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Border Battle on Deck for Gophers
11/7/2018 5:56:00 PM | Men's Hockey
MINNEAPOLIS -- Bob Motzko leads the No. 14/16 Gopher Hockey program into Big Ten play for the first time this weekend as Minnesota travels to No. 20 Wisconsin for a two-game, Border Battle series in Madison. The series opens on Friday, Nov. 9 with the finale on Saturday, Nov. 9 -- both games are set for 7 p.m. CT.
Border Battle Bullets
The Border Battle returns this weekend with the Gophers holding a 168-94-23 all-time record against the Badgers (66-55-14 on the road) including taking three out of four games from Wisconsin last season. Minnesota swept Wisconsin in their last series with wins of 4-2 (Feb. 9, 2018) and 7-1 (Feb. 10, 2018) in Madison. The Border Battle rivalry is Minnesota's oldest active rivalry, dating back to 1922. Senior captain Tyler Sheehy leads all active Gophers with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 12 career games against the Badgers. Fourteen of the 17 active Gophers who have played against the Badgers have tallied points including senior goaltender Eric Schierhorn. The three lone holdouts (defensemen Sam Rossini and Clayton Phillips along with goaltender Mat Robson) have played a combined five games against the Badgers.
Playing Against the Best
This weekend's series at No. 20 Wisconsin marks the sixth and seventh game of the year that Minnesota will play a nationally ranked team, having done so in all five regular-season matchups leading into the series (No. 1 Minnesota Duluth, No. 17 North Dakota, No. 4 Minnesota State). The last 15 games for the Maroon & Gold have come against nationally ranked teams dating back to a 1-0 shutout win over No. 1 Notre Dame on Jan. 26, 2018.
Schierhorn Makes 100th Career Start
Last Saturday's 2-1 loss to Minnesota State marked senior goaltender Eric Schierhorn's 100th career start for the Maroon & Gold. The netminder has 103 career appearances with only four Minnesota goalies playing in more games in the modern era (post 1952) -- Adam Hauser at 151 games, Kellen Briggs at 132, Adam Wilcox at 115 and Alex Kangas at 108.
Romanko's Ironman Streak Passes Century Mark
Senior forward and alternate captain Darian Romanko skated in his 101st-straight game for the Maroon & Gold on Saturday night. Romanko's 101-straight appearances lead all active Gophers dating back to Jan. 8, 2016 while the senior is the only Gopher to play in every game over the last two full seasons.
Welcome Back, Bob!
After 13 years leading in-state rival St. Cloud State, Bob Motzko was named the head coach of the University of Minnesota on March 27, 2018. A native of Austin, Minn., Motzko built a 276-192-49 record as head coach of the Huskies (277-195-50 overall record) following a four-year stint as assistant coach at Minnesota that saw the Maroon & Gold claim back-to-back national championships in 2002 and 2003. Motzko has coached 17 All-Americans in his coaching career including Hobey Baker Award winners Jordan Leopold and Drew LeBlanc. In addition to his collegiate coaching, Motzko led the U.S. National Junior Team to back-to-back medals at the IIHF World Junior Championship -- capturing a gold medal in 2017 and a bronze medal in 2018.
Big Ten Preseason Information
Tyler Sheehy and Rem Pitlick represented the Maroon & Gold on the Big Ten Preseason Watch List while the Gophers were predicted to finish fourth in a competitive Big Ten during the 2018-19 campaign. The Big Ten's three Frozen Four participants last year landed poll rankings ahead of the Maroon & Gold with Ohio State projected to finish first, Michigan to finish second and Notre Dame to finish third. Behind the Gophers are Penn State in fifth, Wisconsin in sixth and Michigan State in seventh.
Minnesota Announces Captains for 2018-19
Four senior forwards will serve as leads for the University of Minnesota during the 2018-19 campaign with Tyler Sheehy and Brent Gates Jr. acting as captains for the Maroon & Gold while Jack Ramsey and Darian Romanko will act as assistant captains. Sheehy returns after serving as team captain as a junior last year while Gates, Ramsey and Romanko will wear letters for the first time as seniors. The four skaters continue a long tradition of Gopher Hockey captains dating back to the program's first season of play in 1921-22 when Chet Bros led the Maroon & Gold. Counting the new additions, 170 Gophers have worn a letter at the University of Minnesota in the program's 97-year history.
Three Gopher Hockey Alums Join Staff
Coach Bob Motzko rounded out his coaching staff this month when he added three former University of Minnesota skaters to the Gophers coaching ranks. Ben Gordon returned to the Gophers for the second time after being named an assistant coach on Monday (Gordon previously served as Minnesota's director of operations during the 2016-17 season). Additionally, former Gophers Stu Bickel and Ryan Potulny joined the Maroon & Gold as undergraduate assistants for the 2018-19 season as they complete their degrees at the University of Minnesota. Previously, Garrett Raboin joined the Minnesota staff as an assistant coach after serving in the same capacity at St. Cloud State for the last six years while Andy Kent returns as the team's volunteer goaltending coach.
Gophers in the NHL Draft
Thirteen current Gophers have had their names called at the NHL Entry Draft including newcomers Robbie Stucker (2017, Columbus, Seventh Round, 210th), Sammy Walker (2017, Tampa Bay, Seventh Round, 200th), Blake McLaughlin (2018, Anaheim, Third Round, 79th) and Sampo Ranta (2018, Colorado, Third Round, 78th). Ranta and McLaughlin were selected with back-to-back picks in 2018 -- the sixth time in Gophers history that has happened. Ten NHL teams have prospects on the Gopher Hockey roster this year with Anaheim, Tampa Bay and Nashville each listing two draftees with Minnesota.
Mr. Hockey Goes to Minnesota
Incoming Gophers freshman Sammy Walker closed out his prep career by leading Edina High School to a third-place finish at the 2018 MSHSL Class AA State Tournament, earning all-tournament honors along with Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year accolades. Walker was also 34th recipient of the annual Mr. Hockey Award, given to the top senior high school boy's hockey player in the state of Minnesota. Of the 34 honorees in the award's history, 23 have gone on to play college hockey at the University of Minnesota.
Cake Eater Connection
The University of Minnesota lists 27 players on its 2018-19 roster and seven of those players (Ben Brinkman, Sammy Walker, Cullen Munson, Garrett Wait, Clayton Phillips, Ryan Zuhlsdorf, Tyler Nanne) played their prep hockey for the Hornets of Edina High School (the most of any high school).
Big Ten Announces Overtime Changes
The Big Ten Conference has announced changes to its overtime protocol and conference points system for the 2018-19 hockey season, including the addition of a 3-on-3 overtime period. Any regular-season conference game that remains tied after regulation will play the NCAA-mandated five-minute, 5-on-5 sudden-death overtime period. If the game remains tied, the two teams will then play a five-minute, 3-on-3 sudden-death overtime period. If the game is still tied following both overtime periods, then the game will move to a sudden-death shootout. Non-conference games other than certain in-season tournaments will conclude following the 5-on-5 overtime period. Postseason games will continue to feature 20-minute 5-on-5 overtime periods as in the past. Teams will be awarded three points in the conference standings for a win in regulation or the 5-on-5 overtime period. If the game is tied following the 5-on-5 overtime, both teams will receive one point, with a second point being awarded to the team that wins in either the 3-on-3 overtime period or the shootout.
Border Battle Bullets
The Border Battle returns this weekend with the Gophers holding a 168-94-23 all-time record against the Badgers (66-55-14 on the road) including taking three out of four games from Wisconsin last season. Minnesota swept Wisconsin in their last series with wins of 4-2 (Feb. 9, 2018) and 7-1 (Feb. 10, 2018) in Madison. The Border Battle rivalry is Minnesota's oldest active rivalry, dating back to 1922. Senior captain Tyler Sheehy leads all active Gophers with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 12 career games against the Badgers. Fourteen of the 17 active Gophers who have played against the Badgers have tallied points including senior goaltender Eric Schierhorn. The three lone holdouts (defensemen Sam Rossini and Clayton Phillips along with goaltender Mat Robson) have played a combined five games against the Badgers.
Playing Against the Best
This weekend's series at No. 20 Wisconsin marks the sixth and seventh game of the year that Minnesota will play a nationally ranked team, having done so in all five regular-season matchups leading into the series (No. 1 Minnesota Duluth, No. 17 North Dakota, No. 4 Minnesota State). The last 15 games for the Maroon & Gold have come against nationally ranked teams dating back to a 1-0 shutout win over No. 1 Notre Dame on Jan. 26, 2018.
Schierhorn Makes 100th Career Start
Last Saturday's 2-1 loss to Minnesota State marked senior goaltender Eric Schierhorn's 100th career start for the Maroon & Gold. The netminder has 103 career appearances with only four Minnesota goalies playing in more games in the modern era (post 1952) -- Adam Hauser at 151 games, Kellen Briggs at 132, Adam Wilcox at 115 and Alex Kangas at 108.
Romanko's Ironman Streak Passes Century Mark
Senior forward and alternate captain Darian Romanko skated in his 101st-straight game for the Maroon & Gold on Saturday night. Romanko's 101-straight appearances lead all active Gophers dating back to Jan. 8, 2016 while the senior is the only Gopher to play in every game over the last two full seasons.
Welcome Back, Bob!
After 13 years leading in-state rival St. Cloud State, Bob Motzko was named the head coach of the University of Minnesota on March 27, 2018. A native of Austin, Minn., Motzko built a 276-192-49 record as head coach of the Huskies (277-195-50 overall record) following a four-year stint as assistant coach at Minnesota that saw the Maroon & Gold claim back-to-back national championships in 2002 and 2003. Motzko has coached 17 All-Americans in his coaching career including Hobey Baker Award winners Jordan Leopold and Drew LeBlanc. In addition to his collegiate coaching, Motzko led the U.S. National Junior Team to back-to-back medals at the IIHF World Junior Championship -- capturing a gold medal in 2017 and a bronze medal in 2018.
Big Ten Preseason Information
Tyler Sheehy and Rem Pitlick represented the Maroon & Gold on the Big Ten Preseason Watch List while the Gophers were predicted to finish fourth in a competitive Big Ten during the 2018-19 campaign. The Big Ten's three Frozen Four participants last year landed poll rankings ahead of the Maroon & Gold with Ohio State projected to finish first, Michigan to finish second and Notre Dame to finish third. Behind the Gophers are Penn State in fifth, Wisconsin in sixth and Michigan State in seventh.
Minnesota Announces Captains for 2018-19
Four senior forwards will serve as leads for the University of Minnesota during the 2018-19 campaign with Tyler Sheehy and Brent Gates Jr. acting as captains for the Maroon & Gold while Jack Ramsey and Darian Romanko will act as assistant captains. Sheehy returns after serving as team captain as a junior last year while Gates, Ramsey and Romanko will wear letters for the first time as seniors. The four skaters continue a long tradition of Gopher Hockey captains dating back to the program's first season of play in 1921-22 when Chet Bros led the Maroon & Gold. Counting the new additions, 170 Gophers have worn a letter at the University of Minnesota in the program's 97-year history.
Three Gopher Hockey Alums Join Staff
Coach Bob Motzko rounded out his coaching staff this month when he added three former University of Minnesota skaters to the Gophers coaching ranks. Ben Gordon returned to the Gophers for the second time after being named an assistant coach on Monday (Gordon previously served as Minnesota's director of operations during the 2016-17 season). Additionally, former Gophers Stu Bickel and Ryan Potulny joined the Maroon & Gold as undergraduate assistants for the 2018-19 season as they complete their degrees at the University of Minnesota. Previously, Garrett Raboin joined the Minnesota staff as an assistant coach after serving in the same capacity at St. Cloud State for the last six years while Andy Kent returns as the team's volunteer goaltending coach.
Gophers in the NHL Draft
Thirteen current Gophers have had their names called at the NHL Entry Draft including newcomers Robbie Stucker (2017, Columbus, Seventh Round, 210th), Sammy Walker (2017, Tampa Bay, Seventh Round, 200th), Blake McLaughlin (2018, Anaheim, Third Round, 79th) and Sampo Ranta (2018, Colorado, Third Round, 78th). Ranta and McLaughlin were selected with back-to-back picks in 2018 -- the sixth time in Gophers history that has happened. Ten NHL teams have prospects on the Gopher Hockey roster this year with Anaheim, Tampa Bay and Nashville each listing two draftees with Minnesota.
Mr. Hockey Goes to Minnesota
Incoming Gophers freshman Sammy Walker closed out his prep career by leading Edina High School to a third-place finish at the 2018 MSHSL Class AA State Tournament, earning all-tournament honors along with Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year accolades. Walker was also 34th recipient of the annual Mr. Hockey Award, given to the top senior high school boy's hockey player in the state of Minnesota. Of the 34 honorees in the award's history, 23 have gone on to play college hockey at the University of Minnesota.
Cake Eater Connection
The University of Minnesota lists 27 players on its 2018-19 roster and seven of those players (Ben Brinkman, Sammy Walker, Cullen Munson, Garrett Wait, Clayton Phillips, Ryan Zuhlsdorf, Tyler Nanne) played their prep hockey for the Hornets of Edina High School (the most of any high school).
Big Ten Announces Overtime Changes
The Big Ten Conference has announced changes to its overtime protocol and conference points system for the 2018-19 hockey season, including the addition of a 3-on-3 overtime period. Any regular-season conference game that remains tied after regulation will play the NCAA-mandated five-minute, 5-on-5 sudden-death overtime period. If the game remains tied, the two teams will then play a five-minute, 3-on-3 sudden-death overtime period. If the game is still tied following both overtime periods, then the game will move to a sudden-death shootout. Non-conference games other than certain in-season tournaments will conclude following the 5-on-5 overtime period. Postseason games will continue to feature 20-minute 5-on-5 overtime periods as in the past. Teams will be awarded three points in the conference standings for a win in regulation or the 5-on-5 overtime period. If the game is tied following the 5-on-5 overtime, both teams will receive one point, with a second point being awarded to the team that wins in either the 3-on-3 overtime period or the shootout.
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