University of Minnesota Athletics

MINNEAPOLIS – It's time for men's hockey at 3M Arena in Mariucci as the fifth-seeded Golden Gophers take the ice for their home opener against St. Thomas on Friday night at 5:30 p.m. The teams will meet again Saturday night at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul with puck drop at 8 p.m

Minnesota men's hockey on FOX9+ presented by Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union begins at 5 p.m. with the “Pride on Ice Pregame Show” presented by M Health Fairview. Jim Rich and Pat Micheletti will open the home coverage live on FOX9+, while the game will be streamed on B1G+ starting with the 30-minute show. Fans can also hear Wally Shaver and Eric Schierhorn on the Gopher Radio Network 103.5 FM/AM-1130 KTLK.

HOMECOMING PARADE / TRAFFIC ADVICE

The University of Minnesota will host its annual Homecoming Parade on Friday, October 25th. Due to the route of the parade, University Avenue will be closed to all traffic from approximately 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. People attending the game are asked to arrive early to avoid a road closure.

The ongoing construction will impact traffic flow on 4th Street between Oak Street and I-35W. All fans are encouraged to use alternative roads to avoid delays. Fans are encouraged to purchase parking passes in advance by clicking HERE. All fans arriving without a parking permit should park in the lots on the east side of Huntington Bank Stadium – Gold Lot, Victory Lot, Ski-U-Mah Lot, etc.

LAST TIME

Minnesota edged in-state opponent Minnesota Duluth, a team that received votes in both national polls, last weekend, outscoring the Bulldogs by a 12-6 margin. The Gophers got goals from 10 different players as their offense shined every night and earned their first win at UMD since 14-15. October 2011 secured. The goalkeepers of both Gophers, Nathan Airey And Liam Soulierepicked up a win while the forward line of Jimmy Clark, Connor KurthAnd Matthew Wood Overall, they had 13 points with four goals and nine assists.

WATCH THE PRIDE ON ICE

For the second consecutive year, Minnesota and FOX9 have teamed up for a local television broadcast agreement that will broadcast 16 home games and four away games during the 2024-25 campaign presented by Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union. This year's home broadcasts on FOX9 and FOX9+ include a 30-minute “Pride on Ice” pre-game show presented by M Health Fairview and a post-game show showcasing the action from RBC Wealth Management. This is in addition to the six games selected by the Big Ten Network and one that will air on FS1 later in the year. Check the schedule page on GopherSports.com for the latest information and viewing options for each contest. Other FOX affiliates in the area have added Gopher hockey to their offerings, offering games in the Duluth (KQDS) and Fargo (KVRR) markets.

SUCCESSFUL STARTS

The Maroon and Gold have always been successful early in a campaign, holding a record of 65-37-2 in the first game of the year. That total includes a 32-18-2 away record following a 7-1 win over Air Force last week. The Gophers have had even more success in their home openers behind a record of 69-31-3, which includes a 21-8-2 mark in home openers at 3M Arena in Mariucci.

Deep and balanced attack

In four games this season, the Gophers have totaled 20 goals from 13 different players and 54 total points from 16 field players, showcasing their offensive depth heading into the 2024-25 season. Only RPI has the same number of goal scorers this year as it leads the nation with 21 total goals. Minnesota's balanced scoring output has helped the team rank second in the nation in offense with an average of five goals per game and also have the fifth-best goal percentage at plus-2.8. The Maroon and Gold have lit the lamp seven times in each of the two Friday outings, a total goal they never achieved a season ago but will do four times in the 2022-23 season.

CLARK Catches fire

For the first time in his career Jimmy Clark was named B1G Star of the Week after leading the Gophers with five points in their road game at Minnesota Duluth and received Second Star honors on October 22. Last Friday, he recorded the first three-pointer of his career, all three points coming via an assist in the first period. The Edina, Minnesota native scored his first power play goal with the Maroon and Gold on Saturday in a game in which he also had an assist. The sophomore has scored multiple points in three of four games this season, and his seven points are just four points below his freshman total.

KURTH STARS IN THE SEASON OPENER
Connor Kurth was named the second B1G Star of the Week (October 15) thanks to his career-best four-point performance in the Gophers' season opener against Air Force in Las Vegas, Nevada. The forward scored in all three periods for the Falcons, including the Maroon and Gold's first two goals of the night. He remains one of six skaters in the country to score four points this year and the only Big Ten Conference player to reach that mark, while his two game-winning goals rank second nationally and his eight points rank fifth . A native of Lindstrom, Minn., Kurth scored seven goals in both his freshman and sophomore seasons and is more than halfway there with his fourth goal of the year at UMD.

WELCOME TO GOPHER HOCKEY

Three skaters got on the scoresheet in their Gopher hockey debut during the opening weekend of the Ice Breaker tournament, and that trend continued in Duluth as three more players joined the scoring party. Freshmen Beckett Hendrickson found the net in the third period against Air Force (Oct. 11), making for a memorable Maroon and Gold debut in which he scored his first collegiate goal. The next evening, August Falloon was added to the lineup and picked up an assist to secure his first point. On Friday evening were the newcomers Erik Påhlsson and. traveling in Minnesota Duluth Brodie Ziemer scored their first NCAA goals while transferring Matthew Wood put away his first in the new uniform.

TURN ON

After going without a power play goal in their opening series at the 2024 Ice Breaker Tournament, the Gophers scored on the man advantage in both games in Minnesota Duluth last weekend. Brody Lamb scored Minnesota's first goal of the year less than five minutes into Friday night's game Jimmy Clark took the team's second game of the weekend on Saturday evening with a confident third-period result against the Bulldogs.

STORY WITH THE TOMMIES

The Gophers have won four of their five all-time meetings (4-1-0) in the series with St. Thomas after securing a win to start the 2023-24 season. Jimmy Snuggerud scored the winning goal in overtime in the season opener a year ago in a game played in front of more than 11,000 spectators at the Xcel Energy Center. Snuggerud scored four goals and five points against the Tommies over the weekend, including the game-winning goal in a 3-0 shutout on Saturday night. This was the first series between the teams less than five miles apart in nearly 100 years since the previous series in the 1926-27 season.

INSIDE VIEW OF ST. THOMAS

After being shut out by St. Cloud State in the Tommies' home opener, the CCHA Coaches' preseason poll favorites earned a tie and a win over Vermont two weeks ago and scored eight goals in two games against the Catamounts. Mason Poolman leads UST with three goals and four points from his spot along the blue line and was named CCHA Defenseman of the Week on October 14th. Goaltender Aaron Trotter limited Vermont to one goal in his only start for the Tommies, recording the team's only goal in the win, while Jake Sibell earned the other two starts in net and has a 2.92 goals-against average. UST had trouble staying out of the penalty box early in the year, as the team averaged 13 penalty minutes per game but squandered all but one of its chances, for a penalty kill rate of 91 percent.

WOODY, YOUR FAVORITE REPRESENTATIVE

Junior transfer is no stranger to scoring points in college hockey Matthew Wood has maintained this trend since donning the maroon and gold uniform. He stepped up with three assists on opening night against Air Force (Oct. 11) and scored multiple points in both road games against Minnesota Duluth this past weekend. The Nanaimo, B.C., product scored his first goal with Minnesota on an assist on Friday and did the same the next night. Wood has seven points and a plus-6 rating in four games this season, ranking second on the team and 10th in the country in scoring.

ZIEMER CUT THROUGH IT

After failing to get on the scoresheet as a freshman during the opening weekend trip to Las Vegas, Nevada Brodie Ziemer scored the first goal of the game in both games against Minnesota Duluth last weekend. The Chaska, Minn., product used a highlight reel toe drag to evade a Bulldog defender before firing a shot home 94 seconds into the contest. On Saturday evening he slipped into the gap and scored the first goal midway through the first period. Ziemer's two goals are tied for second on the team in four games of his young career.

FROM “U” TO THE LEAGUE

Thirty-one former Gophers participated in National Hockey League training camps for the 2024–25 season, representing 21 different NHL organizations. The group, which spans more than 15 years of the program, includes 13 former captains and nine All-Americans. Minnesota had 26 former skaters in the NHL last season, bringing the Gophers' all-time NHL total to an NCAA-best 125. Brock Faber finished second in the 2024 Calder Memorial Trophy voting, the most ever for a Gopher, while Logan Cooley finished fifth and both guys were named to the NHL's All-Rookie team in 2023-24. In the final game of the season, Kyle Okposo joined Ben Clymer and Jordan Leopold as the only former Gophers to participate in Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final. Clymer's Tampa Bay Lightning defeated Leopold's Calgary Flames in 2004. Okposo also made it three straight seasons when the Gophers won the Stanley Cup after his Florida Panthers won in June, a feat never before accomplished in program history .