On Monday, @Biddco and @NickTrem_17 were having an interesting exchange on Twitter about how great Minnesota Duluth and Denver have been over the last 20 years. After reading the Twitter exchange from the Mutual Admiration Society; I had some spare time, so, I decided to take a look at the numbers. In the process of crunching the numbers, I also looked into how UND and SCSU fit into the whole equation.
Nope! Wasn't quite sure what you were getting at but this makes sense! Although the last 10 years have been better for UMD than DU but last 20…
— Biddy 📐 🐶 (@Biddco) August 20, 2019
Here’s what I found. You can see that all four teams have been pretty good. Denver, Minnesota Duluth and North Dakota have won eight of the last 20 NCAA titles.
Denver
In the last 20 years, DU has a record of 484-256-84 (638). During those 20 seasons, Denver has won three NCAA titles (2004, 2005, and 2017). Moreover, they’ve been the WCHA playoff champion in (2002, 2005, and 2008). Denver has won the WCHA regular-season champion in (2002, 2005, and 2010).
In six seasons, DU has an NCHC conference record of 81-45-18 (.625). During those six seasons, DU has won two Frozen Faceoffs (2014, 2018) and a Penrose Cup (2017). Denver is the only NCHC team to make the Frozen Faceoff every year it’s been in the league.
Minnesota Duluth
In the last 20 years, UMD has a record of 384-333-87 (.531). During those 20 seasons, UMD has won three NCAA titles (2011, 2018, and 2019). UMD won a WCHA playoff champion (2009). In six seasons, UMD has an NCHC conference record of 76-55-13 (.570).
During those six seasons, UMD has won a pair of Frozen Faceoffs (2017, 2019). Note, during their fantastic run 2010-2019. UMD has never won a regular-season conference title (WCHA or NCHC). For those that were wondering, UMD last won a regular-season championship in 1993.
North Dakota
In the last 20 years, UND has a 512-249-86 (.655). During that time, they’ve won two NCAA titles (2000, 2016). WCHA has also won five playoff championships (2000, 2006, 2010, 2011, and 2012). In addition, UND has won four WCHA regular-season champion (2001, 2004, 2009, and 2011).
In their six seasons in the NCHC, UND has a conference record of 81-52-11 (.600). The Fighting Hawks have won two regular-season championships (2015, 2016). During their six seasons in the NCHC, UND has made the Frozen Faceoff five of the six seasons, they have yet to win a Frozen Faceoff. The semi-final game of the Frozen Faceoff has been UND’s Kryptonite. On Friday’s, UND owns a 1-4 record. In 10 Frozen Faceoff games, UND has a 3-6-1 (.350) record.
St. Cloud State
For comparison sake, I decided to include St. Cloud. Over the past 20 years, SCSU has had a lot of success during the regular season. From 1999-2019, the Huskies have a 438-287-70 (.594) record. SCSU has won a WCHA regular-season championship in 2013, and they also won a WCHA playoff championship in 2001.
During their six years in the NCHC, the Huskies have an 88-43-13 (.652) record. They’ve won three regular-season championships (2014, 2018, and 2019). They’ve also won a Frozen Faceoff in 2016. SCSU’s Kryptonite is their record during the NCAA tourney. Since becoming a member of the NCHC, SCSU has a 2-5 record in the NCAA tourney and are 0-3 in their last three appearances.
What Does This Mean?
Looking at the numbers above, you can see that all four teams have been very successful. While St. Cloud has the best regular-season record in six NCHC seasons, Denver, 2017, Minnesota Duluth, 2018, and 2019, and North Dakota, 2016, have won the last four NCAA titles. With that said, UND has the best overall record for the last 20 years. Denver, Minnesota Duluth, and St. Cloud have been better in the last three seasons.
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