HAMDEN, Conn — Neil Ravin and I have landed back home and have finally unpacked. It is time to return to “real life,” as some have deemed it. There is no doubt that what we experienced the last four days was dream-like. Every day, all we did was eat, sleep and breathe college hockey. From the minute we got up to the second we went to bed, the Frozen Four was always in the back of our minds.

As much as we loved the games and the atmosphere inside the building, we could not think of a better town to host the Frozen Four. The Consol Energy Center is among the NHL’s finest, the citizens of Pittsburgh could not have been nicer and there is no doubt that Jason Grilli is one of the funniest athletes in professional sports.

Sure, the weather could have been a bit nicer, but a little cool weather never hurt anyone. We highly recommend visiting Pittsburgh; it is not the unwelcoming steel city we thought it was. Philadelphia has a lot of work to do to match what Pittsburgh did this year and, judging by the boos inside the arena this weekend when the 2014 Frozen Four logo was shown on the scoreboard, the Pittsburgh fans don’t think Philadelphia can!

PITTSBURGH — A new champion has been crowned and what a first couple of periods it was. Congratulations to Yale on an incredible run since Atlantic City, N.J. To be the last at-large team to make the NCAA tournament and beat three No. 1 seeds and a No. 2 seed to win the national championship is an incredible feat.

Once again, everyone we met Saturday was so pleasant and excited about the championship game. One of the highlights of Frozen Fest was the opportunity to take a picture with the national championship trophy. For a couple of kids that would never win such an impressive trophy, it was nice to at least stand next to it.

Also, the amount of jerseys in town was staggering; name a team and that jersey was there. Neil’s favorite jersey was a split jersey of the Los Angeles Kings, with white on one side and yellow on the other. To add a bit more flavor the jersey had Frozen Four patches lining the bottom of the sweater. For me, it was a Maine Greg Moore authentic jersey. Authentic jerseys will always hold a special place in my heart and a special smell in my nose.

What a ride it was to get here and we could not have been more excited when we got in the car on Wednesday. You could say we are less than ecstatic to get back in the car Sunday. We told our parents we will call when we get home, so we’ll be sure to let you folks know as well.

PITTSBURGH — Yale forwards Stu Wilson and Kenny Agostino and defenseman Tommy Fallen talk in the winning locker room after a 4-0 victory over Quinnipiac in the Frozen Four championship game:

PITTSBURGH — Here’s video of Yale returning to its locker room, with senior associate athletic director Wayne Dean holding the national championship trophy:

Yale players take turns hoisting the trophy on ice in front of the Yale student section:

PITTSBURGH — Quinnipiac goaltender Eric Hartzell and defenseman Mike Dalhuisen talk after a 4-0 loss to Yale in the Frozen Four championship game:

PITTSBURGH — Here are the lines for Saturday’s Frozen Four championship game between Quinnipiac and Yale, as listed on the line charts:

QUINNIPIAC (30-7-5)

20 Matthew Peca-10 Connor Jones-15 Kellen Jones
39 Clay Harvey-17 Jeremy Langlois-24 Travis St. Denis
12 Bryce Van Brabant-7 Ben Arnt-19 Jordan Samuels-Thomas
9 Kevin Bui-6 Cory Hibbeler-11 Russell Goodman

3 Zach Davies-27 Zach Tolkinen
22 Dan Federico-2 Mike Dalhuisen
4 Loren Barron-23 Zack Currie

33 Eric Hartzell
34 Michael Garteig
35 Jacob Meyers

YALE (21-12-3)

27 Charles Orzetti-15 Clinton Bourbonais-28 Antoine Laganiere
18 Kenny Agostino-20 Jesse Root-17 Andrew Miller
8 Josh Balch-6 Stu Wilson-19 Anthony Day
11 Trent Ruffolo-9 Carson Cooper-7 Matt Killian

2 Gus Young-4 Rob O’Gara
22 Tommy Fallen-14 Ryan Obuchowski
21 Colin Dueck-10 Mitch Witek

31 Nick Maricic
33 Jeff Malcolm
29 Connor Wilson

Frozen Friday is in the books and there is one thing that has become clear: Pittsburgh people are the nicest people on the planet. Neil and I both hail from Maine, where I always thought the people were nice, but everybody in Pittsburgh is always asking how your day is or how you have to go to (insert famous establishment.) The Steel City is a place we would never have pinned for such nice people.

For those wondering about Primanti Brothers, the reviews are mixed. The food is good, but what really makes the place is the atmosphere. There are a number of places in town where you can get the sandwiches like in Consol and PNC Park, but the consensus is that half the excitement of Primanti Brothers is the environment in the original restaurant.

As for PNC Park, if you are in Pittsburgh and the Pirates are playing you’d better be there. What a beautiful ballpark both in terms of facility and for the views. But we would be doing a disservice if we didn’t mention Pirates closer Jason Grilli. The introduction of Grilled Cheese Time for the closer is among the best things we’ve seen in sports. It makes almost no sense, but boy is it funny.

The national championship is tonight, and we cannot wait to see what the final day has in store for us.

PITTSBURGH — Hobey Baker Award winner Drew LeBlanc of St. Cloud State and Hobey Hat Trick finalists Johnny Gaudreau of Boston College and Eric Hartzell of Quinnipiac met the media after the ceremony Friday night.

PITTSBURGH — The opportunity to play for a national championship is a big deal, but to play for a world championship? Arguably bigger, even when the game is played on a plastic surface instead of ice.

Yale senior goaltender Nick Maricic was one of the two starters for the U.S. National Inline Team in last year’s IIHF Inline Hockey World Championships in Ingolstadt, Germany, last June. He split time in net with former Western Michigan goaltender Jerry Kuhn (2008-11) and went 3-0 in the tournament.

“We were upset by Finland in the championship,” said Maricic, a native of Alta Loma, Calif., a suburb of Rancho Cucamonga, about 45 miles east of Los Angeles.

“In Southern California, the inline skating was a really big fad after the ‘Mighty Ducks’ movies came out,” Maricic said. “It was the cool thing to do. Everybody was playing street hockey. It exploded in Southern California in the mid-’90s.

“There aren’t as many rinks in Southern California as there are in the northeast, but there are a lot of parking lots.”

Yale’s Nick Maricic isn’t expected to play Saturday, but if needed, he has some big-game experience (photo: Melissa Wade).

Maricic was invited to try out for the U.S. National Team after playing in an amateur tournament two summers ago. He says he’s been playing both ice and inline hockey since strapping on the blades a few years after starting on the streets of Southern California. He enjoys both games and said there are key differences between the two.

“Inline’s four-on-four, but you play on the big NHL-size sheet, Maricic said. “There’s a lot of time for guys to develop stickwork and hands, and you see a lot of patience. I have to anticipate the play better. You can’t get back and slide as well. It’s a different game. It’s more north-south than east-west. It’s probably a little slower because guys are more patient. The scoring chances are much higher quality.”

Maricic, who backs up Yale starter Jeff Malcolm, plans on trying out for the U.S. National Team again in May, when he hopes to be teamed again with Quinnipiac senior defenseman Loren Barron, who played for the team last year. Barron is from Glendora, Calif. — about 20 miles west of Rancho Cucamonga.

The U.S. National Inline Team is coached by former Miami defenseman Joe Cook (1991-93). The team won gold medals in 1996, 1997, 2004, 2006 and 2010.

PITTSBURGH — ECAC Hockey commissioner Steve Hagwell isn’t out to change anyone’s perception of the league. He’ll let Saturday’s national title game between Yale and Quinnipiac do that.

“I think that speaks volumes to where our programs are currently. For me, it isn’t validation,” Hagwell said. “It’s a testament to what people in this league know, that these programs are capable of getting to this level.”

Speak to any coach or player around the league and they’ll tell of the tightness in the league standings, something that was widespread around college hockey this season but has been a staple in the ECAC for some time.

“You’re one poor penalty away from a loss or one power play away from a win,” Princeton coach Bob Prier said earlier this year.

The ECAC is a slightly different from other conferences across the country, as a player can get a top education while still playing hockey at a high level.

“Maybe it’s come around a little but parents are looking at institutions and saying, ‘Hey, I want my son to play at the NHL level but I also want him to have a world-class education and he can do both,” Hagwell said.

That factor, in addition to facility upgrades, have helped league teams win over recruits they might not have gotten in the past.

“Quinnipiac coming in with the new facility they have, and some of the institutions have worked off that and said we need to enhance our facilities as well,” Hagwell said. “As [Bobcats coach] Rand [Pecknold] was just saying, they’re winning battles on the recruiting front that maybe before they weren’t.”

A number of league teams got off to a hot start in non-conference play, and several were ranked highly in the early editions of the PairWise Rankings. But the consensus around the league seemed to be: Just wait. They’ll beat each other up soon enough once conference play starts.

That’s almost the case again Saturday. The ECAC is guaranteed to have a team win a national title for the first time since 1989, but it will come at the expense of another league team.

“Our teams will not have lost a game in the NCAA tournament to a non-league team,” Hagwell said. “I’m sitting here thinking we have a national championship game tomorrow night. I’m not really there yet, but tomorrow I will be.”