University of Minnesota Athletics
Men's Hockey Opens Season on Saturday Against Ohio State
10/8/2002 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
- Click Here For the Entire Minnesota Weekly Men's Hockey Release
The University of Minnesota Men's Hockey Team returns to the Xcel Energy Center to face Ohio State on Saturday night. As of Tuesday, just over 13,000 tickets had been sold for the annual Hockey Hall of Fame Game.
The Series
This will be the ninth meeting between Minnesota and Ohio State. The Golden Gophers lead the all-time series by a 7-1-0 margin. The two teams last met in the third-place game of the Dodge Holiday Classic on Dec. 28, 1998. The Buckeyes defeated Minnesota 6-5 as Ohio State scored the game-winner with seven seconds left in regulation.
The two teams met earlier in the 1998 season at Mariucci Arena in the third-place game of the Icebreaker Cup. Minnesota prevailed 4-3.
The last seven meetings have been held at Mariucci Arena, while the first two games were played on neutral sites in what used to be called the Big Ten Tournament (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio State).
Lucia vs. the Buckeyes
Head Coach Don Lucia has faced Ohio State just twice. While the head coach at Alaska Fairbanks, the Nanooks swept the visiting Buckeyes by the scores of 4-3 (ot) and 4-1 on Oct. 30-31, 1992.
Minnesota vs. the CCHA
The Golden Gophers have a 283-186-33 record (.597) vs. teams from the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Minnesota has faced Michigan 242 times, the most against any team from the CCHA.
Golden Gophers in the Hall of Fame Game
The Golden Gophers have appeared in the Hall of Fame Game a total of 14 times, six of which were exhibition games. In the exhibition games, Minnesota was 2-4-0 with the last loss coming at Target Center vs. Michigan by a score of 3-2 on October 10, 1997. The Golden Gophers used three goaltenders in the game. The Wolverines count the game as official in their records.
In regulation games, Minnesota is 9-0-0, including a 7-5 win against North Dakota in Grand Forks, N.D. The Golden Gophers opened the 2000-01 season at the Xcel Energy Center with a 7-3 win vs. Notre Dame.
