Frozen Four: Denver to title game
The NCAA men’s hockey championship is set: Denver will face Wisconsin in the title game on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET. (espn.com) Denver punched through in dramatic fashion — a 4–3 double‑overtime win over Michigan with defenseman Kent Anderson scoring the second‑OT winner — and the Pioneers are now playing for a program‑record 11th national championship while Michigan’s title drought stretches 28 years. (denverpost.com) (sports.yahoo.com)
Denver needed 87 minutes and 25 seconds to get there, and the goal that sent the Pioneers to the national title game came from a defenseman, not a star forward: senior captain Kent Anderson scored at 7:25 of the second overtime to beat Michigan 4-3 in Las Vegas. (apnews.com) That win set up a Saturday, April 11 championship game against Wisconsin at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time in the Frozen Four, which is the National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s hockey season ending with the last four teams in one arena. (ncaa.com) (espn.com) Denver got there the hard way. Goaltender Johnny Hicks stopped 49 shots, which meant Michigan spent long stretches pressing like a team leaning on a locked door that would not open. (apnews.com) (denverpioneers.com) Michigan was the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, and the Wolverines still could not finish the job after taking Denver into a second extra period. The loss also extended Michigan’s national title drought to 28 years, with its last championship still coming in 1998. (espn.com) (sports.yahoo.com) For Denver, the stakes are even bigger than one wild night. The Pioneers are now playing for what would be the program’s 11th national championship, and they are also chasing a third title in five years after winning in 2022 and 2024. (sports.yahoo.com) (apnews.com) Wisconsin reached the final first by beating North Dakota 2-1 in the earlier semifinal, and the Badgers did it with a fast first period that produced two goals just 27 seconds apart. That sent Wisconsin to its first title game since 2010. (uwbadgers.com) (denverpost.com) So the championship game is also a conference matchup in disguise: Denver comes from the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, while Wisconsin comes from the Big Ten Conference, after both leagues split the two semifinals. (nchchockey.com) (uwbadgers.com) There is one old wrinkle in the history, too. Denver’s only championship-game loss to Wisconsin came in 1973, while the Pioneers have won their last five title-game appearances since then. Saturday gives Denver a shot at revenge from 53 years ago and a chance to add another banner immediately after one of the longest nights of its season. (nchchockey.com)
