Minnesota Meets Michigan with B1G Trophy at Stake

MINNEAPOLIS - It's the final game of the season inside 3M Arena at Mariucci with a Big Ten Conference Tournament Championship on the line as No. 1 Minnesota men's hockey battles No. 4 Michigan Saturday at 7 p.m. live on BTN and the Gopher Radio Network 103.5 FM/AM-1130 KTLK.

The Golden Gophers are on a five-game winning streak and will play in front of another sellout crowd with fans encouraged to join in a "Gold Out". It'll also be the last time the Maroon and Gold play a home game on the Olympic-sized ice sheet at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

For those planning to attend the action Saturday, please click HERE for more gameday information about the venue and parking.

FIRST BOX CHECKED
The Golden Gophers set records for wins (19) and points (57) in a conference season this year securing the Big Ten Conference regular season championship, their second-straight and sixth overall B1G crown. It was the 29th overall regular-season conference championship in program history and no other team has won multiple titles in the 10-year history of men's hockey in the Big Ten Conference. The Maroon and Gold also became the first team in league history to win the regular season crown by double digits, holding a 19-point advantage over second-place Michigan.

HOBEY BAKER FINALISTS FOR GOPHERS DUO
Minnesota's Logan Cooley and Matthew Knies were both named a 2023 Hobey Baker Memorial Award Top 10 Finalist Wednesday. The Gophers are one of just three NCAA teams to have at least four Hobey Baker Memorial Award winners in program history as Jordan Leopold (2002), Brian Bonin (1996), Robb Stauber (1988) and Neal Broten (1981) all earned the prestigious honor. A 30-member selection committee and another round of fan balloting through the Hobey website from March 17-26, will determine this year's Hobey Baker winner. The Hobey Hat Trick (three finalists) will be announced March 30.

B1G POSTSEASON HONORS
Minnesota's dominance during the regular season and its sixth Big Ten Conference championship showed on postseason ballots as it earned three All-B1G First Team, three All-B1G Second Team and three All-B1G Freshman Team selections, along with three major awards. The six all-league honorees are the most-ever for the Gophers and just the second time in league history where a team landed six selections in a single season. Matthew Knies (Player of the Year), Brock Faber (Defensive Player of the Year) and Bob Motzko (Coach of the Year) earned major awards with Faber and Motzko going consecutive years for the same awards. Knies and Faber were joined by Logan Cooley on the All-B1G First Team, while Justen Close, Jackson LaCombe and Jimmy Snuggerud were selected to the All-B1G Second Team. Ryan Johnson was named to the honorable mention team and given the B1G Sportsmanship Award and Luke Mittelstadt, along with Cooley and Snuggerud, earned a spot on the All-B1G Freshman Team.

AT THE B1G TOURNAMENT
The Gophers are seeking their third B1G Tournament title, having won the postseason event twice in the eight times it was previously presented and own a 12-8 overall record, including going 9-3 under head coach Bob Motzko. The last championship came in 2021 when the Maroon and Gold took down Michigan State, Michigan and Wisconsin as the No. 2 seed in the tournament played in South Bend, Ind., while it won its first in 2015. This year is the sixth time where Minnesota is the top seed and holds a mark of 5-4 when playing as the No. 1 team, while it faces the Wolverines for the second-straight title tilt, seventh overall meeting in the B1G Tournament, with a record of 4-2.

HISTORY WITH THE WOLVERINES
The Gophers improved their record to 153-134-18 in the all-time series against Michigan that began more than 100 years ago by winning three of the four meetings during the regular season. Six different players scored multiple goals in the four regular-season matchups with the Wolverines, while Jackson LaCombe led the Maroon and Gold with eight points. Bryce Brodzinski, Matthew Knies and Jimmy Snuggerud chipped in six points and 15 players had at least one point as the Gophers outscored Michigan by a 19-13 margin. Minnesota's power play connected at a 32 percent clip in the season series with six goals in 19 chances and scored at least once on the man advantage in every meeting.

PEOPLE WANT TO SEE THE GOPHERS
Fans have come out to see the high-powered Gophers to the tune of a sellout in nine of 11 arenas played in across the country, including 18 of their last 24 games overall with Saturday selling out in less than 36 hours. Minnesota will play in front of its ninth sellout at 3M Arena at Mariucci in the title game and with an announced attendance of 20,755 for the series against the Wolverines Jan. 20-21, set a program record for the most fans in a weekend series in arena history. The Gophers have the second-highest home attendance of any college hockey team this year averaging 9,096 patrons per game. That number is a more than a 1,500-person increase from a season ago.

FEELING RIGHT AT HOME
Minnesota has excelled on home ice inside 3M Arena at Mariucci posting a 16-3 record with only one of the losses coming in regulation. The Maroon and Gold have outscored its opponents by a 84-38 margin and held the opposition to two or fewer goals 12 times, including four shutouts. Points have come from 21 different players for the Gophers at home, while 11 have reached double-digit scoring, thanks in part to a power play that is converting 27 percent of their chances. Goaltender Justen Close has a 1.65 goals against average and a .935 save percentage in 18 home appearances.

CHASING A MILESTONE
First-round NHL draft picks in 2022, Logan Cooley (third overall) and Jimmy Snuggerud (23rd overall) continue to pace the team offensively during their freshmen campaigns totaling 50 and 48 points, respectively, tying for fourth and fifth in the NCAA. The duo is looking to become the first-ever set of rookies to reach the 50-point mark in program history as Cooley hit the milestone Mar. 11 against Michigan State. He is the first Gopher freshman with 50 points since Phil Kessel posted 51 in 2005-06 and Snuggerud is only two points away as his 48 points are tied for ninth by a freshman all-time at Minnesota.

KNIES TO THE TOP
Sophomore Matthew Knies continues to score goals at an elite rate this season as he has hit the back of the net in 19 of 35 games played and sits sixth nationally totaling 21 goals. The B1G Player of the Year and Hobey Baker Award finalist, he has recorded two multi-goal outings this year, coming against Michigan Jan. 20 and at Penn State Feb. 18, including the game winner in overtime of both outings. The Phoenix, Ariz., product has generated all but three of his 40 total points (21 goals and 19 assists) in Maroon and Gold wins. He extended his NCAA lead to seven game-winning goals, getting the winner in both games against the Nittany Lions, and continues to average more than a point per game in his Gophers' career, totaling 73 points (36 goals, 37 assists) during 68 contests.

LACOMBE CLIMBS SCORING LIST
Senior Jackson LaCombe has put together the best offensive season of his four-year career totaling 31 points in 32 appearances along the blue line. The most impressive part of that number is that the Eden Prairie, Minn., native has a team-leading 17 points in 14 games against teams ranked inside the top 10. He has at least one point in 10 of those 14 outings, including a pair of three-point performances. With his helper at PSU Saturday, LaCombe tied former All-American Paul Martin (2000-03) with 77 career assists, while his 95 career points moved him to a tie for 17th with Reed Larson (1973-77) on the all-time points by a defenseman list.

FIRST YEAR FACTOR
Minnesota's 10 skating freshmen have combined for 152 points on 55 goals and 97 assists, accounting for 39 percent of the team's offense. It's the first time since 2013-14 where the freshmen class has reached 100 total points and the second-most since 2000, still 35 points behind the 187 total from 2006-07. Jimmy Snuggerud and Logan Cooley have 20 and 18 goals, respectively, while Connor Kurth, Brody Lamb, John Mittelstadt, Luke Mittelstadt and Garrett Pinoniemi all have multiple goals. From the blue line, Luke Mittelstadt is the second-highest scoring freshman defenseman in the B1G this year, and 10th for league defensemen overall, totaling 17 points.

CLOSE EYE ON THE SENIOR
Minnesota's Justen Close was selected as one of nine semifinalists for the 2023 Mike Richter Award, given to the best goaltender in NCAA Division I men's hockey, but not one of the three finalists. He remains the B1G leader in goals against average (1.95), wins (23) and shutouts (6), all of which rank in the top four nationally. His nine career shutouts are tied for seventh in program history, and he's done so in just 50 career starts. The senior has been honored by the conference as a star of the week four times during the season and holds a 1.73 goals against average, .940 save percentage and an 11-3-1 record since the calendar switched to 2023. Even more impressive is what the Kindersley, Saskatchewan, native has been able to do against the best teams in the nation. Close owns a sub-two GAA (1.94) when facing a top-15 program and a 2.01 mark during battles against the top 10.

SPEEDING FORWARD
The Gophers' third line has come on strong of late extending the team's scoring depth as Rhett Pitlick, Aaron Huglen and Connor Kurth have utilized their speed to make an impact down the stretch. Pitlick has a point in eight of his last nine outings, including tying a career high with a five-game point streak, for a career-best 21 points overall. The sophomore only has one goal in that span but taken advantage of his playmaking abilities to create chances. Meanwhile, Huglen is starting to capitalize by finding the back of the net with four goals and seven points in a 10-game stretch and Kurth has three points and a plus-10 rating during the same period.

LOCALLY SOURCED
Holding the moniker of the State of Hockey, Minnesota is known for its strong history of players that start skating on local ice sheets and backyard ponds. That has fed a deep pipeline of talent to colleges around the country, most importantly to the University of Minnesota. The Gophers' roster features a collection of 26 student-athletes, 20 of which were born and raised within the state lines. Even more impressive is the fact that 16 of the Minnesotans on the team are from within 40 miles of campus.

WHEN YOU CALL MY NAME
Fourteen of Minnesota's 26 rostered players have heard their name called in the NHL Entry Draft, six of which are part of this year's freshmen class. The Gophers have had the most all-time draft selections (227) by any NCAA men's hockey program after adding four in July 2022. At least one Gopher has been drafted in 48 of the last 49 NHL Entry Drafts dating back to 1974, with 2001 being the only exception. Only Harvard has more draft picks (15) on its NCAA roster for the 2022-23 season.

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Players Mentioned

Bryce Brodzinski

Justen Close

Logan Cooley

Brock Faber

Aaron Huglen

Ryan Johnson

Matthew Knies

Connor Kurth

Jackson LaCombe

Brody Lamb

John Mittelstadt

Luke Mittelstadt

Garrett Pinoniemi

Rhett Pitlick

Jimmy Snuggerud