As the Frozen Four returns to Boston for an eighth time, local hockey fans are left to wonder who to cheer for as Michigan, Minnesota, Minnesota State and Denver converge on the TD Garden with hopes of winning college hockey’s national championship.
Two of the three winners of Frozen Fours hosted at TD Garden are in this year’s event. Michigan (1998) and Denver (2004) won the first two Beantown Frozen Fours not hosted at the original Boston Garden. The last Frozen Four in Boston was won by Providence in 2015.
The three previously contested Frozen Fours at the TD Garden each had two Hockey East teams. Boston College appeared in 1998 and 2004 while New Hampshire (1998) Maine (2004) joined the Eagles in those two renditions. In 2015, Providence became the first New England school to win the Frozen Four at TD Garden, ousting favored Boston University in the final.
One of the biggest events of the weekend is the unveiling of the Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner. Boston University stars won college hockey’s top individual award in 1998 and 2015 with Chris Drury and Jack Eichel taking home the hardware. This year will be similar to 2004 when Minnesota Duluth’s Junior Lessard won the trophy. As with Lessard, the Hobey winner will come from a participating team. The three finalists are Denver right wing Bobby Brink, Minnesota State goaltender Dryden McKay, and Minnesota center Ben Meyers.
While there aren’t any New England teams in the Frozen Four, there are connections to the region among the four programs.
Michigan
The Wolverines are the only squad with New England players on the roster. Center Matt Beniers (Hingham, Mass.) and right wing Mackie Samoskevich (Sandy Hook, Conn.) are both integral parts.
Beniers, who played one season at Milton Academy before joining the NTDP, has 20 goals and 23 assists in 36 games. He missed time while at the World Junior Championship and Olympics. The sophomore was the second pick in the 2021 NHL draft. Could this weekend be his swan song in college hockey en route to the Seattle Kraken?
Samoskevich is a little bit more of a stranger to the region. He last played for a local team in 2015-16 when he suited up for the Connecticut Oilers as a bantam minor. From there, Samoskevich was off to Shattuck-St. Mary’s for three years followed by two with the Chicago Steel. A first round pick of the Florida Panthers in 2021, he also hit the double-digit mark in goals this season.
Michigan’s roster boasts seven first-round picks, including the aforementioned locals. Star defenseman Owen Power went first and fellow blue liner Luke Hughes was taken fourth in 2021. Fans of the Boston Bruins will get a chance to watch 2019 first-round pick John Beecher, a center who spent time in prep hockey with Salisbury.
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Between the locals and the name recognition of the Maize and Blue, expect a large chunk of the TD Garden crowd to be cheering for the Wolverines in their semifinal against Denver.
Minnesota State
What could have been for Holy Cross isn’t something that you might expect to read in a Frozen Four preview. But it’s true that Minnesota State senior goaltender Dryden McKay could have been a Crusader. He originally committed to Holy Cross out of the Madison Capitols before switching to the Mavericks.
The three-time Hobey Baker finalist has notched plenty of accolades and individual honors. Hailing from Downers Grove, Ill., McKay has a .934 save percentage to go along with his 37-4 record22. Remarkably, he has a career record of 112-19-4 and .932 save percentage while playing in 138 NCAA games.
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McKay isn’t the only New England connection on the Minnesota State team that will face in-state rival Minnesota. Former New Hampshire defenseman Benton Maass has been a staple on a solid and veteran-laden Mankato blue line this season. The Washington Capitals draft pick returned to his home state for his fifth year of eligibility after playing four seasons with the Wildcats.
On the coaching staff is first-year assistant Paul Kirtland, who prepped at Holderness before going on to play at Ohio State. He spent six seasons as an assistant coach in the region with Trinity, Sacred Heart and Yale.
Denver
Denver bench boss David Carle is the second-youngest coach in Division 1, only behind Long Island University’s Brett Riley (Needham, Mass.). Carle’s playing career was cut short due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that was diagnosed ahead of the 2008 NHL draft.
His older brother, retired NHL defenseman Matt Carle, was a star freshman on the 2003-04 Denver squad that won the Frozen Four in Boston. He went on to win the 2006 Hobey Baker Memorial Award before playing in 730 NHL regular season games.
David’s younger brother, Alex, played college hockey at Merrimack following a prep career at Kimball Union. David, now in his fourth season, succeeded former Maine star Jim Montgomery as head coach of the Pioneers. Can the 32-year-old lead Denver to a national championship on Saturday?
Minnesota
The Golden Gophers have the least connections to the region. Meyers, the team’s leading scorer and an Olympian, was originally committed to play for the late Red Gendron at Maine before switching his pledge to his home state flagship.
The Bruins have already signed two key undrafted free agents out of college hockey in Boston College center Marc McLaughlin (Billerica, Mass.) and Western Michigan goaltender Brandon Bussi. Can Don Sweeney land a third in Meyers? The Delano, Minn., native will be the most scouted player at this year’s Frozen Four as a number of NHL organizations have their sights set on signing college hockey’s top undrafted free agent.
