Frozen Four
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Photo of the 2006 Frozen Four champs, University of Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey team |
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Photo of the 2006 Frozen Four champs, University of Wisconsin Badgers women's hockey team |
The
Frozen Four is the trademarked name of the final two rounds of the
NCAA Division I championship of
ice hockey in the
USA. Schools advance in a single-elimination tournament from four regional sites to a single site, where the national semifinals and final game are played. The NCAA started a
Women's Frozen Four beginning in the
2000-
01 season.
In
2006, the men's version took place at the
Bradley Center in
Milwaukee, with the
Boston College Eagles being defeated 2-1 by the
University of Wisconsin Badgers for the Division-I ice hockey title. The women's version was held at
Mariucci Arena on the campus of the
University of Minnesota in
Minneapolis. The Badgers women's team were 3-0 victors over the Golden Gophers of Minnesota to claim their first-ever Frozen Four title. It was the first time that Division I hockey titles were won by the same school for both the men's and women's teams.
The 2005 men's semifinals, at
Value City Arena on the campus of
Ohio State University in
Columbus, pitted defending champion
Denver against
Colorado College and
Minnesota against
North Dakota. Denver defeated North Dakota in the championship game to win their second straight National Championship. The 2005 women's final, held at the
Whittemore Center on the campus of the
University of New Hampshire in
Durham, New Hampshire, matched defending champion
Minnesota with 2004 runnerup
Harvard, with the
Gophers successfully defending their title with a 4-3 win.
The Frozen Four, though not called as such, began in
1948 when
Michigan defeated
Dartmouth. The first 10 championships were played at the
Broadmoor Arena in
Colorado Springs. Since then, sites rotate as chosen by the NCAA Division I ice hockey committee. The tournament was first referred to as the "Frozen Four" in
1999, and previous tournaments were retroactively renamed.
The Frozen Four regularly sells out well in advance, helping make the Division I men's ice hockey tournament one of the most profitable for the
NCAA, trailing only the
Division I men's basketball tournament.
The semifinals of the Frozen Four were once played on Thursday and Friday, with the championship on Saturday. But it provided an unfair advantage for the team with the extra rest. The semifinal games are now played in separate sessions on Thursday, with a championship game on Saturday. The
Hobey Baker Award ceremony, Hockey Humanitarian Award ceremony, and USCHO.com Town Hall Meeting take place annually on Friday of Frozen Four weekend. The
Patty Kazmaier Award is handed out during the women's Frozen Four.
Men:
*2007:
Savvis Center (
St. Louis)
*2008:
Pepsi Center (
Denver)
*2009:
Verizon Center (
Washington, D.C.)
*2010:
Ford Field (
Detroit)
*2011:
Xcel Energy Center (
St. Paul)
*2012:
St. Pete Times Forum (
Tampa)
Women:
*2007:
Herb Brooks Arena (
Lake Placid)
*2008:
Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (
Duluth)
*2009:
Agganis Arena (
Boston)
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NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship (listing final games in all divisions)
*
NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Championship (listing final games in all divisions)
