Sizing up the men’s hockey bracket on way to Frozen Four

Published

3 years ago

March 20, 2023

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8:00 PM ET

The NCAA men’s hockey tournament field is set, with 16 teams vying for a trip to Tampa, Florida, for the Frozen Four and a chance at the national championship.

The top four seeds include three of the sport’s most decorated programs — Minnesota, Michigan and defending champ Denver — plus a recent powerhouse in Quinnipiac, which has the best record in the country.

The 16-team field, which includes the six conference champions and 10 at-large teams, will compete in regional play Thursday and Friday, with the regional finals to be played Saturday and Sunday.

The Frozen Four will be at Amalie Arena in Tampa, with the national semifinals April 6 and the national championship game April 8.

Every game of the tournament will be on either ESPNU, ESPN News or ESPN2 and will be available to stream on the ESPN app.

Below are the pairings and schedules for the tournament and a team-by-team look at the field. The schedule will be updated with results as games are played. For a bracket that will update as games are completed, click here.

Schedule

All times Eastern

Manchester, New Hampshire, regional

Thursday: Western Michigan vs. Boston University, 2 p.m. (ESPN2); Cornell vs. Denver, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN News)

Saturday: Regional final, 4 p.m. (ESPNU)

Fargo, North Dakota, regional

Thursday: Minnesota State vs. St. Cloud State, 5 p.m. (ESPNU); Canisius vs. Minnesota, 9 p.m. (ESPN2)

Saturday: Regional final, 6:30 p.m. (ESPNU)

Bridgeport, Connecticut, regional

Friday: Ohio State vs. Harvard, 2 p.m. (ESPNU); Merrimack vs. Quinnipiac, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN News)

Sunday: Regional final, 4 p.m. (ESPN2)

Allentown, Pennsylvania, regional

Friday: Michigan Tech vs. Penn State, 5 p.m. (ESPNU); Colgate vs. Michigan, 8:30 p.m. (ESPNU)

Sunday: Regional final, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

Frozen Four
at Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida

April 6: National semifinals, 5 and 8:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

April 8: National championship game, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)

Manchester regional

Denver (30-9-0)

How they got in: At-large bid (lost NCHC semifinal to Colorado College)

NCAA appearances: 32

Frozen Four appearances: 18 (nine national titles, last in 2022)

Last NCAA finish: Won national title over Minnesota State in 2022

Of note: Denver was rolling along, winning 11 of 12, before a stunning 1-0 loss to Colorado College in the NCHC semis likely snapped the team to attention. … Special teams could be a key for Denver’s quest to defend its national title. The Pioneers have the third-best power play in the country (26.6%), but their penalty kill ranks just 45th (78%).

Boston University (27-10-0)

How they got in: Won Hockey East championship

NCAA appearances: 38

Frozen Four appearances: 22 (five national titles, last in 2009)

Last NCAA finish: Lost first round to St. Cloud in 2021

Of note: First-year coach Jay Pandolfo was captain of BU’s national title team in 1995-96. … Freshman Lane Hutson, a Montreal Canadiens draft pick, scored the overtime winner in the Terriers’ Hockey East final win over Merrimack. He is the highest-scoring U19 defenseman (47 points) in the NCAA since Brian Leetch in 1986-87. … For some BU fans, a Frozen Four run is needed to erase the sting of the Terriers’ fourth-place finish in Boston’s beloved Beanpot.

Western Michigan (23-14-1)

How they got in: At-large bid (lost to Colorado College in NCHC quarterfinals)

NCAA appearances: 8

Frozen Four appearances: 0

Last NCAA finish: Lost to Minnesota in regional final in 2022

Of note: The Broncos are well rested after a surprising two-game sweep by Colorado College (13-22-3) in the NCHC quarterfinals (although it must be noted CC knocked off Denver in the semis as well). … Senior Jason Polin leads the nation with 29 goals and is second with 149 shots.

Cornell (20-10-2)

How they got in: At-large bid (lost to Harvard in ECAC semifinal)

NCAA appearances: 23

Frozen Four appearances: 8 (two national titles, last in 1970)

Last NCAA finish: Lost regional final to Providence in 2019

Of note: Cornell is tied with Minnesota State for second in the nation in scoring defense (2.0 goals per game), and the Big Red also can score (eighth with 3.4 goals per game), particularly on the man advantage (25.9%, fourth in NCAA).

Fargo regional

Minnesota (26-9-1)

How they got in: At-large bid (lost Big Ten final to Michigan)

NCAA appearances: 40

Frozen Four appearances: 22 (five national titles, last in 2003)

Last NCAA finish: Lost national semifinal to Minnesota Duluth in 2022

Of note: Much of last season’s Frozen Four team is back, but the Gophers have gotten a huge spark from freshmen Logan Cooley and Jimmy Snuggerud, who are 1-2 on the team in points and plus-minus (Cooley at 52, plus-34; Snuggerud at 49, plus-31). … Minnesota is 11-6 against teams in the NCAA field.

St. Cloud State (24-12-3)

How they got in: Won NCHC championship

NCAA appearances: 17

Frozen Four appearances: 2

Last NCAA finish: Lost first round to Quinnipiac in 2022

Of note: After a disappointing season last year, St. Cloud State looks to get back to the national title game after losing to UMass in 2021. … The battle-tested Huskies have won three of four against Denver. They went through a 1-5-3 stretch late in the regular season, but turned things around in the NCHC tournament.

Minnesota State (25-12-1)

How they got in: Won CCHA championship

NCAA appearances: 9

Frozen Four appearances: 2

Last NCAA finish: Lost national championship game to Denver in 2022

Of note: The Mavericks have been to the last two Frozen Fours, but their spot in the field this season was not fully secured before their stirring comeback OT win over Northern Michigan in the CCHA title game. They scored twice in the last 2:19 of regulation to tie it, then won on Zach Krajnik’s goal 1:08 into overtime.

Canisius (20-18-3)

How they got in: Won Atlantic Hockey championship

NCAA appearances: 2

Frozen Four appearances: 0

Last NCAA finish: Lost in first round to Quinnipiac in 2013

Of note: The Golden Griffins emerged from an upset-filled tournament to claim the Atlantic’s automatic bid. Although checking in at No. 41 in the PairWise rankings, Canisius has at least one thing going for it — experience (albeit not on this stage). The Griffs are the second-oldest team in the country, with an average age of 23.2.

Bridgeport regional

Quinnipiac (30-4-3)

How they got in: At-large bid (lost ECAC semifinal to Colgate)

NCAA appearances: 9

Frozen Four appearances: 2

Last NCAA finish: Lost regional final to Michigan in 2022

Of note: Again led by Yaniv Perets (1.52 GAA), Quinnipiac put up absurd defensive numbers for the second straight season. This year, the Bobcats also scored 3.92 goals per game and the ECAC was much stronger.

Harvard (24-7-2)

How they got in: At-large bid (lost ECAC final to Colgate)

NCAA appearances: 27

Frozen Four appearances: 13 (one national title, in 1989)

Last NCAA finish: Lost first round to Minnesota State in 2022

Of note: The Crimson, who are in the top seven nationally in both goals scored and goals allowed per game, are led by junior Sean Farrell (1.58 points per game, second in the country). … Ted Donato, who keyed Harvard’s run to its lone national title in 1989, has led his alma mater to eight NCAA appearances in 18 seasons at the helm.

Ohio State (20-15-3)

How they got in: At-large bid (lost to Michigan in Big Ten semifinal)

NCAA appearances: 10

Frozen Four appearances: 2

Last NCAA finish: Lost in first round to Denver in 2019 Key stat: The Buckeyes take a ton of shots (1,378, second only to Penn State) and hung a 6-spot on Minnesota and a 7-spot on Michigan in early-season wins over the Gophers and Wolverines. They also have the best penalty kill in the country (89.5%).

Merrimack (23-13-1)

How they got in: At-large bid (lost to BU in Hockey East final)

NCAA appearances: 3

Frozen Four appearances: 0

Last NCAA finish: Lost in first round to Notre Dame in 2011

Of note: The Warriors were the surprise team of the early season, getting well into the top 10 of the rankings, before a rough 2-8-1 stretch at the start of the new year. But they rebounded with a weekend sweep of Boston University and closed strong, securing the final at-large bid despite losing to the Terriers in overtime in the Hockey East championship game.

Allentown regional

Michigan (24-11-3)

How they got in: Won Big Ten championship

NCAA appearances: 40

Frozen Four appearances: 26 (nine national titles, last in 1998)

Last NCAA finish: Lost national semifinal to Denver in 2022

Of note: As has been the case of late, the Wolverines don’t lack for star power. Freshman sensation Adam Fantilli, the likely No. 2 pick in the upcoming NHL draft, leads the nation with 1.85 points per game, while sophomore defenseman Luke Hughes may well be wearing a New Jersey Devils uniform in a few weeks.

Penn State (21-15-1)

How they got in: At-large bid (lost to Ohio State in Big Ten quarterfinals)

NCAA appearances: 3

Frozen Four appearances: 0

Last NCAA finish: Lost in first round to Denver in 2018

Of note: Penn State got off to a 9-0 start that included a 3-0 win over Michigan. The Nittany Lions also beat Minnesota and lost in OT to the Gophers and Wolverines, so they’ve hung with the big boys, but they’ll need to recapture their early mojo to make some noise. … PSU leads the country with 1,462 shots (nearly 40 per game) and is third in faceoff percentage (55%).

Michigan Tech (24-10-4)

How they got in: At-large bid (lost CCHA semifinal to Northern Michigan)

NCAA appearances: 15

Frozen Four appearances: 10 (three national titles, last in 1975)

Last NCAA finish: Lost in first round to Minnesota Duluth in 2022

Of note: Michigan Tech’s best shot at making its first Frozen Four since 1981 is for senior goalie Blake Pietila to stand on his head. Pietila is fifth in the country with a 1.99 GAA, tied for third with a .929 save percentage and No. 1 with 10 shutouts.

Colgate (19-15-5)

How they got in: Won ECAC championship

NCAA appearances: 6

Frozen Four appearances: 1

Last NCAA finish: Lost in first round to Ferris State in 2014

Of note: Colgate, which entered the ECAC tournament at the No. 5 seed, won its first league title in more than 30 years and second ever by beating Harvard 3-2. Goalie Carter Gylander was the key for the Raiders with 34 saves, 14 in the third period.

Note: NCAA tournament and Frozen Four appearances since tournament began in 1948

Sports

Lightning sign McDonagh to 3-year, $12.3M deal

Published

2 hours ago

December 5, 2025

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Lightning sign McDonagh to 3-year, .3M deal

Associated Press

Dec 4, 2025, 10:48 AM ET

TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed veteran defenseman Ryan McDonagh to a three-year extension worth $12.3 million.

General manager Julien BriseBois announced the deal Thursday. McDonagh will be 37 when the new contract kicks in; it counts $4.1 million against the salary cap through the 2028-29 season.

McDonagh helped the Lightning win back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021 and reach the Final in 2022 before losing in six games to the Colorado Avalanche.

They traded him to the Nashville Predators that summer to clear cap space at a time when it was not going up much because of the pandemic and reacquired him in 2024.

Record cap increases will have McDonagh account for less than 4% of the cap each of the next three years.

McDonagh is currently injured, one of several players Tampa Bay has been missing, along with No. 1 defenseman Victor Hedman. The team has still won 16 of 26 games and leads the Atlantic Division.

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NASCAR’s France labeled ‘brick wall’ on rev share

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3 hours ago

December 5, 2025

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NASCAR's France labeled 'brick wall' on rev share

Associated Press

Dec 4, 2025, 07:38 PM ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The attorney for the two teams suing NASCAR portrayed series chairperson Jim France as “a brick wall” in negotiations over the new revenue-sharing model that has triggered the Michael Jordan-backed federal antitrust case against the top form of motorsports in the United States.

23XI Racing, owned by Basketball Hall of Famer Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by fast-food franchiser Bob Jenkins, were the only two organizations out of 15 that refused to sign extensions on new charter agreements in September of 2024.

A charter is the equivalent of the franchise model used in other sports and in NASCAR guarantees every chartered car a spot in all 38 races, plus a defined payout from NASCAR.

NASCAR spent more than two years locked in bitter negotiations with the teams over the extensions because the teams made specific requests in an attempt to improve their financial position. The deal given to the teams on the eve of the start of the 2024 playoffs lacked most of those requests and gave teams a six-hour deadline to sign the 112-page document.

Jeffrey Kessler, attorney for 23XI and Front Row, spent much of Thursday trying to portray France as the holdout in acquiescing to the teams. NASCAR was founded 76 years ago by the late Bill France Sr. and, to this day, is privately owned by the Florida-based family. Jim France is his youngest son.

Kessler questioned NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell for more than three hours in a contentious session in which the attorney at times was shouting at the executive. He used internal communications among NASCAR executives to demonstrate frustration among non-France family members over the slow pace of negotiations and Jim France’s refusal to grant the teams permanent charters. The charter system was established in 2016 to create stability for the teams, and the charters are renewable.

One tense exchange involved an impassioned letter sent by Heather Gibbs, daughter-in-law of team owner Joe Gibbs, in which she implored France to grant permanent charters to help secure the family business.

O’Donnell, in a text message, told Ben Kennedy, nephew of Jim France, “Jim is now reading Heather’s letter out loud and swearing every other sentence.”

Pressed by Kessler as to what France was saying as he read the letter, O’Donnell said the chairperson never swore. Kessler tried to force O’Donnell to reconcile what he wrote to Kennedy, but O’Donnell maintained that his boss was not cursing.

“That’s what I wrote, but he was not doing that,” O’Donnell testified. “We were all taken aback by the letter. I think Jim was frustrated, as we all were.”

Kessler then demanded what sort of gestures or actions France made that led to O’Donnell to tell Kennedy he was swearing. A judge-ordered break in the session prevented O’Donnell from ever clarifying why he characterized France’s reaction that way.

But the internal communications among executives showed the mounting frustration over both the slow pace and direction of the negotiations. As O’Donnell, commissioner Steve Phelps and others tried to find concessions for the teams, they all indicated they were met by resistance time and again by France and his niece, vice chair Lesa France Kennedy.

“Mr. France was the brick wall in the negotiations,” Kessler said to O’Donnell.

“Those are your words, not mine,” the executive replied.

Earlier Thursday, O’Donnell testified that teams approached the sanctioning body in early 2022, asking for an improved revenue model, arguing the system was unsustainable.

O’Donnell was at the meeting with representatives from four teams, who asked that the negotiating window on a new charter agreement open early because they were fighting for their financial survival. The negotiating window was not supposed to open until July 2023.

O’Donnell testified that in that first meeting, four-time series champion Jeff Gordon, now vice chair of Hendrick Motorsports, asked specifically if the France family was “open to a new model.”

Kennedy, great-grandson of NASCAR’s founder, told Gordon yes.

But O’Donnell testified that chairperson France was opposed to a new revenue model.

The teams have maintained that the deal ultimately given to them was “take it or leave it.” 23XI and Front Row were the only teams that refused to sign and instead sued in federal court over antitrust allegations.

O’Donnell said the teams had very specific requests: maximized television revenue, the creation of a more competitive landscape, a new cost model and a potential cost cap.

NASCAR spent the next few months in internal discussions on how to approach the charter renewal process, said O’Donnell, who was called as an adverse witness for the plaintiffs. NASCAR acknowledged the teams were financially struggling, and worried they might create a breakaway series similar to the LIV Golf league.

In a presentation made to the board, O’Donnell listed various options that the teams and NASCAR could take. O’Donnell noted the teams could boycott races, build their cars internally, and race at non-NASCAR-owned tracks, or potentially sell their charters to Liberty Media, the commercial rights holder for Formula 1.

“We knew the industry was challenged,” O’Donnell testified.

As far as NASCAR’s options, O’Donnell told the board it could lock down an exclusivity agreement with tracks not owned by NASCAR, dissolve the charter system, or partner directly with the drivers.

The extensions that began this year upped the guaranteed money for every chartered car to $12.5 million in annual revenue, from $9 million. Hamlin and Jenkins have testified it costs $20 million to bring a single car to the track for all 38 races. That figure does not include any overhead, operating costs or a driver’s salary.

Jenkins opened the fourth day of the trial with continued testimony. He has said he has lost $100 million since becoming a team owner in the early 2000s — and that’s even with a 2021 victory in the Daytona 500. He said Thursday that he “held his nose” when he signed the 2016 charter agreements because he didn’t think the deal was very good for the teams, but a step in the right direction.

When the extensions came in 2024, Jenkins said the agreement went “virtually backward in so many ways.” Jenkins said no owners he has spoken to are happy about the new charter agreement because it falls short of so many of their requests. He refused to sign because “I’d reached my tipping point.”

Jenkins said he was upset that France refused a meeting the week before the final 2025 offers were presented with four owners who represented nine charters, only to learn France was talking to other team owners.

“Our voice was not being heard,” said Jenkins, who believes NASCAR rammed through the 2025 agreement. “They did put a gun to our head and got a domino effect — teams that said they’d never sign saw their neighbor sign.”

Jenkins also said teams are upset about the current Next Gen car, which was introduced in 2022 as a cost-saving measure. The car was supposed to cost $205,000 but parts must be purchased from specified NASCAR vendors, and teams cannot make any repairs themselves, so the actual cost is now closer to double the price.

“To add $150,000 to $200,000 to the cost of the car — I don’t think any of the teams anticipated that,” Jenkins testified. “What’s anti-competitive is I don’t own that car. I can’t use that car anywhere else.”

Sports

Sources: Penn St. turns focus to ISU’s Campbell

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4 hours ago

December 5, 2025

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Sources: Penn St. turns focus to ISU's Campbell

Max OlsonDec 4, 2025, 08:08 PM ET
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- Covers the Big 12
- Joined ESPN in 2012
- Graduate of the University of Nebraska

Iowa State coach Matt Campbell has emerged as the focus of Penn State‘s head coaching search, sources told ESPN on Thursday.

Penn State is in discussions with Campbell about its vacancy after initiating contact with him Wednesday. Both sides are early in the process, and any hire at Penn State will require additional steps and board approval.

Penn State shifted its attention to other candidates after BYU coach Kalani Sitake chose to remain with the Cougars and agree to a long-term extension Tuesday.

Penn State had also engaged at least three other candidates over the past few days, sources told ESPN.

The hiring of Campbell, the winningest coach in Iowa State history, would bring an end to a search that has extended more than 50 days since Penn State fired longtime coach James Franklin on Oct. 12.

The three-time Big 12 Coach of the Year achieved a major turnaround and consistent success during his decade in Ames with eight winning seasons, two Big 12 championship game appearances and a Fiesta Bowl victory over Oregon in 2020 for the school’s first top-10 finish.

Campbell is 72-55 during his tenure at Iowa State. He went 8-4 this season.

The news of Campbell emerging in Penn State’s search was first reported by On3.com.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Adam Rittenberg contributed to this report.