Top NCAA goalie Trey Augustine whiffed on a muffin in OT….
That’s 32 of 78 NCAA titles. These are the blue bloods of the sport.
Wisconsin is the UW in UWSaint. (The saint is obvious, no?). Haven’t been to a final since 2010 (led by Boom Boom’s grandson and early nhl retiree due to concussion concerns Blake Geoffrion); haven’t won since Joe Pavelski led them to victory in 2006. I give them the longest odds of the group, tbh, but they’ve played top teams well all year. Well, not including an ugly stretch mid season.
Go Badgers!
