University of Minnesota Athletics
Mariucci Classic Schedule Finalized
8/17/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Aug. 17, 2011
The 21st staging of the Mariucci Classic will take place on Dec. 30-31 and will feature Minnesota, Niagara, Northeastern and Princeton. The event will once again be held at historic Mariucci Arena.
The 4 p.m. game on Dec. 30 will feature Northeastern and Princeton, while the 7 p.m. tilt will showcase Niagara and Minnesota.
The games on Dec. 31 will be played at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. The early game will feature Niagara against either Northeastern or Princeton, while Minnesota will play either Northeastern or Princeton in the night game.
This year, the tournament will revert back to the traditional format where the winners from the Dec. 30 games will play one another on Dec. 31 for the tournament title. Last year, the event featured WCHA members Minnesota and Bemidji State and because of that all four matchups were pre-arranged to avoid any conference matchups.
The Gophers are 2-0-0 all time against Niagara, as they swept the Purple Eagles in January 2006 non-conference series. Minnesota is 7-4-0 all time against Northeastern and 7-2-0 against Princeton.
Minnesota has won 12 of the previous 20 Mariucci Classic events, which included a 3-2 overtime win against Northeastern in 2008. Northeastern won the event in 1997, while Princeton won the tournament in 1998.
