ST. LOUIS (AP) — If big-game experience counts for anything, Denver hockey coach David Carle was encouraged how the defending champion Pioneers dealt with their share of second-half adversity to make it back to the Frozen Four.
“We’ve learned and grown up through every challenging experience,” the seventh year coach said of a season in which the Pioneers (31-11-1) won their first 12 games but are 17-7-1 since the Christmas break.
That includes blowing a 3-0 third-period lead in a NCHC tournament championship final 4-3 OT loss to Western Michigan, who they’ll meet in the semifinals Thursday.
How much that familiarity helps in Denver’s quest to win its third title in four years and NCAA-leading 11th overall, remains to be seen.
“Now you’re playing teams that I think have all been through the grinder, and I’m not sure how much that matters anymore,” Carle added. “All four teams are peaking at the right time.”
Boston University (23-13-2), making its 25th Frozen Four appearance, faces Penn State (22-13-4) in the other semifinal of a final four that features a decisive split in tournament experience.
With a combined 15 titles, Denver and BU bring championship pedigree to St. Louis. And then there’s Frozen Four first-timers in Western Michigan (32-7-1), the lone No. 1 seed left in the field, and Penn State (22-13-4), which launched its program 14 years ago.
Western Michigan might be new to the championship round, but no strangers to tournament play.
The Broncos have earned NCAA berths in each of coach Pat Ferschweiler’s four seasons, have a nation-leading and school record-matching 32 wins, and went 2-0-1 against Denver this season.
“To feel like a favorite against Denver, the defending national champions, a team that’s a known quantity, returning much of their lineup, I don’t want to go favorite or not,” Ferschweiler said. “But what we are is confident in ourselves.”
At Penn State, there’s very little experience coach Guy Gadowsky can draw upon for a program making only its fourth tournament appearance, and now 4-3 in tournament play after beating Maine and Connecticut in the regional round.
“We’re going into this fresh. We’re certainly going to enjoy every aspect of it,” Gadowsky said.
“As it pertains to our opponent, really, no matter what happens, you’re going to be playing a great team who is playing extremely well no matter what way you slice it,” he said of a Terriers team making its third straight Frozen Four appearance.
What’s been missing for BU, which last reached the final in 2015 and last won in 2009, is a semifinal win after losing in overtime to Denver last year and Minnesota in 2023.
“Obviously, the last two years haven’t gone the way we wanted,” junior assistant captain Quinn Hutson said. “I’m personally going to use that a lot. ... I think it’s a big moment, a big opportunity tomorrow to get that back.”
Denver is 26-13-2 against Western Michigan, including 4-1-1 in neutral-site meetings and 1-0 in tournament play following a 3-2 double-overtime win in a 2011 first-round matchup.
Western Michigan has won eight straight and ranks second in the nation with 158 goals scored. The Broncos are 3-9 overall in tournament play. Of captain Tim Washe’s 16 goals this season, 11 have been winners. Freshman goalie Hampton Slukynsky has allowed 16 goals during the Broncos eight-game run.
Denver features 13 players with NCAA tournament experience and seeks to become the first repeat champs since Minnesota-Duluth won in 2018 and ’19. The Broncos led the nation with 172 goals, and Jack Devine’s had a nation-leading 57 points (13 goals, 44 assists). Defenseman Zeev Buium, selected 12th in the NHL draft by Minnesota last summer, leads college defenseman with 48 points (13 goals, 35 assists).
This is the first meeting between the schools.
Boston University is just 12-7-1 since Christmas, including a 5-2 loss to UConn in the Hockey East semifinals. Cole Hutson leads college freshman with 46 points (14 goals, 32 assists). Coach Jay Pandolfo has combined for seven Frozen Four appearances, four as a BU player and three as coach.
Penn State overcame opening its Big Ten schedule 0-8-1, before finishing 9-11-4, and is 15-4-4 overall since Christmas. Charlie Cerrato ranks second among college freshmen with 42 points and has three goals and 14 assists in his past eight outings. Goalie Arsenii Sergeev is 15-4-4 since returning in January after missing six weeks with an injury.
The four teams feature a combined 38 NHL draft picks, with BU having 14, Denver 13, Western Michigan eight and Penn State three. ... The most recent time two first-time Frozen Four teams met in the championship was in 2013, when Yale defeated Quinnipiac. ... BU’s freshman class leads Frozen Four teams by combining for 134 points this season. Western Michigan leads the four teams with a combined 158 points from its seniors. ... St. Louis is hosting the Frozen Four for the third time, with Michigan Tech winning the title in 1975 and Michigan State in 2007.
AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
FILE - Western Michigan left wing Liam Valente (23) celebrates with his bench after scoring against Minnesota State in the second period during the first round of the NCAA college hockey tournament on Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Fargo, N.D. (AP Photo/Craig Lassig, File)
FILE - Detroit Red Wings assistant coach Pat Ferschweiler, left, and head coach Jeff Blashill watch during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Colorado Avalanche, Friday, Feb. 12, 2016, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
FILE - Denver forward McKade Webster (6) holds up a Frozen Four ticket while celebrating with Jack Devine (4) at the end of an NCAA men's college hockey tournament regional final against Cornell in Springfield, Mass., Saturday, March 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)
FILE - Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy, left, talks with his players as assistant coach Jay Pandolfo looks on during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Montreal Canadiens Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019, in Boston. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson, File)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Six people who all knew each other were inside a vehicle when one, a man with an alleged gang connection, shot each of them in the head before fleeing, according to newly unsealed criminal charges in this week's mass shooting in Minneapolis.
Three victims died at the scene early Tuesday. Another succumbed to his wounds Thursday. One remains hospitalized after being shot in the face but was able to identify the shooter to police, according to the criminal complaint.
And investigators believe a fifth person was killed hours later in retaliation. A suspect in the first shooting was arrested Thursday and has been charged with murder.
Police say the victims were all Native Americans and the shooting was gang-related. The rash of violence has shaken one of the country’s largest urban Indigenous communities.
The first shooting happened on Tuesday just before midnight in a vehicle parked in the diverse residential and commercial neighborhood of Phillips in south Minneapolis. The county medical examiner's office on Friday said the three who died at the scene were Evan Ramon Denny, 27 of St. Paul; Joseph Douglas Goodwin, 17, of Minneapolis; and Merelle Joan White, 20, of Red Lake. Two had been shot multiple times.
A 20-year-old woman was shot in the face and hospitalized in critical condition, the complaint said. She said the shooter was sitting in the back seat when he opened fire on her and everyone else in the vehicle before fleeing on foot.
A 28-year-old man was hospitalized in grave condition but died shortly after the suspect was arrested on Thursday, police said. That victim's name was still being withheld Friday.
About 13 hours later and a few blocks away, a man was killed near an apartment building that happens to house the Minneapolis office of the Red Lake Nation, one of the state's largest tribes. The medical examiner identified him Friday as Tiago Antonio Gilbert, 34, of Minneapolis. He died of multiple gunshot wounds.
The Minneapolis police chief said Thursday it was “entirely probable” this second shooting was revenge for the first. But a police spokesman, Sgt. Garrett Parten, said investigators were still working to determine if there was a link.
Police have released few other details about that homicide.
A makeshift memorial had sprung up by Friday at the site of the first shooting. Red, silver and black balloons were tied to a tree where a plush eagle toy was also attached. At the base were candles, fresh flowers and a bottle of tequila.
The state’s 11 sovereign tribal nations issued a joint statement Thursday, mourning the deaths and urging anyone with information to contact city law enforcement or their own tribal police.
“As native peoples, we have always known grief,” the statement said. “But we have also always experienced the strength that comes afterward. We are here because our ancestors cared for one another. That is how you are even here — because someone before you chose love, protection, and community over despair.”
The complaint against James Duane Ortley, 34, of Minneapolis, alleges that he and members of his family are associated with a gang known as the Native Mob, which operates in the city’s south and other parts of Minnesota.
The gang was the subject of a multiyear federal investigation over a decade ago that resulted in the convictions of 28 people. Its alleged leader at the time was sentenced in 2014 to 43 years in prison.
The U.S. Marshals Service said its local fugitive task force and an FBI SWAT team arrested Ortley on Thursday afternoon. He was charged a day earlier with second-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Ortley has a felony assault conviction on his record from 2021, which the complaint said prohibits him from possessing guns or ammunition. Court records show he completed his probation in 2023. When police interviewed him in 2023 in a separate homicide investigation, the complaint said, he acknowledged that his street name was “Baby James.”
Ortley remained jailed Friday, and court records didn’t list an attorney who could comment on his behalf. His first court appearance is scheduled for Monday. The chief public defender for Hennepin County, Michael Berger, said his office probably won’t learn if it’s representing Ortley until Monday. Messages were left with several potential relatives of Ortley's.
The victim who survived told police the shooter went by the street names “Baby J,” “Little J” and “Little James,” and was a friend of one of the victims, according to the complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court.
Relatives of one victim told police that the victims were all together at a family friend's residence in Minneapolis but left around 9:30 p.m. with plans to pick up “Baby J,” who was known to be a “close family friend” of the victims. The family member identified “Baby J” as the defendant.
Other law enforcement sources told investigators that Ortley was “an associate” of more than one victim, the complaint said.
A surveillance video was consistent with the survivor's account, the complaint said. It shows one person matching Ortley's description exiting the vehicle and fleeing before police arrived.
The complaint gave no details on what might have prompted the shootings.
“This is a bittersweet day,” Police Chief Brian O’Hara said in a statement Friday. “While this arrest represents meaningful progress toward justice, that progress is overshadowed by the heartbreaking loss of another life. Our thoughts remain with the victims’ families, their loved ones, and a community that continues to grieve.”
This story had been updated to correct in the headline that he has been charged in four homicides, instead of charged with four homicides.
Associated Press reporters Mark Vancleave in Minneapolis and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed.
Items are placed as a memorial at the site of a late Tuesday fatal shooting, on Friday, May 2, 2025 in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)
Items are placed as a memorial at the site of a late Tuesday fatal shooting, on Friday, May 2, 2025 in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)
A police officer works on the scene as a bystander is shook up by the homicide in front of 2107 Cedar Ave S in Minneapolis, Minn., on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP)
Police work on the scene as a bystander is shook up by the homicide in front of 2107 Cedar Ave S in Minneapolis, Minn., on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP)
