BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Thomas Vanek captivated the Frozen Four. Can the NHL be far behind?

Vanek, the Most Outstanding Player of the Frozen Four, figures his next big step to be the NHL entry draft in Nashville. The Florida Panthers own the No. 1 pick.

"I plan to be there," the Austrian star said. "My whole family is coming down there. I don't care where I go."

Vanek finished his freshman season at the University of Minnesota with 31 goals and 31 assists for 62 points. He broke Aaron Broten's school freshman record of 58 points and became the first freshman to lead the Golden Gophers in scoring in 33 years.

The 19-year-old is listed by the NHL's Central Scouting Bureau as the third-highest prospect, and there's little doubt that his Frozen Four performance did nothing but make his stock rise.

"Of course, I wanted to play well," he said. "I just wanted to try my hardest and it worked. I just wanted to win. We'll see. I've got the whole summer to think about that right now. I'm just enjoying this."

"Tommy's carried the team all year," Minnesota captain Grant Potulny said. "When people say we don't have any stars, just look at (Vanek's) No. 26. If I was an NHL team, I'd draft him with the first pick."

Buffalo Soldier
Saturday's Frozen Four win was doubly sweet for Golden Gophers defenseman Keith Ballard, the Buffalo Sabres' No. 1 draft choice from last season and No. 11 overall.

Ballard's Gophers won the title on the same HSBC Arena ice where he someday hopes to hoist the Stanley Cup.

"Hopefully, it's not the last time I'll celebrate on this ice," Ballard said.

One for the thumb
Minnesota became the fifth team in NCAA history to win five NCAA championships. Michigan leads the group with nine national titles, followed by North Dakota (7), Wisconsin (5) and Denver (5).

Nice timing
Golden Gophers coach Don Lucia picked a great time to record his first win over New Hampshire as Minnesota head coach. Lucia had an 0-1-1 mark against UNH with Minnesota prior to Saturday's championship.

Lucia's overall record against UNH is 2-4-1. His previous win came as coach of Colorado College, defeating the Wildcats 3-2 in the NCAA East Regional in 1997.

An omen?
In 2001 and 2002, the team that defeated the Michigan Wolverines in the national semifinal went on to win the NCAA title. This year, it happened again.

In 2001, Boston College beat the Wolverines 4-2 in the semifinals and then went on to defeat North Dakota in overtime. Last year, Minnesota beat Michigan 3-2 in the semis, then defeated Maine 4-3 in OT.

Of course, Minnesota beat Michigan 3-2 this year to advance to the final.

Spurt
Minnesota scored three goals in a 5:20 span in the third period, the fastest three third-period goals since Maine's Jim Montgomery tallied three in 4:35 as the Black Bears beat Lake Superior State for the 1993 title.

The last time any team scored four goals in a third period of a final came in 1991 when Boston University blitzed Northern Michigan to force overtime, but the Terriers eventually lost 8-7.

Powerful
New Hampshire's power play scored a goal in all four of its NCAA tournament games and went 6-for-21 in the tourney. By contrast, Minnesota's power play was a mere 3-for-20.

Next year
Next year's Frozen Four will be held April 8-10 at the Fleet Center in Boston. Columbus, Ohio, will host the Frozen Four in 2005, followed by Milwaukee in 2006.