Image Credit: Penticton Vees
April 02, 2014 - 12:43 PM
PENTICTON – The 2014 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four Tournament is set for next week in Philadelphia, and there are plenty of former Vees taking part.
In all, eight Vees alumni will be taking part in the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey National Semi-Finals on April 10th, the most out of any BCHL and Canadian Junior Hockey League team. In fact, the Vees have the most alumni playing in the Frozen Four outside of the United States National Development Team; no other junior hockey franchise in North America has as many alumni playing in the Frozen Four as Penticton.
Vees President, General Manager and Head Coach Fred Harbinson, says the organization takes pride in seeing their alumni continue to excel, “Winning is something that doesn't come easy; we are very proud to see so many of the players that won for us here in Penticton continue to help their teams compete for championships at the NCAA level.”
Connor, Mike and Ryan Reilly and the Minnesota Golden Gophers square-off against Mark MacMillan, Wade Murphy, Brendan O’Donnell, Troy Stecher and the University of North Dakota on April 10th. The Gophers won the West Regional on Sunday, after shutting out St. Cloud State 4-0. North Dakota needed overtime to knock-off Ferris State 2-1 in the Midwest Regional Final on Saturday.
In the other Semi-Final, Isaac MacLeod and the Boston College Eagles face Union College. The Eagles edged UMass-Lowell 4-3 in the Northeast Regional Final on the weekend, and are looking for their third national championship in the last five years; MacLeod in pursuit of his second ring with Boston College.
This marks the 24th Frozen Four appearance for Boston College, the most out of any school in the NCAA. This is Minnesota’s 21st and North Dakota’s 20th Frozen Four appearance in their respective school histories. Boston College, Minnesota and North Dakota all sit in the top five for most Frozen Four berths.
The two Semi-Finals are slated for April 10th, with the National Championship scheduled for April 12th at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014