24th Annual Mariucci Classic

Dec. 31, 2014

No. 8 Gopher Hockey hosts the 24th annual Mariucci Classic this weekend with No. 7/9 UMass-Lowell, No. 18 Merrimack and Rochester Institute of Technology all making their second-ever appearances at the traditional holiday tournament. Minnesota takes on Merrimack to open the event at 7 p.m. CT on Friday, Jan. 2 (TV: FOX Sports North PLUS; Stream: BTN2Go; Radio: 1500 ESPN/Gopher Radio Network) while UMass-Lowell and RIT play on Friday at 4 p.m. (Free stream on GopherSports.com). Minnesota will play either UMass-Lowell or RIT on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 7 p.m. (Stream: BTN Plus; Radio: 1500 ESPN/Gopher Radio Network) while Merrimack will play the other opponent at 4 p.m. (Stream: Free on GopherSports.com).

About the Mariucci Classic

Named for the legendary John Mariucci, who was an All-American player and coach for the Gophers, the Mariucci Classic is now in its 24th year. Minnesota has won 13 of the previous 23 tournaments -- last doing so in 2012-13. RIT returns to the Mariucci Classic as the only team in the field to beat Minnesota at the event, finishing second in 2007-08 while UMass-Lowell finished second behind the Gophers in its only Mariucci Classic appearance in 2005-06 and Merrimack finished third at the event in 2004-05. The University of Minnesota is 32-12-2 all-time at the Mariucci Classic (Minnesota's two ties have been decided by shootouts with a win in 2007-08 and a loss last year vs. Colgate).

Back Home at Mariucci Arena

Following a five-game road trip to close out the first half, the Gophers return home for the first time since Nov. 15 -- a span of 49 days without a regular-season home gameâ€ˆ(Minnesota did host the U.S. U-18 Team in exhibition action on Nov. 21. ).The 2014-15 season marked the 21st campaign in which the Gophers have called Mariucci Arena home. Since opening Mariucci Arena, Minnesota is 295-114-45 (.700) on home ice. Since the start of the 2011-12 season, the Gophers are 53-11-6 (.812) on home ice including a 15-1-3 (.853) mark last year and a 5-1-0 mark this season.

Three Gophers at World Junior Championship

The University of Minnesota will be a bit shorthanded this weekend with three players currently competing at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship in Montreal and Toronto. Hudson Fasching is making his second appearance at the event for the U.S. while Ryan Collins is making his first appearance for the team. Meanwhile, Leon Bristedt is skating for Sweden. Gopher Hockey has been represented at 37 of 38 IIHF World Junior Championships since the inaugural event in 1977 including 22-straight World Junior Championships since 1993.

Reilly Leads the Big Ten

Not only are Mike Reilly's 17 points (three goals, 14 assists) tied for the team lead this season with Kyle Rau, he also leads all Big Ten defensemen in points and ranks tied for third among all NCAA defensemen. The last time a Minnesota defenseman led the team in scoring was 1996-97 when Mike Crowley tallied 56 points (nine goals, 47 assists) in route to First Team All-America honors.

The Return of Rau

Kyle Rau returns to the Gophers after leading the team with 40 pointsâ€ˆ(14 goals, 26 assists) last season -- he tallied both his 100th career point and 75th career assist during his junior campaign. Minnesota is 73-12-7 all-time when the forward tallies a point including a 36-3-0 all-time when Rau tallies more than one point in a game. Rau has tallied at least 40 points in each of his three seasons with the Maroon & Gold and became just the 49th Gopher to reach the 125-point mark at the Ice Breaker Tournament. Rau currently is NCAA's active leading scorer with 140 points (53 goals, 87 assists) in 134 career games.

Boyd Returns with Hot Start

After missing seven games with an injury, Travis Boyd returned to the Minnesota lineup for the final series of the first half and immediately made an impact with the game-winning goal on his first shift back on the ice. Boyd ended the weekend with three points (one goal, two assists).

Wilcox Continues Iron Man Antics

Adam Wilcox has appeared in 91 of Minnesota's 95 games since arriving on campus as a freshman while the All-American continues to make a name for himself in the Gopher Hockey history books. Wilcox's 10 career shutouts rank second all-time at Minnesota behind Kellen Briggs' 13 while the junior's 60 career wins rank fifth in school history. Next up on the list is John Blue in fourth with 64 wins -- Briggs also holds the school wins record at 84. Wilcox's 42 saves in the first half finale against Michigan State marked a new career high -- one more than his 41 in the national championship game last year.

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Players Mentioned

Travis Boyd

Leon Bristedt

Ryan Collins

Hudson Fasching

Kyle Rau

Mike Reilly

Adam Wilcox

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University of Minnesota Athletics