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Photo by: Eric Miller
'U' Hosts Colonials in Non-Conference Action Jan. 12-13
1/11/2024 11:45:00 AM | Men's Hockey
First-ever series against RMU
MINNEAPOLIS - It's the final non-conference action for the No. 12/11 Minnesota men's hockey team when it welcomes Robert Morris to 3M Arena at Mariucci for the first time ever Jan. 12-13.
The series gets underway Friday night at 7 p.m. and continues at 5 p.m. Saturday evening, while both games can be watched live on FOX 9+ and streaming on B1G+. The Gopher Radio Network will provide audio coverage of the Golden Gophers on 96.7 FM KFAN+ (Friday) and 1130 KTLK-AM/103.5 FM (Saturday).
Fans attending the women's hockey game against Ohio State Saturday at 2 p.m. are encouraged to make the short trek over to 3M Arena at Mariucci at the conclusion of that event and receive free admission to watch the men's game. This offer is only valid for the January 13 hockey games and subject to ticket availability.
HOW TO WATCH ALL SEASON
Minnesota and FOX 9 have agreed to a local television broadcast partnership for 10 home games and four road games in 2023-24. This is in addition to the 11 games picked by the Big Ten Network, seven home and four away, along with one airing on FS1 during the campaign. As always, check the schedule page on GopherSports.com for all the latest information and viewing options for every contest. Other FOX affiliates around the area have added Gopher hockey to their coverage with select games available on KTTC (Rochester, Mason City, Austin, Albert Lea), KVRR (Fargo), KQDS (Duluth), and KCRG (Cedar Rapids).
RETURNED WITH GOLD
Featuring four Minnesota skaters and one coach, the United States won a gold medal Friday in the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship after a 6-2 victory over tournament host Sweden. Ryan Chesley, Oliver Moore, Sam Rinzel, and Jimmy Snuggerud, along with Gophers' associate head coach Steve Miller helped lead the Americans to their sixth-ever gold medal at the event, first since 2021, with a perfect 7-0 record. The Maroon and Gold representatives combined for 16 points, led by Snuggerud's five goals and three assists. The Gophers have had at least one player at the event in 45 of the 48 years it has been played.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
The Gophers are averaging 4.7 goals per game in their 10 victories but have been held to just 2.3 goals per game across six losses during the 2023-24 campaign. A major difference for Minnesota is the power play as it holds a 32.4 percent (11-of-34) success rate when winning, compared to a 13.3 (2-of-15) rate in setbacks. The Maroon and Gold also average just 7.1 minutes in the penalty box per game in victories, while spending 10 minutes per game in the penalty box during losses.
WELCOME TO THE SNUGGERUD SHOW
Jimmy Snuggerud put on a show during the Gophers' opening weekend sweep of St. Thomas, totaling five points on four goals and one assist, and was named B1G First Star of the Week (Oct. 17). The sophomore scored twice in each contest, including the game winner both nights. It was the first time he registered back-to-back, multi-goal games for the Maroon and Gold, and he did the same thing in the first contests after returning from holiday break. Snuggerud posted a six-point weekend with five goals and an assist, aided by the second hat trick of his career in a win over Colorado College (Jan. 8). That night he recorded a career-best four points with three goals and a helper on his way to his second B1G First Star of the Week (Jan. 10) honor this season. With eight goals over his last five games, and three-multi-goal efforts in the last four, the Chaska, Minn., native jumped to second nationally with a conference-leading 16 goals.
PITLICK SEEING DOUBLE STARS
For the second time in a five-week stretch, Rhett Pitlick was chosen as the Big Ten Conference Second Star of the Week (Dec. 5 and Nov. 7). The junior posted five points during an early December split at No. 18 Penn State, contributing to five of the team's seven total goals. He tallied two goals and three assists, posting multi-point efforts in both games, including a career-best three points in the victory Friday (Dec. 1). Pitlick followed that effort by registering the first shorthanded goal of his career Saturday, and the Gophers' only shorthanded goal this season. The Plymouth, Minn., native extended his career-long point streak to seven games, with at least one goal in each of those seven games, after scoring at Ohio State (Dec. 8). His goal streak was the longest by anyone in the NCAA this season. After a four-point weekend to begin the 2024 calendar year, he is tied for the team lead with 22 points, 17 of which have come over the previous 10 outings, and already matched his single-season best of 11 goals.
CLOSE REACHES 50 WINS
Behind a brilliant weekend between the pipes for Minnesota, goaltender Justen Close was named the B1G First Star of the Week (Oct. 24). The graduate student made 25 saves in a road win at No. 5 North Dakota for his second-straight shutout before his streak was snapped at 153:58 in the second period Oct. 21. He turned away 57-of-59 shots faced against the Fighting Hawks for a 1.01 goals-against average and a .966 save percentage. The Kindersley, Saskatchewan, native sits two shutouts shy of the program record of 13 held by Kellen Briggs and Adam Wilcox. Close has come up clutch for Minnesota over the last 12 outings by averaging 31.8 saves per game, including a career-high 41 in an overtime win against Michigan State (Nov. 26). Close became the 13th goaltender in program history to reach 50 career victories during a home win over Colorado College (Jan. 8) and was the first to reach the milestone since Eric Schierhorn on Nov. 4, 2017.
HISTORY WITH THE COLONIALS
Minnesota won the only prior meeting with Robert Morris, a 7-3 victory in the NCAA West Regional that was played at the Xcel Energy Center on March 29, 2014. That night was the first and only appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the Colonials since the program got started in 2004-05. Nate Condon had a two-goal performance, including the 100th point of his Maroon and Gold career, versus RMU in the regional, while 13 Gophers recorded at least one point. After the win over the Colonials, Minnesota went on to defeat St. Cloud State and North Dakota before falling to Union in the 2014 national championship game.
INSIDE LOOK AT ROBERT MORRIS
The Colonials make their first-ever trip to 3M Arena at Mariucci following a series sweep over Stonehill last weekend where they outscored the Skyhawks by a 15-4 margin. RMU has traded sweeps with its opposition in each of the past four weekends and holds a 4-6 record over the last 10 games played. Tanner Klimpke and Rylee St. Onge pace the team with six goals each and are two of the five players that have reached double-digit scoring this year, led by Dallas Tulik's 15 total points. Goaltender Chad Veltri has played all but one game in net for the Colonials and has a sub-three goals-against average and a .922 save percentage that ranks seventh nationally. RMU enters the series 52nd of 60 NCAA teams in scoring offense, averaging 2.5 goals per game, with 18 of the team's 54 total goals coming on the power play behind a 21 percent conversion rate.
READY FOR THE CHALLENGE
Thanks to the rise in quality of hockey across the Big Ten Conference, the full schedule for the Maroon and Gold will again be a challenge from start to finish. After facing the nation's No. 2 strength of schedule according to USCHO last year, the 2023-24 slate is no different as 32 of 34 games are against opponents ranked in the top 20 or receiving votes in the preseason national polls. Minnesota holds a 3-1-2 record against top-10 opponents this season and after facing seven-consecutive opponents ranked in the top 20 from Oct. 20 to Dec. 2, has had the toughest schedule in the country.
EATING PUCKS
Minnesota is the only team in the NCAA this season with two players ranked in the top 15 in total blocked shots as Cal Thomas (43) and Ryan Chesley (43) are both tied for 12th. As a team, the Gophers rank 13th nationally by blocking 285 shots, including a season-high 25 during a road win at Ohio State (Dec. 8). It's been a full team effort to get bodies in shooting lanes and nine different players have double-digit blocks for the year with five of those totaling 20 or more.
ALWAYS REMEMBER THE FIRST
During a five-game stretch from Oct. 20 to Nov. 3, a Gopher scored the first goal of their collegiate career in four of those outings. Freshman Oliver Moore got things started with a goal at North Dakota (Oct. 20) and was followed by sophomore Charlie Strobel's first tally versus Wisconsin (Oct. 26). The next night it was freshman Jimmy Clark that lit the lamp against the Badgers before sophomore Cal Thomas joined the fun, scoring for the first time in 47 career games from the blue line in a home win over Minnesota Duluth (Nov. 3). Sam Rinzel became the fifth Minnesota player to record his first goal this year when he found the back of the net at Penn State (Dec. 1).
GOPHER PIPELINE TO THE NHL
After 33 players took part in National Hockey League training camps, 21 former Golden Gophers men's hockey players earned an opening-night roster spot for the 2023-24 season, while five more have been called up since the regular season started. Minnesota had an NCAA-best 26 former skaters in the NHL last season, increasing the all-time number of Gophers in the NHL to an NCAA-best 123 before Logan Cooley and Johnson made their debuts as No. 124 and 125, respectively. This year the Maroon and Gold has begun the campaign as one of two NCAA programs with 20 or more players with a lineup spot in the NHL.
TWIN CITIES ON THE WORLD STAGE
USA Hockey announced that the Twin Cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minn., will serve as host of the 2026 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship. The 10-nation tournament features the best men's players in the world under 20 years of age and the 29 games of the championship will take place over 10 days. The 2026 event marks the 50th anniversary of the event and Xcel Energy Center, home of the NHL's Minnesota Wild in Saint Paul, and 3M Arena at Mariucci on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis, will serve as the competition venues.
The series gets underway Friday night at 7 p.m. and continues at 5 p.m. Saturday evening, while both games can be watched live on FOX 9+ and streaming on B1G+. The Gopher Radio Network will provide audio coverage of the Golden Gophers on 96.7 FM KFAN+ (Friday) and 1130 KTLK-AM/103.5 FM (Saturday).
Fans attending the women's hockey game against Ohio State Saturday at 2 p.m. are encouraged to make the short trek over to 3M Arena at Mariucci at the conclusion of that event and receive free admission to watch the men's game. This offer is only valid for the January 13 hockey games and subject to ticket availability.
HOW TO WATCH ALL SEASON
Minnesota and FOX 9 have agreed to a local television broadcast partnership for 10 home games and four road games in 2023-24. This is in addition to the 11 games picked by the Big Ten Network, seven home and four away, along with one airing on FS1 during the campaign. As always, check the schedule page on GopherSports.com for all the latest information and viewing options for every contest. Other FOX affiliates around the area have added Gopher hockey to their coverage with select games available on KTTC (Rochester, Mason City, Austin, Albert Lea), KVRR (Fargo), KQDS (Duluth), and KCRG (Cedar Rapids).
RETURNED WITH GOLD
Featuring four Minnesota skaters and one coach, the United States won a gold medal Friday in the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship after a 6-2 victory over tournament host Sweden. Ryan Chesley, Oliver Moore, Sam Rinzel, and Jimmy Snuggerud, along with Gophers' associate head coach Steve Miller helped lead the Americans to their sixth-ever gold medal at the event, first since 2021, with a perfect 7-0 record. The Maroon and Gold representatives combined for 16 points, led by Snuggerud's five goals and three assists. The Gophers have had at least one player at the event in 45 of the 48 years it has been played.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
The Gophers are averaging 4.7 goals per game in their 10 victories but have been held to just 2.3 goals per game across six losses during the 2023-24 campaign. A major difference for Minnesota is the power play as it holds a 32.4 percent (11-of-34) success rate when winning, compared to a 13.3 (2-of-15) rate in setbacks. The Maroon and Gold also average just 7.1 minutes in the penalty box per game in victories, while spending 10 minutes per game in the penalty box during losses.
WELCOME TO THE SNUGGERUD SHOW
Jimmy Snuggerud put on a show during the Gophers' opening weekend sweep of St. Thomas, totaling five points on four goals and one assist, and was named B1G First Star of the Week (Oct. 17). The sophomore scored twice in each contest, including the game winner both nights. It was the first time he registered back-to-back, multi-goal games for the Maroon and Gold, and he did the same thing in the first contests after returning from holiday break. Snuggerud posted a six-point weekend with five goals and an assist, aided by the second hat trick of his career in a win over Colorado College (Jan. 8). That night he recorded a career-best four points with three goals and a helper on his way to his second B1G First Star of the Week (Jan. 10) honor this season. With eight goals over his last five games, and three-multi-goal efforts in the last four, the Chaska, Minn., native jumped to second nationally with a conference-leading 16 goals.
PITLICK SEEING DOUBLE STARS
For the second time in a five-week stretch, Rhett Pitlick was chosen as the Big Ten Conference Second Star of the Week (Dec. 5 and Nov. 7). The junior posted five points during an early December split at No. 18 Penn State, contributing to five of the team's seven total goals. He tallied two goals and three assists, posting multi-point efforts in both games, including a career-best three points in the victory Friday (Dec. 1). Pitlick followed that effort by registering the first shorthanded goal of his career Saturday, and the Gophers' only shorthanded goal this season. The Plymouth, Minn., native extended his career-long point streak to seven games, with at least one goal in each of those seven games, after scoring at Ohio State (Dec. 8). His goal streak was the longest by anyone in the NCAA this season. After a four-point weekend to begin the 2024 calendar year, he is tied for the team lead with 22 points, 17 of which have come over the previous 10 outings, and already matched his single-season best of 11 goals.
CLOSE REACHES 50 WINS
Behind a brilliant weekend between the pipes for Minnesota, goaltender Justen Close was named the B1G First Star of the Week (Oct. 24). The graduate student made 25 saves in a road win at No. 5 North Dakota for his second-straight shutout before his streak was snapped at 153:58 in the second period Oct. 21. He turned away 57-of-59 shots faced against the Fighting Hawks for a 1.01 goals-against average and a .966 save percentage. The Kindersley, Saskatchewan, native sits two shutouts shy of the program record of 13 held by Kellen Briggs and Adam Wilcox. Close has come up clutch for Minnesota over the last 12 outings by averaging 31.8 saves per game, including a career-high 41 in an overtime win against Michigan State (Nov. 26). Close became the 13th goaltender in program history to reach 50 career victories during a home win over Colorado College (Jan. 8) and was the first to reach the milestone since Eric Schierhorn on Nov. 4, 2017.
HISTORY WITH THE COLONIALS
Minnesota won the only prior meeting with Robert Morris, a 7-3 victory in the NCAA West Regional that was played at the Xcel Energy Center on March 29, 2014. That night was the first and only appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the Colonials since the program got started in 2004-05. Nate Condon had a two-goal performance, including the 100th point of his Maroon and Gold career, versus RMU in the regional, while 13 Gophers recorded at least one point. After the win over the Colonials, Minnesota went on to defeat St. Cloud State and North Dakota before falling to Union in the 2014 national championship game.
INSIDE LOOK AT ROBERT MORRIS
The Colonials make their first-ever trip to 3M Arena at Mariucci following a series sweep over Stonehill last weekend where they outscored the Skyhawks by a 15-4 margin. RMU has traded sweeps with its opposition in each of the past four weekends and holds a 4-6 record over the last 10 games played. Tanner Klimpke and Rylee St. Onge pace the team with six goals each and are two of the five players that have reached double-digit scoring this year, led by Dallas Tulik's 15 total points. Goaltender Chad Veltri has played all but one game in net for the Colonials and has a sub-three goals-against average and a .922 save percentage that ranks seventh nationally. RMU enters the series 52nd of 60 NCAA teams in scoring offense, averaging 2.5 goals per game, with 18 of the team's 54 total goals coming on the power play behind a 21 percent conversion rate.
READY FOR THE CHALLENGE
Thanks to the rise in quality of hockey across the Big Ten Conference, the full schedule for the Maroon and Gold will again be a challenge from start to finish. After facing the nation's No. 2 strength of schedule according to USCHO last year, the 2023-24 slate is no different as 32 of 34 games are against opponents ranked in the top 20 or receiving votes in the preseason national polls. Minnesota holds a 3-1-2 record against top-10 opponents this season and after facing seven-consecutive opponents ranked in the top 20 from Oct. 20 to Dec. 2, has had the toughest schedule in the country.
EATING PUCKS
Minnesota is the only team in the NCAA this season with two players ranked in the top 15 in total blocked shots as Cal Thomas (43) and Ryan Chesley (43) are both tied for 12th. As a team, the Gophers rank 13th nationally by blocking 285 shots, including a season-high 25 during a road win at Ohio State (Dec. 8). It's been a full team effort to get bodies in shooting lanes and nine different players have double-digit blocks for the year with five of those totaling 20 or more.
ALWAYS REMEMBER THE FIRST
During a five-game stretch from Oct. 20 to Nov. 3, a Gopher scored the first goal of their collegiate career in four of those outings. Freshman Oliver Moore got things started with a goal at North Dakota (Oct. 20) and was followed by sophomore Charlie Strobel's first tally versus Wisconsin (Oct. 26). The next night it was freshman Jimmy Clark that lit the lamp against the Badgers before sophomore Cal Thomas joined the fun, scoring for the first time in 47 career games from the blue line in a home win over Minnesota Duluth (Nov. 3). Sam Rinzel became the fifth Minnesota player to record his first goal this year when he found the back of the net at Penn State (Dec. 1).
GOPHER PIPELINE TO THE NHL
After 33 players took part in National Hockey League training camps, 21 former Golden Gophers men's hockey players earned an opening-night roster spot for the 2023-24 season, while five more have been called up since the regular season started. Minnesota had an NCAA-best 26 former skaters in the NHL last season, increasing the all-time number of Gophers in the NHL to an NCAA-best 123 before Logan Cooley and Johnson made their debuts as No. 124 and 125, respectively. This year the Maroon and Gold has begun the campaign as one of two NCAA programs with 20 or more players with a lineup spot in the NHL.
TWIN CITIES ON THE WORLD STAGE
USA Hockey announced that the Twin Cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minn., will serve as host of the 2026 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship. The 10-nation tournament features the best men's players in the world under 20 years of age and the 29 games of the championship will take place over 10 days. The 2026 event marks the 50th anniversary of the event and Xcel Energy Center, home of the NHL's Minnesota Wild in Saint Paul, and 3M Arena at Mariucci on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis, will serve as the competition venues.
Highlights: Gophers 2, Michigan 4
Friday, February 27
Highlights: Gophers 4, Michigan 2
Thursday, February 26
Highlights: Gophers 2, Notre Dame 3
Saturday, February 14
Highlights: Gophers 2, Notre Dame 2
Friday, February 13