Frozen Four Set for Action in Philadelphia on Thursday

College hockey's finest weekend is set to take place in Philadelphia on Thursday. Here's a quick look at the two contests.

MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS VS NORTH DAKOTA

TALE OF THE TAPE

	MINNESOTA	NORTH DAKOTA
First Year	1921	1946
All-time Record	1,708-957-182	1,402-923-132
All-time Record vs Opponent	145-130-15	130-145-15
NCAA Tournament Appearance	35	29
Frozen Four Appearance	21	20
NCAA Championships*	5 (2003)	7 (2000)

*most recent year in parenthesis

THIS SEASON

Record this Season	27-6-6	25-13-3
Leading Scorer (Points)	Kyle Rau (37)	Rocco Grimaldi (39)
Goals Leader	Justin Kloos (15)	Rocco Grimaldi (17)
Assists Leader	Kyle Rau / Mike Reilly (23)	Rocco Grimaldi (22)
Between the Pipes	Adam Wilcox 25-5-6 .934 sv%, 1.89 GAA	Zane Gothberg 20-9-3 .926 sv%, 1.99 GAA

They may call it “The city of brotherly love,” but believe me, there will be nothing but hatred between these two longtime rivals on Thursday.


In the second game of the Frozen Four taking place in Philadelphia, Minnesota will meet former WCHA nemesis North Dakota.


The Golden Gophers, seeded first in the West Region, seemed to walk through to eastern Pennsylvania, beating Robert Morris 7-3 and St. Cloud State 4-0. On the other side, North Dakota had their work cut out for them. The fourth seeded team in the Midwest Region upset the No. 1 seeded Wisconsin Badgers 5-2 and punched their ticket to Philadelphia with a 2-1 double overtime thriller over Ferris State.


This will be chapter 281 in arguably college hockey's greatest rivalry. The two teams first met in 1948 and North Dakota won that contest 5-3. Since then it has been pretty much evenly matched with the all time record in favor of the Gophers 145-130-15. The games played at neutral sites are as even as it can get, with both teams winning eight games a piece.


The two foes have seen each other four times in the NCAA Tournament. Once again, the record is even at 2-2. In 1979, the only time they met with a championship at stake, a Herb Brooks led Gopher team defeated the Sioux (as they used to be called) 4-3. In 2005, the last time these two met in the Frozen Four, North Dakota topped the Gophers 4-2 at Value City Arena in Columbus, OH. The previous two tournament meetings happened in regional final action, with North Dakota winning 3-2 in overtime in 2007 and Minnesota having the upper hand in St. Paul, Minn. in 2012, taking that contest by a final of 6-2.


Minnesota head coach Don Lucia will use the depth of his team that has carried them all season long. With 14 players on the Minnesota roster drafted into the NHL, the Gophers can strike at any moment with any player.


Scoring on Minnesota is an arduous task as well. Sophomore goaltender Adam Wilcox hasn't given up more than three goals in a game since Jan. 25, a 4-4 tie against Minnesota-Duluth.


For North Dakota, their game is oriented around grit and toughness, what you would expect from your typical North Dakota team.


The men from Grand Forks have 14 players on their roster drafted into the NHL as well.


Don't be surprised if the game is physical right from the opening puck drop as the teams are going to try and set the tempo and try to swing some momentum their respective way. Emotions will be running high because these fan bases and teams hate each other.


Minnesota was a number one seed heading into the tournament. North Dakota was the last team selected into the field of 16.


If last year's tournament taught hockey fans anything, its that seedings don't matter. The Yale Bulldogs were the last team selected into last years tournament and they won it all, upsetting the No. 1 overall seed in Quinnipiac in the national championship.


Throw rankings out the window, throw stats in the garbage can, it doesn't matter how many future pros are on each team.


This is Minnesota versus North Dakota. This is college hockey at its finest.




The face off between Minnesota and North Dakota is set for 8:30 p.m.


UNION DUTCHMEN VS BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES




TALE OF THE TAPE

	UNION*	BOSTON COLLEGE
First Year	1904	1917
All-time Record	325 – 375 – 95	1,445 – 769 – 119
All-time Record vs Opponent	1 – 0	0 – 1
NCAA Tournament Appearance	4	32
Frozen Four Appearance	2	24
NCAA Championships**	0	5 (2012)

*Union begain Division I play in 1991

**most recent year in parenthesis

THIS SEASON

Record this Season	30-6-4	28-7-4
Leading Scorer (Points)	Daniel Carr (48)	Johnny Gaudreau (77)
Goals Leader	Daniel Carr (22)	Johnny Gaudreau (35)
Assists Leader	Mat Bodie (29)	Johnny Gaudreau (42)
Between the Pipes	Colin Stevens 26-4-2 .932 sv%, 1.93 GAA	Thatcher Demko 16-4-3 .920 sv%, 2.16 GAA

One team has an identity and rich hockey tradition, the other building itself into a national powerhouse.


On March 30, 2013 the Boston College Eagles and the Union Dutchmen met for the first time in the NCAA East Regional in Providence, RI.


As a program, Union made its statement to college hockey, announcing “We're here” by throttling the Eagles 5-1 last year in the opening round of the tournament. The Dutchmen would eventually lose to eventual national runner-up Quinnipiac by the same score in the East regional final.


Now, just 376 days later, the two teams will do battle again. This time, it will be for the chance to play for the national championship at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA.


Boston College, led by the most dominant line in the country in Bill Arnold (14 goals, 38 assists), Johnny Gaudreau (35 goals, 42 assists), and Kevin Hayes (27 goals, 36 assists), demolished Denver 6-2 in their opening round match up before punching their ticket to the Frozen Four by beating a very good UMass-Lowell team in the Northeast Regional final.


The team trying to end Boston College's season for the second straight year, Union, rolled through the East region, defeating Vermont and Providence en route to their second Frozen Four appearance in the past three years.


For the Dutchmen to advance to their first national title game, they will need to do what Denver or Umass-Lowell couldn't do and stop that top line of Gaudreau, Hayes and Arnold.


The trio have accounted for almost all of Boston College's offense in the tournament thus far. They have accumulated 19 points between them, netting eight of the Eagles' ten goals in the previous two games.


Union, a team whose school has an enrollment of just over 2,200 students, will be looking to legitimize their place as a dominant team year in and year out by bringing home the championship trophy back to Schenectady, NY, for the first time.


Head coach Rick Bennett is hoping his leaders in Mat Bodie (6 goals, 29 assists), Daniel Carr (22 goals, 26 assists), Shayne Gostisbehere (8 goals, 21 assists), and netminder Colin Stevens will guide the Dutchmen in what is expected to be a fight to the very last second in Philadelphia.


As for the Eagles, they just need to keep playing their game.


Quickness, depth, talent, and defensive toughness have carried Boston College to this point and they will need it in full force come Thursday.


Jerry York's teams in the past decade are just about as experienced as they can get when it comes to the Frozen Four. Since 2006, Boston College has been to the national championship game five times, winning it all in 2008, 2010, and 2012.




The puck drop for the opening game of the Frozen Four between the Dutchmen and the Eagles will be at 5 p.m.