The Spire

Jake McGuire ’27

Staff Writer

This year, the Frozen Four returned to St. Paul, Minnesota, for the first time since 2018. This Frozen Four had two teams from Massachusetts for the first time since 1994, when both Boston University and Harvard were in it. The four teams in this year’s tournament are among the most successful of all time, with all four programs being in the top five of total Frozen Fours won; Denver and Michigan have both won nine, and Boston College and Boston University have both won five. Wisconsin, who was upset in the first round of the Big Ten tournament, rounds out the top five with six titles. 

The semi-finals took place on Thursday, April 11th, with #1 Boston College hosting unseeded Michigan and #2 Boston University taking on #3 Denver before the championship game on Saturday, April 13th. 

Boston College dominated throughout the season, being consistently ranked as the top team in the country throughout the season. They rolled through the Hockey East playoffs and entered the tournament as heavy favorites. They entered the Frozen Four on a fourteen game winning streak, and at 33-5-4, they had by far the best record in the tournament. They defeated the defending national champion Quinnipiac 5-4 in their regional.

In a rematch of the Big Ten Championship, Michigan blew out #4 Michigan State 5-2. This win advanced them to the Frozen Four for the third year in a row. They were the only unseeded team to do so; only the top team in each regional gets a seed. 

BU scored the most goals in any of the regionals, scoring six goals in both of their regional games. They beat the Atlantic Hockey Champion RIT and last year’s runner up Minnesota in their regionals, both by a score of 6-3. 

Denver narrowly advanced, with both of their regional wins being one-score games. They went to double overtime against UMASS, before edging out a 2-1 victory. Against Cornell, they were down early but managed to come back and win 2-1. 

The semi-finals took place on Thursday with BU and Denver facing off first. Boston University scored the lone goal of the first period to take the first lead. They kept that lead until five minutes left in the second when Denver tied it up 1-1. After a scoreless third, the game went into overtime. However, considering who was playing, the game was practically over. In classic BU fashion, they choked in overtime, and Denver advanced to the national championship with another 2-1 victory. 

The game between BC and Michigan was over just as it began. BC scored its first goal a minute into the game and never looked back, trouncing Michigan to a 4-0 victory. As their 34th victory of the season, that broke the record of most wins in a single season in program history. 

The championship game was a battle between BC and Denver, pitting the two highest scoring teams this season against each other. After a scoreless first period, Denver took the lead with the first goal of the game halfway through the second period. They scored another goal five minutes later to go up 2-0. Despite being outshot 35-26, Denver was able to hold off the top team in the country for the rest of the game and emerged victorious.

Denver overtakes Michigan to become the winningest program in men’s college hockey history with their 10th title. This is their second title in three years, as well as their fifth title since 2004, and they will look to continue the dynasty. Both of their goals scored in the championship game were by freshman, and their goalie who had 35 saves and a shutout is only a sophomore. The Pioneers have won more than 30 games in three consecutive seasons, and they will look to return to the Frozen Four in 2025. 

Featured image courtesy of The Boston Globe.