UND Hockey Eager to End Drought at Target Center

North Dakota faces Denver Friday at 7:30 p.m.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (NCHC Media Relations) –Although only four years in the making, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s (NCHC) Frozen Faceoff is quickly becoming college hockey’s premier postseason tournament.

Of the 12 total teams to participate in the Frozen Faceoff, all but two have made the NCAA Tournament. If that’s not enough, history says that at least one of this year’s Frozen Faceoff participants will make an appearance in the NCAA Frozen Four, as five teams from the previous three Frozen Faceoffs have done.

The tradition of top-tier teams facing off at Target Center continues this season with all four participants among the top 11 in the country, according to the uscho.com and USA Hockey Magazine polls, as well as the PairWise Rankings. What’s more, three of the participants are in the top four of the PairWise ranking. The outlier? Eleventh-ranked defending national champion North Dakota, which knows a thing or two about postseason play, and claims 10 of the 25 total NHL draft picks set to take the ice at Target Center.