All the particulars as BC, BU ready for another Frozen Four

The men’s Frozen Four is in Saint Paul, Minn., and two Boston teams are making the trip.

Boston College will take on Michigan, and Boston University will face Denver in the semifinals on Thursday night, with the winners competing for the national title.

Here’s everything you need to know about the teams, the games, and the fanfare surrounding the weekend.

BC and BU’s Frozen Four history

The rivalry in this year’s Frozen Four runs deep.

The Eagles and Terriers have each won five national titles, with BC’s most recent coming in

2012 (the others: 1949, 2001, 2008, 2010). BU’s only title this century came in 2009, and before that, the Terriers won in 1971, 1972, 1978, and 1995. BU advanced to the Frozen Four in last year’s tournament, but fell to Minnesota, 6-2, in the national semifinal.

The last time BC reached the Frozen Four was in 2016, when current Eagles head coach Greg Brown was an assistant on Jerry York’s staff. In Brown’s 14 years coaching under York, the Eagles made seven Frozen Fours.

Including this year, BC has appeared in 26 Frozen Fours, compared to BU’s 24. The Eagles and Terriers have three Frozen Fours in common (1950, 1978, and 1990), but they only played in one of them.

In 1978, BU and BC faced off in the NCAA championship game in Providence. The Eagles took an early 2-1 lead, thanks in part to future NHLer Joe Mullen, before BU rattled off four straight goals and skated to a 5-3 win. The Terriers hoisted the trophy for the third time in eight years.

That BU team featured Jack O’Callahan, Dave Silk, Jim Craig, and Mike Eruzione, all of whom were on the 1980 gold medal-winning US Olympic team that took down the Soviet Union in what became known as the “Miracle on Ice.”

Frozen Four teams’ series history

The BC-BU rivalry is well-documented in Boston, and they’re about as familiar with each other as they could be.

The Eagles have won three of their four matchups this season, including a 4-1 win at Conte Forum on Jan. 26, a 4-3 win at Agganis Arena on Jan. 27, and a 6-2 win in the Hockey East championship game on March 23. The Terriers stole a 4-3 victory in the Beanpot semifinal at TD Garden.

As far as the other two teams in the Frozen Four go, it’s mostly uncharted territory. BU hasn’t played Denver, its semifinal opponent, since Oct. 27, 2017, when the top-ranked Pioneers took a

4-3 win at Agganis Arena. The Terriers haven’t played Michigan since October 2022, when they split a two-game series in Ann Arbor.

The last time BC played Michigan was Dec. 13, 2014. The Eagles won that game, 5-1, but the Wolverines hold the all-time series lead, 11-5. Should BC advance to play Denver, however, the teams have some recent history: Denver beat BC, 4-3, in the Eagles’ fourth game this season.

How they got here

The road was far from smooth for the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country. BC and BU survived early scares from a pair of No. 4 seeds before pulling away in the third period for comfortable first-round victories. BC scored five unanswered goals against Michigan Tech in a 6-1 win, and BU scored three straight goals in a 6-3 win over RIT.

Then, in the regional finals, both schools overcame 2-0 deficits to earn spots in the Frozen Four. BC never led in regulation against Quinnipiac, needing Jack Malone’s overtime heroics to secure a 5-4 win.

BU came back from down 2-0 to beat Minnesota, 6-3, helped by a pair of empty-netters.

It took two extra periods for third-seeded Denver to beat UMass, 2-1, in the first round. Tristan Broz scored the winner, and goaltender Matt Davis made a career-high 46 saves in the win as the Pioneers advanced to face Cornell in the second round. The Big Red took an early 1-0 lead before Denver scored two unanswered goals to earn a trip to the Frozen Four.

The Wolverines advanced to their third straight Frozen Four with a 4-3 win over North Dakota in the first round and a 5-2 victory over rival Michigan State in the second round. Michigan got its revenge against the Spartans, who downed Wolverines in the Big Ten Tournament title game just a week prior.

TV info and schedule

Both semifinal games, as well as the final, will be broadcast on ESPN2 from the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn. You can also stream all three games on ESPN+.

Here’s the full schedule of games:

Semifinals: Thursday, April 11

Denver vs. Boston University: 5 p.m., ESPN2 Boston College vs. Michigan: 8:30 p.m., ESPN2

Championship: Saturday, April 13

Semifinal winners, 6 p.m.

Ticket information

If you haven’t bought your tickets yet, it’s not too late. Tickets are still available for all three games.

Tickets to both semifinal sessions range from $120 in the upper decks up to as much as $2,044 for rink-side seats at center ice. One semifinal ticket gets you into both games on Thursday. Ticket prices for the title game range from $130 up to $2,500.

The NCAA also offers “fan experience” tickets, which include game admission, food and drinks, club access, and guest appearances. Fan experience tickets start at $575 per person for the standard package, or $750 per person for the VIP experience.

Men’s Frozen Four fan events

Fans in the Saint Paul area can take in the Frozen Four atmosphere even without going to the games by attending watch parties and fan gatherings in the neighborhood surrounding the Xcel Energy Center.

The BU Alumni Association is hosting a pregame party at Smorgie’s from 2-5 p.m. on Thursday. Registration is recommended.

BC fans will gather at Tom Reid’s Hockey City Pub from 4-7 p.m. Fans are asked to register by Monday.

Three Sixty will be full of Denver fans starting at 1:30 p.m. If Denver advances to the title game, they’ll have another pregame party at Three Sixty on Saturday.

Michigan fans will convene at Pat McGoverns from 4-7 p.m., and registration is recommended.

The NCAA will also host Frozen Fest at the Saint Paul RiverCentre (connected to the Xcel Energy Center), a free event open to the public that includes games, activities, merchandise, giveaways, music, food, and pep rallies. Frozen Fest will run Thursday from 1 to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 1 to 4:30 p.m.

BU fans in the Boston area will meet up at Fenway Johnnie’s for a watch party.

Alumni associations of all four schools are offering watch parties in cities across the country. Check their websites for more information.

Top NHL draft picks abound

All four teams are chock full of future NHL talent, both drafted and still available.

Boston College

Cutter Gauthier: One of three finalists for the Hobey Baker award, the sophomore has 37 goals and 27 assists this season. The Flyers selected him fifth overall in the 2022 draft but traded his rights to Anaheim this season.

Ryan Leonard: With 31 goals and 28 assists in his rookie season, Leonard has proven why the Capitals selected him with the No. 8 pick in last year’s draft.

Gabe Perreault: The Rangers used their firstround pick (23rd overall) last year to select Perreault, a freshman forward who has 57 points (18 goals, 39 assists).

Will Smith: The Sharks drafted the freshman forward with the fourth overall pick in last year’s draft. He leads the nation in points with 69 (23 goals, 46 assists).

Boston University

Macklin Celebrini: He hasn’t been drafted yet, but the freshman phenom is the presumptive No. 1 pick in the upcoming 2024 NHL draft. He’s a Hobey Baker finalist and is tied with Gauthier for second-most points in the nation (32-32–64).

Ryan Greene: The Blackhawks picked Greene in the second round (No. 57 overall) in 2022. A sophomore forward, Greene has 12 goals and 24 assists this season.

Lane Hutson: One of the top defensemen in the NCAA, Hutson went in the second round (No. 62 overall) to the Canadiens in the 2022 NHL draft.

Luke Tuch: The senior forward was the No. 47 pick in the 2020 draft by Montreal. He has nine goals and 20 assists this season and is the younger brother of Sabres forward, and former Eagle, Alex Tuch.

Tom Willander: The Canucks selected Willander, a freshman, with the No. 11 pick in last year’s draft. The defenseman from Stockholm, Sweden, has four goals and 21 assists.

Denver

Zeev Buium: Similarly to Celebrini, Buium is draft eligible for the first time. He’ll be one of the top eligible defensemen after posting 11 goals and 38 assists this season.

Rieger Lorenz: The Wild selected Lorenz in the second round (No. 56 overall) in the 2022 draft. The forward has put up 15 goals and 13 assists in his second season with the Pioneers.

Miko Matikka: The freshman forward from Helsinki, Finland, was drafted by the Coyotes in the third round (No. 67 overall) in 2022. He’s posted 20 goals and 12 assists in his first season in Denver.

Michigan

Gavin Brindley: The Blue Jackets snagged Brindley with the No. 34 pick in the 2023 draft. The sophomore is currently eighth in the nation in points with 53 (25 goals, 28 assists) and is the Wolverines’ leading scorer.

Seamus Casey: Casey is tied with Buium for the third-most assists in the country (38), and he added seven goals for the Wolverines this year. The Blue Jackets picked him in the second round (No. 46) of the 2022 draft.

Rutger McGroarty: Two Michigan teammates went back-to-back in the first round in 2022, with Frank Nazar at No. 13 and McGroarty at No. 14. The Jets have the rights to McGroarty, who has averaged 1.49 points per game this season.

Frank Nazar: Nazar came off the board when the Blackhawks picked him No. 13 overall. The sophomore has 17 goals and 41 assists this season.