University of Minnesota Athletics
26th Annual Mariucci Classic on Deck
12/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
| Gopher Hockey: 26th Annual Mariucci Classic | |||||||||||
| Location | Mariucci Arena | Minneapolis, Minn. | ||||||||||
| Game 1 | UAH vs. UMass | ||||||||||
| Date | Friday, Dec. 30, 2016 | ||||||||||
| Puck Drop | 4 p.m. CT | ||||||||||
| Stream | BTN2Go | ||||||||||
| Game Links | |||||||||||
| Game 2 | Minnesota vs. Mercyhurst | ||||||||||
| Date | Friday, Dec. 30, 2016 | ||||||||||
| Puck Drop | 7 p.m. CT | ||||||||||
| Television | FOX Sports North PLUS ( Guide) | ||||||||||
| Stream | BTN2Go, FOX Sports Go | ||||||||||
| Radio | 1500 ESPN, Gopher Radio Network | ||||||||||
| Game Links | Gopher Hockey Live | | ||||||||||
| Game 3 | Mercyhurst vs. UAH | ||||||||||
| Date | Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016 | ||||||||||
| Puck Drop | 4 p.m. CT | ||||||||||
| Stream | BTN2Go | ||||||||||
| Game Links | |||||||||||
| Game 4 | Minnesota vs. UMass | ||||||||||
| Date | Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016 | ||||||||||
| Puck Drop | 7 p.m. CT | ||||||||||
| Television | FOX Sports North PLUS ( Guide) | ||||||||||
| Stream | BTN2Go, FOX Sports Go | ||||||||||
| Radio | 1500 ESPN, Gopher Radio Network | ||||||||||
| Game Links | Gopher Hockey Live | | ||||||||||
| Game Notes | Minnesota | Mercyhurst | UMass | UAH | Big Ten | ||||||||||
| Game Info | Tickets | Local Weather | Preferred Hotels | ||||||||||
| Social Media | @GopherHockey | Facebook | Instagram | ||||||||||
MINNEAPOLIS (GopherSports.com) -- The No. 11 Gopher Hockey program officially kicks off the second half of the season this weekend with the 26th annual Mariucci Classic at Mariucci Arena. The Maroon & Gold will be joined by Mercyhurst, Alabama Huntsville and Massachusetts at the annual holiday tournament.
About the Mariucci Classic
Named for long-time Gopher Hockey coach and program alum John Mariucci, Minnesota's annual holiday tournament is now in its 26th year and honors the man who has been immortalized as the `Godfather of Minnesota Hockey." As a player, Mariucci led the Gophers to an undefeated AAU championship in 1940 while earning First Team All-America honors before a lengthy professional hockey career that included five seasons in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks. Mariucci returned to the Gophers as head coach and led the team to a 197-138-18 (.584) record from 1952-66. During the 1955-56 season, Mariucci stepped away from the Gophers' bench to coach the U.S. Olympic team to a silver medal. The Eveleth, Minn., native was inducted into the inaugural 1973 class of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder in 1985.
Gophers at the Mariucci Classic
The 26th annual Mariucci Classic will see the Gophers, who have won 13 of 25 previous tournaments and hold a 34-13-3 (.710) all-time record at the tournament, take on a trio of new opponents for the event as the Maroon & Gold have never met Mercyhurst, Massachusetts or Alabama Huntsville in Mariucci Classic action. Outside of the tournament, Minnesota is 9-0-0 against the field (4-0-0 against the Chargers, 3-0-0 against the Minutemen and 2-0-0 against the Lakers).
Sheehy Strikes Again
Sophomore forward Tyler Sheehy currently ranks second in the Big Ten in scoring and leads the Gophers with 23 points and 11 goals this season. Sheehy is currently riding a career-long eight-game point streak while his four-game goal streak has matched his career long. The sophomore has 53 points (23 goals, 30 assists) in 53 career games with the Gophers.
Repping the Red, White & Blue
The Gophers will be without freshman defenseman Ryan Lindgren and assistant coach Grant Potulny this weekend as the pair is currently competing at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship in Montreal and Toronto, Dec. 26-Jan. 5, with the U.S. National Junior Team. Potulny is making his second stint at the event after helping USA Hockey to a gold medal at the 2013 tournament. The Gophers have now been represented at 39 of 41 World Junior Championships since the inaugural event in 1977.
Bischoff Leads the Defense
Senior Jake Bischoff leads the Minnesota defense on both ends of the ice with 42 blocks this season (tied seventh in the nation, second in the Big Ten) and 15 points (tied for most among Big Ten defenseman). The alternate captain needs just three points to tie his career season high for points (18 in 2015-16).
Shutting Down the Opposition
Minnesota is 3-0-0 this season when allowing 20 or fewer shots on goal including both wins at Michigan State to close out the first half of the season. The Maroon & Gold allowed just 14 shots in the series opener (tying the season low) and followed with 19 shots against to close out the sweep. The 33 combined shots against were the fewest the Gophers have allowed in a weekend for the 2016-17 season.
Captain Kloos Continues Campaign
Justin Kloos leads all active Big Ten skaters and ranks third among active NCAA skaters with 125 points (52 goals, 73 assists) in 133 career games. Kloos ranks 50th all-time at Minnesota in career scoring and tied for 50th in goal scoring for the program.
Lucia Wins 700th Game
Minnesota's 4-2 win at Boston College on Nov. 27 gave head coach Don Lucia his 700th career win, making him the eighth coach in NCAA history to reach the 700-win milestone. Now in his 30th year as a Division I head coach, Lucia owns a 703-379-99 overall record including a 424-224-70 mark in 18 seasons at Minnesota. His 424 wins behind the Minnesota bench are a Gophers coaching record.
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.
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.
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 43-15-6-0 in 64 regular-season games since the inaugural year of Big Ten play in 2013-14. The Gophers also boast an impressive 25-5-2-0 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.
