Best Travel From Boston to Michigan State

It'due south not surprising that Minnesota Country, Denver, Michigan and Minnesota hold the nearly coveted tickets in college hockey — slots in the 2022 Frozen Four.

Last year saw zero No. one seeds make information technology to Pittsburgh for the Frozen Four. This time around is almost completely the reverse, with three top seeds and a No. 2 making it to the concluding trip the light fantastic toe.

THE BRACKET: Cheque out the official 2022 men's tournament bracket

Still, each squad got to this point in the season in totally different ways. Here'southward how they all paved routes to Boston.

Michigan (31-9-1)

How the season went:No team entered the 2021-22 season with higher expectations than Michigan. With seven start-circular picks, four of whom came in the commencement five selections of the 2021 NHL Draft, this Wolverines squad was slated to go to the 2022 Frozen Four before the puck even dropped on the flavour.

"We weren't sure nosotros'd have Owen Ability back or Matty Beniers back and a couple of other guys," Michigan head jitney Mel Pearson said of the beginning of the flavor. "But they decided to return to Michigan and have the experience they didn't take last yr with COVID and non playing in front of fans, non having the opportunity for the states to play in the NCAA tournament."

NHL's No. ane pick Owen Ability explains determination to return to Michigan

Michigan'southward first large test came in the Ice Breaker tournament in Duluth, Minn., on Oct. 15 and 16. The Wolverines came abroad with the sweep, taking down then-No. 5 Minnesota Duluth, v-i, so-No. i Minnesota State, iii-ii.

Once Big 10 play began, Notre Dame gave the Wolverines their start dose of "you're not the only good team in this conference" with a sweep in a weekend series Nov. 19 and 20. In two series right earlier the holiday interruption, Michigan split with both so-No. 11 Minnesota and so-No. 17 Ohio Country. It was an early sign that the Big Ten had iv legitimate teams in Michigan, Minnesota, Notre Dame and Ohio State.

Afterwards a sub-par Great Lakes Invitational, the Wolverines disposed of UMass — the former national champions — with a sweep at home. That started a stretch in which Michigan won 12 of its next thirteen games. However, in their final series of the season, the Wolverines were swept by then-No. ix Notre Dame again.

The Wolverines bounced dorsum with a sweep of Michigan Land in the Large 10 quarterfinals. In the Big Ten tournament, Michigan got its revenge on Notre Dame, beating the then-No. 8 Fighting Irish, 2-i, and advancing to the terminal. The Wolverines went on the road for the championship and took down and so-No. two Minnesota, 4-3, to win the Large Ten tournament.

Michigan entered the NCAA tournament reddish hot and skated past AIC and survived a close call with Quinnipiac to get to the Frozen Four.

Who stood out: Lots of players. A expert example of this was Matty Beniers, Brendan Brisson and Kent Johnson, who were put on a line together. The iii get-go-circular picks dominated. Of the top four signal-getters on the Wolverines, Beniers is No. 1, Brisson is No. 2 and Johnson is No. 4. None of that is surprising.

Luke Hughes, the player at No. three, was more of a surprise.

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It's not to say people didn't call up Hughes could mail 17 goals and 39 points — both tops among all defensemen. Simply what did come as a surprise was how rapidly the freshman adjusted to the college game and dominated.

"I remember the sky'south the limit for him," Pearson said of Hughes last week.

Power, the showtime overall pick in the 2021 NHL Typhoon, was too impressive, with 29 assists and 32 points in 32 games. His plus-27 rating is skillful for 4th on the team.

Michigan survives late Quinnipiac comeback, advances to Frozen Four

Not to be forgotten in all the hype of the offense is goaltender Erik Portillo. His goals-against average of 2.thirteen and .926 salvage percentage accept been more enough to get Michigan to Boston.

Minnesota State (37-5-0)

How the season went:The Mavericks also entered 2021-22 with high expectations. They got to the 2021 Frozen Iv and brutal to St. Cloud State in the semifinal. But, Minnesota State brought back nearly of the veteran core that went to Pittsburgh last season, which fueled those expectations.

Minnesota State wasted no time scheduling difficult opponents, opening the season with the toughest schedule in college hockey. First upwards was a route trip to UMass to confront the defending national champs. The Mavericks ruined the imprint-raising ceremony, sweeping the Minutemen. Next, the Mavericks split a weekend serial with and then-No. 2 St. Cloud Land. Then came the Water ice Breaker Tournament. The Mavericks took downwardly then-No. ten Providence, 5-ii, simply fell to Michigan, iii-2.

Nevertheless, finishing that stretch 4-two set the tone for the residue of the season. Minnesota Land went 12-2-0 in CCHA play leading up to the holiday break.

Minnesota State opened the second half with a sweep of Minnesota Duluth in a weekend home-and-home series. After a January. 14 loss at Northern Michigan, the Mavericks finished the regular flavour going 11-0-0. They cruised through the CCHA quarterfinals and semifinals and took down Bemidji State, two-1 in overtime, in the CCHA championship. In NCAA regionals, Minnesota Land edged out Harvard and Notre Dame.

Minnesota defeats Western Michigan to punch Frozen Iv ticket

You read that right — Minnesota State hasn't lost since Jan. xiv. The Mavericks enter Boston riding a 17-game unbeaten streak.

Who stood out:For nearly of this flavour, Nathan Smith looked like a frontrunner for this year's Hobey Bakery Laurels. He led the country in points up until he left for the Olympics and was the key player in Minnesota State's law-breaking. Equally it currently stands, Smith ranks 2d in the nation in points with 50 and finished as a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Bakery Award. He's the 4th histrion in Minnesota State history to reach the fifty-point plateau in a season.

With Julian Napravnik on his left and Cade Borchardt on his right, his line has been terrific. Napravnik is tied for 3rd in the nation in points with 49 and Borchardt isn't too far backside with 40 of his own.

Led by captain Wyatt Aamodt and banana Jack McNeely, plus Jake Livingstone and Akito Hirose, Minnesota Land's acme four has made life much easier on star goaltender Dryden McKay, who's a Hat Flim-flam Finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.

McKay enters the 2022 Frozen Four with the second-best GAA in the nation (1.28) and third-best relieve percent (.934).

Denver (29-9-i)

How the season went: The Pioneers were beneath .500 in the 2020-21 flavor, firing them upwardly to take quite the bounce-dorsum flavour in 2021-22. However, information technology didn't look that fashion at the end of the first month.

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After sweeping Arizona State and Air Forcefulness to open the campaign, Denver went east and lost to and then-No. 12 Providence then-No. x Boston College. The Pioneers opened NCHC play with a trip to Grand Forks, Due north Dakota where they were swept by the Fighting Hawks. They followed that upward, nonetheless, by winning seven of eight games heading into the holiday break.

2004 Frozen Iv: Denver survives 3-homo disadvantage in final 90 seconds for championship

The NCHC schedule is one of the toughest and for practiced reason — five of the eight teams in the conference earned a spot in the NCAA tournament. Despite this, Denver thrived in the second one-half, going 14-three-1 in its final xviii games. That included a huge sweep of then-No. 7 St. Cloud State and wins over Minnesota Duluth and Western Michigan. The Pioneers looked like a totally different team than the 1 who started the season 4-iv.

They too looked different the squad who went 10-13-1 last flavour.

And then, what changed?

"I retrieve a huge function of it was simply emerging from the COVID world," Denver head coach David Carle said final calendar week. "Nosotros were under very tight restrictions. And information technology was a challenging environment to be able to build a team surround...And I give our guys credit. We speedily turned the folio from that yr into the spring quarter last year in the summer session. Got a lot of people back here in Denver, preparation, skating. Our incoming class was able to come out hither and operate in a normal summer. And we had a total preparation camp with our squad.

"I recall when you're able to build a foundation, yous have a lot stronger business firm. And I call back that'south been the biggest difference for u.s. — nosotros've actually been able to build that foundation this twelvemonth and information technology'southward led to the successes this team'due south been able to accept."

While that success wasn't fully seen in the NCHC playoffs after Denver vicious to Minnesota Duluth, 2-0, in the Frozen Faceoff semifinals, the Pioneers edged past both UMass Lowell and Minnesota Duluth in regionals to get to the Frozen Four.

Who stood out:It'south hard to talk virtually who stood out on Denver and non talk about Bobby Brink.

The inferior forward leads college hockey in points with 56. That'due south helped him become a Chapeau Fox finalist for the Hobey Baker Honour. His play on the right side of center Cole Guttman and left wing Ryan Barrow helped institute Denver'southward strong tiptop line. That trio was a massive reason why Denver ranks second in the nation in goals with 167.

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What also contributed greatly to that was the incredible depth Denver boasts in its forward lines. The second line features Carter Savoie and Brett Stapley. Both are n of forty points. At left wing is freshman Jack Devine — a forward who Denver has very high hopes for.

Speaking of freshmen that Denver has high hopes for, the third line has two — Massimo Rizzo and Carter Mazur. Both rank inside the top ten of freshmen scoring in the country. Mazur has 36 points while Rizzo gathered 34. On the right side of that tertiary line is senior Cameron Wright with 31.

Depth has been the name of the game all season long for Denver. It's what got the Pioneers here and if they win, it'll be the biggest reason why.

Minnesota (26-12-0)

How the season went:Bob Motzko is in his fourth flavour every bit caput coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. It'southward no hush-hush — it'south a tough job that comes with high expectations. It's a program rich in tradition. And there'due south ane thing Motzko knows he can't exercise.

"When yous motorbus at Minnesota, god forbid you split a weekend because yous're not supposed to do that here," he said terminal week.

The Gophers had quite a fleck of splits in the outset half of the season. After losing three of four to St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth in late October, the Gophers split five-straight serial against Wisconsin, Ohio State, Penn State, Northward Dakota and Michigan. It led to Minnesota catching some estrus. The motorcoach, however, felt differently.

"The truth was, I thought we were playing well," Motzko said. "And we had some big wins there and we were growing."

Minnesota mounts the comeback to secure outset round OT victory

Minnesota opened the 2nd one-half with a sweep of Michigan State. But and then starting goalie Jack LaFontaine departed for the NHL and suddenly Minnesota had another problem to face: how do we move on from concluding season'south Mike Richter Award winner? Afterward iii straight series splits with backup Justen Close elevated to starting goalie, the Gophers rattled off eight-straight victories to win the Large Ten regular-season championship.

The Large 10 postseason saw Minnesota edge out Penn State, but then fall to Michigan in the championship.

In the regionals, the Gophers took down UMass, 4-iii, in overtime and so beat Western Michigan, iii-0, in the regional final.

Who stood out:Leading Minnesota is ane of the 3 finalists for the Hobey Baker Award — Ben Meyers. His stabilizing presence downward the middle has been a driving force behind why Minnesota is withal standing. It certainly helps that his 41 points pb the squad, too.

Along with Meyers, the Gophers have other heavy hitters up front. Blake McLaughlin and Sammy Walker on a line together are terrific. Freshman Matthew Knies has jumped onto the scene with 32 points in 32 games. He enters the Frozen Four with iv goals in his past three games.

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"We knew we were getting an atrocious special player," Motzko said of Knies.

On defense, Jackson LaCombe and Brock Faber take been stellar, making up two vital pieces of the top 4. They've made life easier on Shut, who has a 1.83 GAA — adept for acme-five in the nation. His .929 save percentage is top 10.

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