Men's Hockey | 4/4/2022 12:41:00 PM
MINNEAPOLIS -- Gopher Hockey's 22nd NCAA Frozen Four appearance begins with an in-state battle against Minnesota State later this week as the Gophers take on the Mavericks on Thursday, April 7 at 7:30 p.m. CT in the national semifinal (TV: ESPNU; Stream: ESPN App/TSN App; Radio: KFAN 100.3/1130 KTLK-AM/103.5 FM) at TD Garden in Boston, Mass. The winner of Thursday's game advances to the national championship game (TV: ESPN2) against the winner of Denver/Michigan on Saturday, April 9 at 7:00 p.m. CT.GOPHERS IN THE NATIONAL TOURNAMENT
Making its first Frozen Four appearance since 2014, Minnesota leads all college hockey programs with 58 all-time wins in the NCAA tournament (58-39) and are tied for most NCAA tournament appearances in college hockey with 39 to go along with 22 Frozen Four berths and five national championships (1974, 1976, 1979, 2002, 2003). Minnesota and Minnesota State have never met in the Frozen Four and have only met once in the NCAA tournament as the Mavericks ended the Gophers' season last year in the NCAA West Regional final. The Maroon & Gold hold a 37-17-3 all-time record against Thursday's opponent. Of note, Minnesota is 10-7 in NCAA tournament games played in the state of Massachusetts after winning the NCAA Worcester Regional last month. The Gophers won their first national title in Boston in 1974.
BELIEVE IN BEN: MEYERS NAMED HAT TRICK FINALIST FOR HOBEY BAKER AWARD
U.S. Olympian. Big Ten Player of the Year. Hobey Baker Award Hat Trick Finalist. Gophers captain Ben Meyers has been named one of three hat trick finalists for the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in college hockey. Meyers is the second Gopher to be named a hat trick finalist after eventual winner Jordan Leopold in 2002 (Leopold went on to lead the Gophers to a national championship that year) and would be the program's fifth Hobey Baker Award winner (Neal Broten in 1981, Robb Stauber in 1988, Brian Bonin in 1996 and Jordan Leopold in 2002). The Hobey Baker Award winner will be announced on Friday, April 8, 2022. The junior forward leads Minnesota with 17 goals and 41 points (both career highs, 41 points are the most by a Gopher since Rem Pitlick's 45 and Tyler Sheehy's 41 in 2018-19) while Meyers carries a career-best eight-game point streak into the Frozen Four and has six multi-point performances in seven games since returning from the Olympics.
BIG TEN COACH OF THE YEAR BOB MOTZKO A FINALIST FOR SPENCER PENROSE AWARD
After leading the Gophers back to the Frozen Four, Bob Motzko has been named a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award, given annually to the CCM/AHCA Men's Hockey Division I Coach of the Year. Motzko is one of two finalist who have led their team to the Frozen Four and earned their conference's coach of the year honor (Minnesota State's Mike Hastings). Motzko holds an 84-49-11 record with Minnesota and a 360-241-60 mark in 17 seasons as a Division I head coach. Minnesota's 26 wins this season are the most for the Maroon & Gold since 28 victories in 2013-14 – the last year the Gophers advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four. A native of Austin, Minn., Motzko is in his fourth season at the University of Minnesota and has now been a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award twice while with the Maroon & Gold (Motzko was also the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2020 and is a six-time conference coach of the year honoree). Motzko would be the second Gopher Hockey head coach to earn the Spencer Penrose Award after John Mariucci was recognized in 1953 – the third year the accolade was awarded. The Spencer Penrose Award will be handed on on Wednesday, April 6.
B1G HONORS COME MINNESOTA'S WAY
The 2021-22 Big Ten regular-season champions were well represented among the conference end-of-year awards with the Gophers winning three of the league's five honors. Big Ten Player of the Year Ben Meyers and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Brock Faber represented Minnesota as First Team All-Big Ten selections while Bob Motzko has now earned his second Big Ten Coach of the Year honor in four seasons at Minnesota. Additionally, Matthew Knies and Jackson LaCombe were named Second Team All-Big Ten with Knies also earning a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. Justen Close, Blake McLaughlin and Sammy Walker each received All-Big Ten Honorable Mention accolades.
CLOSING TIME
Justen Close continues to be one of college hockey's best stories this season as the junior took over starting duties in January and has since gone 14-4-0 (11-1-0 in last 11 games). The goaltender ranks tied for fifth nationally in goals against average (1.83, first in the Big Ten) and tied for eighth nationally in save percentage (.929). Close secured his first two career shutouts in the final series of the regular-season against Wisconsin -- becoming the first Gophers goalie to blank the Badgers in back-to-back games since George Clausen did so on Feb. 9-10, 1934. He sent the Gophers on to the Frozen Four with a 3-0 shutout over Western Michigan in the NCAA Worcester Regional final.
BACK ON TOP IN THE BIG TEN
Minnesota ended the regular season on an eight-game winning streak to capture the program's fifth Big Ten regular-season crown in the league's nine-year history (and 28th overall regular-season conference championship in Minnesota's 101-year history). The Maroon & Gold won the first four Big Ten titles as part of an NCAA-record six-straight conference championships. The Gophers were 23-11-0 overall in the regular season and 18-6-0-1-2-0 in Big Ten play after being correctly picked to finish first in the conference in the preseason Big Ten coaches poll.
WALKER NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALIST
Senior captain Sammy Walker is one of 10 finalists for this year's Senior CLASS Award, the winner of which will be announced during the 2022 NCAA Men's Frozen Four in April. To be eligible for the award, student-athletes must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior or graduate student and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character, and competition. Walker is Minnesota's active-leading career scorer and the first three-time captain in the program's 101-year history.
A RECORD IN THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP
Minnesota's nine-game winning streak came to a halt last month as the Gophers fell to Michigan 4-3 in the Big Ten championship game at 3M Arena at Mariucci. With a crowd of 10,774 looking on, the game set 3M Arena at Mariucci and Big Ten tournament attendance records.
GOPHERS GO STREAKING
Ben Meyers has 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in seven games since returning from the Olympics and has 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) on his career-best eight-game point streak including the overtime winner over defending national champion UMass in the NCAA opener...Matthew Knies has four goals and five points in the last three games and points in five of six games since returning from the Olympics...Blake McLaughlin has quietly recorded points in seven of the last nine games...Aaron Huglen has points in six of the last seven games and eight of the last 10...Jaxon Nelson has points in four of the last six games since returning from an injury that kept him out of the lineup for 13 games...Jackson LaCombe leads Minnesota with 27 assists this year -- the most assists by any Gopher since Tyler Sheehy in 2018-19 and most assists by a Gopher defenseman since Jake Bischoff (27 in 2016-17). Prior to that was Mike Reilly (36 in 2014-15 as the last defenseman to lead the team in scoring).
GOPHER HOCKEY AT THE OLYMPICS
Three current Gophers -- Ben Meyers, Matthew Knies and Brock Faber -- and Minnesota alum Aaron Ness wrapped up the Olympics last month while competing with the U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team. Meanwhile, strength & conditioning coach Cal Dietz served in the same role with silver medal-winning U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Team. Gopher Hockey has been represented at each of the last 21 Winter Olympics since 1936 with the Maroon & Gold helping USA Hockey to eight medals including gold in 1960 and 1980. Ness served as an alternate captain for the U.S. while Meyers finished second on the U.S. squad with four points (two goals, two assists).
NHL UPDATE: GOPHERS PACE COLLEGE HOCKEY
Minnesota leads all NCAA programs with 118 all-time NHL alums including 24 already this season (also tied for the most in college hockey). Tommy Novak, Scott Reedy and Jack LaFontaine have all made their NHL debuts in 2021-22 while Sampo Ranta debuted during last year's Stanley Cup playoffs (Ranta, Reedy and LaFontaine were all on the Gophers roster last year).
WEARING THE 'C'
The 101st season of Gopher Hockey will see two familiar faces and college hockey veterans leading the 'U' as Sammy Walker and Ben Meyers have been named team captains for the 2021-22 season. Walker will enter his senior season wearing a "C" for the third-straight season for the Maroon & Gold while Meyers was elevated to share the honor after serving as an alternate captain during the 2020-21 campaign. With both players returning to the Minnesota leadership group, Gopher Hockey has now featured 175 captains dating back to the school's first season of play in 1921-22 when Chet Bros led the Maroon & Gold as team captain.
"four" - Google News
April 05, 2022 at 12:46AM
https://ift.tt/0L2OMVn
Gophers are Boston Bound for Frozen Four - GopherSports.com
"four" - Google News
https://ift.tt/yuPIWew
https://ift.tt/F2cqagv
No comments:
Post a Comment