Well, the Frozen Four is finally upon us, and in just three days' time, a first-time national champion will be crowned.

And actually, I guess it's important to note that these teams are all relative newcomers to the grandest stage in college hockey, given that the only one of Yale, UMass Lowell, St. Cloud State and Quinnipiac to make the Frozen Four ever was the Bulldogs. In 1952. So, y'know, it's been a while; at that point, the NCAA hockey tournament was itself just four years old.

But that's what's interesting about this year's tournament. It's the first one ever — ever! — to not have the traditional Hockey East, WCHA and CCHA titans of Bostons College or University, Denver, Michigan, Miami, Minnesota, North Dakota or Wisconsin. You'll note that of that group, no teams come from traditional eastern little brother, the ECAC, but this year, both Yale and Quinnipiac do, so this is a banner year for the conference. Lowell, meanwhile, represents Hockey East, and St. Cloud fights out of the WCHA.

Another interesting thing is that in this tournament, it's a pair of No. 1 seeds in their regionals (Quinnipiac, which was No. 1 overall, and Lowell, at No. 3) taking on two No. 4s (No. 13 St. Cloud and No. 15 Yale).

Obviously, with so little history on the side of any of these schools — only Lowell has won national titles, all at the Div. 2 level, and none since the early 1980s — it's tough to say exactly what's going to happen at the CONSOL Energy Center this weekend, but let's take a stab at it anyway.

UMass Lowell vs. Yale, 4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2

How they got there:

Lowell arrives at the Frozen Four as unequivocally the hottest team left in the field, and a terrifying force to be reckoned with. The number of losses Lowell has suffered in its last 28 games is three, and consequently took home the Hockey East regular-season and postseason titles. The number of goals Lowell has conceded since its postseason began six games ago is five. It beat Maine 4-2 and 2-1 in overtime in the Hockey East semifinals, Providence 2-1 in the semifinal, and BU 1-0 in the final. In the NCAA tournament it demolished Wisconsin 6-1 and edged UNH 2-0 in the regional final.

Yale, on the other hand, backed into the NCAA tournament as much as it possibly could have. After killing St. Lawrence in the ECAC quarters, 6-1 and 3-0, it was shutout 5-0 by Union (also an NCAA tournament team) and then 3-0 by Quinnipiac in the league's consolation game. And in the big dance, it drew the ignominious task of taking on No. 2 Minnesota, which it dispatched 3-2 in overtime, before blitzing North Dakota 4-1 to move to the Frozen Four.

Top forwards:

The guy with the most points in this particular matchup, whom you might recognize from his having been traded to Calgary for Jarome Iginla, is Kenny Agostino, who leads the Bulldogs with 17-23-40 in just 35 games. Of course, if you watched any of his games two weeks ago, you also recognize him as the guy who scored two goals and an assist for his team, including the fastest bird-dogging on the forecheck the NCAA tournament has ever seen to set up the overtime game-winner against Minnesota.

But while Agostino has the most points, the hottest forward in this game is Penguins prospect Scott Wilson, who's tied for Lowell's lead in points, and has its most goals outright, at 16-21-37 in 40 games. How hot is he? In his last seven games — which includes a must-win at nationally-ranked Providence College to lock up the Hockey East regular-season title — he has 5-5-10, including a point on the game-winner (either a goal or assist) in each of his last four. Lowell is 21-3-1 when he has a point in any game this season.

Top defensemen:

Perhaps the best blueliner in the Frozen Four is Lowell associate captain Chad Ruhwedel, a true 200-foot defenseman in every sense of the word. He currently has 7-16-23 in 40, and was recently named the top college defenseman in New England by the New England Hockey Writers, but more importantly shoulders the weight that comes with facing the top competition thrown at the River Hawks every single night. They don't log TOI in college hockey, but he's out there probably every other shift, and it's because he can shut down anyone. There's a reason Lowell has given up more than one goal just three times in its last 13 games (13 goals against in that stretch, all against nationally-ranked teams), and he's a major part of it.

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