DENVER – After big semifinal wins last Saturday, fourth-seeded and sixth-ranked Minnesota Duluth will travel to face second-seeded and No. 4 Denver in the 2026 National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Frozen Faceoff Championship Game Saturday night at Magness Arena. Puck drop is set for 6:07 p.m. MT/7:07 p.m. CT with the game available on NCHC.tv worldwide and local TV in Duluth on My9 Sports.
 
Saturday will mark the first time the NCHC Championship has been held at Magness Arena as the Conference completes its first postseason entirely on campus sites hosted by higher seeds. It will also be the first time the University of Denver hosts a single-elimination conference championship game since 1970 in the WCHA.
 
The National Cup, awarded to the Frozen Faceoff champion, will be on the line Saturday in Denver, with both the Pioneers and Bulldogs aiming for their fourth NCHC Tournament title. Whoever wins the Frozen Faceoff Saturday will have the most NCHC Tournament championships among all member teams. Denver most recently won the Frozen Faceoff in 2024, also winning in 2018 and the inaugural 2014 NCHC Tournament crown. Minnesota Duluth won its Frozen Faceoff championships in 2017, 2019 and most recently in 2022.
 
MINNESOTA DULUTH-DENVER POSTSEASON HISTORY
While the Pioneers and Bulldogs have never squared off in the Frozen Faceoff Championship Game, they have met three times in the Frozen Faceoff Semifinals, with UMD holding a 2-1 edge. Minnesota Duluth defeated DU in 2019 and 2022 en route to tournament titles, while Denver won the 2018 semifinal on its way to its second Frozen Faceoff championship.
 
DU and UMD are meeting in a conference tournament final for the first time since the Bulldogs beat the Pios to win the 2009 WCHA Final Five. The teams have also recently met in the NCAA Tournament, with Denver winning the 2022 NCAA Regional Final in Loveland, Colo. over the Bulldogs, while the Pioneers also clipped UMD in the thrilling 2017 NCAA National Championship Game in Chicago.
 
THIS YEAR’S UMD-DENVER SERIES
Denver and Minnesota Duluth met only twice during the 2025-26 regular season, with the Pioneers picking up a pair of one-goal wins at Magness Arena on Jan. 30-31. In the opener, DU jumped out to a 4-0 lead, before UMD rallied in the third period but the Pios held on for a 4-3 win. The next night, Denver scored the game’s only goal in overtime, a 1-0 victory, as DU freshman Johnny Hicks and UMD sophomore Adam Gajan both shined in goal.
 
HOBEY HOPEFULS GO HEAD-TO-HEAD
The National is home to two 2026 Hobey Baker Award top-10 finalists and both will be playing in Saturday’s Frozen Faceoff Championship Game. Minnesota Duluth sophomore forward Max Plante and Denver junior defenseman Eric Pohlkamp were both named Hobey Finalists on Wednesday and are among only 10 up for the prestigious honor of men’s college hockey’s top player.
 
Plante was named NCHC Player of the Year on Thursday with Pohlkamp the runner-up for the award, while Pohlkamp is the only defenseman among the Hobey Baker Top 10. Both players were named First-Team All-NCHC this season, with Plante a unanimous selection. Plante also won NCHC Forward of the Year and Pohlkamp picked up NCHC Offensive Defenseman of the Year honors this season.
 
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
No. 4 Denver (24-11-3, 17-6-1 NCHC) heads into the Championship Game on a 12-game unbeaten streak (11-0-1) and an eight-game winning streak, its longest unbeaten streak since starting the 2023-24 season on a 12-game win streak. The Pioneers pulled off a thrilling semifinal win over third-seeded Western Michigan, 2-1, in overtime last Saturday at Magness Arena before a raucous crowd. Junior defenseman Boston Buckberger tied the game in the third period with a 6-on-4 man advantage, while senior forward Samu Salminen scored the OT winner on a deflection to earn DU the right to host the title game.
 
The Pioneers are playing in their second straight Frozen Faceoff Championship Game after falling in double overtime, 4-3, to Western Michigan at then-Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn. last year. The 2026 title game will be Denver’s fifth Frozen Faceoff Championship Game, going 3-1 previously, with wins in 2014, 2018 and 2024.
 
Denver is powered by junior defenseman Eric Pohlkamp, who leads DU and all NCAA defensemen with both 37 points and 17 goals, the latter an NCHC record by a blueliner. Three Pioneer forwards (James Reeder, Rieger Lorenz and Sam Harris) are tied for second on the team with 31 points with Lorenz’s 14 goals solo second on the squad. Freshman Johnny Hicks has been stellar in net for Denver after taking over when classmate Quentin Miller went down with an injury on Jan. 24. Since then, Hicks is still unbeaten, going 11-0-1 in net while leading the NCHC with both a .961 save percentage and a 1.03 goals-against average.
 
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
No. 6 Minnesota Duluth (23-13-1, 11-12-1 NCHC) is on a four-game unbeaten streak of its own, going 3-0-1. That includes an NCHC Quarterfinal sweep of fifth-seeded St. Cloud State two weekends ago, with both games decided in overtime, while the Bulldogs stunned top-seeded and No. 2 North Dakota with a dominant, 5-1 win in the Frozen Faceoff Semifinals in Grand Forks, N.D. last Saturday night to set up this Saturday’s showdown in Denver. Last Saturday, UMD jumped out to a 2-0 lead over North Dakota in the first eight minutes and never looked back, with five different Bulldogs scoring in the road win.
 
Like Denver, Minnesota Duluth is playing in its fifth Frozen Faceoff Championship on Saturday, also going 3-1 previously. This is UMD’s first title game appearance since 2022 when the Dogs won the Frozen Faceoff, also winning in 2017 and 2019, while falling in the 2016 final at Target Center.
 
The Bulldogs are led by the Plante brothers in sophomores Max and Zam, with Max leading the NCHC with both 48 points and 23 goals, including the game-winner in last Saturday’s semifinal win at North Dakota. Zam is tied for second in the NCHC with both 46 points and 20 goals, including both game-tying and game-winning goals in the quarterfinal sweep of SCSU. While Max earned First-Team All-NCHC, Zam picked up Third-Team honors. In goal, sophomore Adam Gajan has posted an 18-11-1 record in 30 starts this season, ranking second in the NCHC with a 2.06 GAA and fifth with a .909 save percentage, while missing some games while participating in the 2025 Spengler Cup and 2026 Winter Olympics.
 
HOW TO WATCH
Saturday’s championship game will be streamed live worldwide on NCHC.tv and televised locally in Duluth on My9 Sports. Longtime Midco Sports and CBS Sports Network announcer Alex Heinert will handle play-by-play duties on the call, with former North Dakota goaltender Jake Brandt providing color analysis and Taylor Budge serving as the rinkside reporter. For fans who don’t already have an NCHC.tv subscription, the NCHC Championship Game Pass is available to watch Saturday’s title game.