Gophers Welcome Huskies for Season-Opening Series

MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota men's hockey team opens its 105th edition of Pride on Ice as it welcomes Michigan Tech to 3M Arena at Mariucci for a series Oct. 3-4.

The Golden Gophers get the season underway Friday night at 7 p.m. live on FOX9 before closing the weekend against the Huskies on Saturday at 7 p.m. on FOX9+. Fans can tune into the Gopher Radio Network 103.5 FM/AM-1130 KTLK for a live broadcast of the action or stream the games via B1G+.

WATCH THE PRIDE ON ICE
Minnesota and FOX9 have partnered for a local television broadcast deal for the third-straight year that will air seven home games during the non-conference portion of the 2025-26 campaign presented by Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union. This year's home broadcasts on FOX9 and FOX9+ will feature a 30-minute Pride on Ice Pre-Game Show presented by M Health Fairview as well as a post-game show recapping the action presented by RBC Wealth Management.

RAISE ANOTHER BANNER
Minnesota secured a share of the 2024-25 Big Ten Conference Championship, tying Michigan State with 50 points for the league-record seventh title in program history and the 30th overall crown for the Gophers. It marked the first shared regular-season championship in the 12-year history of the conference and Minnesota's third title in the last four seasons. Michigan State joins the Maroon and Gold as the only programs with multiple championships, while every Big Ten school except Michigan has claimed at least one title.

STARTING IN THE WIN COLUMN
The Maroon and Gold have consistently found success when beginning a campaign, holding a 65-37-2 all-time record in the first game of the year. Minnesota picked up a 7-1 victory over Air Force to start last season at the Ice Breaker Tournament in Las Vegas, Nev. The Gophers have even more success in their home openers, behind a record of 70-31-3, which contains a 22-8-2 mark in home openers at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

B1G PRESEASON HONORS TO LUKE
Luke Mittelstadt is Minnesota's lone representative on the 2025-26 Preseason All-Big Ten Teams, earning a spot on the second team. He was a preseason first-team pick heading into the 2023-24 season and concluded his sophomore year as an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention selection. In the conference's preseason coaches' poll, the Gophers were projected to finish third behind Michigan State and Penn State.

LEANING ON RETURNING TRIO
The Gophers' offense for the upcoming 2025-26 season will be spearheaded by the strong returning forward trio of Brody Lamb, Brodie Ziemer, and Jimmy Clark. This group was highly productive in 2024-25, combining for 108 points. Lamb leads the charge as the top returning scorer, tallying 26 points on a career-high 17 goals and nine assists. Ziemer, who put up an impressive rookie campaign, finished with 23 points from 12 goals and 11 assists. Rounding out this vital core is Clark, whose playmaking ability delivered a career-high 22 points, including a notable 17 assists to go with five goals. The sustained collective production from these three forwards will be crucial in powering Minnesota's attack.

AN INSIDE LOOK AT MICHIGAN TECH
The Huskies make their first visit to 3M Arena at Mariucci since December 2011, entering the 2025-26 season after being picked third in the CCHA Coaches' Preseason Poll and fourth in the media poll. Michigan Tech is coming off a 16-17-3 campaign a year ago but brings back proven talent. Senior forward Stiven Sardarian earned Preseason All-CCHA honors from both the coaches and media, while junior forward Isaac Gordon landed on the coaches' list after the duo combined for 61 points last season. First-year head coach Bill Muckalt leads a roster with major turnover, featuring the most freshmen of any program in college hockey, 13 in total, as part of 18 newcomers overall. Among them is a familiar face: former Gopher goaltender Owen Bartoszkiewicz, who appeared in six games for Minnesota during the 2022-23 season before spending last year at Lindenwood.

HISTORY WITH THE HUSKIES
Minnesota holds a 174-78-15 (.680) all-time record against former WCHA foe Michigan Tech, even though the programs haven't met in more than a decade. The last matchup came in Houghton, Mich., on Oct. 19-20, 2012, when the Gophers and Huskies split the series. Minnesota has won eight of the last 10 meetings overall and are 101-29-5 (.767) in games played on home ice. The Gophers' 174 victories over MTU are the second-most against any opponent in program history, trailing only their 188 wins over Wisconsin. Michigan Tech is also one of seven programs Minnesota has defeated more than 100 times. While Coach Motzko has yet to face the Huskies at the helm of the Gophers, he posted a 17-4-1 record against MTU during his tenure at St. Cloud State.

EXPERIENCED LEADERSHIP GROUP
A trio of fourth-year seniors will have a 'C' added to their sweaters for the 2025-26 season as Brody Lamb, Luke Mittelstadt, and Cal Thomas were named captains for the Gophers. Thomas served as an alternate captain the previous year, while all three skaters bring more than 100 games of college hockey experience to the lineup. In the history of Minnesota hockey, 175 different players have served in a captain's role.

DEPARTED FIREPOWER
Losing its top five scorers via early departure to the National Hockey League, Jimmy Snuggerud (51 pts), Connor Kurth (39 pts), Matthew Wood (39 pts), Oliver Moore (33 pts), and Sam Rinzel (32 pts), leaves a massive void in Minnesota's offensive production heading into the 2025-26 season. Those five skaters combined for 194 of the team's 415 points, nearly 47 percent of the total. Their departure also strips out a wealth of experience, as all were among the most consistent producers in goals, assists, and special teams contributions. The Gophers will turn to their younger players to step into primary roles and increase secondary scoring.

GAUNTLET RUN FROM START TO FINISH
Minnesota's 2025-26 regular-season slate will once again be among the nation's toughest. Of the Gophers' 35 scheduled games, 25 come against teams ranked in the USCHO preseason poll, while eight more are against unranked opponents that still received votes. Seventeen matchups will be against opponents ranked inside the top 12, including a heavy dose of Big Ten play. The conference is again stacked, with six Big Ten programs ranked in the preseason top 20. Minnesota is no stranger to difficult schedules, having battled the nation's No. 4 strength of schedule in 2023-24 and the No. 2 schedule the year before. Even last year's "dip" to the No. 19 toughest schedule still placed the Gophers among the most battle-tested teams in the country.

WE ARE THE STATE OF HOCKEY
The state of Minnesota continues to lead college hockey, with 223 NCAA Division I men's players coming from the state, nearly a quarter of all American-born student-athletes and more than double any other state, per data from College Hockey Inc. The Gophers contribute heavily to that total with 20 homegrown players on this year's roster, including seven of their 10 newcomers. Remarkably, 19 of those 20 players are from within 70 miles of 3M Arena at Mariucci.

ROOKIES READY TO ROLL
After featuring a veteran-heavy lineup last season, the 2025-26 Minnesota hockey team will rely on a talented group of newcomers to drive the program. Of the 10 additions to the roster, seven come to Dinkytown as NCAA rookies. The Gophers enter the season with the seventh-youngest roster in college hockey, averaging just 21.1 years of age. Jacob Rombach is the youngest player on the team, born in April 2007, and joins Mason Moe and LJ Mooney, who were all born within 24 days of each other, in the same freshman class. Tate Pritchard also joins this group as a freshman but brings additional experience, entering Minnesota three years older with a 2004 birth year.

PROVEN PATH TO THE PROS
Minnesota continues to make its mark on professional hockey, as 36 players with ties to the program participated in NHL training camps for the 2025-26 season, representing 20 different organizations. The group, which spans back to the 2009 roster, features 15 former team captains and 10 All-Americans.
The Gophers' NHL presence remains unmatched across college hockey. A total of 25 alumni skated in the league last season, pushing the all-time number of Minnesota players to reach the NHL to an NCAA-best 130. Four more joined the list in 2024-25, as Oliver Moore, Sam Rinzel, Jimmy Snuggerud, and Matthew Wood each made their professional debut following their collegiate seasons in Maroon and Gold.

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Players Mentioned

Jimmy Clark

Connor Kurth

Brody Lamb

Luke Mittelstadt

Mason Moe

LJ Mooney

Oliver Moore

Tate Pritchard

Sam Rinzel

Jacob Rombach

Jimmy Snuggerud

Cal Thomas

Matthew Wood

Brodie Ziemer