One of the top questions on Twitter the past 12-24 hours has been; when do the teams play in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinals? Well, now we know the rest of the story.
While the UND vs. UMD matchup would probably garner the most attention in the 07:38 time slot, coach Brad Berry wanted North Dakota to play in the early game to have more time to rest regardless of what game they played in on Saturday. The NCHC members have agreed.
“After considering many factors, including the student-athletes, the fans and television, the conference has decided to place an emphasis on bracket integrity with the announcement of game times for Friday’s semifinals,” NCHC Commissioner Josh Fenton said. “Being the top seed in this year’s tournament, North Dakota expressed their desire to play in the first semifinal on March 18. Our membership has indicated it is important to protect the top seed, which was earned throughout the regular season. I expect our membership to have further discussion on this topic in the future.“
In the first game, top-seeded No. 2/2 North Dakota facing fourth-seeded No. 20/15 Minnesota Duluth at 4:08 p.m. CT. In game two, second-seeded No. 5/5 St. Cloud State and third-seeded No. 6/6 Denver will play at 7:38 p.m. CT. All of the semifinal games will be on CBS Sports Network.
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