Its a return to tradition, as three schools which boast rich histories along with multiple NCAA Division I championships and one program which shouldnt be treated like the new kid on the block, comprise the field for the 2014 Frozen Four, set to kick off today at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Sam Koch Jersey . Three of the four programs vying for supremacy -- Minnesota, Boston College and North Dakota -- account for 65 of 67 collective appearances in the final weekend of the college hockey season. The other one, Union, entered the tourney as the No. 1 program in the nation after spending the majority of the season climbing up the top 10. In the early semifinal, the Hockey East regular-season champion faces off against the pride of the ECAC. Watch it live NOW on TSN2 and TSN GO. UNION (30-6-4) HEAD COACH: Rick Bennett (78-27-16); Captain: Mat Bodie Newcomers to the Frozen Four two years ago, the Dutchmen were taken down by upstart Ferris State in the semifinals, but that only served to stoke their competitive fires. Last year in Pittsburgh, Union shocked the college hockey world by posting an easy 5-1 victory over defending champions and 2014 semifinal foe Boston College in the opening game of the East Regional before they were vanquished by the same score in the regional final by eventual national runners-up Quinnipiac. This season, fueled by senior forward Daniel Carrs team-best 48 points, a junior defenseman in Shayne Gostisbehere who got a taste of national hype machine as a Philadelphia Flyers prospect and Hobey Baker Award finalist, and junior backstop Colin Stevens (26-4-2, 1.93 GAA, six shutouts), Union simply has been on the warpath. It finished the year having claimed the Cleary Cup and Whitelaw Cup as ECAC regular-season and playoff champions, then ousted Vermont and Providence to win the East Regional to reach Philadelphia unbeaten in 15 games (14-0-1). After taking down Dartmouth, Cornell and Colgate in the conference playoffs, the Dutchmen earned a well-deserved honor, vaulting over the two programs which checked their rise to the top spot in the country for most of the season. With Minnesota and BC having bowed out early in the Big Ten and Hockey East playoffs, respectively, Bennetts kids gained the first No. 1 ranking in program history and the heads that wear the crown have not grown heavy just yet. Union has its work cut out, though, if it wishes to claim the programs first hockey championship. The last time the ECAC boasted back-to-back national titles, Boston University won under legendary coach Jack Kelley in 1971 and 72. It also must contend with BCs lingering memory from last years premature exit. BOSTON COLLEGE (28-7-4) HEAD COACH: Jerry York (963-576-102); Captain: Patrick Brown The Mighty Mites of the Heights invade the Quaker City looking to uphold a bit of a recent successful trend. BC has won four national championships since 2000 and three in the last six years, all starting with regional play in nearby Worcester. The Eagles have triumphed in each of the last three even numbered seasons (2008, 10, 12) when their path to glory began at DCU Center, and this year was no different as the Maroon and Gold bounced back from a best-of-three quarterfinals loss to budding hockey rival Notre Dame by downing Denver and slipping past UMass- Lowell. Yorks squad has also gained a Frozen Four berth in eight of the last nine even-numbered seasons going back to 1998, when the program burst onto the scene with an overtime title-game loss to Michigan in Boston. Powering the ride is the countrys highest-scoring line of Hobey Hat Trick member and prohibitive favorite Johnny Gaudreau, Bill Arnold and Kevin Hayes. The trio has combined for 76 goals and 192 points along with a plus-115 rating in 39 games, including a mammoth 13-point, plus-15 effort in a tourney-opening 6-2 decision over the Pioneers where Gaudreau -- the nations leading scorer -- picked up six points (3G, 3A). The Eagles didnt reach this point solely on offense. Their defense tied with the Fighting Irish for fewest goals allowed in-conference with 40, and have given up only 89 tallies all season, third-lowest among the final four schools. Freshman phenom and expected 2014 first-round draft choice Thatcher Demko (16-4-3, 2.16 GAA) along with junior Brian Billett (12-3-1, 2.42) have done their due diligence, racking up identical .920 save percentages and combining for three shutouts. Hockey East and the WCHA have battled for supremacy since the dawn of the new Millennium, and if BC should win once more, it will pull the former even with the latter conference for the best in the game. The Chestnut Hill-based school has already snagged a piece of history in reaching this point, tying Michigan with 24 all-time Frozen Four berths. The nightcap features geographic neighbors and former fierce conference rivals which found themselves in different locations this season for the first time in a long time. Watch it live tonight on TSN GO at 8pm et/5pm pt MINNESOTA (27-6-6) HEAD COACH: Don Lucia (650-343-94); Captains: Nate Condon, Kyle Rau Motivated by being knocked off the No. 1 perch it held for most of the regular season and an unexpected exit in the inaugural single-elimination Big Ten playoffs authored by Ohio State, Minnesota has roared back to life with a pair of dominating victories to reach the Frozen Four for the 21st time in program history. The Gophers powered past AHA champion and tournament newcomers Robert Morris and then whitewashed former conference foe St. Cloud State to pull within two victories of their first national championship since winning back- to-back in 2002-03. Lucia led his charges to the seasons final weekend two years ago, only to be toppled by an upstart BC club by a 6-1 count, and then ended up on the wrong side of an NCAA record for the quickest goal scored in overtime in a 3-2 defeat to eventual champion Yale in the first round of the West Regional one year ago. Minnesota began the year in the top five, hit the ceiling soon after, then cemented its place there thanks to a 14-1-4 stretch mid-season and rolled to the Big Ten regular-season crown. Theyve done it with balance: five players have scored at least 10 goals, and while no player recorded more than Raus 37 points, 14 players have sported double-digit point totals. Defense has also been a premium, in sharp contrast to their years spent in the high-speed WCHA. Sophomore stalwart Adam Wilcox, another Hobey Baker finalist, finished 25-5-6 with a 1.89 GAA, .935 save percentage and four shutouts, while he and his fellow blueliners combined to allow a paltry 78 goals in 39 games, by far the lowest total and percentage of all four of this years entrants. Owing to their separate paths, for the first time in 66 years, the Gophers and Fighting Sioux did not play each other in the regular season. In their 284th all-time meeting, the stakes have never been higher for these two upper Midwestern schools, their respective rabid fan bases and bragging rights, since a 1979 NCAA championship meeting saw Herb Brooks Minnesotans take down Gino Gasparinis Dakotans in Detroit. NORTH DAKOTA (25-13-3) HEAD COACH: Dave Hakstol (260-132-40); Captain: Dillon Simpson The solid, but unspectacular Sioux arrive in Philadelphia without the bona fides of the other three combatants, yet still hold a place in college hockey lore. UND has reached the national semifinals for the 20th time -- and first since 2008 -- thanks to sweeping the Midwest Regional as an at-large bid and lowest seed by taking down top-seeded Wisconsin and then outlasting Ferris State in double overtime. Despite holding a late-season lead in the brand-new NCHC, North Dakota conceded the regular-season title to St. Cloud State on the final weekend, then needed three games to take out Colorado College in the conference quarterfinals before bowing to Miami-Ohio in the semis. Sophomore winger Rocco Grimaldi can lay claim to the tournaments first hat trick, which he recorded in a 5-2 win against the Badgers, and also sits atop the club in scoring with 39 points (including a team-best 17 goals and a team- high 156 shots on goal). Behind him, the largely-ignored Flyers prospect Michael Parks, a junior and projected senior leader of the squad with 12 goals and 30 points. Like their border brothers, the Sioux have made it this far thanks to 14 players who have tallied at least 10 points, a defense which did not allow more than six goals in any game, and a unique adaptability to opponents playing styles. North Dakota faced a known quantity in long-time WCHA rivals Wisconsin, going shot for shot and stride for stride in victory, then showed uncanny patience in outwaiting the molasses-in-January pace of the Bulldogs. The Big Green will have to shift into yet another mode, as Minnesota can stretch the ice like few teams and turn forechecking schemes into taffy. Hakstol reached the national final in his first year at the helm of 2004-05, eventually coming up short as Denver completed its consecutive championships, but hasnt been back since. The Sioux havent won it all since 2000, beating Boston College in Providence. A berth in Saturdays terminal contest, and a victory, will go a long way towards securing his legend and long-term viability in Grand Forks. Saturdays national final is set for a 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt puck drop on TSN2 and TSN GO. Michael Pierce Jersey . -- Felix Girard scored on the power play in the third period to lift the Baie-Comeau Drakkar past the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 4-3 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Friday. Eric Weddle Jersey . The 49ers, 6-2 and riding a five-game winning streak following the bye week, also waived cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha and activated cornerback Eric Wright from the reserve/non-football injury list. Manningham made 42 receptions for 449 yards and one touchdown in 12 games and 10 starts last season before injuring his left knee in a loss at Seattle Dec. http://www.ravensjerseyscheapauthentic.com/ravens-ronnie-stanley-black-jersey/ . “Momentum is only as good as the next days starter,” the long-time Baltimore Orioles manager famously quipped.PEORIA, Ill. -- Wichita State is all alone in the record book. Again using a balanced offence and tenacious defence, the second-ranked Shockers became the first Division I team to reach 30-0 in the regular season with a 69-49 victory over Bradley on Tuesday night. "To be the first and only team in college basketball to win 30 without a loss in the regular season," Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said when asked about his theme for the game. "I realize were playing more games ... but it has never happened in the regular season. "So its a first. And these guys like to be the first, and the best." Ron Baker had 15 points to lead four Wichita State players in double figures as the Shockers became the 11th team to reach 30-0, the previous 10 all hitting the 30-win mark during post-season play. The last team to reach 30-0 was UNLV in 1990-91. The Runnin Rebels went 34-0 that season before losing to Duke in the national semifinals. The Shockers (30-0, 17-0 Missouri Valley Conference) have one more regular-season game, at home Saturday against Missouri State. The last team to finish a regular season unbeaten was Saint Josephs in 2003-04 at 27-0. The next season, Illinois got to 29-0 before losing its regular-season finale at Ohio State. A barrage of 3-pointers early in the second half broke it open for Wichita State, which beat Bradley (12-18, 7-10) for the 10th straight time and second this season. After Bradley trimmed a 10-point halftime deficit to eight, Shockers point guard Fred VanVleet made consecutive 3s for a 14-point lead, the visitors largest to that point. By the 12:50 mark, Cleanthony Early had added a 3-pointer and Baker made two 3s off screens for a 50-32 lead. Wichita State finished the game 11 of 21 from beyond the arc, with four players making two or more. Bradley was 4 of 14. "End-of-shot-clock 3s. That was it," Bradley coach Geno Ford said. "Im not saying we were going to win, but you hold them to seven offensive rebounds and have just six turnovers? Ill take it. Danny Woodhead Jersey. "The difference was late-shot-clock 3s and their length at the basket." Ford went on to laud the Shockers defence. "At the rim, they have unbelievable length," Ford said. "Its length and it comes from anywhere. Even (6-foot-3) Baker. "Theyre absolutely terrific at help and recover, and they deny (wing passes). You cant find five teams in the country with that (combination)." Tyshon Pickett finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds for Bradley after nearly reaching a double-double in the first half with 10 points and nine rebounds. Pickett was just 5-of-20 from the field and leading scorer Walt Lemon Jr. was 6 for 20 and had 18 points. "I hate to get beat on the glass," Marshall said of his teams 37-36 rebound disadvantage. "But (Pickett) was a monster. He beasted us a little." Tekele Cotton scored 13 points, Early 12 and VanVleet had 11 for Wichita State, a Final Four participant a year ago. Reserve Darius Carter added nine points and seven rebounds and had one of the Shockers six blocked shots. Miserable shooting prevented Bradley from mounting much of a threat. The Braves were at 25 per cent (11 for 44) through 30 minutes and finished 16 for 59 (27.1 per cent). Bradley was playing host to its highest-ranked opponent since 1982, when then-No. 2 Wichita State lost 55-47 to the Braves who went on to win the NIT. The Shockers led 35-25 at halftime after holding the Braves to 8-of-34 shooting (23.5 per cent). The game was a matchup of the top two defensive teams in the conference, though Wichita State (60.8 points per game) leads Bradley (65.5) comfortably. Offensively, Wichita State is also the MVCs best (75.8) while Bradley (63.8) is last. The No. 2 ranking equals the highest ranking in Wichita State history, matching the 1981-82 team. Cheap Jerseys Stitched Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Jerseys China ' ' '