Minnesotans Guide to the Minnesota-less Frozen Four
It’s fairly amazing, and probably disturbing for the NCAA event planners, that a state with a whopping six Division 1 hockey programs isn’t sending anyone the week’s Frozen Four in Saint Paul this week. Marking the first time since 2016 there hasn’t been a Minnesota team playing the gorgeous mid-April hockey we all love.
Despite the circumstances, Pulltab Sports isn’t going to leave you hanging, not a chance. We’ve taken the liberty of playing matchmaker for you. We dove deep into both the emotional psyche and NCAA Tournament history of each team in the Frozen Four. Feel free to disagree, but we didn’t want you to feel left out this weekend—so we’ve assigned each Minnesota team not headed to the Frozen Four with a “girlfriend” team at least for this week. Something to make it a bit more interesting.
Bemidji State Beaver Fans Match With Boston University Terriers
Bemidji finished the 2023-24 season on top of the CCHA marking their first regular season conference championship since 2017. Similar to Bemidji, Boston University has also slumped in the past few seasons prior to their 2023 Hockey East championship as their last conference championship was also in 2017.
Let’s face it though, Bemidji is the farthest north college hockey team in the state (and the second northernmost team in the country) - they’re basically in Canada.
Beavers are Canada's national animal and BU’s Macklin Celebrini is Canada’s next wonderkid. Bedard is old news as Freshman Celebrini ranks second for both goals and assists in all of college hockey this season at just 17 years old. Clad in red and white for BU or Canada, if Bemidji wants a Canadian star to cheer for, it’s Celebrini and the Boston University Terriers.
St. Thomas Tommies Fans Match with Denver Pioneers
As the new kids on the block, the Tommies don’t hold the same historical grudges as other Minnesota schools. In fact, they’ve yet to play any of the four teams in this year’s tourney in their short three years as a D1 program. St. Tomas being the only private university in Minnesota with a D1 team, has to back a private school.
Lucky for them, 3 of the 4 teams in the tournament this year are private institutions, so Tommies fans will feel right at home. However, the East Coast private schools are a little more Hogwarts and a little less rugged than their west and Midwest counterparts making Denver a great cultural companion for the weekend.
If we dive into history and make some connections, St. Tomas’ head coach, Enrico Blasi, started his coaching career at Denver as an assistant from 1995-99. Blasi has taken the squad from 3 wins in their first year to a competitive 15 wins this past season.
Still looking for something to cheer for, the Pioneers explosive scoring prowess and a strong history of competing on the big stage could have Tommies faithful trading in their purple for DU’s maroon and gold. We all know they have some Gopher gear in the back of their closet anyways.
St. Cloud State Huskies Fans Match with Denver Pioneers
St. Cloud State has been a staple in the NCHC since the league’s first year in 2013, and the Huskies have done a large part in solidifying the league’s status as one of the best conferences in all of college hockey. Husky fans should value conference over any personal grudges and back their twin Denver as they both boast 3 regular season titles and a hatred for big brother, North Dakota.
We can hear the facepalm of Huskies fans having to cheer for a conference rival but St. Cloud’s culture doesn't pair too well with the B1G 10 or Hockey East, making for a tumultuous relationship. If the saying, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” is true, then St. Cloud fans should be supporting the Pioneers in hopes of making their own conference stronger for future at-large tourney bids.
Minnesota State Mavericks Fans Match with Michigan Wolverines
Through some process of elimination here, Mavericks fans won’t be quick to forget the 5-1 massacure at the hands of Denver just two years ago in the 2022 championship.
It’s doubtful that the cities Mankato and Boston have ever been used in the same sentence until now… you may say it’s “unwritten’... Looks like Mavericks fans are going to be bunking with the Wolverines before they run out of today's allotted Tinder swipes.
The rest is still unwritten…#GoBlue〽️ pic.twitter.com/Y0vqc8eBPa
— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) April 1, 2024
Minnesota State has a niche for being in the right place at the right time, which has helped them dominate the CCHA and previously the WCHA. Michigan is HOT right now and their post game celebrations are even hotter. It’s easy to be drawn to this young Wolverine squad with so much talent, grit, and personality poised to go on a good run.
Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs Fans Match with Michigan Wolverines
Unlike St. Cloud State, Minnesota Duluth won’t be valuing conference allegiance as they still have a bitter taste in their mouth from the 2017 Frozen Four Final in Chicago where they faced a heartbreaking late loss to Denver. However, Duluth won the tourney last time the Frozen Four was in St. Paul so their weekend long girlfriend may have some extra luck on their side.
Similar to Minnesota State fans, the Bulldogs are going to match up with the only midwest team in the tourney, Michigan. Being on the shores of Lake Superior, Bulldogs fans can relate to the constant lake effect snow that plagues the Great Lakes State every winter, making the Wolverines the perfect companion.
Minnesota Gophers Fans Match With Boston College Eagles
This is an easy one. The Gophers want to be college hockey blue bloods, but sadly have only 5 National Championships on their resume. To anyone wearing maroon and gold this fact is upsetting, and embarrassing. It’s like being the hockey equivalent of Duke, Kansas, and Kentucky in college basketball, only being stuck watching UConn win it every year.
Regardless of what you think about the B1G Ten, the rivalry with Michigan is real as the Wolverines have come to Mariucci three consecutive B1G Ten playoffs and dissected the Gophers like an offensive lineman murdering a basket of Asian Zing at Buffalo Wild Wings.
Gophers simply can not embrace a conference rival who has had the best of them as of late, not to mention has 9 National Championships—more than anyone.
Tied with the Wolverines are the Denver Pioneers, also with 9 Nattys. So, yeah, Gopher fans can’t root for them either as DU is already parked in their spot at the college hockey country club.
Finally, we eliminate BU because to quote Miracle, “A lot of guys from Minnesota and Boston. Yeah, that’s gonna work.” The Gophers and Terriers have had far too many NCAA dust ups, for U of M folks to embrace BU as their golden girlfriend.
This leaves Gopher fans cheering for Boston College. BC is another school with blue blood status, and a LinkedIn that leaves fans wanting more. Like Minnesota, the Eagles only have 5 National Championships. Plus the colors are close enough, so Gopher fans, BC it is!
So there it is, you have our permission to stray. Enjoy your Frozen Four fling this week!
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