Twenty Storied Programs: #20 through #16

On Saturday night in Philadelphia, Union became the 20th program to win an NCAA Division I men’s college hockey championship. Since 1948, teams have competed for the coveted trophy, and the Dutchmen will raise a banner celebrating this season that will hang forever.

I thought it would be interesting to take a look at all twenty teams who have made it to the mountaintop, beginning today with #20 through #16…

#20: Bowling Green Falcons

National Championships: 1 (1984)
Frozen Four Appearances: 2 (most recent, 1984)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 9 (most recent, 1990)
Conference Playoff Titles: 4 (most recent, 1988)
Regular Season Conference Titles: 7 (most recent, 1987)

Hobey Baker Award Winners: LW George McPhee (1982), C Brian Holzinger (1995)
Hobey Baker Award Finalists: Brian Hills (1982, 1983), Nelson Emerson (1988, 1989, 1990), Rob Blake (1990), Jordan Sigalet (2005)
Other notable former players: Gary Kruzich, Brian MacLellan, Ken Morrow, Greg Parks, Kelly Perrault, Jeff Wells

Bowling Green collected a whole bunch of hardware between 1975 and 1990, and the Falcons haven’t been back to the national tournament since then. Head coaches Ron Mason and Jerry York left for greener pastures (Michigan State and Boston College, respectively), and it’s been downhill for 25 years. Current head coach Chris Bergeron has a chance at returning the Falcons to glory in the new-look WCHA, but with Ferris State and Minnesota State the class of that league, he’ll have to catch lightning in a bottle.

#19 Northern Michigan Wildcats

National Championships: 1 (1991)
Frozen Four Appearances: 3 (most recent, 1991)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 8 (most recent, 2010)
Conference Playoff Titles: 2 (most recent, 1981)
Regular Season Conference Titles: 3 (most recent, 1991)

Hobey Baker Award Winners: None
Hobey Baker Award Finalists: Steve Bozek (1981), Gary Emmons (1986, 1987), Phil Berger (1988), Brad Werenka (1991), Scott Beattie (1991, 1992), Tuomas Tarkki (2005), Mark Olver (2010)
Other notable former players: Dallas Drake, Erik Gustafsson, Tom Laidlaw, Mike Santorelli, Ed Ward, Steve Weeks

Northern Michigan has only been a Division I program since 1976, and the Wildcats quickly rose to prominence with two Frozen Four appearances (and one runner-up finish) in their first five seasons at college hockey’s top level. After that meteoric ascent, it took head coach Rick Comley another ten years to win a national title. Walt Kyle is just the second coach in the program’s history, and he has taken NMU to the national tournament just once in his twelve seasons behind the bench.

#18 Yale Bulldogs

National Championships: 1 (2013)
Frozen Four Appearances: 2 (most recent, 2013)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 6 (most recent, 2013)
Conference Playoff Titles: 2 (most recent, 2011)
Regular Season Conference Titles: 3 (most recent, 2010)

Hobey Baker Award Winners: None
Hobey Baker Award Finalists: Bob Brooke (1983), Mark Kaufmann (1993), Ray Giroux (1998), Jeff Hamilton (1999, 2001), Chris Higgins (2003)
Other notable former players: Mark Arcobello, John Emmons, Craig Ferguson, Bob Kudelski, Brad Mills, Randy Wood

The Yale Bulldogs have certainly burst on the scene lately, with only two seasons of note (1951-52 and 1997-98) before this recent stretch of success. It remains to be seen whether Keith Allain can bring the Elis back to the top of the ECAC with Quinnipiac, Colgate, and Union in the picture. Yale has gone 128-64-17 (.653) over the past six seasons, though, so I expect them to be back in the playoff hunt before too long.

#17 Union Dutchmen

National Championships: 1 (2014)
Frozen Four Appearances: 2 (most recent, 2014)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 4 (most recent, 2014)
Conference Playoff Titles: 3 (most recent, 2014)
Regular Season Conference Titles: 3 (most recent, 2014)

Hobey Baker Award Winners: None
Hobey Baker Award Finalists: Troy Grosenick (2012), Shane Gostisbehere (2014)
Notable former players: Steve Baker, Kyle Bodie, Mario Giallonardo, Jeff Hutchins, Duane Joyce, Nolan Julseth, Keith Kinkaid, Trevor Koenig, Jeremy Welsh, Kelly Zajac

Union has only been competing at the Division I level since 1991, and they’ve really only risen to prominence in the past five years. UC went 18 years without a twenty-win season, and since then they’ve done it five straight times. The Dutchmen have collected 127 victories over the past five campaigns, with three regular season titles, three league playoff titles, four NCAA tournament appearances, two Frozen Four bids, and the most recent national title. Still, it remains to be seen whether Union can continue this type of success over the long term.

#16: Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs

National Championships: 1 (2011)
Frozen Four Appearances: 4 (most recent, 2011)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 8 (most recent, 2012)
Conference Playoff Titles: 3 (most recent, 2009)
Regular Season Conference Titles: 3 (most recent, 1993)

Hobey Baker Award Winners: D Tom Kurvers (1984), RW Bill Watson (1985), LW Chris Marinucci (1994), RW Junior Lessard (2004), C Jack Connolly (2012)
Hobey Baker Award Finalists: Brett Hull (1996), Derek Plante (1993), Jack Connolly (2011)
Other notable former players: Pat Boutette, Jason Garrison, Curt Giles, Jim Johnson, Dave Langevin, Norm Maciver, Bob Mason, Matt Niskanen, Mark Pavelich, Shjon Podein, Mason Raymond, Jay Rosehill, Dennis Vaske

Head coach Scott Sandelin took the Bulldogs to the top of the college hockey world just three seasons ago, but the consistency hasn’t been there. In his 14 years at Duluth, he has earned one league playoff title and four NCAA tournament bids. Sandelin has made the most of his time in the national tourney, however, with two Frozen Four bids in four chances. His predecessor, Mike Sertich, made the NCAAs in each of his first three seasons (1982-85) with two regular season titles, two playoff titles, and two Frozen four bids, but after that unbelievable start he took his team to the national tournament just once in his last fifteen years behind the bench.

Here’s a look at #15 through #11 on the all-time champions list. Check back later this week for the top ten.

And once we’re through with the twenty programs which have claimed college hockey’s biggest prize, we’ll take a look at the five teams most likely to break through and win their first national title.

A special thank you goes out to SiouxSports.com user “franchise” for all of the information about Hobey Baker finalists for this article.

As always, thank you for reading. I encourage you to leave your comments below and follow me on Twitter (@DBergerHockey) for more information and analysis.