Four of the six most experienced Men’s Frozen Four teams are headed to St. Paul, Minn.
Boston College, Boston University, Denver and Michigan won regional championships to advance to the April 11 national semifinals. The winners will play for the 2024 championship at Xcel Energy Center on April 13.
Michigan extended its NCAA record by qualifying for a 28th Frozen Four. Boston College is making its 26th appearance, second behind the Wolverines. Boston University is third at 24 and Denver is sixth at 18.
They’ve combined to win 28 of the 75 NCAA championships. Denver and Michigan are looking to become the first to win 10.
Boston University will play Denver in the 4 p.m. Central semifinal on April 11. No. 1 overall seed Boston College will play Michigan at 7:30 p.m. Central.
Denver made it to the Frozen Four by beating UMass 2-1 in double overtime on Thursday and Cornell 2-1 on Saturday in the Springfield Regional.
The Pioneers have won seven straight games, including all six of their postseason contests. They won the NCHC Frozen Faceoff by beating St. Cloud State and Omaha, and they’re led in scoring by
Boston University made it two Frozen Four trips in two seasons under coach Jay Pandolfo by winning a pair of 6-3 games in the Sioux Falls Regional — over RIT on Thursday and Minnesota on Saturday.
The Terriers, who lost to Minnesota in the Frozen Four semifinals in 2023, feature the expected No. 1 pick in this year’s NHL draft, Macklin Celebrini. The freshman is tied for second nationally with 64 points.
Boston College earned the third spot in the Frozen Four out of the Providence Regional, beating Michigan Tech 6-1 on Friday and rallying past Quinnipiac 5-4 in overtime on Sunday.
The Eagles have four of the nation’s top six scorers in Will Smith (No. 1, 69 points), Cutter Gauthier (tied No. 2, 64), Ryan Leonard (No. 5, 59) and Gabe Perreault (No. 6, 57).
Michigan is the only non-No. 1 regional seed that won a regional, and it scored two goals in 12 seconds of the third period Sunday to spark a 5-2 win over Michigan State to go through. The Wolverines rallied past North Dakota 4-3 on Friday in the first round in the Maryland Heights Regional.
The Wolverines are making their third straight Frozen Four appearance and second in as many seasons under coach Brandon Naurato. They’re led in scoring by Gavin Brindley, the Big Ten player of the year, and Rutger McGroarty, a first-round pick of Winnipeg in 2022.
