LAS VEGAS — Some would call it “Old Time Hockey.” But let’s call it “Sensible, fundamentally-sound Hockey.”
At Denver, they call it “Winning Hockey.”
The Wisconsin Badgers and Denver Pioneers did things simplistic and smart Saturday at T-Mobile Arena. The forwards back-checked. The defensemen stayed at home and didn’t get caught pinching up the ice. And the freshman goaltenders performed brilliantly.
Ultimately, someone had to be the hero and that someone turned out to be the Pioneers’ Kyle Chyzowski. His goal with 5:52 to play put DU in the lead and the Pioneers held on for a 2-1 win and their 11th national championship. Its was also Denver’s third of this decade, adding to the titles won in 2022 and 2024.
“We stuck with it,” said senior defenseman Kent Anderson as the the Pioneers finished 29-11-3 and last lost a game in late January. “There was never a doubt someone was going to make a play.”
It was the kind of hockey that one would expect at a championship. Intense. Hard-fought for every inch of open ice. No after-the-whistle extra-curricular activity we tend to often see at the collegiate level where sticks come up as do gloves to the face shields of combatants. Just skate away and save your energy for the ensuing faceoff and resumption of play.
For the better part of two periods, Wisconsin held the upper hand. Vasily Zelenov’s first-period goal, a laser of a wrist shot from the top of the left circle which eluded Denver’s Johnny Hicks had staked the Badgers to a 1-0 lead and with the Pioneers unable to get any offense going, it looked like curtains for David Carle’s group. They had been outshot 21-5 over the first 40 minutes.
But one thing we know about Denver. This team never quits. And so the Pioneers answered with Rieger Lorenz scoring off a rebound of Garrett Brown’s shot to pull Denver even. That set the stage for Chyzowski to deliver the biggest goal of the season.
“We bent but we didn’t break,” Carle said. “Johnny kept us in it. That’s why it’s a 60-minute game. We found a way to make one moire play."
Wisconsin thought it had tied it late when Ben Dexheimer’s shot appeared to have beaten Hicks only to hit the crossbar. But the Pioneers didn’t wilt under the late pressure. They blocked 31 shots and despite being outshot by a considerable margin again, this time 30-15, they still managed to come out on top.
Hicks, indefatigable once again, was named the Frozen Four’s Most Outstanding Player after making a total of 78 saves in the wins over Michigan and Wisconsin. Quite an accomplishment for someone who didn’t get to start until well into the season and finished with a 16-0-1 record with the Pioneers.
For the Badgers, who finished 24-13-2, it was going to be a difficult one to get over. They were hoping to join the Wisconsin women as Frozen Four champions.
But there was no Daily Double for Wisconsin.
“It’s not the result we wanted but the experience (in Las Vegas) has been fantastic, one our players will always remember,” said Badgers coach Mike Hastings, who lost a Frozen Four to Carle for the second time in four years, the previous being when Hastings was at Minnesota State in 2022. “It would’ve been great to hold them to nine total shots. But you knew they were going to make a push and they did.
“We had a couple of opportunities but we couldn’t get it to two.”
A return to Vegas?
When Las Vegas Events bid for the Frozen Four six years ago, nobody was quite sure how things would go. Yes, T-Mobile Arena was a relatively new facility. Yes, there were an abundance of nearby hotels to accommodate the large number of visitors from the four competing teams. There were entertainment and dining options galore. And even the gambling issue had resolved itself as legalized sports betting was being adopted throughout the country.
But given what has transpired this week, with the arena passing muster, the sellout crowds and the exciting games, everyone appeared pleased with how Las Vegas and T-Mobile Arena worked in hosting the Frozen Four. But will it be back here anytime soon?
Tim Troville, the senior associate athletic director at Harvard and chairman of the Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee, said having the Frozen Four in places like Las Vegas will help grow the game.
“We want to put the Frozen Four in those cities that can support it and are enthusiastic to have it,” he said. “Vegas has done such a great job with it. The feedback so far is this has been really spectacular.
“It has exceeded our expectations. You never know how it’s going to turn out. But the arena, the hotels, logistically, it’s great. The arena staff was very attentive to our needs.”
The Frozen Four had been sold out for weeks and attracted 35,791 for the two days combined. Saturday, 17,849 were in the building to watch Denver and Wisconsin.
Still, there’s a lot of competition to host the Frozen Four. Washington D.C, will be hosting in 2027 and Chicago will host in 2028. Other cities have expressed interest. And while Troville said it would be nice to see more West Coast cities involved, he hoped to see Las Vegas bid for a return from the Frozen Four. The bidding for future Frozen Fours, beginning with 2029 and through 2031 will take place this fall. Look for Las Vegas Events, which paid $500,000 to get this year’s Frozen Four, to bid for a future final.
“Six years ago, I don't know if anyone would have thought bringing this to Vegas is a good idea,” he said. “But it is. Hopefully we're here again at some point in the future. I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t come back here.”