Frozen Four
The Frozen Four is the trademarked name of the final two rounds of the NCAA Division I championship of ice hockey in the USA. Schools advance in a single-elimination tournament from four regional sites to a single site, where the national semifinals and final game are played. The NCAA started a women's Frozen Four beginning in the 2000-01 season.The 2005 men's version will take place at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The women's version will be in Durham, New Hampshire.
In the 2004 men's semifinals at FleetCenter in Boston, Denver defeated Minnesota-Duluth 5-3 and Maine defeated Boston College 2-1. Denver defeated Maine 1-0 in the final. The women's championship, held at Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island, was won by Minnesota, which beat Harvard 6-2 in the final.
The Frozen Four, though not called as such, began in 1948 when Michigan defeated Dartmouth. The first 10 championships were played at the Broadmoor Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo. Since then, sites rotate as chosen by the NCAA Division I ice hockey committee.
The Frozen Four regularly sells out well in advance, helping make the Division I men's ice hockey tournament one of the most profitable for the NCAA, trailing only the Division I men's basketball tournament.
The semifinals of the Frozen Four were once played on Thursday and Friday, with the championship on Saturday. But it provided an unfair advantage for the team with the extra rest. The semifinal games are now played in separate sessions on Thursday, with a championship game on Saturday. The Hobey Baker Award ceremony, Hockey Humanitarian Award ceremony, and USCHO.com Town Hall Meeting take place annually on Friday of Frozen Four weekend.