Relevant Rewind: First Denver and Boston College game

Four teams participated in the first NCAA men’s hockey tournament to take place in Duluth, Minnesota. The 21st iteration of the tournament was held in 1968 at the Duluth Arena Auditorium; home of the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. The semifinals at the time were played on separate nights. The first night of the tournament on March 14 saw the number one seed in the West, Denver, take on the number two seed in the East, Boston College. Both teams were looking to bring another hockey championship trophy back home to campus. At the time, Denver had last won an NCAA title in 1960. That tournament was held in Minneapolis and was the first one to be played outside of Colorado. Boston College had previously won the second-ever tournament in 1949 and finished runner-up in 1965.

The Pioneers defeated the Eagles 4-1 in front of the crowd in Duluth and went on to face North Dakota in the championship game two nights later. Denver shut out North Dakota 4-0 in the title game and earned its fourth championship trophy. It was the second Minnesota city where Denver had won a championship with both being at North Dakota’s expense. Flash forward fifty-six years to the present day. Denver and Boston College are set to face off in the NCAA tournament once again; this time in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It will be the first time the two will meet in the championship game. If the Pioneers are victorious, the program will jump ahead of Michigan in all-time NCAA hockey championships. If Boston College wins, it will be the program’s sixth NCAA hockey championship, putting it in a tie for third place with Wisconsin.

Photo Credit: Kynewisbok Yearbook, Vol. 70, 1968