The Frozen Four is set, with Minnesota-Duluth capturing a second consecutive NCAA men’s hockey tournament championship, beating UMass in the title game. Minnesota-Duluth was the second overall seed in the tournament, and beat Bowling Green and Quinnipiac in the first two rounds to advance to its third consecutive Frozen Four. A pair of regional No. 1 seeds were knocked out in the first round, including top overall seed St. Cloud State, who fell 2-1 to American International. Minnesota State, the third overall seed, was dropped by Providence, the No. 4 seed in its section of the bracket who advanced to the Frozen Four for the first time since 2015. Tournament preview The 2019 NCAA men’s hockey tournament has a heavy NCHC feel at the top, with the top two seeds coming from the same conference. Minnesota-Duluth is the defending champions and ranked second overall, after defeating St. Cloud State 3-2 in two overtimes on March 23. to capture the National Collegiate Hockey Conference tournament title. St. Cloud State is the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, having lost just five games all season, having a 13-game unbeaten streak snapped with the loss to Minnesota-Duluth. St. Cloud State is trying for its first Frozen Four appearance since 2013. Minnesota-Duluth is in the NCAA tournament for a fifth consecutive season, and has made the Frozen Four in the last two seasons. Thirteen of the 15 games of the tournament will be televised by the ESPN family of networks, with every game available to stream online on Watch ESPN. Format The NCAA men’s hockey tournament is single elimination, with 16 teams split into four regions. St. Cloud State is the top overall seed in the tournament, and leads the West Region, in Fargo, North Dakota. The Midwest Region will be played in Allentown, Penn., with Minnesota-Duluth the top seed. Minnesota State is the top seed in the East Region, played in Providence. The Northeast Region will take place in Manchester, New Hampshire, with Massachusetts the top seed in that region. The regionals will decide winners from March 29-31, with the top in each region moving on to the Frozen Four, which will be played April 11-13 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. Teams West regional St. Cloud State Denver Ohio State American International Midwest regional Minnesota-Duluth Quinnipiac Arizona State Bowling Green East regional Minnesota State Northeastern Cornell Providence Northeast regional Massachusetts Clarkson Notre Dame Harvard Bracket & schedule All times ET Friday, March 29 Massachusetts 4, Harvard 0 Denver 2, Ohio State 0 Notre Dame 3, Clarkson 2 (OT) American International 2, St. Cloud State 1 Saturday, March 30 Providence 6, Minnesota State 3 Minnesota-Duluth 2, Bowling Green 1 Cornell 5, Northeastern 1 Massachusetts 4, Notre Dame 0 Quinnipiac 2, Arizona State 1 Denver 3, American International 0 Sunday, March 31 Providence 4, Cornell 0 Minnesota-Duluth 3, Quinnipiac 1 Thursday, April 11 Minnesota-Duluth 4, Providence 1 Massachusetts 4, Denver 3 (OT) Saturday, April 13 Championship game: Minnesota-Duluth 3, Massachusetts 0<doc-sep>The 2022 Frozen Four will take place April 7 and 9 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. UMass won the 2021 championship, defeating St. Cloud State 5-0 for the national title. HISTORY MADE: UMass wins first-ever title in dominant fashion These are the regional locations for the 2022 DI men's ice hockey championship. Dates will be added once those are available 2022 PREDETERMINED REGIONAL SITES Round City Venue Dates Host Regional Albany, N.Y. Times Union Center TBA ECAC Hockey and Times Union Center- Albany Regional Allentown, Pa. PPL Center TBA Pennsylvania State University and Spectra Regional Loveland, Colo. Budweiser Events Center TBA University of Denver and Budweiser Events Regional Worcester, Mass. DCU Center TBA College of the Holy Cross Boston is scheduled to host the 2022 Frozen Four. This will be the ninth Frozen Four for the city and first since 2015. Semifinal games will be played on Thursday, April 7 followed by the national championship game on Saturday, April 9. 2022 Frozen four Teams Arena City Dates Semifinals TBD TD Garden Boston, MA April 7, 2022 TBD TD Garden Boston, MA April 7, 2022 Championship TBD TD Garden Boston, MA April 9, 2022 The DI men's hockey championship hosts a field of 16 teams in a single elimination tournament. Of those 16 teams, six are conference champions that receive automatic qualification into the tournament. The remaining 10 spots are selected on an at-large basis by the Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee. A total of four teams will be seeded with each of the seeded teams being placed at one regional site. See below for the full championship history: CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY<doc-sep>The stage is set. The ice is Frozen. It's time to wait and watch what happens. These are most compelling storylines that we're talking about ahead of the 2019 Frozen Four. Frozen Four 2019: Championship info Experience matters The 2019 hockey tournament started with 11 of the 16 teams vying for a first-time championship. Now, three of the four remaining teams are programs that have seen recent success, leading to the conclusion that experience can factor in during the postseason. Denver, appearing in its 17th* Frozen Four, is on the brink its ninth championship. The Pioneers are enjoying the longest active NCAA tournament appearance streak, with this marking the team’s 12th appearance this postseason. In the last two decades, the Pioneers have raised a trophy three times. The team’s sophomores, juniors and seniors all know what it is like to compete for a championship. On a stage like the Frozen Four, that doesn’t go unnoticed. Luko 🎥 "A lot of people didn't expect us to be here. That was our biggest motivation as a team" #PioneerTogether pic.twitter.com/hSMqLc8J1s — Denver Hockey (@DU_Hockey) April 10, 2019 Providence, too, has seen its fair share of tournament play. The Friars won it all in 2015, and although this is the team’s first Frozen Four appearance since them, Providence has competed in regional play every year since its championship, and six times since 2003. Minnesota Duluth, of course, has just gained the experience of winning a national championship. Most of that roster knows exactly how it feels both to lose a national title game (in 2017) and raise the trophy in success (in last year’s tournament). The Bulldogs certainly seem to know how to get themselves to that championship game, and experience like that is hard to come by. 2019 TOURNAMENT FIELD: Meet the team's playing in this year's Frozen Four NHL draft prospects in the field Get your pens and memorabilia ready, because we’ll have several future NHL players on hand in Buffalo. Providence’s Jay O’Brien will be representing his future employers, the Philadelphia Flyers, as the 18th overall pick in the 2018 draft. The freshman has a lot of time left to make his mark in the NCAA, but a national championship would be a great place to start. Ring in the new year by catching Jay O'Brien and #TeamUSA conclude the preliminary round tonight against Finland!#GoFriars https://t.co/a8bFI2nqxD — PC Men's Hockey (@FriarsHockey) January 1, 2019 Minnesota Duluth’s Riley Tufte was drafted 25th overall by the Dallas Stars in 2016, and the junior had a breakout sophomore season, topping UMD in goals (16) while finishing third in points (29 — nearly double his rookie-year total). The highest draft pick in UMass history, Cale Makar was selected fourth overall in 2017 by Colorado. He’s been pegged as a huge catalyst for the Minutemen’s success, and eyes will be on him in New York to see his impact on the tournament. Not impressed? Don’t worry, those are just the first-round draft picks. There are 22 other NHL picks playing on Frozen Four teams. Defensive power Who needs forwards when your defensemen can score like it’s their job? Massachusetts’ Cale Makar is the top-scoring defenseman in the Frozen Four, leading his fellow defensemen and the field with 16 goals and 32 assists for 48 points. The 6-foot sophomore is also a Hobey Baker finalist and Hockey East Player of the Year to boot. GET READY: 71 facts to know before the 71st Frozen Four Providence’s Jacob Bryson leads all defenseman for the Friars with 27 points (4g, 23a) and the returning All-American ranks sixth among all Providence players in points. Fellow All-American Scott Perunovich tops Minnesota Duluth’s defensemen with 3 goals and 26 assists for 29 points. He’s tied for second-most points among all Bulldogs. Rounding out the tournament’s top defensemen is Denver’s Ian Mitchell, an All-NCHC selection who has six goals and 21 assists on the season so far. Mitchell is the fourth-highest point producer for the Pioneers and, of course, the top among defensemen. First time, best time Massachusetts is the only team in the Frozen Four field that’s looking for its first-ever national title. The Minutemen had a cameo in the 2007 NCAA tournament, but this is the program’s first Frozen Four appearance. Head coach Greg Carvel has lead the Minutemen to a meteoric rise, improving from a 5-29-2 season record two season ago to this season’s 30-9 record. Carvel’s recruiting methods have had a major impact, and the Minutemen are lead by a wildly successful sophomore class featuring the like of Cale Makar, Mitchell Chaffee and netminder Matt Murray who was stalwart for UMass for most of the season. Speaking of first-timers, Denver’s David Carle is only the fourth head coach since 1988 to reach the Frozen Four in his first season at the helm. Carle has a great hockey story, too. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 7th round of the 2008 NHL entry draft and recruited to play at Denver before being diagnosed with a heart disease and forced to retire. Carle stayed on as a student assistant coach until graduation, and then was brought back on in 2014 as an assistant coach for the Pioneers. Add to that the fact that the 29-year-old is the youngest active coach in DI men’s hockey, and we’ve got an interesting storyline to watch out for. LIVE BLOG: Updates, schedule, scores for the Frozen Four Repeat after me Minnesota Duluth has been on this stage before, very recently. The Bulldogs claimed the national championship last season after a second straight appearance in the national title game. Now, UMD is looking for a back-to-back championship, and to be the first program to repeat as national champions since Denver in 2004 and 2005. The Bulldogs have an impressive set of leaders pushing the program. Head coach Scott Sandelin holds the best career NCAA playoff winning percentage (.760) of any active coach. Goaltender Hunter Shepard made his school-record 79th consecutive start in UMD’s regional game against Cornell, stopping 22 shots and extending his NCAA tournament record to 6-0. Finally, senior forward and captain Parker Mackay has four points and three goals in just his last three games, including both goals in UMD’s 2-1 overtime win against Bowling Green. That’s a lot of talent on hand to guide the Bulldogs to the repeat. Watch LIVE: @FriarsHockey takes the ice for the first time at the #FrozenFour https://t.co/AfeUggzP4F — NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) April 10, 2019 *Denver's 1973 tournament appearance was vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions Callan Sheridan is a graduate of Saint Peter's University and has produced content for The Press Enterprise, the American Junior Golf Association and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Follow her on twitter at @calsh_13.<doc-sep>
After a week off following the four NCAA regional tournaments, college hockey will crown its national champion this week in Buffalo, N.Y., with Thursday’s semifinals between Providence and Minnesota Duluth (4 p.m.) and Denver and Massachusetts (7:30 p.m.) and the championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday. FROZEN FOUR 2019: Schedule, bracket, scores and live updates Here is a look at the key player for each team at the Frozen Four: Josh Wilkins, junior forward, Providence The 5-11, 180-pounder was the most outstanding player in the NCAA East Regional, scoring two goals and assisting on one in the Friars’ 6-3 first-round upset of top-seeded Minnesota State, then adding a goal and an assist in the 4-0 blanking of Cornell in the regional final. Wilkins, 21, is tied for seventh nationally with 45 points on 19 goals and 26 assists. He also has seven power-play goals, tied for best on the team. Wilkins, who played for Austin of the NAHL in 2014-15 and Sioux City of the USHL in 2015-16, has 47 goals and 60 assists in 118 career games for the Friars. The Raleigh, N.C., native was not drafted by an NHL team. 'He never complains. He just grinds' https://t.co/VHrdYi2Nve — Mark Divver (@MarkDivver) April 9, 2019 PREVIEW: Meet the teams in this year's Frozen Four Hunter Shepard, junior goalie, Minnesota Duluth If you’re looking for a clutch tournament goalie, look no further than Shepard. He led the Bulldogs to last year’s national championship by winning four consecutive one-goal games that started with a 3-2 overtime win over Minnesota State in the West Regional first round and followed with 2-1 victories over Air Force, Ohio State and Notre Dame. This year, he allowed only two goals total in NCAA Midwest Regional triumphs over Bowling Green in overtime and Quinnipiac. The Cohasset, Minn., native is a finalist for the Mike Richter Award given to the nation’s nest goalie. Shepard has started all 40 games for Minnesota Duluth and has a 27-11-2 record with a 1.82 goals-against average, .920 save percentage and six shutouts. Shepard, 23, was not drafted by an NHL team. MAKE YOUR PICK: Click here for a printable tournament bracket Jarid Lukosevicius, senior forward, Denver The Squamish, British Columbia, native burst in the scene in the 2017 NCAA championship game by scoring all three Pioneers goals in a 3-2 victory over Minnesota Duluth. Since then, he’s kept up the scoring pace, potting 21 goals last year and adding a team-high 19 this season. Lukosevicius isn’t afraid to shoot, with his 130 shots on goal leading the team by 23. He also has seven game-winning goals this season and a program-record 16 for his career. Lukosevicius, 24, went undrafted by NHL teams. Luko 🎥 "A lot of people didn't expect us to be here. That was our biggest motivation as a team" #PioneerTogether pic.twitter.com/hSMqLc8J1s — Denver Hockey (@DU_Hockey) April 10, 2019 BEHIND THE MASK: These are the coolest goalie masks in men's college hockey Cale Makar, sophomore defenseman, Massachusetts The Minutemen are playing in their first Frozen Four, and Makar is a big reason why. The No. 4 overall draft pick by the Colorado Avalanche in 2017 ranks third nationally in scoring with 48 points on 16 goals and 32 assists and has an eye-popping plus-32 rating. Makar, 6-2 and 192 pounds, is one of the Hobey Baker Hat Trick finalists and is considered by many in college hockey circles to be the likely winner. The 20-year-old Calgary, Alberta, native is expected to sign with the Avalanche after the Frozen Four, and he could make his NHL debut in the playoffs. 2019 TOURNAMENT: Follow the journey of each of the Frozen Four teams This article is written by RANDY JOHNSON from Star Tribune and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.