"Meet me in St. Louis."
That has been the theme of college hockey all season long as the Frozen Four returns to the Gateway to the West for the third time overall, and first time since 2007. While the Sun Devils will not be making an appearance (2026 in Vegas hopefully?), the NCHC is well represented in this year's field. Two blue-bloods and two first-timers will take to the ice in Thursday's semifinals, each with a strong case to take home the hardware this year.
WESTERN MICHIGAN BRONCOS
Led by recently named Spencer Penrose Coach of the Year Pat Ferschweiler, the Western Michigan has arguably been the best team in college hockey throughout the season. Riding the dynamic goaltending tandem of freshman Hampton Slukynsky and graduate student Cameron Rowe, the Broncos endured a late season threat by the Sun Devils to clinch their first ever Penrose Cup as NCHC regular season champions. They followed that performance up by winning the final Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul nearly three weeks ago, capping off their NCHC tournament performance with a 4-3 double-overtime win over the Denver Pioneers after falling behind 3-0 in the second period. As the #1 seed in the Fargo regional, the Broncos took down the CCHA-champion Minnesota State Mavericks in another double-overtime game by a score of 2-1, before punching their ticket to St. Louis with a 2-1 win over the Massachusetts Minutemen.
While goaltending has been the talk of this Broncos team (top-10 in the nation with a 2.05 team goals-against average), they also rank second nationally with 3.95 goals. Sophomore Alex Bump leads the team with 23 goals, while also tallying 24 assists for a total of 47 points, but the Broncos boast a balanced scoring attack with five other skaters registering 30 or more points this season. When this team scores, they score in bunches, scoring four or more goals in 25 of their 40 games this season.
After finally breaking through to make their first Frozen Four trip in their 10th appearance in the national tournament, the moment isn't too big for the boys from Kalamazoo. Coach Ferschweiler has his team laser focused and taking this ride one game at a time, checking off each box on the push for the national championship.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY TERRIERS
Boston University is no stranger to the bright lights of the Frozen Four. Led by Mr. Frozen Four himself in Jay Pandolfo, the Terriers are back in the Frozen Four for the 25th time (third-most all-time), and third straight year. Calling Coach Pandolfo "Mr. Frozen Four" is no exaggeration, as in addition to his three appearances as a coach, he also appeared in the Frozen Four all four years as a student-athlete, winning the national championship in 1995 over Hockey East rival Maine.
The past is the past, and the Terriers are only looking to the future and getting to the national championship game for the first time since suffering a heartbreaking loss at the TD Garden to Providence College in 2015. 14 NHL draft picks dot the roster for the Terriers this season, but freshman goaltender Mikhail Yegorov has been the leader of the Terriers ride to St. Louis. After winning the net from incumbent starter Mathieu Caron in January, the St. Petersburg native led the way with a 10-5-1 record over 16 games with a 2.04 goals-against average and .931 save percentage. On offense, the Terriers are led by brothers Quinn and Cole Hutson. Looking to follow their middle brother Lane to the NHL, they combined to record 37 goals, 59 assists, and 96 points, both comfortably outpacing their teammates atop the team leaderboard. The firepower doesn't end with them however, as New York Islanders draft pick Cole Eiserman recorded 23 goals and 34 points of his own, presenting a daunting lineup that features nine players with 20 or more points.
After a disappointing exit in the semifinals of the Hockey East tournament to runner up Connecticut, the Terriers entered the tournament as the #2 seed in the Toledo regional. A dominant 8-3 first round win over "host" Ohio State set up a third tournament meeting since 2018 with the Cornell Big Red. Mike Schafer's squad would take the Terriers to overtime, but the attempt to delay his retirement would fall short as Quinn Hutson recorded the overtime winner to send Boston University back to the Frozen Four.
DENVER PIONEERS
The Pioneers are hockey royalty. Perhaps a better name for the Frozen Four would be the "Pioneer Invitational". Under the leadership of current head coach David Carle and his predecessor Jim Montgomery, Denver has appeared in the Frozen Four in six of the last nine tournaments since 2016 (excluding the Covid-impacted 2020 tournament), winning titles in 2014, 2022, and 2024. They will attempt to become the first team to successfully defend their title since Minnesota-Duluth did so in 2018-2019, and also will look to be the first team to win three national titles in a span of four years since Murray Armstrong's Pioneer teams from 1958-1961.
After starting the season with a perfect 12-0-0 record, corners of the college hockey world were wondering whether this team could keep up the pace and potentially threaten Maine's nearly perfect season from 1992-93. The Sun Devils gave a resounding no to that question when they swept the Pioneers at Magness Arena in November, and shook the Pioneers for the rest of the regular season. Playoff Denver is on par with the Tampa Bay Lightning teams of the early 2020's, an absolute force when it comes down to the postseason. After the double overtime loss in the Frozen Faceoff final, Denver ran comfortably through the Manchester regional as the #3 seed, taking down Providence 5-1 in the semifinal before winning their 2024 national championship rematch against #1 overall seed Boston College by a 3-1 score.
The top scoring team in college hockey this season, the Pioneers boast four players averaging at least a point per game, led by the top two scorers in Jack Devine (13 G-44 A-57 P) and Aidan Thompson (20 G-34 A-54 P). All eyes will be on Hobey Baker hopeful Zeev Buium to continue his stellar play. The Minnesota Wild draft pick has followed up his 50 point freshman season with 48 points so far, registering 13 goals and 35 assists. In 40 games this season he was held off the scoresheet just 10 times, recording 13 multi-point games from the blue line. He has established himself as the best offensive defenseman in college hockey, but faces tough competition from Ryan Leonard and Isaac Howard for hockey's version of the Heisman Trophy.
In goal, it has been the Matt Davis show. The senior encountered some hiccups in the middle of the season, but has turned in another incredible season, winning 29 games to lead the nation, and recording a 2.07 goals-against average and .923 save percentage, but has shown that there are holes to be found in his armor when facing a high volume of shots. The undrafted prospect will certainly have his pick of signing opportunities to continue his playing days, which he hopes will not have to be addressed until Sunday.
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
The new kids on the block. Penn State has reached one peak in making it to the Frozen Four in their 13th season of play, but they aren't satisfied with just that. Seemingly the afterthought compared to the other three teams vying for the national championship, The Nittany Lions emerged from the Allentown regional to become the 11th #4 seed to make it to the Frozen Four, and first since Providence in 2019.
The hottest team in college hockey down the stretch, Penn State overcame a 7-9-0 record at the holiday break, including an 0-8-0 record to open Big Ten conference play, going 15-4-4 after the calendar flipped to 2025. Sitting on the bubble for most of February, the Nittany Lions gave a massive boost to their tournament resume with a road sweep at Michigan State, and further punctuated their sense of belonging by sweeping Michigan at Yost Ice Arena in the Big Ten conference quarterfinals. A semifinal loss to Ohio State in overtime disrupted their dominant run slightly, but an impressive 5-1 win against Maine and their Richter Award finalist goaltender Albin Boija, followed by an instant classic 3-2 overtime win against Connecticut has Guy Gadowsky's team ready to continue shocking the college hockey world.
Offense is the clear strength for Penn State. Nashville Predators draft pick Aiden Fink leads the team with a scoring line of 23 G-30 A-53 P, and five other players behind him with 30 or more points. Arsenii Serveev posted a respectable 19-8-4 record with 2.56 goals-against and .918 save percentage, but has played some of his most outstanding hockey in the regional, turning away 68 of the 71 shots he faced.
MATCHUP PREVIEWS
NCHC foes Western Michigan and Denver will face each other to open the Frozen Four tomorrow afternoon from the Enterprise Center. Playing for the 6th time this season, Western Michigan holds the edge in the season series with a 3-2 record following weekend splits in both Denver and Kalamazoo before the Frozen Faceoff championship. This matchup is one that should be a potential national championship game, but getting a guaranteed NCHC representative in the national championship game after a "down year" for the conference offers some small consolation. Statistically speaking, these are the two best teams in the country, and the winner will be crowned national champion. To me, this one will come down to a battle of the goaltenders. Expect the final score to be 2-1 in favor of the Broncos, as Hampton Slukynsky will continue his outstanding freshman season and neutralize the scoring attack of the Pioneers and deny them their 11th national championship. This game can be seen on ESPN2 at 5pm Eastern/2pm Pacific.
On the other side of the bracket, Boston University will take on Penn State. As great of a story as the Nittany Lions are, the clock will strike midnight for them as they take on a far more balanced team than they have faced thus far in the tournament. The Hutson brothers and Cole Eiserman will be too overwhelming for Sergeev to overcome, and the Terriers will comfortably win this one by a 3+ goal margin. This nightcap is scheduled for 8:30pm Eastern/5:30pm Pacific, pending the runtime of the first semifinal.