'U' to Open NCAA Tournament with Omaha

MINNEAPOLIS -- The 100th season of Gopher Hockey enters the NCAA postseason this weekend as No. 2 Minnesota takes on No. 12 Omaha to open the 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship. The Gophers earned the top-seed at the NCAA West Regional in Loveland, Colo., and will play the fourth-seeded Mavericks on Saturday, March 27 at 9:00 p.m. CT (TV: ESPNU; Stream: Watch ESPN; Radio: 1130 KTLK-AM/103.5 FM). The winner will advance to the regional final on Sunday, March 28 at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN2. The Budweiser Events Center is playing host to the NCAA West Regional.

IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Minnesota is making its 38th NCAA tournament appearance (tied with Michigan for most among all college hockey programs) and first since 2017. The Gophers are 55-38 all-time in the national tournament (55 wins are also the most among all NCAA teams). The Maroon & Gold have won five NCAA titles (1974, 1976, 1979, 2002, 2003). This year's appearance stands as Bob Motzko's first as head coach of the Gophers -- Motzko previously won two national championships (2002, 2003) and went to three Frozen Fours with Minnesota in four seasons as an assistant coach.

AGAINST OMAHA
Saturday's matchup will mark the first NCAA tournament meeting between the Gophers and the Mavericks while Minnesota is 4-3-0 all-time against Omaha in a series that started in 2003. Briefly conference rivals in the WCHA, the two programs have not met since 2013.

LAFONTAINE UP FOR POSTSEASON HONORS
Senior Jack LaFontaine has been named a finalist for both the Hobey Baker Award and the Mike Richter Award while the goaltender is one of three Gophers finalists for this year's Senior CLASS Award (Brannon McManus, Scott Reedy). The Most Outstanding Player of the Big Ten tournament (see additional Big Ten honors below) currently leads the nation with 21 wins (21-6-0) while he leads all-regular NCAA goaltenders with a .936 save percentage and ranks second nationally among the group with a goals against average of 1.74. He also ranks tied for second in the NCAA with five shutouts and has even added a pair of assists to Minnesota's high-powered offense.

GOPHERS EARN BIG TEN HONORS
LaFontaine has already been recognized as the Big Ten Goaltender of the Year (third Minnesota goalie to earn the accolade and fourth overall honor for the Gophers in the league's eight-year history) and was one of a league-leading three First Team All-Big Ten selections for the 'U' along with Sampo Ranta and Jackson LaCombe. Newcomer Brock Faber earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team and was one of five Gophers to earn All-Big Ten Honorable Mention along with Sammy Walker, Scott Reedy, Ryan Johnson and Ben Meyers. LaFontaine was also a finalist for Big Ten Player of the Year with Faber earning a finalist spot for both the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Bob Motzko has now been recognized as a finalist for Big Ten Coach of the Year in each of his three seasons at Minnesota (winning the award in 2020).

BIG TEN TOURNAMENT REWIND
Minnesota ran the gauntlet last week to win the Big Ten tournament -- winning three games in three nights to earn the league's automatic bid to the national tournament. After going over a year without a third period rally for a win (Feb. 15, 2020 at Notre Dame), the Gophers did it on back-to-back nights against Michigan State (quarterfinal) and Michigan (semifinal) before outscoring a more-rested Wisconsin team in the championship (the Michigan State and Michigan games were also Minnesota's first overtime contests of the season. LaFontaine made a season-high 46 saves in the title game and improved to 5-0-0 on the year at Compton Family Ice Arena. The title was Minnesota's second Big Ten playoff championship in the league's eight-year history (2015) while the Gophers won the conference's first four regular-season titles.

THE SEASON SO FAR
The 100th season of Gopher Hockey has certainly been a memorable one as the Maroon & Gold wrapped up the regular season as the only team in the nation to win 20 games (now an NCAA best-23 wins with a 23-6-0 record). 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. The Gophers are 12-1-0 away from home this season (9-1-0 in true road games and 3-0-0 in neutral site games) while the 'U' is the least penalized team in college hockey this year (6.1 penalty minutes per game). This season, Minnesota is among the best teams in the nation, ranking fourth nationally in scoring offense (3.79 goals per game) and seventh nationally in scoring defense (2.00 goals allowed per game). Nationally ranked all season long, the Gophers have 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.

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
The spring semester at the University of Minnesota is underway after the Gophers celebrated one of their best semesters in the (virtual) classroom during the fall. As a program, the Maroon & Gold set a new program record with a 3.35 cumulative grade point average as a team while men's hockey recorded a team term grade point average of 3.46 -- second in program history after last spring's 3.64. As a department, the University of Minnesota set a new school record with a 3.41 cumulative grade point average as the Gophers increased the statistic for the sixth-straight semester. Additionally, Cullen Munson, Mason Nevers, Sampo Ranta and Sam Rossini were named to the Dean's List for the fall semester.

GOPHERS HELP U.S. NATIONAL JUNIOR TEAM TO GOLD
Brock Faber, Ryan Johnson and Jackson LaCombe helped the U.S. National Junior Team earn a gold medal at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton on Tuesday night. USA Hockey has now earned 13 medals at the World Junior Championship while this year's performance stands as the fifth gold medal in U.S. history (2004, 2010, 2013, 2017, 2021). This year's Maroon & Gold trio join Jordan Schroeder (2010), Mike Reilly (2013) and Ryan Lindgren (2017) as University of Minnesota products to win gold at the event as players. Gopher Hockey, which tied for the most representatives of any NCAA program on this year's U.S. squad, has a proud history at the IIHF World Junior Championship with the University of Minnesota being represented at 42 of the 45 events dating back to the inaugural tournament in 1977.

CELEBRATING 100 SEASONS OF PRIDE ON ICE
The 2020-21 campaign marks the 100th season of play for the University of Minnesota, dating back to the 1921-22 season. Since that first season, the Gophers have hoisted five national championship trophies (1974, 1976, 1979, 2002, 2003), celebrated four Hobey Baker Award winners (Neal Broten in 1981, Robb Stauber in 1988, Brian Bonin in 1996, Jordan Leopold in 2002) and earned a total of 65 All-America honors. The Maroon & Gold have produced over a hundred NHL players with 11 alums having their names engraved on the Stanley Cup while other Pride on Ice products have been part of some of the most iconic international hockey events in history including U.S. Olympic gold medals in 1960 and 1980. Throughout the season, the University of Minnesota will honor the people, the moments and the memories that define "Pride on Ice".

GOPHERS ANNOUNCE CENTURY SEASON CAPTAINS
Junior Sammy Walker will return to the Gophers lineup as team captain in 2020-21 while senior Brannon McManus, senior Jack LaFontaine and sophomore Ben Meyers will serve as alternate captains for the Maroon & Gold. The three newcomers to the leadership group are the 173rd, 174th and 175th players in University of Minnesota history to wear letters, dating back to the first season of play in 1921-22 when Chet Bros led the Gophers.

GOPHER HOCKEY SEASON NOTES
Fourteen members of the 2020-21 Gopher Hockey squad have been drafted by NHL teams including 2019 first round pick Ryan Johnson (31st overall to Buffalo)..senior Jack LaFontaine posted a .919 save percentage for the Gophers last year in his first season with the Maroon & Gold -- the statistic ranks seventh all-time in program history...the University of Minnesota will host the 2024 NCAA Frozen Four at Xcel Energy Center -- marking the ninth time the school has hosted the event and the fourth time the event was hosted at Xcel Energy Center...Todd Richards became the 11th Gopher Hockey alum to win the Stanley Cup after guiding the Tampa Bay Lightning to the 2020 title as an assistant coach...Gopher Hockey alum Dean Blais is among the inductees for the Class of 2020 to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame...the Big Ten Conference enters its eighth season sponsoring men's hockey in 2020-21 with Minnesota claiming more regular-season titles (four) than every other conference opponent combined (three). The Gophers won the first four league titles in Big Ten history as part of an NCAA record six-straight regular-season conference championships.

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Players Mentioned

Brock Faber

Ryan Johnson

Jackson LaCombe

Jack LaFontaine

Ryan Lindgren

Brannon McManus

Ben Meyers

Cullen Munson

Mason Nevers

Sampo Ranta

Scott Reedy

Sam Rossini

Sammy Walker