NCAA Frozen Four: Boston College, Minnesota to Reignite Regional Rivalry

All those who have seen Miracle or just paid reasonable attention last week to the buildup to the NCAA regionals ought to have a grasp on the grassroots hockey hostilities between Massachusetts and Minnesota.

Although the bad blood’s (literal) superficial appearance is nowhere near where it was when the Minnesota Gophers tangled with the Boston University Terriers in the 1970s, local pride is still perpetually on the line. Anytime a Hockey East vs.WCHA or a New England vs. Midwest matchup is conducted at the Frozen Four, the representative programs are each inevitably defending a glass case of zeal.

After an uncharacteristic three-year absence from the national tournament bracket, the Gophers are putting in their first Frozen Four appearance since 2005. They garnered their passport to Tampa by way of knocking off North Dakota in what might as well have been a bonus WCHA championship in St. Paul.

A week from Thursday night, they will face another maroon-and-gold standard-bearer in Boston College. The stake is the privilege of being the hands-down favorite in next Saturday’s championship bout against the winner of the other semifinal between upstarts Ferris State and Union.

By winter, the BC Eagles were one half of the incomparable neighborhood rivalry with the Terriers. But by spring―particularly this spring, seeing as there are no other New England teams still standing―they are not only tasked with verifying their rigid No. 1 slot in the national polls, they also have their nine Hockey East cohabitants rooting for the Eagles to make them look good by showing how battle-tested they are.

Okay, there are those BU buffs who would just as soon see the team from the other side of Commonwealth Avenue sputter. But there is also always an undeniable degree of regionalism in this game.

The forthcoming BC vs. Minnesota tilt is all the more compelling in that these are two of the more storied Division I programs in the country and arguably the most influential in their respective markets.

Notwithstanding the recent success of Minnesota-Duluth, whose defense of the 2011 national championship was terminated by these Eagles over the weekend, the Gophers are immutably the talk of the self-proclaimed State of Hockey.

Minnesota, otherwise known as “The U,” is the big-state school based in the Twin Cities, whose puck squad everyone either loves or loves to hate. As it is with the NHL’s Wild over at the Xcel Energy Center, tickets to a home game at Mariucci Arena are a coveted possession and television coverage is second nature.

Of the Gophers’ first 40 games this season, 29 were broadcast statewide on Fox Sports North. The same network subsequently syndicated ESPNU’s coverage of the regional tilts at the Xcel Energy Center and all games are heard on the Twin Cities’ ESPN Radio affiliate.

Out east, as one ought to expect, there is a little more balance in regional television coverage. While the Gophers jut out above everyone else within their state boundaries, the Eagles and Terriers are like the bigwig Red Sox and Yankees to their surrounding AL landscape.

The New England Sports Network, which shows one or two Hockey East conference games per week starting after New Year’s, included BC and BU three times apiece during the regular season. Five other regular-season telecasts involved two teams from outside the 617 area code.

But the Eagles do have an upper hand on the radio airwaves. Starting this season, select BC hockey games have been broadcast on 98.5 The Sports Hub, also the flagship station for the Bruins and Patriots.

That move all but certainly has something to do with Jerry York’s pupils setting themselves apart from their regional rivals in the win column and trophy case.

It certainly does not translate to a Gopher-like disproportion in fanfare, but the fact is, BC has delivered three of Hockey East’s last four national titles (2001, 2008 and 2010) and has been to more Frozen Fours and won more Beanpots and conference crowns in the same span.

And so it is, quite appropriately, the current class of college hockey in New England versus the unconditional face of Minnesota student skaters.

To quote the historically fictional portrayal of the 1980 Team USA physician, it’s “our own private cold war,” always existing in some compelling form.