NCAA Frozen Four: A Local’s Guide

The Gophers aren’t playing, but there is still plenty to do

The 2024 NCAA Men’s Hockey Frozen Four kicks off Thursday afternoon at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Unfortunately the Minnesota Golden Gophers will not be participating after losing their regional final to Boston University 11 days ago. But there are still plenty of events going on around St. Paul that have a distinctly Minnesota flair to them, and many of not all except the hockey games themselves are free. So here is a look at what is going on in St. Paul, and how you can take in the experience.

Thursday Events:

The Frozen Four will kick off with both semifinals on Thursday. The #2 overall seed Boston University Terriers will take on the #3 overall seed Denver Pioneers at 4:00 PM on ESPN2. That will be followed by the #1 overall seed Boston College Eagles taking on the Michigan Wolverines in the night cap at 7:30 PM. You obviously need a ticket to get into the X for the games, but there are a few free events going on as well.

On Thursday and Saturday, Tom Reid’s Hockey City Pub on West 7th will have former Hobey Baker Award winner, former Minnesota Gopher, and former Minnesota North Star great Neal Broten in the bar to sign autographs. He will be at the bar from 2-4 on both days.

The NCAA Frozen Fest is taking place at the River Centre Convention Hall connected to the X on both Thursday and Saturday. It is totally free and has tons of free stuff from NCAA Corporate Champions and Partners such as Great Clips, Coke, and more. The Minnesota Wild have several activity stations there as well with fun interactive activities.

Additionally the Hobey Baker Award has a booth at the Frozen Fest where they will have autograph signings on both Thursday and Saturday. On Thursday it will be a pair of members of PWHL Minnesota at 3 PM in Minnesota natives Liz Scheppers and Maggie Flaherty.

Friday Events:

Friday is awards day in college hockey. The RiverCentre will be the host to the ceremony where the 2024 Hobey Baker Award will be given out. The ceremony will begin at 4:00 PM with the Hockey Humanitarian Award, the ACHA All-American Teams, and the Hobey Baker Award given out. The doors open at 3:30 and it is FREE to attend. The three Hobey Baker finalists are are soon to be NHL stars. Jackson Blake of North Dakota just signed a contract with the Carolina Hurricanes this week, freshman forward Macklin Celebrini of Boston University will be the #1 pick in the NHL Draft this summer, and Boston College’s Cutter Gauthier was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers, but was traded earlier this season to the Anaheim Ducks where he will likely sign after his team is eliminated this weekend.

Saturday Events:

The NCAA Championship game will face off from the X at 5PM on ESPN2, but before the game there are a bunch of events once again. In fact Minnesota Gopher hockey fans can have a chance to get free autographs from three of the four Hobey Baker winners in program history on Saturday.

Neal Broten who won the inaugural award in 1981 will be back at Tom Reid’s from 2-4 on Saturday. Additionally at the Frozen Fest the Hobey Baker Award table will have a trio of Gopher hockey legends signing autographs. Former Gopher head coach and recipient of the 2024 Hobey Baker “Legend of College Hockey” Award winner Don Lucia will sign autographs at 1:30, former Gopher defenseman and 2002 Hobey Baker winner Jordan Leopold will sign autographs at 2PM, and former Gopher center and 1996 Hobey Baker winner Brian Bonin will sign autographs at 3PM.

So while it is disappointing that this will be the first Frozen Four held in St. Paul without either the Gophers or Minnesota-Duluth since 1991, there is still plenty for Minnesota hockey fans to do in St. Paul this weekend.