NFL
By Jason Gulden
The journey started for college hockey this past October, and it all came to an end last weekend in Las Vegas.
For the 8th time in the last 11 years, the NCHC is the home to the national champion. Denver University is once again the National Champion. The third time this decade, they have finished on top of the College Hockey world.
Let’s look back at how we got to this point over the past weekend.
Frozen Four
The Final Four gave us an NCHC vs. Big Ten matchup in both games. The first matchup on Thursday saw North Dakota take on Wisconsin. North Dakota came into the game after back-to-back shutouts in the Sioux Falls region, while outscoring its opponents 8-0 in those games.
Wisconsin came into the game after upsetting the 3rd-overall seed, Michigan State, scoring 2 goals in a span of 35 seconds before winning in overtime.
Unfortunately, for NCHC fans, Wisconsin would be up to its old tricks in the game. They would win 2-1. Those 2 goals came in the 1st period in a span of 27 seconds. North Dakota would get its only goal in the last minute of the game to prevent the shutout.
The Thursday nightcap would see the top-seeded Michigan take on Denver. After North Dakota lost earlier in the day, NCHC’s hopes of winning the National Championship were put on Denver University’s shoulders.
It was tough for me personally to root for Denver, as they are my team, Colorado College, and arch-rival. However, since I wanted the NCHC to win the national championship, I had no option but to root for Denver.
This could very well be the game of the tournament, as Denver would win 4-3 in double overtime. Captain Kent Anderson would send Denver to the National Championship game when he scored at the 12:35 mark of the 2nd overtime.
The championship game is set, as we will see Wisconsin take on Denver on Saturday afternoon.
Hobey Baker Award
Before we get to the National Championship game, we have some hardware to hand out. Friday evening, the top College Hockey player was named. The three Hobey Baker Hat Trick finalists are as follows:
- Michigan Senior Forward T.J. Hughes
- Denver Junior Defenseman Eric Pohlkamp
- Minnesota Duluth Sophomore Forward Max Plante
The winner of this year’s Hobey Baker award goes to Minnesota Duluth forward Max Plante. This is the 7th time Minnesota Duluth has won the award. 2nd time while they have been in the NCHC, and it’s the 3rd time an NCHC player won the award.
There were some thoughts that, following this season, Max Plante would sign an NHL contract with the Detroit Red Wings, who own his draft rights. It was announced during the ceremony that he would be returning for his junior year. He will once again be joined by his older brother, Zam Plante, and their younger brother, Victor Plante.
If Maz and Zam had this much success together this season, tormenting NCHC teams, imagine what will happen when Victor joins them in October.
National Championship
Saturday afternoon comes, and we are at the final college hockey game of the 2025-2026 season. Just like the final four games, we have the NCHC taking on the Big Ten to crown the best team in college hockey.
Denver University, representing the NCHC, and Wisconsin, representing the Big Ten. These two teams are no strangers to each other, as they were once part of the WCHA before the NCHC and Big Ten conferences were formed.
Coming into the game, this was the first time they faced off since 2024, and Denver was riding a 7-1-2 record in their last 10 games against Wisconsin. However, Wisconsin has a 76-66-13 record overall against Denver University, with a 13-3-0 record in the playoffs and a 4-1-0 record at Natural sites.
Wisconsin would get the scoring underway at 13:36 of the 1st period. The score would remain 1-0 Wisconsin until the 7:31 mark of the 3rd period. Denver Reiger Lorenz scored the tying goal. Kyle Chyzowski would score the game-winning goal at 14:08 of the 3rd period.
The big story of the game was Denver’s lack of shots by the start of the 3rd period. Denver only had 5 shots on goal and would have 10 shots in the 3rd period.
The tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, Johnny Hicks, would save 78 of the 82 shots he faced in the Frozen Four with a .951 save percentage. Hicks would finish his freshman season with a 16-0-1 record while setting the NCHC and NCAA record save percentage at .957. Johnny would also set the NCHC single-season record with 1.186 Goals against average. He was named the Most Outstanding player in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff, NCAA Loveland Region, and NCAA Frozen Four.
Pretty impressive for a freshman goal that took place over halfway through the season for the University of Denver.
Closing
Well, that’s a wrap for the 2025-2026 College hockey season. It’s been my pleasure bringing you guys the NCHC this season. Next season, the NCHC welcomes its 10th school, St. Thomas, which is coming over from the CCHA. I look forward to bringing you the action next season.
Keep an eye out for other articles I’m writing here on TeamNBSMedia this summer, and keep an eye out late September/early October as we get the 2026-2027 NCHC hockey season underway.
Have a great summer, NCHC hockey fans. Talk to you all in roughly 6 months.
