Frozen Four's Finest

The 1979 Golden Gophers beat North Dakota 4-3 on March 23, 1979, in Detroit to win the national title.

Minnesota beat Bowling Green 6-3 in a first-round contest before beating New Hampshire 4-3 in the semifinals prior to the matchup with North Dakota. The Gophers finished 32-11-1 in the final season under legendary coach Herb Brooks, winning all seven of their postseason games to claim WCHA and NCAA titles.

Senior defenseman Bill Baker captained the squad and earned All-American honors after setting what was then a school record for points by a defenseman with 54 (12 goals and 42 assists). Steve Christoff was the team’s leading scorer with 38 goals and 39 assists for 77 points.

Steve Janaszak, the NCAA tournament's Most Outstanding Player, finished the season with a 3.23 goals-against average.

The 1977 Wisconsin Badgers, led by Bob Johnson, won the NCAA title in dramatic fashion with a 6-5 overtime victory against Michigan at Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

The team still holds the school record with 37 victories (37-7-1 record), while never losing two games in a row during the season.

The Badgers finished the year with a 22-1-1 record in their last 24 games.

The power play clicked at an amazing 39.1 percent (93 goals) on the way to an offensive explosion during which the team scored seven or more goals 19 times.

The team was captained by Steve Alley and featured current Badger head coach Mike Eaves, former Denver head coach George Gwozdecky and current Wisconsin women’s head coach Mark Johnson.