Inside the Frozen Four ... Minnesota

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Minnesota will always have expectations, but over the last decade, Frozen Four appearances have been sparse. The Gophers last made it to the Frozen Four in 2014, the year they lost to Union, 7-4, in the national championship game. That eight-year gap is the longest in the program's history, since 1971.

The Gophers were the regular-season champions of the Big Ten and have a 26-12-0 record on the season. The regular season triumph was their fifth, in nine years. They also made it to the conference championship game, but fell 4-3 to Michigan, a team that it could see in the national…