Now that the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Frozen Faceoff tournament is over, it’s time to look at the NCAA regionals held in four different places throughout the country. Of the four teams that entered the Frozen Faceoff, three have gone on to regionals, and one had their season end early.
The team that had to pack their bags and head home was St. Cloud State University (SCSU), whose Jack Peart has just signed with the Minnesota Wild. The three teams that moved on were the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks, the University of Denver Pioneers, and the University of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks.
Each team was put into a different regional, and in this piece, we’ll look at each team from the NCHC heading to the NCAA. We’ll start with the team that plays first, Denver, who will take on the University of Massachusetts-Amherst Minutemen at 1 pm CT on Thursday, March 28.
Denver Looks to Keep Rolling
The Denver Pioneers won the 2024 Frozen Faceoff and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, but their overall ranking would’ve earned them the spot anyway. Denver is always a team built around speed and scoring, and this season has been no different. They did start a little slow in both games during the Frozen Faceoff, but they woke up and turned it on as the game went on, including their defensive game.
During the postgame press conference following the championship game, head coach David Carle answered what will be needed to win the NCAA. “Well, we need to win the first one, so that’ll be our focus, just trying to take care of our bodies here, get out of here quickly, get back, get to bed, get back to Denver before the snowstorm hits here and just begin preparing and getting ready for that next opponent, so that’ll be our main focus. Just get through that I think we’re playing good hockey right now, playing with a high level of desperation which is good. We know that whoever we’re playing is gonna be an excellent team, there’s 16 left, they’re here for a reason…”
Carle continued with how his team is focused, “It’s going to take a team-first commitment like the guys I’ve touched on, and good news for us, we’ve got guys in the room who’ve been through that challenge and experience, and I think we’ve got a lot of hungry young people that want to add their legacy to the program.” Denver will use their team-first mentality to get that first win and move on from there. They’re definitely one of the favorites, and seeing their talent showcased will be fun.
Mavericks Keep Surprising
The Mavericks have a strong season record of 23-12-4, but they definitely surprised many people with their win over the Fighting Hawks and their near win over the Pioneers. They came out strong, playing solid hockey, and while they were scored on first against the Fighting Hawks, they didn’t back down. They forced their game into their opponents’ faces, and it worked as they took down the number one seed in the tournament. They scored some strong goals and had quite a bit of speed to go with it, especially out of one of their stars, Zach Urdahl, who they’ll need to step up more in the regional.
Since they did lose in the championship game, there are things they want to work on, and during their postgame press conference, forward Jack Randl discussed what those things were. “I think they (Denver) did a good job of kind of clogging up the neutral zone and making us put pucks behind them, which we wanted to do, and they’re pretty good on our breakouts there so we wanted to try to slow them down and I thought we did that for the most part, but they did a pretty good job of slowing us down as well.”
In the NCAA regional, every team will be fast, and the Mavericks will have a tough test as they face the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers on Thursday, March 28, at 7:30 pm CT. The Gophers were in the NCAA Final last year but lost in a tough overtime game against the Quinnipiac Bobcats, so they’ll be looking to redeem themselves. This game will likely be a close one as they play similar styles and it’ll hopefully be a great one to watch some entertaining hockey.
Fighting Hawks Need to Redeem Themselves
After dominating most of the regular season, the Fighting Hawks came to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff and couldn’t get it done. They were lacking in nearly every aspect of their game, and it was clear they were off. They knew they were already a lock for the NCAA tournament, but they still should’ve wanted to come out on top for seeding purposes, and going in on a win is always better.
While the Fighting Hawks have always been strong offensively, their defense sometimes is lacking and in their postgame press conference in the NCHC tournament, defenseman Keaton Pehrson summed it up, saying, “Working together as a five-man unit to break the puck out, five guys in front of the net then sort it from there to be better defensively. You know it’s a team game, can’t do it by ourselves, just working together better.”
Related: Mavericks Defeat Fighting Hawks in 1st Frozen Faceoff Appearance
The Fighting Hawks know what it takes to win championships, and they made it clear they know they have to be better. They have the talent to win, and they showed that during the regular season. They’re known as a playoff team, and they’ll have to be ready as they’ll take on the University of Michigan Wolverines on Friday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m. CT.
NCHC Has Representatives
The NCHC will have three teams representing them in the NCAA, and since they’re each in their own regional, they have a chance to have at least one team make it to the NCAA Frozen Four. Last season, they didn’t have any teams make it all the way, so hopefully, at least one team does so they can be represented. The Pioneers and the Fighting Hawks have the expectations to make it, and then there are the unpredictable Mavericks. Hopefully, all three make it in, and it’ll be a very entertaining NCAA tournament.
