Men’s College Hockey Season Culminates on ESPN with its Signature Event, the Frozen Four, April 8-10

North Dakota (Fargo), Boston College (Albany), Minnesota (Loveland) & Wisconsin (Bridgeport) Lead Their Respective Regions Following Sunday’s Selection Show

ESPN will present its 16th consecutive NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship in its entirety, beginning March 26. The 15-game tournament will begin with regional action and culminate with the Men’s Frozen Four, April 8-10.

12 Regional Matchups in 3 Days From Bridgeport, CT; Fargo, ND; Loveland, CO & Albany, NY:

ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS and ESPN3 will have all three days of regional action covered beginning in Bridgeport, CT and Fargo, ND on March 26-27, followed by Loveland, CO and Albany, NY on March 27-28.

John Buccigross will call the Bridgeport Regional from Webster Bank Arena alongside former NHL veteran player and coach Barry Melrose and Colby Cohen – who scored Boston University’s game-winning goal in the 2009 National Championship. Leah Hextall – who, as part of her extensive broadcasting career, made history in 2019 becoming the first woman to call a NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament game – returns to lead the Fargo Regional from Scheels Arena with analyst Dave Starman.

Beginning March 27, play-by-play voice Ben Holden and analyst Fred Pletsch will have the call from the Budweiser Events Center throughout the Loveland Regional action. Commentator Kevin Brown will be joined by analyst Sean Ritchlin at the Times Union Center to call the Albany Regional. Studio coverage throughout regional action will be led by hosts Nabil Karim (March 26-27) and Buccigross (March 28) with a team of analysts including 2000 Hobey Baker Award winner Mike Mottau, former NHL goalie Andrew Raycroft and Cohen.

The championship field announced Sunday, exclusively on ESPNU, featured No. 1 North Dakota (Fargo), No. 2 Boston College (Albany), No. 3 Minnesota (Loveland) and No. 4 Wisconsin (Bridgeport) as the top teams in each region. View the complete bracket here.

2021 Men’s College Hockey Season Culminates with the Frozen Four on ESPN & ESPN2:

ESPN will continue its 25+ year tradition of providing exclusive coverage of the Men’s Frozen Four. The 2021 edition of the signature event from the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA., will begin April 8 with both semifinals at 5 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. on ESPN2. The National Championship matchup will follow on April 10 in primetime at 7 p.m. on ESPN. The trophy presentation will also be available on ESPN3 immediately following the championship.

The Bridgeport Regional commentator team of Buccigross, Melrose and Cohen will return to call all three games from April 8-10. This year’s tournament also marks the eighth consecutive Frozen Four that Buccigross and Melrose will call together in the booth. Cohen joins the team for his second tournament with Buccigross and Melrose following his debut in 2019. Mottau and Ritchlin will lead ESPN’s studio coverage for all three Frozen Four matchups.

ESPN’s Men’s Frozen Four coverage will feature 15 cameras, including 2 super slo-mo cameras and 5 robotic cameras (2 in-net, high speed cameras, 2 on the glass behind the goalies and 1 under the jumbotron) as well as enhanced audio coverage from ice level.

Throughout the championship, fans can follow along and participate in the conversation on Twitter using #FrozenFour and @NCAAIceHockey. Every game is also available on the ESPN App.

NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship Schedule (*Updated 4/1)

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Media Contact: Michael Skarka [email protected]