ff2011

Walking into the Xcel Energy Center front gate for the first time in three weeks Wednesday afternoon, I was surrounded by clusters of North Dakota fans, settling in to watch the Fighting Sioux practice session. The crowd was somewhat sparse, but it reminded me how dedicated Sioux fans are. The same arena was near full for … Read more

Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson has brought six teams to the Frozen Four, four with Lake Superior State and two now with the Fighting Irish. One would think that all those teams shared a common thread of a lock-down defense and some of them the abundance of freshmen in this year’s edition.  But while that might … Read more

Michigan coach Red Berenson and players Matt Rust, Carl Hagelin and Louie Caporusso took their turn in front of the media Wednesday. Here are some video highlights. Everyone takes a turn talking about being in St. Paul: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYJ_rHpjlS0 Berenson talks about parity in college hockey and how it affects the tournament: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOEC23OsbBI

This is Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson’s sixth trip to the Frozen Four. The first four came with Lake Superior State, three of which resulted in national championships. (The other would have resulted in a fourth title if not for some guy named Paul Kariya.)  The most recent trip came with the Fighting Irish in 2008. By any … Read more

Two of the seniors currently on the Bulldogs’ roster, Justin Fontaine and Mike Montgomery, had chances to leave after last year. However, neither wanted to, both due to how their season ended (a loss to North Dakota in the WCHA Final Five) and due to the excitement pending in Duluth (such as their new arena). … Read more

On the eve of college hockey’s national championship, the season’s crowning moment, an interesting question was posed to Minnesota-Duluth’s Justin Fontaine, a native of Bonnyville, Alberta, regarding a Frozen Four in Canada. At first thought, the notion sounds weird — why would the NCAA move the Frozen Four to Canada? — but if you consider … Read more

If the semifinal contests break one way, we’ll have a championship game between the Fighting Irish and the Fighting Sioux. Almost certainly, that will be the first title matchup between Fighting anythings. If the semis go the other way, it’ll be the Wolverines against the Bulldogs. A matchup of animals that we’ve only seen about … Read more

A bit has already been written about it, but this weekend gives the Bulldogs and their blonde dye jobs a wider audience, like the New York Times, whose writer asked about it. “My first impression was I am not going to do that,” said coach Scott Sandelin. “They asked a couple times, but you know … Read more

Notre Dame senior Joe Lavin enjoyed the journey to the Frozen Four even more than the rest of his teammates.  At least in some ways. The Fighting Irish had to navigate through Hockey East, defeating Merrimack and New Hampshire in the hostile environment of the Manchester, N.H., regional. But for Lavin, it was home sweet home.  … Read more

Minnesota-Duluth is understandably excited and happy to be in the Frozen Four, not only for the obvious reasons, but because it has become the de facto representative for the state of Minnesota. That being said, the Bulldogs don’t feel like they’ve got any added pressure on them. “I don’t see it that way,” said goaltender … Read more

The semifinal game between North Dakota and Michigan will involve two of the most storied schools in college hockey.  Michigan’s nine NCAA championships leads the field; North Dakota’s seven titles ties the Fighting Sioux with Denver for second place. The contestants in the other semifinal, Notre Dame and Minnesota-Duluth, have zero national championships compared to Michigan … Read more

Minnesota-Duluth players Kenny Reiter, Mike Montgomery and Justin Fontaine and coach Scott Sandelin met with the media Wednesday. Here are some video clips. Reiter, Montgomery, Fontaine and Sandelin on playing in the Frozen Four: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJX2RmDRHk8 Reiter on his confidence despite the layoff: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hlx7-wplCs Montgomery on the Bulldogs playing in their home state: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TyPwgdTXRs

At today’s press conference the Notre Dame players were asked if they watched the school’s women’s basketball team playing for a national championship last night.  Not only was the answer in the affirmative, but ND coach Jeff Jackson quipped that because of the game it was “the first time they were late for a snack.”

Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson met with the media Wednesday. Here are a couple video clips of his news conference. On being at the Frozen Four: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9hMynteLnY On his team’s chemistry: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfd5htMP5CE