2019 NCAA Division 1 Men’s Ice Hockey Championship Odds, Preview and Prediction

Hockey doesn’t get as much attention as the other collegiate sports like Football and Basketball. And while fans eagerly await the NCAA Men’s basketball Final Four, college hockey’s own Frozen Four is set to get underway.

The 2019 Frozen Four, the road to the NCAA Division 1 Men’s ice hockey championship will take place at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York on April 11-13, 2019. With the four teams set and ready to go, let’s take a look at the 2019 Frozen Four and preview the 2019 NCAA Division 1 Men’s Ice Hockey Championship.

Below is the Frozen Four schedule:

As in any sport, betting also exists in hockey and the same goes with the Frozen Four. Now, here are the odds to win the 2019 NCAA Division 1 Men’s Ice Hockey Championship. Odds taken from Bovada as of 4/11/19:

• Minnesota Duluth +140
• Massachusetts +225
• Denver +275
• Providence +375

Let’s take a close look at the 2019 Frozen Four teams:

Minnesota Duluth

The Bulldogs finished the season with a 27-11-2 record, 2nd in the NCHC and won the league title. Minnesota Duluth defeated Bowling Green 2-1 in overtime and then trounced Quinnipiac 3-1 to clinch the Midwest Regional title to make their third consecutive Frozen Four appearance. The Bulldogs have advanced to the NCAA title game three times in school history,  including the last two seasons. A win over Providence in the Frozen Four would send them to the National championship game for the third straight year, making the first team to accomplish the feat since Lake Superior State from 1992-1994. UMD has won the National title twice, in 2011 and last year. They are hoping to become the first National Champions to repeat since Denver in 2004 and 2005.

Massachusetts

The Minutemen were 30-9-0 during the season to win the Hockey East regular season title but were defeated in the Hockey East semifinals by Boston College. Massachusetts then claimed the Northeast Regional with identical 4-0 wins over Harvard and Notre Dame. This is the first Frozen Four appearance for UMass in only their second NCAA tournament appearance. The last time they made it here, they lost in the second round. UMass is a program on the rise. They won a total of five games two years ago and improved to 17 wins last season. The 30 wins this year and the 18 victories in conference play are both school records. Winning the Hockey East title was the first conference title for the school, both regular season or postseason. This year of “firsts” also saw the Minutemen reach the #1 ranking in the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Polls for the first time in school history.

Denver

At 24-11-5, the Pioneers finished 4th in the NCHC during the regular season and were 3rd in the NCHC tournament. They blanked Ohio State 2-0 and American International 3-0 to clinch the West Regional. This is the 12th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance for the Pioneers, the longest active streak in NCAA Division 1 hockey. Denver is also making the 16th Frozen Four appearance in school history and its third in the last four seasons. They have made a total of 10 National championship game appearances and have won the NCAA title a total of 8 times, the last of which was in 2017. Head coach David Carle is the youngest coach in Division 1 and is the 4th rookie coach to send his program to the Frozen Four since the tournament expanded to 12 teams in 1988.

Providence

The Friars were tied for second place in the Hockey East with their 24-11-6 record before losing a three-game series to Boston College in the conference quarterfinals. Providence then came from 0-3 down in the first period to defeat Minnesota State- Mankato 6-3 before romping over Cornell 4-0 to win the East Regional title. This is the fourth overall Frozen Four appearance for Providence and they have reached the NCAA title game twice before, winning it all in 2015. They are the 9th #4 seed to reach the Frozen Four in the last dozen years. Providence was also a #4 seed when they won the NCAA title in 2015. Among the 2019 Frozen Four teams, the Friars have the most number of NHL draft picks on their roster with nine, including 1st round pick Jay O’Brien who was selected 19th overall  by Philadelphia.

Now that you know the teams, it’s time to pick and make your bets. To help you with making your picks and give you an edge in hockey betting, you can check out our best hockey betting advice.

Who Wins?

I know that there hasn’t been a repeat champion in more than a decade but if there’s a team who can break that streak, it’s the Bulldogs of the University of Minnesota Duluth. This is a team which has won 25 out of 27 games since March 9, 2018. The Bulldogs are a force on both ends of the ice. Senior captain and wing Patrick Mackay has 15 goals and 15 assists this season, doubling his career points totals which were just 21 goals and 16 assists through his first three years.  UMD is the top face-off team among the Frozen Four teams with Junior center Jade Miller the leader in faceoff percentage at 58.5% and sophomore Justin Richards the leader in wins at 398. The Bulldogs are 21-2 this season when they score the first goal of the game. Prior to their 3-1 win over Quinnipiac, Minnesota Duluth played in 12 consecutive one-goal NCAA tournament games, winning nine of them. These included four consecutive 2-1 scores dating back to last season’s West Regional. So it’s not just that UMD is excellent on both offense and defense but the champs are also a team that plays well in the clutch and under pressure.

Prediction: Minnesota Duluth

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