University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, February 14
Ann Arbor, MI
6:00 PM
University of Minnesota
at
Michigan
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Photo by: Bjorn Franke
'U' Takes on Wolverines in Pivotal Road Series
2/13/2025 12:15:00 PM | Men's Hockey
Gophers travel to Ann Arbor Feb. 14-15
MINNEAPOLIS - The No 4/3 Golden Gophers men's hockey team is fresh off their final bye week and travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., for a matchup with the No. 12 Wolverines of Michigan Feb. 14-15 from Yost Ice Arena.
Minnesota is in second place in the Big Ten Conference standings with three weeks remaining in the regular season and opens the action at fourth-place Michigan Friday night at 6 p.m. (CT) streaming on B1G+. The series finale is set for Saturday at 5 p.m. (CT) with live television coverage on Big Ten Network. Fans can tune into audio broadcasts of each game with Wally Shaver and Pat Micheletti on the Gopher Radio Network 103.5 FM/AM-1130 KTLK with expanded coverage Friday on KFAN 100.3 FM.
LAST TIME OUT
After spotting the Badgers a two-goal cushion in the first period Friday night, the Gophers responded in a major way by scoring the next eight goals in the series on the way to a weekend sweep of their border rivals. The line of Erik Påhlsson, Jimmy Snuggerud, and Brodie Ziemer combined for 12 points in the 5-2 win Friday before the trio of Connor Kurth, Oliver Moore, and Matthew Wood had eight points in the third period to pick up a 4-1 victory Saturday. Goaltender Liam Souliere stopped 59-of-62 shots during the sweep as he started both games of a series for the first time since joining the team. It also marked Minnesota's first season sweep of Wisconsin since 2003.
SNUGGERUD STOCK RISING
After a four-point performance versus Wisconsin, Jimmy Snuggerud was named the B1G First Star of the Week for the third time this season and sixth time during his career, the most of any non-goaltender in B1G history, while also landing HCA Co-Player of the Month honors for the month of January. He took over as the NCAA's scoring leader with 41 points, including a B1G-best 17 goals in 18 league appearances, before slipping to second in the bye week. The junior posted two goals and two assists in the series opener against the Badgers (Jan. 31), extending his career-long goal streak to six games. Snuggerud had seven multi-point efforts in a nine-game stretch and became the third player in Gophers' history to score 20 or more goals in three-consecutive seasons to begin a college career, joining M Club Hall of Famers John Mayasich and Dick Dougherty, who both hit the milestone more than 70 years ago in 1953-54. He has reached the scoresheet in 23 of 30 appearances this year with a team-best 14 multi-point outings, while his 62 career goals rank 35th in program history. Snuggerud is just four points away from reaching the top 50 all-time scorers in Maroon and Gold.
HOBEY BAKER FAN VOTING CONTINUES
Sam Rinzel and Jimmy Snuggerud from the Maroon and Gold are two of more than 90 players representing all 64 NCAA Division I programs nominated for the 2025 Hobey Baker Memorial Award. The fan-voting portion began Jan. 22 and goes until Mar. 9 and can be found by going to hobeybaker.com/vote. Phase two of fan balloting will feature the Top Ten Hobey Baker finalists beginning Mar. 19 and closes Mar. 30. The fan vote accounts for a percentage of the total ballot in each phase in selecting this year's award recipient.
SHOWING OFF THE BALANCE
The Gophers have lit the lamp an NCAA-best 121 times this season with 20 different players scoring at least one goal, including five that have eclipsed double-digit goals. Minnesota's offensive depth in 2024-25 has shined through as its 322 points have come via 21 of their 22 total skaters, and one goaltender with 13 players that have double-digit points and six with 20 or more points. The team has found the back of the net five or more times in 15 appearances and hold a 19-3-2 record when scoring at least three goals. More importantly, the Gophers are putting in the work on the defensive end, holding the NCAA's fourth-best scoring margin at plus-1.67 as they have surrendered 71 goals all season, a 2.37 goals per game average.
WINNERS FROM EVERYONE
The Gophers offensive balance is showcased by the fact that 14 different skaters have accounted for their 21 game-winning goals. Only Connor Kurth has scored three game winners to pace the team as his third came during the 21st win of the campaign, while five others are tied with two apiece. A year ago, only 10 Minnesota players recorded a winning goal in the team's 23 total victories.
KURTH REMAINS THE NCAA'S BEST
Connor Kurth was named the B1G Second Star of the Week (Oct. 15) thanks to his career-best, four-point outing in the Gophers' season opener against Air Force in Las Vegas where he scored a goal in all three periods. The nation's plus-minus leader at plus-28, he leads Minnesota with six outings of three or more points this year after posting his second multi-goal outing this season to finish off the Border Battle sweep of the Badgers (Feb. 1). Kurth matched his single-season career high of seven goals with his first collegiate power-play tally at Wisconsin (Nov. 9), while his current total of 13 goals ranks 26th in the NCAA and his 31 points are 18th nationally.
FANS FILING IN
The 3M Arena at Mariucci ticket scanners got a workout during Minnesota's Border Battle with Wisconsin as the program set a new series attendance record with 21,641 fans purchasing tickets for the Jan. 31-Feb. 1 matchup. That included an all-time arena record in the series finale Saturday where the Gophers had an announced attendance of 10,894, the most in the 30-plus-year history of the arena. The Maroon and Gold have played in front of four-straight sellout crowds at 3M Arena at Mariucci and pushed its average attendance to 9,769, the third highest in the NCAA this season and most since the 2015-16 campaign. The Big Ten Conference has five of the top nine teams in the country for total attendance this year, while all seven are in the top 20 overall.
HISTORY WITH THE WOLVERINES
Minnesota owns a 157-136-20 record in the all-time series against Michigan after winning twice on home ice earlier this season. The Gophers are 8-1-3 at Yost Ice Arena since 2018-19 when Coach Motzko took over the program and unbeaten in each of the last two trips to Ann Arbor. In the previous series this season, the Maroon and Gold outscored the Wolverines by an 8-0 margin for the weekend with goaltenders Nathan Airey (32 saves) and Liam Souliere (22 saves) claiming back-to-back shutouts, a feat it had not done against Michigan since 1943. Matthew Wood scored twice in the opener, while Connor Kurth and Oliver Moore had three-point efforts. Sam Rinzel scored a power-play goal in the first period Saturday for the eventual game winner before Jimmy Snuggerud added an empty-net tally to record a goal in each game of the series and secure the sweep.
INSIDE LOOK AT MICHIGAN
Since getting swept by the Gophers at 3M Arena at Mariucci in early December, the Wolverines have split each of their next seven series. Last weekend, Michigan picked up a late game winner to defeat No. 2 Michigan State, 2-1, Friday before falling in the rematch Saturday, 6-1. The Wolverines continue to boast the B1G's best power play that converts at 26.5 percent, seventh in the NCAA, and have the 19th-highest scoring offense in the country. The difference comes with Michigan spending more than 12 minutes per game in the penalty box, fifth nationally, that has hindered its defense to the tune of 3.27 goals against per game, 53rd in the NCAA. T.J. Hughes and Michael Hage pace the offense with 33 and 30 points, respectively, while netminder Cameron Korpi has started the last three games and totaled a 7-6-1 record behind a 3.12 goals against average.
HITTING THE 20-WIN MARK
After winning their 20th game of the season on Jan. 31 against Wisconsin, the Gophers secured their fifth-consecutive 20-win campaign and reached the mark during the month of January for just the second time since 2012. It's also the 11th time over the past 14 years Minnesota has eclipsed 20 wins. The sustained success of the Gophers has been a point of emphasis as the program has reached the 20-win mark 42 times in 52 years dating back to 1973-74, a year when the Maroon and Gold claimed the first of its five national championships.
SKATING IN 100
The current roster of Gophers is riddled with college hockey veterans as nine different players have all reached the century mark for career games played. Mike Koster and Mason Nevers led the way as they have appeared in 170 and 161 games with the Maroon and Gold, respectively, while Aaron Huglen is close behind with 141 games to his credit. This season, five members of the junior class hit the milestone in the last month with three more players 10 games or less away.
BLUE LINE SCORING
With a combined 84 points from eight skaters along their blue line, the Gophers are getting an offensive boost from the defense in 2024-25. The defensive group in 2022-23 totaled 147 points on 30 goals and 117 assists, aided by three now-NHL skaters, and that number dipped to 83 points last season. Sam Rinzel (9) and Ryan Chesley (7) have both more than doubled their single-season high for goals and rank fourth and seventh among NCAA defensemen in goals, respectively. The duo has helped Minnesota surpass last season's nine-goal production, totaling 23 tallies as a group this year, including four of the team's seven goals at Ohio State in January.
WE ARE THE STATE OF HOCKEY
According to data from College Hockey Inc., 249 NCAA Division I men's hockey players hail from the state of Minnesota, nearly a quarter of all student-athletes, and more than double the next closest state. That total is bolstered by the Gophers lineup as 22 of their players this season will skate in their home state, including five of their eight newcomers. Even more impressive is the fact that 20 of the 22 Minnesotans on the team are from within 70 miles of campus.
Minnesota is in second place in the Big Ten Conference standings with three weeks remaining in the regular season and opens the action at fourth-place Michigan Friday night at 6 p.m. (CT) streaming on B1G+. The series finale is set for Saturday at 5 p.m. (CT) with live television coverage on Big Ten Network. Fans can tune into audio broadcasts of each game with Wally Shaver and Pat Micheletti on the Gopher Radio Network 103.5 FM/AM-1130 KTLK with expanded coverage Friday on KFAN 100.3 FM.
LAST TIME OUT
After spotting the Badgers a two-goal cushion in the first period Friday night, the Gophers responded in a major way by scoring the next eight goals in the series on the way to a weekend sweep of their border rivals. The line of Erik Påhlsson, Jimmy Snuggerud, and Brodie Ziemer combined for 12 points in the 5-2 win Friday before the trio of Connor Kurth, Oliver Moore, and Matthew Wood had eight points in the third period to pick up a 4-1 victory Saturday. Goaltender Liam Souliere stopped 59-of-62 shots during the sweep as he started both games of a series for the first time since joining the team. It also marked Minnesota's first season sweep of Wisconsin since 2003.
SNUGGERUD STOCK RISING
After a four-point performance versus Wisconsin, Jimmy Snuggerud was named the B1G First Star of the Week for the third time this season and sixth time during his career, the most of any non-goaltender in B1G history, while also landing HCA Co-Player of the Month honors for the month of January. He took over as the NCAA's scoring leader with 41 points, including a B1G-best 17 goals in 18 league appearances, before slipping to second in the bye week. The junior posted two goals and two assists in the series opener against the Badgers (Jan. 31), extending his career-long goal streak to six games. Snuggerud had seven multi-point efforts in a nine-game stretch and became the third player in Gophers' history to score 20 or more goals in three-consecutive seasons to begin a college career, joining M Club Hall of Famers John Mayasich and Dick Dougherty, who both hit the milestone more than 70 years ago in 1953-54. He has reached the scoresheet in 23 of 30 appearances this year with a team-best 14 multi-point outings, while his 62 career goals rank 35th in program history. Snuggerud is just four points away from reaching the top 50 all-time scorers in Maroon and Gold.
HOBEY BAKER FAN VOTING CONTINUES
Sam Rinzel and Jimmy Snuggerud from the Maroon and Gold are two of more than 90 players representing all 64 NCAA Division I programs nominated for the 2025 Hobey Baker Memorial Award. The fan-voting portion began Jan. 22 and goes until Mar. 9 and can be found by going to hobeybaker.com/vote. Phase two of fan balloting will feature the Top Ten Hobey Baker finalists beginning Mar. 19 and closes Mar. 30. The fan vote accounts for a percentage of the total ballot in each phase in selecting this year's award recipient.
SHOWING OFF THE BALANCE
The Gophers have lit the lamp an NCAA-best 121 times this season with 20 different players scoring at least one goal, including five that have eclipsed double-digit goals. Minnesota's offensive depth in 2024-25 has shined through as its 322 points have come via 21 of their 22 total skaters, and one goaltender with 13 players that have double-digit points and six with 20 or more points. The team has found the back of the net five or more times in 15 appearances and hold a 19-3-2 record when scoring at least three goals. More importantly, the Gophers are putting in the work on the defensive end, holding the NCAA's fourth-best scoring margin at plus-1.67 as they have surrendered 71 goals all season, a 2.37 goals per game average.
WINNERS FROM EVERYONE
The Gophers offensive balance is showcased by the fact that 14 different skaters have accounted for their 21 game-winning goals. Only Connor Kurth has scored three game winners to pace the team as his third came during the 21st win of the campaign, while five others are tied with two apiece. A year ago, only 10 Minnesota players recorded a winning goal in the team's 23 total victories.
KURTH REMAINS THE NCAA'S BEST
Connor Kurth was named the B1G Second Star of the Week (Oct. 15) thanks to his career-best, four-point outing in the Gophers' season opener against Air Force in Las Vegas where he scored a goal in all three periods. The nation's plus-minus leader at plus-28, he leads Minnesota with six outings of three or more points this year after posting his second multi-goal outing this season to finish off the Border Battle sweep of the Badgers (Feb. 1). Kurth matched his single-season career high of seven goals with his first collegiate power-play tally at Wisconsin (Nov. 9), while his current total of 13 goals ranks 26th in the NCAA and his 31 points are 18th nationally.
FANS FILING IN
The 3M Arena at Mariucci ticket scanners got a workout during Minnesota's Border Battle with Wisconsin as the program set a new series attendance record with 21,641 fans purchasing tickets for the Jan. 31-Feb. 1 matchup. That included an all-time arena record in the series finale Saturday where the Gophers had an announced attendance of 10,894, the most in the 30-plus-year history of the arena. The Maroon and Gold have played in front of four-straight sellout crowds at 3M Arena at Mariucci and pushed its average attendance to 9,769, the third highest in the NCAA this season and most since the 2015-16 campaign. The Big Ten Conference has five of the top nine teams in the country for total attendance this year, while all seven are in the top 20 overall.
HISTORY WITH THE WOLVERINES
Minnesota owns a 157-136-20 record in the all-time series against Michigan after winning twice on home ice earlier this season. The Gophers are 8-1-3 at Yost Ice Arena since 2018-19 when Coach Motzko took over the program and unbeaten in each of the last two trips to Ann Arbor. In the previous series this season, the Maroon and Gold outscored the Wolverines by an 8-0 margin for the weekend with goaltenders Nathan Airey (32 saves) and Liam Souliere (22 saves) claiming back-to-back shutouts, a feat it had not done against Michigan since 1943. Matthew Wood scored twice in the opener, while Connor Kurth and Oliver Moore had three-point efforts. Sam Rinzel scored a power-play goal in the first period Saturday for the eventual game winner before Jimmy Snuggerud added an empty-net tally to record a goal in each game of the series and secure the sweep.
INSIDE LOOK AT MICHIGAN
Since getting swept by the Gophers at 3M Arena at Mariucci in early December, the Wolverines have split each of their next seven series. Last weekend, Michigan picked up a late game winner to defeat No. 2 Michigan State, 2-1, Friday before falling in the rematch Saturday, 6-1. The Wolverines continue to boast the B1G's best power play that converts at 26.5 percent, seventh in the NCAA, and have the 19th-highest scoring offense in the country. The difference comes with Michigan spending more than 12 minutes per game in the penalty box, fifth nationally, that has hindered its defense to the tune of 3.27 goals against per game, 53rd in the NCAA. T.J. Hughes and Michael Hage pace the offense with 33 and 30 points, respectively, while netminder Cameron Korpi has started the last three games and totaled a 7-6-1 record behind a 3.12 goals against average.
HITTING THE 20-WIN MARK
After winning their 20th game of the season on Jan. 31 against Wisconsin, the Gophers secured their fifth-consecutive 20-win campaign and reached the mark during the month of January for just the second time since 2012. It's also the 11th time over the past 14 years Minnesota has eclipsed 20 wins. The sustained success of the Gophers has been a point of emphasis as the program has reached the 20-win mark 42 times in 52 years dating back to 1973-74, a year when the Maroon and Gold claimed the first of its five national championships.
SKATING IN 100
The current roster of Gophers is riddled with college hockey veterans as nine different players have all reached the century mark for career games played. Mike Koster and Mason Nevers led the way as they have appeared in 170 and 161 games with the Maroon and Gold, respectively, while Aaron Huglen is close behind with 141 games to his credit. This season, five members of the junior class hit the milestone in the last month with three more players 10 games or less away.
BLUE LINE SCORING
With a combined 84 points from eight skaters along their blue line, the Gophers are getting an offensive boost from the defense in 2024-25. The defensive group in 2022-23 totaled 147 points on 30 goals and 117 assists, aided by three now-NHL skaters, and that number dipped to 83 points last season. Sam Rinzel (9) and Ryan Chesley (7) have both more than doubled their single-season high for goals and rank fourth and seventh among NCAA defensemen in goals, respectively. The duo has helped Minnesota surpass last season's nine-goal production, totaling 23 tallies as a group this year, including four of the team's seven goals at Ohio State in January.
WE ARE THE STATE OF HOCKEY
According to data from College Hockey Inc., 249 NCAA Division I men's hockey players hail from the state of Minnesota, nearly a quarter of all student-athletes, and more than double the next closest state. That total is bolstered by the Gophers lineup as 22 of their players this season will skate in their home state, including five of their eight newcomers. Even more impressive is the fact that 20 of the 22 Minnesotans on the team are from within 70 miles of campus.
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