These four historic programs are bringing a lot of talent to St. Paul
The four programs sending teams to the 2024 Frozen Four (Boston College, Boston University, Denver, and Michigan) are all college hockey blue bloods, and they have the talent to prove it. So let’s take a look at each individual unit and figure out where each team excels the most, which might shed some light on the match-up difficulties we expect to see this weekend.
Offense
Best Forwards: Macklin Celebrini (Boston University) & Cutter Gauthier (Boston College)
Look, I’m trying to be unbiased here. There is a “best player” case to be made for a lot of players on these Frozen Four teams. You could name any of BC’s top four guys (Gauthier, Smith, Leonard, and Perreault) and I wouldn’t fight you. But if you have to narrow down the list, it makes sense to take these two Hobey Baker finalists.
Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images
Celebrini is a 17-year-old phenom that doesn’t have an all-star supporting cast like the guys at BC do. He’s been incredible in his rookie season at BU, scoring the 2nd-most goals in the nation (behind Gauthier) and racking up the 2nd-most points (behind Smith and tied with Gauthier). And he’s done it on a team where his next best forward… is a defenseman, Lane Hutson. He hasn’t been quite as electric in the postseason so far, though, scoring only one goal outside of garbage time, so the Terriers are hoping that he’ll step it up this weekend in St. Paul.
Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images
Cutter Gauthier is a goal-scoring machine. He doesn’t play on the same line as his team’s freshmen all-stars, but he gets the scoring done all the same. Gauthier’s 37 goals this season (and counting) are the most in the NCAA since 2006, and it’s led Boston College to have one of the most dynamic offenses in college hockey in recent memory. But more on that in a second…
Best Top-End Scoring: Boston College
Nobody is even close to matching the amount of production that BC gets out of their top players as a whole. While BU and Denver are happy to have just Celebrini and Jack Devine near the top of the national leaderboards, Boston College dominates the stats. BC forwards Will Smith, Cutter Gauthier, Ryan Leonard, and Gabe Perreault are all ranked 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 6th in the nation in points, respectively. Gauthier leads the nation with 37 goals and Leonard isn’t far behind in third place with 31. These four guys playing together, alongside forwards Oskar Jellvik and Andre Gasseau to round out the top two lines, have been absolutely lethal all season long. If an opposing defense lets them use their speed and playmaking abilities out in open ice… good luck.
Best Depth Scoring: Denver
Despite having only one top-15 scorer (Jack Devine) on their roster, Denver still manages to have the best scoring offense in the nation at 4.7 goals per game. They do it by striking with all of their players at any given time, taking advantage of match-ups at the bottom of other teams’ depth charts and keeping up pressure at all times. Freshman forwards Boston Buckberger and Sam Harris were two of the heroes of their last two close playoff games against UMass and Cornell, two of the toughest defenses anyone has faced in the postseason this year, and they did so after relatively quiet seasons on offense. The Pioneers have a ton of players like this, boasting 10 forwards who have scored at least 10 goals this season, which is more than Boston College (7), Michigan (6), and Boston University (5).
Best Powerplay: Michigan
Holy moly, I did not realize how effective Michigan’s powerplay has been this season until I dove into the stats. They lead the nation by a wide margin in powerplay efficiency, converting on 34.5% of their opportunities. BC and BU round out the top-3 in that category, as well, but they trail the Wolverines by over 4 percentage points overall, while Denver finds itself all the way down at 16th in the nation. None of the other three Frozen Four teams were especially prone to commit penalties in the regular season, but BC has found itself regressing a bit in the postseason. The Eagles went on a three-game streak of committing five-minute major penalties in the postseason against UMass, BU, and Michigan Tech, and then they committed four minor penalties against Quinnipiac last game, so that’s definitely something to keep an eye on.
Defense
Best Defensemen Pair: Zeev Buium & Sean Behrens (Denver)
Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images
This has been quite the lethal pair of defensemen for the Pioneers. Buium and Behrens compliment each others’ games extremely well, with Buium providing a critical offensive threat from the blue line and Behrens anchoring the backbone of the Pioneers defense. Together they have the best plus-minus in the country and have dominated long stretches of postseason games, leading a defense that has held opponents to just 1.5 goals per game in the 2024 postseason. Behrens won the award for NCHC Defensive Defenseman of the Year, while Buium was a unanimous selection to the NCHC All-Conference team. It would be tough for any forward, Hobey Baker candidate or not, to go up against these guys.
Best Goaltender: Jacob Fowler (Boston College)
Photo by M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
This one wasn’t even close. BC’s Jacob Fowler has been on a completely different level this season than any other goaltender that has made it this far. And he’s a freshman! Fowler has backstopped a league-best defense this season while posting top-10 numbers in both save percentage and Goals Against Average. None of the other goalies in the Frozen Four can even claim one of those stats, nevermind both. He’s a top-3 finalist for the Richter Award and, although he’s likely to lose it to Wisconsin’s Kyle McClellan, his season has absolutely been of the caliber of past winners. If any team is going to ride a hot goalie to a title, BC seems like the likeliest option.
Best Overall Defense: Boston College
The defenses of BU and BC are both very good, with Denver not too far behind, but I have to give the nod to the Eagles here. Fowler has been an important part of the success of the Boston College defense, but the players in front of him have also excelled at stopping opponents from scoring. Led by senior captain Eamon Powell and freshman Drew Fortescue, the Eagles defense has allowed just 2.2 goals per game this season and just over 28 shots, which is towards the top of the country. BU and Denver have similar numbers and great veteran defensemen, too, and Denver especially has been playing very well recently, so this is really just a matter of who has the best goaltender. The real best-of-the-best defenses were eliminated earlier in the tournament (namely Cornell and Quinnipiac).
Best Penalty Kill: Boston College
A lot has been said about the Boston College powerplay and the pure speed and playmaking that their top lines bring, but their penalty kill has quietly been one of their greatest strengths, too. The Eagles are the best in the nation at killing penalties, doing so 88.6% of the time, and none of the other Frozen Four teams even crack the top-35. Head coach Greg Brown was a defensive mastermind behind the bench for Jerry York for years, and he’s brought back that same level of coaching to the Heights that displays itself the most during the penalty kill. Even if you do manage to catch Ryan Leonard or Will Smith making a bad play that results in penalty box time, you’re going to struggle to get past the BC brick wall.
So Who Is Best?
Boston College enters the Frozen Four as the favorite to take home the national championship, and it’s clear why. They have the best combination of top level scoring and defense. But BU and Denver also bring very talented and balanced squads, while Michigan is riding a hot streak with one of the best offenses in the nation. No matter what happens on Thursday and Saturday, this championship will be well-earned.