Both offenses are prolific. The only team to score more goals this season than Denver (167) and Michigan (165) is Minnesota State (172), which plays Minnesota in the late game Thursday.
The winners of both semifinal games will face off for the championship on Saturday at 5 p.m. All Frozen Four games will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Kraken prospect Matty Beniers leads a loaded Wolverines offense that has high name recognition. Michigan has seven NHL prospects in its forward group; five are first-rounders, including the line of Beniers (No. 2 in 2021), Kent Johnson (No. 5 to Columbus in 2021) and Brendan Brisson (No. 29 to Vegas in 2020).
That top unit has combined for 49 goals and 73 assists this season and is one of the most formidable lines in college hockey.
And it's not just the forwards for Michigan, either. The Wolverines have the top-scoring defenseman in the nation in freshman Luke Hughes, who has 17 goals and 22 assists. Hughes benefited from the Olympic absence of Owen Power, who - as the No. 1 overall pick by the Sabres - rounds out four of the top five of the 2021 draft class (Power, Beniers, Hughes and Johnson) on Michigan's roster. Power anchors the Wolverines' defensive corps and has 32 points in 32 games.
Michigan is one win away from the championship game a year after it was removed from the NCAA tournament due to COVID-19 cases. A first-round matchup with Minnesota Duluth was forfeited. Minnesota Duluth would go on to beat North Dakota before losing in the semifinals to Massachusetts, the eventual tournament winner.
"It was devastating," Beniers
told the New York Times
. "It's one thing when you lose and another thing when you don't even get a chance to play."
Now, Beniers and Co. will play in front of a full house in Boston's TD Garden, home of the Bruins.
Michigan is in its 26th Frozen Four in program history and is looking to earn its 10th NCAA hockey title. Its nine championships are most all-time.
Standing in the way is the Pioneers, who have eight NCAA titles and an offense that stacks up with the Wolverines. Denver knocked off UMass Lowell and Minnesota Duluth to reach the Frozen Four.
While Denver doesn't have four of the top five picks in last year's draft, the Pioneers still have 12 NHL draft selections on its roster. Denver's offense is balanced, deep and leads NCAA hockey with a 4.28 goals-per-game average. It's freshmen (135 points) score nearly as much as its seniors (147).
Leading the pack is Bobby Brink, who leads all of college hockey with 56 points and is a favorite for the Hobey Baker Award, an annual accolade given to the top player in college hockey.
The Flyers traded their No. 45 and No. 65 picks in the 2019 NHL Draft to the Predators to acquire the No. 34 pick to take Brink, who had just put up a phenomenal USHL campaign with 35 goals and 33 assists in 43 games with the Sioux City Musketeers. The strides Brink has taken since in his development with Denver are evident on the ice.
"I think what we've seen in his three years is just a natural maturation of his body and how he conducts and carries himself," said Denver coach David Carle, according to ncaa.com.
"It's kind of all coming together for him here in his junior year where he can protect more pucks, he can create more separation. His body can do things, or allow him to do things at this level that his brain and his skillset have wanted to do."
The right wing fills out a line with center Cole Guttman (45 points) and Ryan Barrow (19 points). The second line also has two 40-plus point earners in Carter Savoie (44) and Brett Stapley (41). Denver has four other players with at least 30 points, plus freshman defenseman Sean Behrens with 29.
The goalie duel sets up as Michigan's Erik Portillo, who has started every game for the Wolverines this season, against Denver's Magnus Chrona.
