Michigan State coach Rick Comley knows his players are ready for the Frozen Four because they’re so loose in the locker room.

The Spartans shrugged off a 1-4-1 stretch before the NCAA tournament.

“These kids are so darn resilient,” Comley said. “We worry and they just come every day and you can hear them in the locker room right now, they’re talking about the Detroit Tigers, the Lions, and the Yankees like there’s no game tomorrow.

“We’re a good enough team that they’ll be ready to go.”

We meet again

The Maine-Michigan State semifinal is a rematch from last year’s East Regional final, a 5-4 victory by the Black Bears. A total of 27 players are back from that game, 14 from Michigan State.

“Well, I’ve thought about Maine for 360-plus days now,” Michigan State sophomore forward Tim Kennedy said. “We know we can play with them.”

Maine senior captain Michel Leveille is aware of that little extra surrounding this year’s semifinal.

“We certainly know they’ll be ready for us,” Leveille said. “We can’t worry about them wanting to get revenge. We have to stay within ourselves and play our game.”

Boston College and North Dakota tangled in the semifinals last year. The Eagles scored a 6-5 victory.

“As usual, we’re playing North Dakota,” Boston College coach Jerry York said. “This is our fourth Frozen Four and each time we’ve gone up against the University of North Dakota.

“We have a good understanding how hard they play.”

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OLD HANDS: The Frozen Four field is filled with teams accustomed to getting this far.

North Dakota is making its third straight trip to the Frozen Four and fifth in the eight years. The Fighting Sioux have made 17 appearances overall with seven championships.

“When I committed to North Dakota, I expected to be here,” sophomore forward Ryan Duncan said. “Personally, I don’t think it’s acceptable for us not to expect to be here at the end of the year.”

Boston College made it to the finals last year and is making its third appearance in four years and 20th overall, and is seeking its first title since 2001.

Maine has made four appearances since 2001, making it to the finals once in that stretch. The Black Bears have won two titles, in 1993 and 1999, and have made 11 appearances in the Frozen Four.

This will be Michigan State’s first trip to the Frozen Four since 2001, when the Spartans lost 2-0 to North Dakota in the semifinals. Michigan State has two championships, in 1966 and 1986, and has been to 11 Frozen Fours.

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HOBEY BAKER NOMINEES: North Dakota’s Duncan is among three finalists for the Hobey Baker award, college hockey’s equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.

The winner will be announced Friday night.

Other finalists are Notre Dame goalie David Brown and Air Force forward Eric Ehn.

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RESTAURANT GUIDE: This is a business trip for Maine goalie Ben Bishop, who grew up in suburban St. Louis and said “We’re not here to see the Arch.”

But he did dispense a bit of advice when asked for a restaurant recommendation.

Laughing, Bishop said: “If you like Italian, go to the Hill. You can’t go wrong with any of them.”

The Hill is a neighborhood in south St. Louis that has numerous Italian restaurants and was the boyhood home of baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra.

AP-ES-04-04-07 2115EDT