Top-Five Showdown on Deck for Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS -- A top-5 matchup is on the horizon as the No. 4 Gopher men's hockey program takes on No. 2 St. Cloud State this weekend in a home-and-home series. Minnesota hosts the weekend opener at 3M Arena at Mariucci on Friday, Oct. 15 at 7:00 p.m. CT (TV: Bally Sports North; Radio: 1130 KTLK-AM/103.5 FM; Stream: B1G+). The series finale is set for Saturday, Oct. 16 at 5:00 p.m. CT at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn. (TV: FOX9+; Radio: 1130 KTLK-AM/103.5 FM; Stream: NCHC.tv).

SWEEPING THE LAKERS
After Minnesota's opening series with Alaska was postponed as mutually agreed upon by both teams due to health and safety concerns in the Alaska program, the Gopher finally opened the season last weekend with a pair of wins (7-4, 5-3) over Mercyhurst last weekend at 3M Arena at Mariucci. Minnesota is now 62-37-2 in 101 all-time home openers, 19-8-2 in home openers at 3M Arena at Mariucci and 4-0-0 in home openers under Bob Motzko. The Gophers have also swept 10 of their last 15 regular-season series.

MCLAUGHLIN NAMED B1G THIRD STAR
Senior Blake McLaughlin was named the Big Ten Third Star of the Week after leading the Gophers and tying for the Big Ten scoring lead with five points (one goal, four assists). McLaughlin is currently tied for third in the nation in assists and fifth in the nation in points. With multi-point performances in both games, the Gophers are now 16-1-2 all-time when the senior notches multiple points.

AGAINST THE HUSKIES
Minnesota holds a 57-34-12 all-time record against St. Cloud State with the Gophers taking the last meeting -- a 4-1 win in the 2019 Mariucci Classic championship game. Two sets of brothers will face off this weekend in Bryce and Easton Brodzinski and Jack and Nick Perbix. Bryce Brodzinski scored a goal in the previous meeting with the Huskies. Minnesota's coaching staff is also familiar with St. Cloud State as both Bob Motzko and Garrett Raboin are Huskies alumni and former coaches of the program. Motzko spent 13 seasons as head coach at St. Cloud State before re-joining the Gophers in 2018.

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Matthew Knies started his college career with a bang as the freshman scored two goals in his Gophers debut...Tristan Broz and Chaz Lucius have both recorded assists in their first two games wearing the Maroon & Gold...Grant Cruikshank recorded his first point as a Gopher with an assist on Saturday...Mason Nevers has now scored four goals in his las four games after going without a tally in his first 23 college games.

18 GOPHERS SET FOR NHL OPENING NIGHT
Minnesota boasts 18 alumni on NHL opening night rosters as the league begins play this week -- Jake Bischoff (Vegas), Nick Bjugstad (Minnesota), Travis Boyd (Arizona), Alex Goligoski (Minnesota), Erik Haula (Boston), Justin Holl (Toronto), Erik Johnson (Colorado), Phil Kessel (Arizona), Nick Leddy (Detroit), Ryan Lindgren (New York Rangers), Casey Mittelstadt (Buffalo), Kyle Okposo (Buffalo), Rem Pitlick (Minnesota), Sampo Ranta (Colorado), Mike Reilly (Boston), Nate Schmidt (Winnipeg), Brady Skjei (Carolina) and Blake Wheeler (Winnipeg). The Gophers had 22 NHL alums last year -- tied for most among NCAA programs.

GOPHERS EXTEND MOTZKO THROUGH 2025-26
The University of Minnesota has agreed to a three-year contract extension with Gopher men's hockey head coach Bob Motzko that will keep Motzko with the Maroon & Gold through the 2025-26 season. A native of Austin, Minn., Motzko is in his fourth season with the Gophers and holds a 60-37-11 record since taking over the program in 2018. In 17 seasons as a Division I head coach, the 2020 Big Ten Coach of the Year and five-time conference coach of the year owns a 336-229-60 record.

PRESEASON BIG TEN PROSPECTUS
The Gophers landed on the top spot of the 2021-22 Big Ten Hockey Coaches' Poll earlier this season ahead of Michigan, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Penn State, Michigan State and Ohio State. In the eight-year history of the Big Ten Conference, the Gophers have claimed a league-high four regular-season conference championships as well as two Big Ten tournament titles including last year's thrilling playoff run by the Maroon & Gold. Minnesota also led the Big Ten with six individuals on the 2021-22 Preseason All-Big Ten Hockey Teams, headlined by four players earning First Team honors. The Gophers were represented in the preseason honor roll by Jackson LaCombe (First Team), Jack LaFontaine (First Team), Ben Meyers (First Team), Sammy Walker (First Team), Brock Faber (Second Team) and Ryan Johnson (Second Team). Mike Koster also earned honorable mention honors on behalf of the Maroon & Gold.

WEARING THE 'C'
The 101st season of Gopher Hockey will see three familiar faces and college hockey veterans leading the 'U' as Sammy Walker, Jack LaFontaine and Ben Meyers have been named team captains for the 2021-22 season. Walker will enter his senior season wearing a "C" for the third-straight season for the Maroon & Gold while LaFontaine and Meyers have been elevated to share the honors after serving as alternate captains during the 2020-21 campaign. With all three players returning to the Minnesota leadership group, Gopher Hockey has now featured 175 captains dating back to the school's first season of play in 1921-22 when Chet Bros led the Maroon & Gold as team captain.

JACK IS BACK
Mike Richter Award winner and Hobey Baker Award finalist Jack LaFontaine returns to the Gophers for his fifth season of college hockey in 2021-22. A First Team All-American and First Team All-Big Ten selection, LaFontaine was also named the Big Ten Goaltender of the Year. The Carolina Hurricane prospect set new school records and was among the NCAA leaders with a .934 save percentage and a 1.79 GAA while he led the nation with 22 wins. Off the ice, LaFontaine was named a recipient of the Big Ten Medal of Honor and was the only Division I men's hockey player to earn CoSIDA First Team Academic All-America honors.

IN THE NHL DRAFT
Fifteen of Minnesota's 26 players on the 2021-22 roster have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft including five newcomers -- Chaz Lucius (2021), Matthew Knies (2021), Tristan Broz (2021), Aaron Huglen (2019) and Rhett Pitlick (2019). Lucius is the 22nd Gopher Hockey prospect selected in the first round (18th overall by Winnipeg), joining 2019 first rounder Ryan Johnson on this year's roster for Minnesota. Meanwhile, Knies and Broz were selected with back-to-back picks in the second round this year.

GOPHER HOCKEY NOTES
Gopher Hockey alum Paul Holmgren will be enshrined into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2021. Holmgren is the 18th U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame honoree with ties to Gopher men's hockey...Four Gophers (Brock Faber, Matthew Knies, Chaz Lucius, Tristan Broz) will look to represent the University of Minnesota and the United States at the IIHF World Junior Championships this year.

LOOKING BACK AT LAST YEAR
The 100th season of Gopher Hockey certainly was a memorable one as Minnesota won an NCAA-best 24 games in 2020-21. The Gophers won three thrilling games to capture the Big Ten tournament title and returned to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2017 before picking up the program's first NCAA tournament win since 2014 at the NCAA West Regional. Minnesota started the year on a 10-0-0 run for the first time since 1939-40 and earned nine sweeps in 13 series during the regular-season. Nationally ranked all season long, the Gophers kept themselves in the top-five of both national polls since the beginning of December including the team's first No. 1 ranking in both polls since Nov. 11, 2014. Along with LaFontaine's national awards, the Gophers boasted a trio of All-Americans in LaFontaine (First Team), Sampo Ranta (First Team) and Jackson LaCombe (Second Team).

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Players Mentioned

Bryce Brodzinski

Tristan Broz

Grant Cruikshank

Brock Faber

Aaron Huglen

Ryan Johnson

Matthew Knies

Mike Koster

Jackson LaCombe

Jack LaFontaine

Chaz Lucius

Blake McLaughlin

Ben Meyers

Mason Nevers

Rhett Pitlick

Sampo Ranta

Sammy Walker