1970s WCHA flashback for 2026 men’s Frozen Four
First-ever WCHA game for Wisconsin men’s hockey as Wisconsin beat North Dakota in Grand Forks. Nov 15, 1969 Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, North Dakota) Newspapers.com The semifinals for the 2026 men’s Frozen Four will feature two games that will pit Big Ten Hockey against the NCHC. But if you flip back far enough through the history books, you’ll see that these four teams were once a part of the same conference for more than a decade: all were WCHA division foes throughout the 1970s.
The WCHA has a long and storied history; many of the nation’s top programs called it home for extended stretches of time. By the time Wisconsin joined the conference for the 1969-70 season, the WCHA had already produced 16 NCAA championship teams in the first 22 years of the tournament. The addition of Wisconsin proved to be the right choice as that program became the most decorated team in the conference in the 1970s.
In the 12 seasons that Denver, Michigan, North Dakota, and Wisconsin were in the WCHA together between 1969 to 1981, the teams produced nine WCHA champions, four NCAA champions, three NCAA runners-up, and three NCAA third place finishes:
- Denver:
- 3-time WCHA champion (1971, 1972, 1973)
- 1973 NCAA runner-up
- 1971 NCAA third place
- Michigan:
- 1977 NCAA runner-up
- North Dakota:
- 2-time WCHA champion (1979, 1980)
- 1980 NCAA champion
- 1979 NCAA runner-up
- Wisconsin:
- 4-time WCHA champion (1972, 1973, 1977, 1978)
- 3-time NCAA champion (1973, 1977, 1981)
- 2-time NCAA third place (1970, 1972)
The early semifinal game in 2026 will see Wisconsin go up against North Dakota. The primetime game will be Denver versus Michigan. Let’s look into the history between these two matchups.
Wisconsin versus North Dakota
- All-time series: Wisconsin leads 87-73-13.
- First-ever meeting: December 13, 1968. Wisconsin won 7-5 in Madison.
- First-ever conference game: November 14, 1969. Wisconsin won 8-4 in Grand Forks.
- Most recent NCAA tournament game: March 29, 2014. North Dakota won the Midwest Region Semifinal 5-2 in Cincinnati.
First-ever hockey game between Wisconsin Badgers and North Dakota Fighting Sioux. Dec 14, 1968 The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin) Newspapers.com The first hockey game between Wisconsin and North Dakota took place at Dane County Coliseum in Madison in 1968. The top-ranked team in the nation was in town and was sporting an undefeated record. A crowd of 4,120 spectators saw the home team defeat North Dakota 7-5 in a surprising upset. Legendary Badger coach Bob Johnson’s team was 5-3-1 heading into the weekend series. By the time the number one team left Madison, the Badgers had won two more games after scoring a total of 18 goals.
The very first WCHA conference game the Badgers ever played in was at the Winter Sports Building in Grand Forks against North Dakota. The Fighting Sioux started out strong with a 3-1 lead but Wisconsin bounced back and won a lopsided game 8-4. It was a high scoring affair with a lot of offense on both sides. Wisconsin put up a staggering 62 shots on goal while North Dakota had 47 of its own.
Fun Fact: The University of North Dakota isn’t the first hockey opponent the Badgers faced from that state. Wisconsin hosted North Dakota State (known at the time as North Dakota Agricultural College) in January 1929 and swept the visitors.
Denver versus Michigan
- All-time series: Denver leads 47-36-1.
- First-ever meeting: February 6, 1951. Michigan won 5-4 in Denver.
- First-ever conference game: December 20, 1951. Michigan won 7-5 in Ann Arbor.
- Most recent NCAA tournament game: April 7, 2022. Denver won the Frozen Four Semifinal 3-2 in overtime in Boston.
Denver hosted Michigan for a two-game series in the Pioneers second season of existence during the 1950-51 season. The Wolverines came to town in early February. The independent Denver program had already held its own that season against established NCAA programs such as Princeton and Minnesota. Defending champion Colorado College had swept Denver earlier in Colorado Springs. Denver was not one to shy away from competition as Michigan was fresh off an NCAA third place finish. The Wolverines defeated Denver 5-4 in that first-ever hockey game between the schools. However, Denver evened the score the following night with a 5-3 win. The Wolverines would later go on to win its second NCAA championship trophy at the end of the season.
The following season, both programs were invited to be founding members of the Midwest Collegiate Hockey League along with Colorado College, Michigan State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota, and North Dakota. The MCHL later changed its name to the Western Intercollegiate Hockey League and then again to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association that is still in use today in women’s hockey. Denver traveled to Ann Arbor for the first time in December 1951. It was the first intra-conference game between the two schools. Once again, the teams would split. The home team won the first conference game 7-5 while the Pioneers won 5-4 the following night. And again, Michigan would later go on to win the NCAA championship at the end of the season – securing the first national championship trophy for the WCHA. It would also be the middle title for Michigan in what would ultimately be NCAA hockey’s first – and still only – three-peat champion.
2026 Frozen Four
This year’s Frozen Four is truly a field of college hockey blue bloods. There are 33 NCAA titles between the four teams. In fact, the four teams left standing all hold the top four spots for most NCAA Division I men’s hockey championships.
As we like to highlight each season prior to the Frozen Four, there are a lot of historical implications this weekend. Denver is looking to add to its NCAA-leading 10 titles while Michigan is looking to win one for the first time since 1998. North Dakota last won a title a decade ago in Tampa. It’s the first Frozen Four appearance for the Fighting Hawks since then after having gone to six in the ten years leading up to 2016. This is the first Frozen Four for the Badgers since 2010 and only its second since it’s last championship trophy twenty years ago. Another wrinkle is that the Badgers women’s hockey team won another NCAA championship this season. If the men’s team wins it all this weekend, it’ll only be the second time that both the men and women’s hockey teams from the same school won hockey titles in the same season. The only other time that happened? The Wisconsin Badgers in 2006. The last storyline is Big Ten versus NCHC. Big Ten Hockey is looking for its first-ever champion while the NCHC is looking to add another name to the wall in its Colorado Springs headquarters. The conference has boasted 7 national champions in 11 seasons. With all of these historical implications and storylines intertwined throughout the remainder of the tournament, only one thing is certain: an NCAA hockey powerhouse will add yet another trophy to its case.
