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College hockey’s Frozen Four comes to Pennsylvania in 2013 & 2014

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The NCAA today announced two future dates for college hockey’s Frozen Four and if you’re living in the northeast you may want to start gearing up to spend a lot of time in the Quaker State come 2013 and 2014.

The NCAA has awarded the 2013 Frozen Four to Pittsburgh and the 2014 event to Philadelphia, marking the first time each site has been selected to host college hockey’s signature event.

It’s the first time the Frozen Four will be in the same state in consecutive years since 1973 and 1974, when the tournament was in Boston.

“The number of quality bids submitted made the process of choosing the host sites extremely difficult for the committee,” Bill Bellerose, chair of the Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee, said in a statement. “We are extremely pleased with every aspect of both winning bids -- from the venue, to the community support to the cities themselves, everything will be first-class. We are confident both sites will put forth the ultimate championship experience for the student-athletes and fans alike.”

Choosing Pittsburgh is an inspired selection as the Pittsburgh Penguins have gotten the city excited about hockey once again but also the host school, Robert Morris University, has hosted a college hockey showcase at the Igloo the last few years to drum up interest in the sport there. Having it be at the new Consol Energy Center with all sorts of new amenities therein helps make the choice a no-brainer.

Philadelphia is a bit more of a curious selection as no college hockey program is located in eastern Pennsylvania. With the ECAC as the host for the 2014 event, it’s clear that the league’s ties to Atlantic City for their tournament and Princeton University in northern New Jersey are helping make it a bit more logical. Then again, the NCAA hasn’t worried about team locations much in the past having held it the Frozen Four in Anaheim and St. Louis and will hold it in Tampa Bay in 2012. At least next year’s Frozen Four makes sense as it’ll be at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The mention of Massachusetts being the last state to host back-to-back Frozen Fours is at least a little eyebrow-perking on its own because the city of Boston hasn’t hosted a Frozen Four since 2004. Before that it was 1998 when it wasn’t even referred to as the Frozen Four. Considering that Boston is the home of three major college hockey programs (Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern University) and Harvard University is across the river in Cambridge it might feel logical to have it there more often than not. Now, it’ll be at least until 2015 until Boston gets another shot to host.