Minnesota Duluth sophomore Max Plante plays the puck in front of Penn State junior Reese Laubach during the NCAA Albany Regionals on Friday, March 27, 2026, at the MVP Arena in Albany, NY. (Jim Franco/Times Union)
Jim Franco/Times Union
Minnesota Duluth celebrates a goal during the NCAA Albany Regionals against Penn State on Friday, March 27, 2026, at the MVP Arena in Albany, NY. (Jim Franco/Times Union)
Jim Franco/Times Union
Minnesota Duluth goalie Adam Gajan makes a save off the stick of Penn State sophomore Charlie Cerrato during the NCAA Albany Regionals on Friday, March 27, 2026, at the MVP Arena in Albany, NY. (Jim Franco/Times Union)
Jim Franco/Times Union
Minnesota Duluth celebrates after scoring a goal to go ahead 2-1 lead during the NCAA Regionals against Penn State on Friday, March 27, 2026, at the MVP Arena in Albany, NY. (Jim Franco/Times Union)
Jim Franco/Times Union
Minnesota Duluth freshman Hunter Anderson celebrates after scoring a goal to give his team a 2-1 lead during the NCAA Regionals against Penn State on Friday, March 27, 2026, at the MVP Arena in Albany, NY. (Jim Franco/Times Union)
Jim Franco/Times Union
Minnesota Duluth fans cheer for their team during the NCAA Albany Regionals against Penn State on Friday, March 27, 2026, at the MVP Arena in Albany, NY. (Jim Franco/Times Union)
Jim Franco/Times Union
Michigan head coach Brandon Naurato talks to his team during the NCAA Albany Regionals against Bentley on Friday, March 27, 2026, at the MVP Arena in Albany, NY. (Jim Franco/Times Union)
Jim Franco/Times Union
Michigan celebrates a goal during the NCAA Albany Regionals against Bentley on Friday, March 27, 2026, at the MVP Arena in Albany, NY. (Jim Franco/Times Union)
Jim Franco/Times Union
Michigan senior T.J. Hughes scores a goal during the NCAA Albany Regionals against Bentley on Friday, March 27, 2026, at the MVP Arena in Albany, NY. (Jim Franco/Times Union)
Jim Franco/Times Union
ALBANY — College sports fans recognize the big-name schools, and many of them — Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Penn State, et al — are among the elite in college hockey.
What makes the sport distinctive at the collegiate level is that some of the powerful aren’t from the power conferences. The Capital Region claims two-time national champion RPI and 2014 winner Union from the ECAC. Union is the host school for this weekend’s NCAA regionals at MVP Arena.
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Minnesota Duluth of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference fits the same mold. Few fans outside of the upper Midwest appreciate the legacy formed by the three-time NCAA titlist Bulldogs, who will vie for their seventh Frozen Four appearance Sunday evening against Michigan in the Albany Regional final (5:30 p.m., ESPN).
The winner between Duluth (24-14-1) and Michigan (30-7-1), which is the tournament’s overall No. 1 seed, will advance to the Frozen Four on April 9 and 11 in Las Vegas.
The last time Minnesota Duluth and Michigan met in the NCAA tournament was 2011, when the Bulldogs pulled out a 3-2 overtime victory for their first national crown.
Minnesota Duluth head coach Scott Sandelin during the NCAA Albany Regionals against Penn State on Friday, March 27, 2026, at the MVP Arena in Albany, NY. (Jim Franco/Times Union)
Jim Franco/Times Union
“I just remember one thing about that game,” said Duluth sophomore defenseman Ty Hanson, who, as a youngster in Hermantown, Minn. (seven miles from Duluth), watched that game 15 years ago. “When UMD scored, I jumped right in my dad’s arms.”
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Duluth won its second and third championships back-to-back, in 2018 and 2019.
“I’ve grown up just watching the Bulldogs,” said sophomore teammate Max Plante, also from Hermantown. “That was one of my earliest memories of the Bulldogs and just seeing them win that, and then ’18, ’19, just the success they had my whole childhood.”
The UMD lineage runs deep. Plante’s father, Derek, was an eight-year NHL player who served on the Bulldogs coaching staff for seven years. He is now an assistant with the NHL’s Blackhawks. Max’s older brother, Zam, is also on the team.
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Hanson’s father, Greg, played defense for Duluth in the mid-1990s.
“It means a lot to those guys,” Minnesota Duluth coach Scott Sandelin said. “They wanted to play here. They wanted to do that themselves. They want to try and win a championship. Last year, they were freshmen, and we didn’t have a good year (13-20-3). From the end of the year, they were champing up a bit to make sure this year was better.”
Minnesota Duluth freshman Hunter Anderson celebrates after scoring a goal to give his team a 2-1 lead during the NCAA Regionals against Penn State on Friday, March 27, 2026, at the MVP Arena in Albany, NY. (Jim Franco/Times Union)
Jim Franco/Times Union
The Bulldogs, who trimmed Penn State 3-1 Friday night to advance to the regional final, have been coached the past 25 seasons by Sandelin. He has a 486-414-104 career record, but more impressive is his 23-8 mark in 11 NCAA Tournament appearances.
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“I have an appreciation for coach Sandelin and three national championships,” fourth-year Michigan coach Brandon Naurato said. “I don’t want to make up the number, but I feel like a few years ago, they were going to the Frozen Four every single year.”
Michigan, coming off a 5-1 tournament victory over Bentley on Friday night, is looking to stay on the road for a 10th NCAA title, although the Wolverines haven’t won any since 1998. In fact, they haven’t made a final since that 2011 loss to Minnesota Duluth.
The Wolverines are one of five Big Ten schools to earn a berth in the 16-team field. Four won first-round games. The Bulldogs took care of the other (Penn State) and now will try to conquer another from the power conference.
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“There’s not a lot of holes,” Sandelin said of Michigan, which leads the nation in scoring. “Their goaltending has been good. Their d-corps can really transport the puck up the rink and kick-start their offense. Then you throw it to the forwards. … They’ve got a good mixture.”
Notes: The announced attendance of 5,237 for Friday night’s session at MVP Arena was the highest among the four regional semifinal sites. The others: Sioux Falls, S.D. (5,114), Loveland, Colo. (4,217), and Worcester, Mass. (4,018). … Naurato did not offer an update on sophomore forward Michael Hage, who missed the Bentley game with an undisclosed injury.