It’s the final home series of the regular season for No. 5/4 Minnesota men’s hockey as it welcomes No. 7/6 Ohio State to 3M Arena at Mariucci for a Big Ten Conference matchup Feb. 21-22 sponsored by Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union.
The Golden Gophers take the ice Friday night starting at 7 p.m. before the weekend finale Saturday evening with puck drop set for 5 p.m. The Maroon and Gold will honor its seniors during an on-ice presentation following the contest Saturday.
PARKING ADVISORY
Minnesota is hosting several events on campus on Saturday, Feb. 22 including men’s basketball (1 p.m.), women’s hockey (2 p.m.), gymnastics (4 p.m.) and men’s hockey (5 p.m.). Fans are encouraged to plan ahead and allocate extra time navigating traffic on campus and entering/exiting parking facilities. Fans who arrive on campus without a parking pass should park in Gold, Ski-U-Mah, and Victory surface lots east of Huntington Bank Stadium or the Oak Street or Washington Avenue Ramps south of 3M Arena at Mariucci.
LAST TIME OUT
Minnesota picked up just two of a possible six points during its road trip to Ann Arbor going to overtime with No. 12 Michigan in both outings last weekend. The Gophers scored first in each game versus the Wolverines but needed a third-period goal from Jimmy Clark Friday to force the extra session where it fell 3-2 on a power-play tally in overtime. Matthew Wood and Oliver Moore each found the back of the net Saturday, giving Minnesota a pair of one-goal leads before the home side got the equalizer and claimed the second B1G point by winning the shootout. Liam Souliere started in goal both nights and finished with 61 saves on 66 shots.
WATCH THE PRIDE ON ICE
Minnesota and FOX9 have partnered for a local television broadcast deal for the second-straight year that will air 16 home games and four road games during the 2024-25 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. This is in addition to the six games picked by the Big Ten Network and one airing on FS1 during the year. Check the schedule page on GopherSports.com for all the latest information and viewing options for every contest. Other FOX affiliates around the area have added Gopher hockey to their coverage with games available in Duluth (KQDS) and Fargo (KVRR) markets.
LOOKING AT THE STANDINGS
The Gophers enter their final home series of the regular season with a chance to still claim a Big Ten Conference championship, sitting tied for second place with Ohio State at 40 points. Both teams are three points behind league-leading Michigan State, who has 43 points, with four games remaining. Minnesota has guaranteed itself home ice for the best-of-three B1G Quarterfinals at 3M Arena at Mariucci Mar. 7-9 as it can finish no lower than third place.
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. His 42 points rank third among the NCAA’s scoring leaders, including a B1G-best 17 goals in 20 league appearances. 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 24 of 32 appearances this year with a team-best 14 multi-point outings, while his 62 career goals rank 35th in program history. Snuggerud is just three points away from reaching the top 50 all-time scorers in Maroon and Gold as he currently has 126 to his credit.
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 125 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 333 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 fifth-best scoring margin at plus-1.53 as they have surrendered 76 goals all season, a 2.38 goals per game average.
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 BUCKEYES
Minnesota holds a 45-11-6 (.774) record in the all-time series against Ohio State following a split in Columbus in early January. Connor Kurth and Luke Mittelstadt each had three points against OSU earlier this season to pace the Gophers, while Liam Souliere stopped 38-of-39 shots in 77 minutes of action. The Maroon and Gold have won five-straight games versus the Buckeyes on home ice and are 17-2-3 overall in B1G games at 3M Arena at Mariucci. This weekend marks the fifth series when both teams have been ranked in the top 10 nationally and Minnesota owns a 7-0-1 mark in the previous eight meetings.
INSIDE LOOK AT OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes are one of seven NCAA teams to have at least 20 wins this season after they completed their second-straight B1G series sweep to reach second place in the standings. OSU outscored Notre Dame and Wisconsin by an 18-5 margin during its four-game win streak, lowering its scoring defense to ninth in the country at 2.27 goals against per game. Graduate transfer Gunnarwolfe Fontaine’s 31 points leads the offense, while freshman Riley Thompson has a team-best 16 goals, which paces all B1G rookies. Goaltenders Logan Terness and Kristoffer Eberly have split the starts for OSU and posted impressive overall numbers with 2.15 and 2.16 goals-against averages and .928 and .919 save percentages, respectively.
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.
DEFENSEMAN ‘U’
Minnesota was the lone college hockey program in the country with double-digit blue liners in the NHL last year. A total of 12 former Gopher defensemen took the ice in the NHL during the 2023-24 season, accounting for more than 750 games played. Highlighting the group was Brock Faber as he finished second in voting for the Calder Trophy given to the NHL’s rookie of the year. Nick Leddy and Erik Johnson both reached the 1,000-game milestone, becoming the eighth and ninth former Gopher to hit the mark.
FAMILY TIES TO THE ‘M’
Minnesota men’s hockey remains deep-rooted in family history as four current members of the team have a relative that also wore the Maroon and Gold in some fashion. Jimmy Snuggerud is a third-generation Gopher joining his father, Dave, an All-American in 1989, and maternal grandfather, James Westby. The three have combined to score 135 goals in a Minnesota uniform. Brothers John and Luke Mittelstadt followed in the footsteps of their older brother, Casey, in attending Minnesota after the eldest was on campus for one season in 2017-18. The three Mittelstadt brothers have combined for 78 points in 174 career appearances. Freshman Beckett Hendrickson’s father, Darby, and uncle, Dan, recorded 124 Gopher points as they each wore the ‘M’ sweater for at least two seasons. Newcomer Matthew Wood also has a connection to the Maroon and Gold as his father, Jamie, was an assistant coach for the Gopher women’s hockey team from 2008-10 under head coach Brad Frost.
(info and stock photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
