The Frozen Four is Set- Everyone is Pretty Far From Tampa

We just quoted filmmaker and hockey fan Kevin Smith on our other blog "The Daily Vampire," since he is getting ready to 'retire' from film directing at the ripe old age of 41, perhaps he will have time to fly down to Tampa and take in the Frozen Four.

As one might expect this is the first time the Frozen Four will take place in Florida, and there is not one single university in Florida that has an official college hockey team, though perhaps some offer the sport at the club level as Virginia Tech does.

The team which appears most likely to win the Frozen Four is top seed Boston College. The Eagles' goal tender Parker Milner had a pair of shutouts at regionals in Worchester, Mass. Milner made 20 saves in Boston College's 2-0 win over Air Force. He then turned around and made 33 saves to help the Eagles defeat the defending NCAA championships Minn-Duluth 4-0.

The Eagles will now face the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, a team that will be going to its first Frozen Four since 2005. The Gophers had impressive wins over both Boston University (by a score of 7-3) and North Dakota (by a score of 5-2) at regionals in St. Paul, Minn.

Two schools that most people have perhaps never heard of, except college hockey followers, complete the Frozen Four. Union (NY) beat Mass-Lowell 4-2. The Dutchmen are the rare successful athletic team which offer no scholarships. Sophomore goal tender Troy Grosenick helped guide the team to victory.

The Dutchmen will face the Ferris State Bulldogs (Grand Rapids, Mich.; pictured above) which got goals from Garrett Thompson and Andy Huff to defeat Cornell 2-1. The Big Red had upset Michigan 2-1 (OT) to advance to the quarter-finals.