University of Minnesota Athletics
'U' Set for Home-and-Home with Mavs
11/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
| Gopher Hockey: No. 7 Minnesota vs. No. 15 Minnesota State | |||||||||||
| Game 9 | Minnesota at Minnesota State | ||||||||||
| Date | Friday, Nov. 18, 2016 | ||||||||||
| Location | Verizon Center | Mankato, Minn. | ||||||||||
| Puck Drop | 7:07 p.m. CT | ||||||||||
| TV | FOX Sports North | ||||||||||
| Stream | FOX Sports Go | ||||||||||
| Radio | MyTalk 107.1 FM, Gopher Radio Network | ||||||||||
| Game Links | Gopher Hockey Live | Live Stats | ||||||||||
| Game 10 | Minnesota vs. Minnesota State | ||||||||||
| Date | Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016 | ||||||||||
| Location | Mariucci Arena | Minneapolis, Minn. | ||||||||||
| Puck Drop | 8:05 p.m. CT | ||||||||||
| Tickets | MyGopherSports.com | ||||||||||
| Stream | BTN PLUS | ||||||||||
| Radio | 1500 ESPN, Gopher Radio Network | ||||||||||
| Game Links | Gopher Hockey Live | | ||||||||||
| Game Notes | Minnesota | Minnesota State | Big Ten | ||||||||||
| Game Info | Tickets | Local Weather | Preferred Hotels | Traffic Advisory | ||||||||||
| Social Media | @GopherHockey | Facebook | Instagram | ||||||||||
MINNEAPOLIS (GopherSports.com) -- Following a weekend off, the No. 7 Gopher Hockey program returns to action this weekend with a nonconference, home-and-home series against No. 15 Minnesota State. Friday's opener is set for 7 p.m. in Mankato while Mariucci Arena will host Saturday's finale at 8 p.m.
Against the Mavericks/Coaching Connection
Minnesota enters the weekend with a 36-13-6 all-time record against Minnesota State while Justin Kloos leads all current Gophers with six points (four goals, two assists) in six career games against the Mavericks. Minnesota State head coach Mike Hastings previously served as an assistant coach on Don Lucia's staff at Minnesota during the 2008-09 season.
Last Time Out - UND
The Gophers enter the weekend coming off a bye, but the team's last action saw Minnesota renew its long-time rivalry with North Dakota -- tying 5-5 in overtime and winning 2-0. The Gophers are now unbeaten in their last six games against UND (4-0-2) and unbeaten in their last nine games vs. UND at Mariucci Arena (5-0-4) dating back to 2007-08.
No Easy Games
Minnesota once again boasts one of the nation's most difficult schedules and that slate continues this weekend against the No. 15 Mavericks. Five of the last six games for the Gophers have come against nationally ranked foes (Clarkson was receiving votes in the lone unranked game) while a similar path continues into December. After this weekend's games, Minnesota travels to Northeastern (receiving votes), then to No. 3 Boston College before kicking off the Big Ten schedule with two games against No. 14 Ohio State. With the current rankings, the Gophers will play 12-straight games against teams that are receiving votes in the national polls between Oct. 21 and Dec. 3 -- 10 of those games will be against nationally ranked opponents.
Schierhorn Stands Tall
Sophomore Eric Schierhorn picked up his fifth career shutout (second of the season) in the 2-0 win over UND while his 33 saves were the most the Defending Big Ten Goalie of the Year has faced in a shutout effort. Schierhorn's career high for saves sits at 36 (1/8/16 at Penn State).
Szmatula Stays Hot
Junior forward Mike Szmatula is currently riding a four-game point streak with six points (three goals, three assists) in that span including the game winner vs. UND on Nov. 5. The Northeastern transfer has nine points (four goals, five assists) in eight games this season -- his first on the ice with the Maroon & Gold.
Lucia Nears 700th Win
Minnesota head coach Don Lucia is in the middle of his 18th season as head coach of the Gophers and 30th overall season as a Division I head coach. Lucia is Minnesota's all-time leader in coaching victories at 419 while his 698 career wins rank seventh all-time in NCAA history regardless of division. The Grand Rapids, Minn., native needs two more wins to become the seventh coach in NCAA history to win 700 career games.
Gophers Sign Four to NLIs
While the 2016-17 season continues, the Gopher Hockey program continues to plan for the future. Minnesota has signed four prospects to National Letters of Intent in Casey Mittelstadt (Eden Prairie, Minn.), Brannon McManus (Newport Beach, Calif.), Nate Knoepke (Farmington, Minn.) and Scott Reedy (Prior Lake, Minn.) More info on the signees is available at GopherSports.com.
Block Party
The Gophers combined for 25 blocks in their last game -- a 2-0 shutout victory over North Dakota. The team total was the most by Minnesota since the 2014 National Championship game on April 12, 2014 against Union while the Maroon & Gold had 30 against UND two days earlier in semifinal action on April 10, 2014.
Gophers Picked to Pace B1G
The Maroon & Gold were selected to finish first in this year's Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll followed by Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin and Michigan State. Meanwhile, Minnesota led all Big Ten programs with four players on the 13-player Big Ten Preseason Watch List -- Justin Kloos, Leon Bristedt, Jake Bischoff and Eric Schierhorn. Kloos and Schierhorn were two of four overall unanimous selections to the list.
The Skate for Six
Minnesota enters the 2016-17 campaign having won five-straight regular-season conference titles -- a feat that matched Boston University's NCAA record from 1994-98. The Maroon & Gold have won the first three Big Ten regular-season crowns (2014-16) and previously won two-straight WCHA regular-season titles (2012-13). Minnesota has won 17 regular-season conference championships in program history -- seven of them under head coach Don Lucia.
Captain Kloos Returns to Lineup
Senior captain Justin Kloos returns to the Gophers as the active-leading scorer in the Big Ten Conference with 113 points (47 goals, 66 assists) in 125 games. The forward led the Maroon & Gold with a career-high 43 points (16 goals, 27 assists) in 2015-16.
Maroon & Gold Family Tree
Five members of the Gopher Hockey program are second-generation skaters while the team has a multitude of family connections. Jake Bischoff (Grant), Tyler Nanne (Marty), Rem Pitlick (Lance), Jack Ramsey (Mike) and Connor Reilly (Mike) all play for the same team as their fathers while Nanne is actually a third generation Gopher (grandfather, Lou Nanne). Additionally, Vinni Lettieri is also a grandson of Nanne, and Reilly is one of three Reilly brothers to play for the Gophers (Ryan, Mike) while his sister (Caitlin) plays for the Gopher women. Outside of hockey, Brent Gates Jr.'s father (also Brent) was a standout for the Gopher baseball team while Jack Sadek's father (Brett) and grandfather (Robert) played football at Minnesota (Sadek is also the cousin of Gopher alum Brady Skjei).
Gophers in the NHL Draft
Thirteen current Gophers have had their names called at the NHL Entry Draft including newcomers Ryan Lindgren (2016, 2nd Round, 49th Overall, Boston) Rem Pitlick (2016, 3rd Round, 76th Overall, Nashville), Ryan Zuhlsdorf (2015, 5th Round, 150th Overall, Tampa Bay) and Tyler Nanne (2015, 5th Round, 142nd Overall, New York Rangers). Ryan Collins is currently the highest draft pick for Minnesota (2014, 2nd Round, 47th Overall, Columbus). Ten NHL teams hold draft rights for Gophers, led by the Nashville Predators and New York Rangers with two each.
Big Ten's Best
In addition to the first three regular-season titles in Big Ten Conference history, Minnesota also boasts a conference-best record of 40-14-6-0 in 60 regular-season games since the inaugural year of Big Ten play in 2013-14. The Gophers also boast an impressive 24-4-2-0 mark in conference games on home ice and have set and matched a conference single-season record with 14 wins in 2013-14 and 2015-16.
Watch the Gophers on TV
Twenty-nine of Minnesota's 36 regular-season games will be broadcast on television including the entire 20-game Big Ten schedule. FOX Sports leads the way with 17 games, followed by the Big Ten Network with 10 games and ESPN with two -- once again giving the Gophers the best television schedule in nation. Of the seven regular-season games not on television, six are nonconference road games whose rights are not held by Minnesota and the Big Ten Conference.
Listen to the Gophers
1500 ESPN and the Gopher Radio Network will once again broadcast all Gopher Hockey games during the 2016-17 season. Listen to long-time Minnesota broadcasters Wally Shaver and Frank Mazzocco throughout the year while Gopher great Pat Micheletti will serve as a guest analyst for select games. 1500 ESPN and the Gopher Radio Network also host the Don Lucia Radio Show each Monday at 6 p.m.
