Frozen Four final set
Denver and Wisconsin will meet for the NCAA men’s hockey title Saturday — a matchup people are calling a classic setup going into the final. Denver punched its ticket with a dramatic 4‑3 win over Michigan in double overtime — defenseman Kent Anderson scored in the second OT to send the Pioneers through — and Denver now chases what would be its 11th national championship. (sports.yahoo.com) (denverpost.com) (espn.com)
Denver needed 87 minutes and 25 seconds to get there. Defenseman Kent Anderson scored at 7:25 of the second overtime, and the Pioneers beat Michigan 4-3 to set up Saturday’s national title game against Wisconsin. (espn.com) The championship game is set for Saturday, April 11, in Las Vegas at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time on ESPN. Both finalists got there by knocking out the tournament’s top two seeds in Thursday’s semifinals. (ncaa.com) Denver’s path was the wild one. Michigan led 2-0 early, Denver tied it, Michigan went back in front in the third period, and the Pioneers forced overtime before Anderson ended it with only his second goal of the season. (sports.yahoo.com) The other reason Denver survived was goaltender Johnny Hicks. He stopped 49 shots against a Michigan team that came in as the tournament’s overall No. 1 seed. (espn.com) Wisconsin’s semifinal looked nothing like that. The Badgers scored twice in a 27-second burst in the first period, then spent the next two periods protecting a 2-1 lead against North Dakota. (apnews.com) Those two goals came from Simon Tassy and Ryan Botterill, and they were enough to send Wisconsin to its first Frozen Four final since 2010. North Dakota outshot the Badgers after the opening period, but Wisconsin goalie Tommy Scarfone and the defense held on. (uwbadgers.com) That is why this matchup feels older than one weekend in Las Vegas. Denver already owns the most national championships in men’s Division I hockey with 10, and Wisconsin is chasing its seventh and first since 2006. (denverpioneers.com) (uwbadgers.com) Denver also has recent muscle memory in this game. The Pioneers won national titles in 2022 and 2024, so Saturday gives them a shot at a third championship in five seasons. (nchchockey.com) Wisconsin’s story is the opposite. The Badgers are back in the title game for the first time in 16 years, which is a long gap for a program that won championships in 1977, 1981, 1983, 1990, 2006 and 2010. (uwbadgers.com) So the final is not just Denver against Wisconsin. It is the sport’s current heavyweight against one of its old powers, with Denver trying to add title No. 11 and Wisconsin trying to end a drought that started after its 2010 championship run. (espn.com)
