And then there were four. The Frozen Four.

    When the NCAA Men’s Frozen Four faces off in Pittsburgh, the field features three Number 2 regional seeds (Massachusetts, Minnesota State and St. Cloud State) and a Number 3 seed, two-time defending champion University of Minnesota-Duluth.

     This year’s action is just the second time a regional Number 1 seed has not reached the Frozen Four. The last occurrence was in 2007.

     The Bulldogs, from Minnesota-Duluth, are trying to become the first to win three consecutive titles since Michigan in 1951-52 and the first school ever to appear in four straight national championship games.

      If you believe experience is a good teacher, the four qualifiers, and Bemidji State, rostered more juniors and senior than any other 2021 NCAA Tournament teams.

      The Minnesota State Mavericks are the oldest team on average in the league (23.0) and the only team in the Frozen Four that won a conference title this year.

      It should not be a total surprise that three of the four teams are from “The State of Hockey”, Minnesota, as 41% of the players in the event are from Minnesota. Forty-four players are from Minnesota while 39 players are from the other 49 states combined.

     The last time three teams from the same state qualified for the Frozen Four was in 1992 when Michigan sent Lake Superior State, Michigan and Michigan State.

     The semi-final match-up of Massachusetts and Minnesota-Duluth is a rematch of the 2019 Championship game, a 3-0 victory for the Bulldogs.

      St. Cloud State is appearing in their second Frozen Four in the same city as their first in 2013. The Huskies will meet in-state rival Minnesota State in the other semi-final game. This will be the Mavericks first Frozen Four appearance.

     While Massachusetts and St. Cloud advanced to the Pittsburgh event by winning each of their regional games by nearly a four-goal average differential, Minnesota-Duluth and Minnesota each survived an overtime affair on their path to Pittsburgh.

     Minnesota Duluth’s 3-2 overtime victory against North Dakota was the longest game in NCAA Tournament history 142:13.

     The Sandelin family will be represented on two different teams in the Frozen Four as Scott Sandelin is the head coach at Minnesota-Duluth and his son, Ryan, is a sophomore on the Minnesota State roster.

      By Saturday evening, the national champions will either be a three-peat champion in Minnesota-Duluth or a first-time champion in Massachusetts, Minnesota State or St. Cloud State.

      The only sure bet heading into this event is a trio of great games to end the 2020-2021 NCAA ice hockey season.

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