TAMPA, Fla. — When teams get to the Frozen Four, their physical abilities are often so closely matched that the outcomes come down either to the proverbial bounces of the puck or to teams’ mental abilities to handle those bounces.

“We’ve played almost 40 games now,” BC coach Jerry York says. “So you’re going to [hold] early leads. You’re going to be in early deficits. You’re going to have swings in momentum. You’ve got to be able to handle it mentally.

“Mental strength is so important in all sports, but especially at this level. You can be down 3-1 and you can come back and win. You can be ahead 4-1 and you can almost lose a game because your attitude is ‘Hey, we’ve won the game,’ and all of a sudden the [other] team comes on strong.

“The mental strength you have is going to play for 60 minutes. And despite the way the momentum shifts back and forth, you have to stay on an even keel. I’ve seen three-goal leads switch so you can win a
game.

“[The attitude needs to be], let’s play through the 60 and give it our best, honest shot.”

Sometimes that mental ability only comes through experience, and not just the players but also the coach and staff.

“I’m more prepared now as we go into these Frozen Four [than in my first few times],” York says. “[You get better] the more you’re into high-pressure situations, similar to a golfer with a one-stroke lead going into 17 and 18 at Augusta. Can you withstand the pressure and just get par in and win the game?

“The more you’re involved in those type of situations, you get a little calmer, you handle the stress better. And it’s a carryover from year to year.

“The longer you’re in this thing, as teams, you get better. You know what was successful, what wasn’t successful.”

TAMPA, Fla. — It’s been a long journey for Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold, who in 1994 took over the Bobcats on a part-time basis when they were a Division II team playing in a Division III conference.

“My first goal? Survival,” said Pecknold, now in his 22nd season at Quinnipiac.

“We had midnight practices. I taught high school. I had to get up at 6 a.m. By the time I got to bed, it was 3 a.m. Sleep 3 to 6, go teach my job, get home. The teaching job and Quinnipiac were 71 miles apart, if I remember that correctly. Then I would sleep 3 to 6 p.m., get up, go down, recruit, midnight practice.”

The Bobcats opened 1-14 that season, leading Pecknold to question whether he was cut out for the coaching life.

“That first year was tough,” he said. “I was like, ‘What am I doing?’ But I loved it. I knew we’d get better. In year two we brought in 19 freshmen, and we were off and running. My fifth year, we went Division I.”

Averaging more than 20 wins a season, Quinnipiac and Pecknold went from the Division III ECAC Northeast to the Division I MAAC/Atlantic Hockey, and finally to ECAC Hockey.

In 2007, the school christened the $52 million TD Bank Sports Center. Pecknold’s Bobcats are in their fourth consecutive NCAA tournament, having also made the Frozen Four in 2013, losing to Yale in the title game.

But it started with survival.

“That was my main goal, was just survive,” Pecknold said. “Survive that first year.”

TAMPA, Fla. — Thursday’s semifinal between North Dakota and Denver marks the sixth game this season between the two teams, will decide the winner of the season series and, more importantly, send either team on to battle in the for their school’s eighth national championship.

Both have won seven titles, with Denver most recently winning in 2005 and North Dakota in 2000. Denver’s 2005 title came at the expense of North Dakota, a 4-1 win, which was the last time the two met in the NCAA tournament. Denver owns a 4-2 record against its rival in the NCAA tournament.

This season’s battles have been back and forth, with each school sweeping on home ice, then playing to a 1-1 tie in the consolation game of the NCHC Frozen Faceoff in  Minneapolis last month. In the first two games in Grand Forks, North Dakota held Denver to a single goal, ironically the first goal of the series. Denver jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Dec. 5 at 1:22 of the second before giving up the next five, despite outshooting North Dakota 23-22. On Saturday, North Dakota blanked Denver 4-0.

In that series, North Dakota held Denver’s power play scoreless on 10 chances, while North Dakota scored a power-play goal in each game.

The rematch happened in Denver on Feb. 12-13. In Game 1, North Dakota took an early lead on a goal from Christian Wolanin at 5:39 of the first, but Denver captain Grant Arnold tied it at 12:44. Denver took a 3-2 lead into the third before North Dakota freshman phenom Brock Boeser tied it at just 1:36 of the third, but Danton Heinen put Denver ahead to stay at 7:44 and Denver won 6-4. North Dakota again held Denver’s power play scoreless on three attempts while getting one power-play goal of its own.

In Saturday’s rematch, Denver took the first lead on a goal by freshman Dylan Gambrell, but North Dakota’s Austin Poganski tied it at 9:01. Denver scored the next three to win 4-1, and for the first time, held North Dakota without a power-play goal. Denver again went 0-for-3 on its power play.

The NCHC Frozen Faceoff consolation game in Minneapolis was a tepid game that lacked the intensity of usual clashes between the two, as nothing was on the line as far as NCAA tournament positioning. North Dakota scored first on a goal from Nick Schmaltz at 6:09 of the first, and Heinen answered for Denver at 13:21 of the first.

In the five games, North Dakota has scored first three times and Denver twice, and each team has lost one game when it scored first. Denver has been held without a power-play goal, going 0-for-19, while North Dakota has gone 3-for-18 on its power play.