The Frozen Four is set in both the 5A and 4A ice hockey state tournaments. The Frozen Four games for both classification will be played on Thursday at the University of Denver’s Magness Arena.
Class 5A
(1) Denver East 6, (8) Chaparral 0
At the University of Denver’s Magness Arena on Monday night, the Denver East ice hockey team claimed a special spot in its school’s athletic history.
With a 6-0 win over No. 8 Chaparral, the top-seeded Angels punched their ticket to the Class 5A Frozen four. When they face off against No. 5 Ralston Valley on Thursday night, the Angels will make their first-ever semifinals appearance.
“This is my seventh year here and the program has just been getting a little better each year,” Angels head coach John Kopperud said. “This is the eighth year and the kids that started the program are the trailblazers and the pioneers. We’ve continued to set that standard a little higher and now we’ve done it again. Hopefully, we’re going to set it higher yet.”
With the Frozen Four as their goal, the Angels left no doubt as to their worthiness on Monday.
On the strength of an opening goal from Colby Asheim, as well as a trio of goals from Zeke Romero, Benton Wilson and Kaden Dunham in the last the final five minutes of the first period, the Angels led 4-0 to start the second. In the third quarter, Dunham added two more goals to complete a hat trick and seal the victory for Denver East.
“Last spring when we saw what we were losing, we knew we were going to be good defensively and we were excited about our goaltender,” Kopperud said. “We didn’t know where we were going to get the goals from. But, it hasn’t been a problem. We found it in our guys.”
The 5A Frozen Four semifinals will be played at 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Thursday. The 4A Frozen Four semifinals will be played at Noon and 2:30 p.m. on Thursday. The championship games in both classes will be played on Tuesday, March 8, at Ball Arena in Denver.
(5) Ralson Valley 2, (4) Monarch 1 (2OT)
In a low-scoring contest on Monday night, it appeared for much of the game as though a second-period goal by Monarch’s Dylan Zukosky would stand as the decisive score in a 5A quarterinfals contest between the Coyotes and Ralston Valley. That was proven to be untrue when Ralston Valley’s Devin Strong scored a goal of his own to tie the game with 10 minutes, 52 seconds left in the third.
The final game-winner didn’t come until 3:46 remaining in double overtime when Ralson Valley Trevor Tosh scored to win the game in sudden death.
The score sent the Mustangs into the 5A Frozen Four, where they will face No. 1 Denver East on Thursday.
Ralston Valley last reached the Frozen Four in 2016.
(7) Fort Collins 4, (2) Regis Jesuit 1
Facing MaxPreps.com’s No. 4 team in the nation in the 5A Great 8 on Tuesday night at Magness Arena, Fort Collins pulled off a momentous upset that shook loose the entire bracket.
And if the Lambkins are 5A hockey’s dragon killers in the quarterfinals, Jason Campos was the tip of the spear. The senior had a hat trick to pace a 4-1 victory and sent the Lambkins back to the Frozen Four for the third year in a row.
Tuesday’s victory set up a compelling semifinals matchup between the Huskies and the Valor Christian Eagles. The game will be a rematch of the last two 5A state championship games, both of which have done in Valor Christian’s favor.
(3) Valor Christian 6, (6) Castle View 1
The champs are back in the Frozen Four.
Winners of the last two state titles – one unclassified and on Class 5A – the Valor Christian Eagles put together a dominant 6-1 win over Castle View in the quarterfinals at Magness Arena on Tuesday night.
The Eagles have now reached the Frozen Four for five years running.
Class 4A
(2) Battle Mountain 3, (10) Crested Butte 0
Last season, the Battle Mountain ice hockey team won the first-ever state title in Colorado’s new 4A classification. Then the Huskies and set out to defend it in 2021-22.
On the road to repeating, however, the Huskies had to get past a familiar foe in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night at Dobson Arena. That threatening opponent was Crested Butte, the same team the Huskies faced in last year’s title game. Undeterred, the Huskies won 3-0 and punched their ticket back to the Frozen Four
But remember, they have no intention of settling for the semifinals.
“We played a good three-period game tonight and it’s exciting to be back in the Frozen Four,” Battle Mountain head coach Derek Byron said. “But that’s not what our goal is, obviously. Our goal is to get back to the finals and win. It’s been a different challenge with it being a full season after last year being a shorter season because of COVID. There are little things that pop up, but I guess the biggest challenge has been trying to get back to a normal season and figure out against what that actually is.”
Tuesday’s game was the third time battle Mountain has beaten Crested Butte this season. The Huskies won 5-0 on Jan. 28 and prevailed 4-3 in an overtime contest on Feb. 11.
Battle Mountain will face No. 3 Colorado Academy in the Frozen Four on Thursday at Magness Arena in Denver.
(3) Colorado Academy 4, (6) Kent Denver 3
The Class 4A ice hockey quarterfinals featured a classic 4A North League rivalry game No. 3 Colorado Academy and No. 6 Kent Denver teams that split a pair of contests during the regular season. The latest clash, however, went 4-3 in favor of Colorado Academy.
The Mustangs advance and will take on the winner of a Tuesday night game between No. 2 Battle Mountain and No. 10 Crested Butte. One more win and the Mustangs will be in a state title game for the first time.
(4) Steamboat Springs 6, (5) Summit 3
Steamboat Springs was the first team into the 4A Frozen Four, as the Sailors played on Friday to avoid ice-time issues. It paid off, apparently, as they picked up a 6-3 revenge win to advance to the 4A Frozen Four.
The Sailors had lost to Summit twice already during the 2021-22 season, including in the regular-season finale just six days prior. Steamboat Springs will take on top-seeded Cheyenne Mountain in the penultimate round with a chance to reach the program’s first title game.
(1) Cheyenne Mountain 8, (8) Aspen 1
Monday way a good day to be a Cheyenne Mountain hockey player, especially one in particular.
Pacing his team to an 8-1 victory over No. 8 Aspen, Noah Bonnett scored an incredible five goals to send the Red-Tailed Hawks into the 4A Frozen Four. Cheyenne Mountain will face Steamboat Springs in the semifinals on Thursday.
