(WCHA Final Five) Final Four

Just 20 days after Minnesota faced North Dakota

and Denver squared off against Colorado College in the

WCHA Final Five, the four teams will reprise those pairings

today. This year's fi eld is the fi rst in the 58-year history

of the tournament to be made up of four teams from

one conference, and while the four teams have played

one another a combined 23 times, the 2005 Frozen Four

might be as wide open as any in recent memory. These

are four teams that know one another intimately, hate

one another intensely and all bring their own unique

flavor to Columbus, Ohio. For Colorado College, it's the

chance to win an NCAA title for the fi rst time since the

Eisenhower administration. North Dakota is using a fi rstyear

coach and the remains of a much-hyped recruiting

class to live up to lofty preseason expectations. Denver,

last year's champion, has reloaded and is now trying to

match Minnesota's back-to-back titles. And Minnesota is

two games away from turning a rebuilding year into another

building block in a budding dynasty.

Minnesota 28-14-1

Contrary to their last two Frozen Four appearances

- when they played the role of

hometown favorites and returning juggernauts

- the Gophers arrived in Columbus,

Ohio, on Tuesday as something of an afterthought.

Minnesota is the sleekest team in the

tournament but might also be the smallest

and is suited for a style of play much different

from what it fi gures to see this week.

Minnesota will have forward Tyler

Hirsch back in the lineup after he

missed three games for personal reasons.

Defenseman Alex Goligoski

practiced this week, but it remains

to be seen whether he'll play with a

broken bone in his left hand.

The Gophers' chances, in reality,

probably rest with three players:

Ryan Potulny, Danny Irmen and Kellen

Briggs.

All three sophomores were spectacular at

the beginning of the season, when Minnesota

won 16 of its fi rst 20, but Potulny and Irmen's

production has dipped while Briggs struggled

in net during a second-half swoon.

If those three players are off their game, it

could be lights-out for the Gophers today.

But if Minnesota bags its third - and most

improbable - championship of the last four

years, the second-year trio will have something

to say about it.

North Dakota 24-14-5

Well, the Sioux are here, just like they were

supposed to be.

Thing is, their path to the Frozen Four was

about as direct as a drive from Minneapolis to

Miami by way of Montana.

Picked by many to win their second-straight

WCHA regular-season title, the Sioux dropped

five of seven in an early-season stretch and languished

in fifth place for most of the season.

But goaltender Jordan Parise caught fi re

in the second half of the season, and North Dakota

enters the Frozen Four as the trendy pick

to win it all.

With forward Brady Murray battling injuries

the second half of the season, North Dakota

struggled for offense but still boasts an

impressive collection of hulking forwards led

by Colby Genoway and Rastislav Spirko.

North Dakota is also playing for forward

Robbie Bina, who suffered a broken vertebra

in his neck against Denver in the Final Five.

And if the Sioux can bring the same level

of intensity they have during the last three

weeks, their wayward season might end

with their eighth national title.

Denver 30-9-2

The defending national champions were

picked sixth in the WCHA and opened the season

with a 5-2 loss to Minnesota on Oct. 9 at the

Xcel Energy Center.

But almost six months to the day later, the

Pioneers have gone from an inexperienced

team with goaltending issues to the odds-on

favorite to win the tournament.

Denver is 20-4-1 in its last 25 games, thanks

in large part to the emergence of WCHA rookie

of the year Paul Stastny as a legitimate scoring

threat alongside Gabe Gauthier.

The Pioneers also boast a pair of fi rst-team

all-conference defensemen in Matt Carle and

Brett Skinner and have eight players with more

than 20 points - the most of any team remaining

in the tournament.

Denver coach George Gwozdecky announced

Wednesday that he would break with

his typical tradition of opening a series with

Glenn Fisher in goal, instead giving the nod

to freshman Peter Mannino, who is 3-0 against

Colorado College this year.

The Pioneers, along with North Dakota,

play their home games on the 200x85 ice sheet

that Value City Arena features and should be

right at home with their physical style of play.

Colorado College 31-8-3

The Tigers might be the most talented team

in the tournament; on the other hand, they

might also be the one most likely to fold under

the pressure of the Frozen Four.

After Don Lucia left for Minnesota in 1999,

the Tigers reached the NCAA Tournament

three times, only to lose in the national quarterfinals each time.

Colorado College tied Denver for the WCHA

regular-season title this year but lost the Final

Five championship game to the Pioneers. The

Tigers, who haven't won an NCAA championship

in 58 years, survived two near-collapses

against Colgate and Michigan to win the Midwest

Regional and advance to their fi rst Frozen

Four since 1997.

They boast two of the three fi nalists for the

Hobey Baker Award in forwards Marty Sertich

and Brett Sterling (the nation's top two

scorers).

Goaltender Curtis McElhinney is 21-3-1,

boasts the nation's sixth-best save percentage

and might be the closest thing this tournament

has to a sure thing in nets.

But even with all that fi repower, the Tigers

might be battling their NCAA Tournament demons

more than anything else.