2005 Frozen Four The 2005 Frozen Four was held April 7 - 9 , 2005 in Columbus , Ohio at Value City Arena on the campus of The Ohio State University . The tournament was hosted by Ohio State . It was the second appearance of the Frozen Four tournament in the state of Ohio . The 1996 Frozen Four was held in Cincinnati . The participants were : For the first time in Frozen Four history , every team in the tournament was from the same conference . These four teams had previously met in the 2005 WCHA Semifinals . This was Colorado College ' s first Frozen Four since 1997 , North Dakota ' s first appearance since 2001 , Denver ' s second straight appearance , and Minnesota ' s third appearance in four years . Denver defeated North Dakota 4 - 1 in the championship game to win their second straight National Championship , their seventh overall , and the fifth title in six years won by a WCHA team . Semifinals . The four regional champions played on April 7th in the semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament . The first game featured intrastate rivals Colorado College and Denver , who met for the sixth time in the 2004 - 05 season , a rematch of the WCHA Championship Game . Denver led the series 3 - 2 coming into the game . The Pioneers jumped out to a 2 - 0 lead midway through the first period with two power - play markers by Luke Fulghum about a minute and a half apart , and Matt Carle would make it 3 - 0 on the power play early in the second . Brian Salcido scored for Colorado College midway through the second to bring the Tigers back within two , but Gabe Gauthier ' s power play goals with 10 seconds left in the second and early in the third period created a 5 - 1 Pioneer lead , and Denver would go on to win 6 - 2 . All eight goals in the game were scored on the power play . Minnesota and North Dakota met for the fourth time on the season in the second semifinal game , a rematch of the WCHA Consolation Game . Erik Fabian scored early in the first period on a stolen puck , and midway through the second period at even - strength to give North Dakota a 2 - 0 lead after two periods . Freshman Travis Zajac would then score twice in the first five minutes of the third period , the first on the power play and the second shorthanded , to put the Sioux up 4 - 0 . Minnesota would answer back with 2 quick power play goals , but the play of Sioux netminder Jordan Parise propelled North Dakota to the 4 - 2 victory and a spot in the National Championship game . NCAA Championship Game . On April 9 , the semifinal winners , Denver and North Dakota , played in the NCAA Championship Game . It was the fourth time the two teams had met with the National Championship on the line - the teams also faced off in the final game in 1958 , 1963 , and 1968 . This tied the Denver - North Dakota matchup with Michigan - Colorado College for most title games . The two teams had met three times previously , most recently in the WCHA Semifinals . Jeff Drummond opened the scoring at 6 : 15 in the first period , playing a favorable bounce from Kevin Ulanski past Sioux goaltender Jordan Parise into the net . Travis Zajac would score on the power play about four minutes later to tie the game at one , beating freshman goaltender Peter Mannino , the netminder ' s only error of the night . Midway through the second , another bounce from Ulanski would find freshman Paul Stastny , who scored on the power play to put the Pioneers back up on top . Stastny would score a second power play goal in the third period , and an empty netter from the lone goalscorer of the 2004 title game , Gabe Gauthier , sealed Denver ' s second straight National Championship victory . North Dakota peppered Mannino with shots throughout the game , landing 45 shots on goal in sixty minutes , but only finding the back of the net once . For his 44 - save effort in the title game , along with his three victories in the NCAA Tournament , Mannino was named the tournament ' s Most Outstanding Player . All - Tournament Team . Most Outstanding Player : G Peter Mannino , Denver