[gameday game_id=2656]
JD (8:06): A sincere thanks to everyone who followed along. Please join USCHO all night long from Las Vegas with full coverage and analysis of Denver’s 2-1 win over Wisconsin in the Frozen Four championship game.
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JD (8:05): It’s all over — Denver wins it. ELEVENTH NCAA championship for the Pioneers. Third title for 36 YEAR OLD David Carle. SEVENTH NATTY IN NINE YEARS for the NCHC
JD (8:01): Wisconsin playing “The Horse” right now which was arranged for marching band by legendary Wisconsin band conductor Bill Moffit, just a little pep-band trivia for you cool cats out there
CL (8:00): On Denver’s second goal, Hauser lost his stick with no contact. He was moving post to post and the stick simply slipped out of his hands, all the way to the corner.
JD (7:59): Wisconsin calls timeout. Ensuing faceoff will be in Denver defensive zone with exactly 1:50 left to play. Wisconsin net empty. Can Wisconsin do it??? Score a goal to tie it, that is?
JD (7:58): 35,791 announced as total attendance for the Frozen Four’s two nights.
JD (7:52): If Wisconsin kills it off, they’ll have to pull Hauser before too long. He just made three incredible saves in the span of about four seconds of the Denver power play
JD (7:52): Final media timeout of the season, Denver will go on the power play right after these messages. 4:14 to go in the game
JD (7:49): Goal credited to Kyle Chyzowski, who had the tip in, but that goal was all Epperson.
JD (7:48): Denver’s Kristian Epperson scores at 14:08 to make it 2-1, and that’s going to do it. I know anything can happen, and there’s a lot of time left, but I don’t see it happening for Wisconsin. Sorry, Badgers fans
ET (7:45): Mike Hastings has the white board going during the TV timeout. Adjustments? Refinements? We’ll see. No pictures being drawn on the DU bench.
ET (7:37): Wisconsin got back up ice and responded with a couple of good chances, but it doesn’t matter how many shots you have if it’s tied. Denver has escaped one record with 10 shots with 11:25 left. There’s a new spark in the Pioneers.
JD (7:35): First TV timeout, 1-1 with 11:25 left. Gotta wonder what kind of a momentum shift Lorenz’s goal will provide the Pioneers. Could the floodgates open? Or are we headed for a thrilling finish and possibly overtime?
JD (7:33): Denver finally gets one, Rieger Lorenz at 7:31, ties it 1-1. Lorenz pounced on a loose puck right in front of Hauser and swept it in
JD (7:26): Great look there Denver’s Eric Jamieson to tie it, but Denver still with the goose egg (zero goals)
JD (7:24): Stealing this from Ed, who’s all over the NCAA Frozen Four record book — 38 is lowest combined number of shots in a Frozen Four game, 41 lowest combined for a title game (North Dakota vs. Michigan State, 1987). Right now we’re at 27 combined shots 2:30 into the third period
ET (7:21): Denver is heading into record territory, and not in a good way. The fewest shots on goal in a Frozen Four game was nine by Boston College vs. Denver on March 14, 1968, and the fewest in a championship was 15 by Minnesota vs. Quinnipiac in 2023. We’re in the vicinity of lowest combined shots, too.
JD (7:20): Teams back on the ice for the final frame, with Wisconsin leading Denver 1-0. B1G one period away from its first title in history, which will be Wisconsin’s 7th all time. A Denver win would be the program’s 11th all-time, and a whopping seventh in nine years for the NCHC
JD (7:15): Second period thoughts — Wisconsin has absolutely dominated this game. But they’ve got a big (B1G?) problem — they’re ahead only 1-nothing. As well as the Badgers have played, they could use an insurance goal in the biggest way. But then again, they’ve won low-scoring games before (like Thursday) and one might be enough against Hicks.
ET (7:14): Second period thoughts — As dominant as Denver looked after one, it seems even more that way after two. Wisconsin has held the Pioneers to five shots on goal. Denver has almost no time or space, and Wisconsin is out-muscling Denver to loose pucks and along the wall.
CL (7:13): Second period thoughts — Wisconsin continues to throttle Denver, pushing them to the outside and bottling them up in the neutral zone. When Denver does get the puck in a high-scoring area, the Badgers converge quickly to shut it down.
JD (7:05): Red Wings prospect Jack Phelan almost made it 2-0 at the horn — all alone high in the slot and sent a screamer toward the Denver net, but of course Hicks was there with a fantastic pad save. Wisconsin 1-0 after two
ET (7:02): With 3:59 left in the second, Wisconsin had out-attempted Denver 46-19. The Pioneers had blocked 19 Badgers shots to that point.
JD (6:58): I forgot “Brutus” the “Buckeye” but I’ve never seen him in person.
JD (6:55): Final media timeout of the period, still 1-0 Wisconsin. This is a good time to mention — I love “Bucky” the “Badger”, the Wisconsin mascot. B1G has the best mascots. Bucky, “Goldy” the “Gopher” — I mean, pure hilarity all around! Bucky’s bringing it tonight at T-Mobile. Maybe that’s why Wisconsin leads!
JD (6:51): Sorry to keep harping on this, but Wisconsin has a 16-4 shot advantage with ~7 minutes to go in the second. Unreal. Denver overcame getting doubled up in shots in their semifinal win vs. Michigan. Not sure they can survive being quadrupled
ET (6:47): Wisconsin has done a great job bottling up Denver. The Pioneers have not had a lot of zone time and when they do get out of their own end, they aren’t getting past the red line very often.
JD (6:42): A wicked wrister by Simon Tassy from high in the slot resulted in an audible gasp from the crowd and almost gave Wisconsin a 2-zip lead
JD (6:35): We’re almost halfway through the game, and I’m having flashbacks to 2022 title game in Boston, when Denver clearly dominated the first two periods against Mankato but trailed 1-0 going into the third. Denver wound up winning 5-1.
JD (6:33): A USCHO reader just commented that Wisconsin is winning the turnover battle. I agree!
JD (6:25): Teams back out on the ice. Second period is on
ET (6:21): The 10-2 shots-on-goal advantage for Wisconsin may not tell the whole story. Denver blocked 11 shots in the first period. The Badgers out attempted the Pioneers 29-9.
JD (6:14): First period thoughts — Wisconsin leads Denver 10-2 in shots, yet, they seem to be very carefully plotting their attacks. Lots of puck movement before firing, perhaps trying to throw off Hicks? Colleague Derek Schooley said in our USCHO pregame that Wisconsin will have to go high on Hicks, since Hicks has such a low center of gravity and is so good down low. That’s exactly what Zenelov did on the Badgers’ goal
ET (6:12): First period thoughts — Mike Hastings has got to be delighted with how his team played in the first period. Maybe the only flaw was not scoring on the Badgers’ lone power-play opportunity. Wisconsin dominated, limiting Denver to two shots. The Pioneers need to figure out how to open things up because they are getting throttled
CL (6:11): First period thoughts — Wisconsin is rolling, outshootingt he Pioneers 10-2 and out chancing them by a wide margin. Hicks has been good except for the one goal, and that was a beautiful shot by Zelenov, a Sabres draft pick.
JD (6:09): First period is over, Wisconsin leads Denver 1-0. Scoreboard updated with about 33 seconds to go in the period, eliciting a mild, but noticeable, Bronx cheer from Badger fans at T-Mobile Arena
ET (6:08): The Badgers scored before I could comment on their first power play. Simon Tassy was a bumper screening Hicks and also looking for a back door shot. Wisconsin has also been looking for that back door at even strength. That and the shots up top may be what Mike Hastings and his staff identified as how to beat the Denver goalie.
JD (6:07): Scoreboard operator must be from Denver. It still says 0-0 at T-Mobile Arena. Surprisingly there doesn’t seem to be much uproar
ET (6:05): Great shot by Vasily Zelenov. Used the defender as a bit of a screen as he came down the left wing and put it top left corner, just where the Badgers probably need to shoot on Hicks.
JD (6:01): Now, will the Badgers score again, like they’ve scored in bunches this whole postseason?
JD (6:01): Wisconsin takes a 1-0 lead at 13:36, Vasily Zelenov, his sixth of the season.
CL (6:00): Teams so far are 1-16 on the power play in the Frozen Four. Michigan had the only power play goal.
JD (5:57): Wisconsin now on the power play following the second media timeout
ET (5:56): One of the NCAA officials working this Frozen Four told me there was a lot of action on the secondary market for this game. This is a full building and the atmosphere is great.
CHRIS LERCH (5:54): Denver’s first shot came at 8:34. SOG now 5-1 UW
JD (5:54): Ed Trefzger said it, but I’ll type it. Wisconsin’s doing a great job at blocking shots
JD (5:51): Sam Harris has Denver’s first shot, point blank wide open right in front of the net, and is stonewalled by Wisconsin goalie Daniel Hauser.
JD (5:49): We’re almost eight minutes in, and Denver has zero shots
JD (5:44): First TV timeout. But you’re not watching this on TV, you’re following us here, and for that, we thank you…
ET (5:43): Denver’s now 0-for-6 on the power play at the Frozen Four. Good job by Wisconsin’s 58th-ranked PK not only to kill it off, but to get a shorthanded odd-man entry.
JD (5:41): Shorty opportunity for Badgers’ Gavin Morrissey as Wisconsin kills the penalty
JD (5:39): Wisconsin’s Tulk sent off for tripping. First power play of the night goes to Denver
JD (5:38): Coupla great scoring chances already for Wisconsin, including one where the net was somewhat open. As my colleague Mark Anderson of The Associated Press just commented to me, “if you get an open net against that guy, you better score”. “That guy” obviously is Denver goalie Johnny Hicks, who’s been outstanding all year
JD (5:36): Three whistles in the first 31 seconds…
JD (5:34): The NCAA men’s Division I national championship game has begun
ED TREFZGER (5:31 p.m. EDT): One big story today will be the goaltenders. Will Denver’s Johnny Hicks make it 16-0-1 in net, or will Daniel Hauser break the wins record for Wisconsin freshman goalies and prevail as the least heralded of the four rookie netminders in this Frozen Four?
JOHN DOYLE: Hi everybody and welcome to USCHO’s live coverage of the Frozen Four NCAA Championship Game final between Wisconsin (24-12-2, B1G) and Denver (28-11-3, NCHC)
I’m high above the rink at T-Mobile Arena, with Ed Trefzger and Chris Lerch. The teams just warned up and now the Zambonis are clearing the ice. Puck drop ~5:30 p.m. EDT.
Stay with us for insight and analysis all night long