April 12, 2005

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The University of Denver successfully defended its national title at the 2005 NCAA Frozen Four in Columbus, Ohio, and remained No. 1 on the final 2004-05 USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll.

Denver freshman Paul Stastny scored twice and fellow rookie Peter Mannino stopped 44 shots to lead the Pioneers to a 4-1 victory against the University of North Dakota in the NCAA championship game.

Denver topped No. 2 Colorado College, 6-2, in the NCAA semifinal on Thursday (April 7), while North Dakota beat No. 4 University of Minnesota in the other semifinal game to set the championship match up between the Pioneers and the Sioux. The two teams had previously met three times in the title game (1958, 1963 and 1968) with Denver winning two (1958 and 1968) and North Dakota winning one (1963).

NOTES: The NCAA championship was the Pioneers' seventh, which ties North Dakota for the second highest number of national titles ... Denver freshman goaltender Peter Mannino earned the Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player award ... All six of Denver's goals in its 6-2 semifinal victory over Colorado College on Thursday (April 7) were scored on the power play ... For the first time in history, the 2005 NCAA Frozen Four featured four teams from the same conference (Western Collegiate Hockey Association) ... Colorado College's Marty Sertich won the 2005 Hobey Baker Award.

ABOUT THE POLL: The 10th annual USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll is conducted each week in conjunction with the American Hockey Coaches Association. The poll includes input from coaches and journalists representing each of the six NCAA Division I ice hockey conferences, as well as composite votes from officers of the American Hockey Coaches Association and USA Hockey Magazine, the official publication of USA Hockey.

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll - #27 (Final)
(first-place votes in parentheses)

	Last Week	Record	Weeks In Top 15
1. University of Denver, 510 (34)	1	32-9-2	27
2. Colorado College, 444	2	31-9-3	27
3. University of North Dakota, 443	3	25-15-5	26
4. University of Minnesota, 406	4	28-15-1	27
5. Cornell University, 389	5	27-5-3	25
6. University of Michigan, 339	6	31-8-3	27
7. Boston College, 319	7	26-7-7	27
8. University of New Hampshire, 274	8	26-11-5	27
9. The Ohio State University, 225	9	27-11-4	25
10. Harvard University, 214	10	21-10-3	16
11. University of Maine, 161	11	20-13-7	26
12. Boston University, 126	12	23-14-4	19
13. University of Wisconsin, 105	13	23-14-4	27
14. Colgate University, 89	14	25-11-3	20
15. Bemidji State University, 10	15	23-13-1	2

Others receiving votes: Mercyhurst College, 9; Dartmouth College, 6; University of Alaska Fairbanks, 5; University of Vermont, 5; University of Massachusetts Lowell, 1.

© 2009 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use | About Us | Advertise | Feedback | XML RSS Feeds