NCAA Frozen Four 2017 Preview: Teams Playing, Game Start Times, TV Channel, Odds, Predictions, And More

Now that the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is over, with North Carolina having emerged as national champions, there is another major collegiate sporting event that is nearing its end: the men’s hockey tournament.

NCAA Frozen Four 2017 Preview: Denver, Harvard, Minnesota-Duluth And Notre-Dame Competing

The NCAA Frozen Four will be held in Chicago on Thursday evening, and here are the four teams vying for the national title: Denver, Minnesota-Duluth, Harvard and Notre Dame.

First, the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs will face the Harvard Crimson at 6 p.m. EST, and then the Denver Pioneers play the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at 9:30 p.m. EST.

Both semifinals will be held at the Blackhawks’ United Center, and both games will air on ESPN2. The games can also be live-streamed on WatchESPN.

The championship game will also be played at United Center on Sunday at 8 p.m. EST, on the same channel and live stream.

Denver are the heavy favorites to win the national title, according to OddsShark, with Minnesota-Duluth the second-most likely team to win. Harvard and Notre Dame follow in third-most and fourth-most likely to win the championship, respectively.

The Pioneers (31-7-4) are the top seed in the hockey tournament. Denver advanced to the semifinals with victories over Michigan Tech and Penn State in the Midwest Regional.

Troy Terry scored a hat trick in the win over Penn State that punched Denver’s ticket to the Frozen Four, and he has scored 41 points this season. Henrik Borgstrom is the Pioneers’ leading scorer, with 21 goals and 21 assists.

Denver also boast a talented defensive squad, and goalie Tanner Jaillet has a .928 save percentage.

Notre Dame reached the national semifinals with a 3-2 overtime win over UMass-Lowell. Andrew Oglevie scored the winner early in the extra session.

Before that, the Fighting Irish defeated Minnesota 3-2 in the Northeast regional semifinal.

Notre Dame’s leading scorer is forward Anders Bjork, who was drafted by the Boston Bruins in 2014. Bjork has 21 goals and 31 assists.

Minnesota-Duluth (27-6-7) has had a great end to their season, with seven straight victories. The Bulldogs’ last two wins came in overtime against Ohio State first and then against Boston University.

Alex Iafallo leads Minnesota-Duluth in scoring, with 19 goals and 30 assists.

Harvard is the surprise team this year. The Crimson are playing in their first Frozen Four since 1994. Harvard are the country’s leading scoring team with 4.14 goals per game, and won the annual Beanpot tournament in February. The Beanpot is an annual competition between four major Boston hockey schools: Harvard, Northeastern, Boston College and Boston University.

In their last two games, the Crimson beat Providence 3-0 first, and then eliminated Air Force with a 3-2 win. Coach Ted Donato’s team have won 16 straight games, and Alexander Kerfoot and Tyler Moy lead Harvard with 44 points each.

Denver and Harvard are likely to win their respective games and advance to the finals given their records thus far this season.

BOSTON, MA – FEBRUARY 13: Luke Esposito #9 of the Harvard Crimson celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Boston University Terriers during the 2017 Beanpot Tournament Championship at TD Garden on February 13, 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Article by Pablo Mena