With the Frozen Four being a little over a week away, there will be plenty of talk about how great 'Johnny Hockey' is, and how much North Dakota hates Minnesota and vice versa. We'll get to that, but first, let's take a look at some of the numbers and key facts among the four Frozen Four contestants.
|
Boston Colege
|
Union
|
Minnesota
|
North Dakota
|
| Location |
Chestnut Hill, Mass. |
Schenectady, NY |
Minneapolis, Minn. |
Grand Forks, ND |
| Regional |
Northeast |
East |
West |
Midwest |
| Overall Seed |
No. 2 |
No. 3 |
No. 1 |
No. 14 |
| Record |
28-7-4 |
30-6-4 |
27-6-6 |
25-13-3 |
| Conference |
Hockey East |
ECAC Hockey |
Big Ten |
NCHC |
| Head Coach |
Jerry York |
Rick Bennett |
Don Lucia |
Dave Hakstol |
| Captain |
Patrick Brown |
Mat Bodie |
Nate Condon, Kyle Rau |
Dillon Simpson |
| Leading Scorer |
Johnny Gaudreau (77) |
Daniel Carr (48) |
Kyle Rau (37) |
Rocco Grimaldi (39) |
| Top +/- D |
Steve Santini (+28) |
Shayne Gostisbehere (+28) |
Mike Reilly (+22) |
Paul LaDue +16 |
| Starting Goalie |
Thatcher Demko (.920) |
Colin Stevens (.932) |
Adam Wilcox (.934) |
Zane Gothberg (.926) |
| NHL Draft Picks |
10 |
1 |
14 |
15 |
| Past NCAA Champ. |
5 |
- |
5 |
7 |
| Last won NCAA |
2012 |
- |
2003 |
2000 |
| Americans |
23 |
18 |
25 |
12 |
| Canadiens |
4 |
9 |
0 |
14 |
| State/Province |
Massachusetts |
New York |
Minnesota |
Minn./British Columbia |
2014 Frozen Four: Facts and Numbers
After having two ECAC Hockey teams from the state of Connecticut in last year's Frozen Four, this year's edition will have four different conferences represented with all four teams coming from a different state.
Regardless of what happens in the Frozen Four, Union will be only team to hit the 30-win plateau this season.
Three No. 1 seeds and a No. 4 seed advanced. North Dakota is the only team in the Frozen Four that comes from outside the No. 1 seed band.
Jerry York (BC) and Dave Hakstol (North Dakota) are coaching at their alma maters while Don Lucia and Rick Bennett played at other schools than their current employers. Lucia is a Notre Dame grad and Rick Bennett played hockey at Providence.
No Europeans are represented at this year's Frozen Four.
North Dakota has the most Canadians (14) of any team in the Frozen Four.
21 of the 25 players on Minnesota's roster come from the state of Minnesota.
There will be 29 total NHL Draft picks on the rosters of the two teams playing in the late game. North Dakota has 15 and Minnesota has 14.
Comparatively, Union has just one -- Shayne Gostisbehere. The Dutchmen's opponent, BC, has 10.
Taking Union out of the equation, the longest championship drought for a Frozen Four team is North Dakota. UND last won the NCAA Championship in 2000. BC (2012) and Minnesota (2003) did it more recently.
North Dakota's last NCAA Championship came in Providence, RI at the expense of Boston College.
Union is the lone team in the Frozen Four without an NCAA Championship, but the Dutchmen have made the NCAA Tournament four straight seasons after never making it prior to 2011.
The Dutchmen knocked BC out of the NCAA Tournament in the East Regional semifinals last season.
Minnesota is the only team competing in this season's Frozen Four that hasn't made the NCAA Tournament at least four straight seasons. The Gophers missed in 2011.
There has never been a Frozen Four in the city of Philadelphia. Last year's event in Pittsburgh was the first for the Keystone State.
The 2015 Frozen Four heads back to Boston. The University of Denver (2004) and University of Michigan (1998) are the last two champions when the event was held in Beantown.
If Union wins the Frozen Four, the ECAC will have won back-to-back championships for the first time since 1971-72 when Boston University was a member of the league.
The last time a conference won two or more consecutive NCAA Championships was from 2008-2010 when Boston College won twice with Boston University winning in between.
If Minnesota or North Dakota won in Philadelphia, it would mark the first championship for either the NCHC or Big Ten, as both are in the first year of existence.
North Dakota has the most (7) NCAA Championships of any team in the Frozen Four, but head coach Dave Hakstol has yet to win one.
Jerry York has five NCAA Championship rings in his arsenal, including four at his alma mater.
Rick Bennett is the only coach in the Frozen Four who has played in the NHL.
Jerry York (68) is the oldest coach in the Frozen Four while Dave Hakstol (45) is the youngest.
Rick Bennett and Jerry York were born one day apart on the calendar, but 22 years apart.
--
Jeff Cox covers college, junior and high school hockey, NCAA recruiting and NHL Draft prospects. Follow him on twitter @JeffCoxSBNation.
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