The NCAA Hockey Tournament’s Frozen Four has traditonally been played the week after the Eastern and Western Regionals.

This year, the four teams will have 10 or 11 days – depending upon whether they played their quarterfinal game on Saturday or Sunday – between the regionals and the Frozen Four. The two teams that will benefit the most appear to be Maine and St. Lawrence.

All four coaches, including North Dakota’s Dean Blais and Boston College’s Jerry York as well as Maine’s Shawn Walsh and St. Lawrence’s Joe Marsh, saw some positives in the change.

The extra time between the regionals and Frozen Four was designed to avoid conflicting with the NCAA Basketball Tournament’s Final Four and to give the fans more time to make travel arrangements.

The four coaches were involved in a national conference call Tuesday afternoon.

The extra time will give Maine coach Shawn Walsh time to readjust his lineup because he has to replace leading scorer Cory Larose, who received a five-minute major and game disqualification in the 5-2 quarterfinal win over Michigan. Larose will miss the semifinal against North Dakota on April 6.

St. Lawrence beat Boston University 3-2 in the NCAA record-setting four-overtime game on Sunday and gains the extra rest.

“The extra time will be helpful. And I wouldn’t have wanted to play Sunday night and then turn around and have to play Thursday afternoon,” said Walsh.

Marsh said it would have been “very difficult emotionally” to have to step back on the ice this Thursday and play BC after their 123-minute, 53-second marathon with BU.

Blais said he liked the fact “it gives our fans and everyone a chance to make arrangements to get to Providence.”

York’s Eagles traveled directly from the West Regional in Madison, Wis., to the Frozen Four in Anaheim, Calif., a year ago “and that was very difficult. We never got a chance to get rested up.”

The Maine players like the extra time.

“The guys [new linemates] will get more time to practice together and get to know each other a little better,” said sophomore defenseman Doug Janik. “It also gives us more time to prepare for North Dakota.”

Tommy Reimann will take Larose’s left-wing spot on the line with Ben Guite and Niko Dimitrakos and defenseman-forward Mike Schutte will inherit Reimann’s right-wing spot on a line with Lucas Lawson and Matthias Trattnig.

Junior defenseman A.J. Begg said the extra preparation time is especially important against a team they haven’t seen.

“It would be a little easier to prepare for BU or BC because we know those teams,” said Begg. “This also gives us more time to rest our injuries.”

The coaches dodged the question of which team is the favorite.

“I don’t know who is favored but I can tell you who the underdog is,” said Marsh, referring to his Saints.

Blais said all four teams showed a “lot of character in the playoffs.

“This is two years in a row BC has gone out west and won two games [to get into the Frozen Four]; Maine dug down and beat Michigan after the long delay caused by the St. Lawrence-BU game and St. Lawrence showed unbelievable character winning that game,” said Blais.

Walsh said “all four teams are blazing hot coming in.

“This will be a tremendous Frozen Four. I’m glad we’ve gotten away from [NCAA] basketball weekend so the focus can be on our four teams like it should be this time of year,” said Walsh.

York quipped, “Shawn summed it up pretty well.”

Maine is 12-0-1 in its last 13 games; St. Lawrence is 19-1 in its last 20 including 10 straight wins; North Dakota is 11-1-2 in its last 14 and Boston College has won eight of its last 10 and 15 of its last 19.