University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Close Out First Half at MSU
12/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
| Gopher Hockey: Minnesota at Michigan State | |||||||||||
| Game 15 | Minnesota vs. Michigan State | ||||||||||
| Date | Friday, Dec. 9, 2016 | ||||||||||
| Location | Munn Ice Arena | East Lansing, Mich. | ||||||||||
| Puck Drop | 5:33 p.m. CT | ||||||||||
| Television | Big Ten Network | ||||||||||
| Stream | BTN2Go | ||||||||||
| Radio | 1500 ESPN, Gopher Radio Network | ||||||||||
| Game Links | Gopher Hockey Live | | ||||||||||
| Game 16 | Minnesota vs. Michigan State | ||||||||||
| Date | Saturday, Dec. 10, 2016 | ||||||||||
| Location | Munn Ice Arena | East Lansing, Mich. | ||||||||||
| Puck Drop | 7:03 p.m. CT | ||||||||||
| Television | Big Ten Network | ||||||||||
| Stream | BTN2Go | ||||||||||
| Radio | 1500 ESPN, Gopher Radio Network | ||||||||||
| Game Links | Gopher Hockey Live | | ||||||||||
| Game Notes | Minnesota | Michigan State | Big Ten | ||||||||||
| Game Info | Tickets | Local Weather | Preferred Hotels | ||||||||||
| Social Media | @GopherHockey | Facebook | Instagram | ||||||||||
MINNEAPOLIS (GopherSports.com) -- The No. 11 Gopher Hockey program closes out the first half of the season this weekend with its first Big Ten road trip of the year, heading to East Lansing for a two-game conference tilt with Michigan State. Minnesota opens the series on Friday, Dec. 9 at 6:33 p.m. ET while the series finale is set for Saturday, Dec. 10 at 8:03 p.m. ET.
Sheehy Stays Hot Against Buckeyes
Sophomore forward Tyler Sheehy was named the Big Ten Second Star of the Week after leading all Big Ten players and tying for the NCAA lead with four goals last week while his five points were also tied for most among conference skaters. The sophomore leads the Gophers with 20 points and nine goals this year while his 11 assists are tied for the team lead. Sheehy has 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in seven career games against the Buckeyes.
Pitlick Racks Up Assists
Freshman forward Rem Pitlick tallied three assists in Friday's 5-3 win over Ohio State -- setting new career single-game highs in both assists and points. The Gophers rookie has 11 points (one goal, 10 assists) in 12 games this year for the Gophers.
Against the Spartans
The Maroon & Gold enter this weekend's series with a 110-45-15 all-time record against Michigan State including a 45-27-8 mark on the road against the Spartans. Justin Kloos leads all active Gophers with 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in 12 career games against Michigan State. Minnesota won three of four regular-season meetings between the two programs, sweeping the Spartans at Mariucci Arena and splitting a series at Munn Arena.
Collins Sparks Gophers Win
Ryan Collins snapped a 43-game goal drought with his first tally of the year in Friday's 5-3 win over the Buckeyes. The junior defenseman's last goal came on March 14, 2015 -- a 6-2 win over Penn State at Mariucci Arena.
Lindgren Invited to WJC Camp
Freshman defenseman Ryan Lindgren scored his first career goal and later tallied an assist for his first career multi-point game last Saturday. On Monday, he was named to the 2017 U.S. National Junior Team Preliminary Roster in preparation for the World Junior Championship. The roster is auditioning for a spot on the final 23-man roster that will represent the United States in the 2017 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship from Dec. 26, 2016 - Jan. 5, 2017, in Montreal and Toronto, Canada. Gophers assistant coach Grant Potulny will serve as an assistant coach for the team after helping the team to a goal medal in 2013 in the same role.
Lucia Wins 700th Game
Minnesota's 4-2 win at Boston College on Nov. 27 gave head coach Don Lucia his 700th career win, making him the eighth coach in NCAA history to reach the 700-wins milestone. Now in his 30th year as a Division I head coach, Lucia owns a 701-379-99 overall record including a 422-224-70 mark in 18 seasons at Minnesota. His 422 wins behind the Minnesota bench is a Gophers coaching record.
No Easy Games
Minnesota once again boasts one of the nation's most difficult schedules and that slate continues this weekend. Ten of the last 12 games for the Gophers have come against nationally ranked foes with the team holding a 4-4-2 record in those games.
Gophers Sign Four to NLIs
While the 2016-17 season continues, the Gopher Hockey program continues to plan for the future. Minnesota has signed four prospects to National Letters of Intent in Casey Mittelstadt (Eden Prairie, Minn.), Brannon McManus (Newport Beach, Calif.), Nate Knoepke (Farmington, Minn.) and Scott Reedy (Prior Lake, Minn.) More info on the signees is available at GopherSports.com.
Gophers Picked to Pace B1G
The Maroon & Gold were selected to finish first in this year's Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll followed by Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin and Michigan State. Meanwhile, Minnesota led all Big Ten programs with four players on the 13-player Big Ten Preseason Watch List -- Justin Kloos, Leon Bristedt, Jake Bischoff and Eric Schierhorn. Kloos and Schierhorn were two of four overall unanimous selections to the list.
The Skate for Six
Minnesota enters the 2016-17 campaign having won five-straight regular-season conference titles -- a feat that matched Boston University's NCAA record from 1994-98. The Maroon & Gold have won the first three Big Ten regular-season crowns (2014-16) and previously won two-straight WCHA regular-season titles (2012-13). Minnesota has won 17 regular-season conference championships in program history -- seven of them under head coach Don Lucia.
Maroon & Gold Family Tree
Five members of the Gopher Hockey program are second-generation skaters while the team has a multitude of family connections. Jake Bischoff (Grant), Tyler Nanne (Marty), Rem Pitlick (Lance), Jack Ramsey (Mike) and Connor Reilly (Mike) all play for the same team as their fathers while Nanne is actually a third generation Gopher (grandfather, Lou Nanne). Additionally, Vinni Lettieri is also a grandson of Nanne, and Reilly is one of three Reilly brothers to play for the Gophers (Ryan, Mike) while his sister (Caitlin) plays for the Gopher women. Outside of hockey, Brent Gates Jr.'s father (also Brent) was a standout for the Gopher baseball team while Jack Sadek's father (Brett) and grandfather (Robert) played football at Minnesota (Sadek is also the cousin of Gopher alum Brady Skjei).
Gophers in the NHL Draft
Thirteen current Gophers have had their names called at the NHL Entry Draft including newcomers Ryan Lindgren (2016, 2nd Round, 49th Overall, Boston) Rem Pitlick (2016, 3rd Round, 76th Overall, Nashville), Ryan Zuhlsdorf (2015, 5th Round, 150th Overall, Tampa Bay) and Tyler Nanne (2015, 5th Round, 142nd Overall, New York Rangers). Ryan Collins is currently the highest draft pick for Minnesota (2014, 2nd Round, 47th Overall, Columbus). Ten NHL teams hold draft rights for Gophers, led by the Nashville Predators and New York Rangers with two each.
Big Ten's Best
In addition to the first three regular-season titles in Big Ten Conference history, Minnesota also boasts a conference-best record of 41-15-6-0 in 62 regular-season games since the inaugural year of Big Ten play in 2013-14. The Gophers also boast an impressive 25-5-2-0 mark in conference games on home ice and have set and matched a conference single-season record with 14 wins in 2013-14 and 2015-16.
Watch the Gophers on TV
Twenty-nine of Minnesota's 36 regular-season games will be broadcast on television including the entire 20-game Big Ten schedule. FOX Sports leads the way with 17 games, followed by the Big Ten Network with 10 games and ESPN with two -- once again giving the Gophers the best television schedule in nation. Of the seven regular-season games not on television, six are nonconference road games whose rights are not held by Minnesota and the Big Ten Conference.
Listen to the Gophers
1500 ESPN and the Gopher Radio Network will once again broadcast all Gopher Hockey games during the 2016-17 season. Listen to long-time Minnesota broadcasters Wally Shaver and Frank Mazzocco throughout the year while Gopher great Pat Micheletti will serve as a guest analyst for select games. 1500 ESPN and the Gopher Radio Network also host the Don Lucia Radio Show each Monday at 6 p.m.
