Last Time Out: Minnesota began its 91st season of collegiate hockey with a sweep of Sacred Heart. The Gophers turned back the Pioneers 9-0 on Friday and 6-0 on Saturday. Kent Patterson made 20 saves on both nights to earn the shutouts. On Friday, freshman Kyle Rau scored 56 seconds into the game to give Minnesota an early lead. The Gophers added four more goals in the second and third periods and 15 players recorded at least one point. On Saturday, Minnesota scored twice in each period en route to its second win. Ten Gophers had at least one point on Saturday as Minnesota began the season 2-0-0 for the second straight year. Minnesota won its first two games of the season by shutout for the first time since 1936 and its first two games of the season by shutout on back-to-back days since 1933.
Minnesota vs. Minnesota Duluth: Few rivalries are more storied or competitive than the one between Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth. The Gophers lead the all-time series with a 129-72-15 record, but the Bulldogs have won six of the last 10 meetings. The teams played four fantastic games last season and split the season series 1-1-2. Kent Patterson played all four games in goal against the Bulldogs and made 37, 41, 40 and 36 saves, which were his four highest save games of the season (also made 36 saves at Wisconsin on Feb. 18).
About the Bulldogs: Minnesota Duluth finished fourth in the WCHA last year, just four points ahead of the Gophers who finished fifth. However, the Bulldogs made the NCAA tournament and then began a remarkable run to their first national championship, which was culminated when Kyle Schmidt scored an overtime goal to beat Michigan at Xcel Energy Center. Minnesota Duluth lost some key players from their championship run, but still returns plenty of talent. Two-time All American Jack Connolly is back and is the team captain this year. Connolly led the Bulldogs with 59 points (18g-41a) last year. He has speedy sophomore J.T. Brown (16 goals and 21 assists last season) on his right wing. Connolly already has two assists this year, while Brown has a one goal and two assists. The Bulldogs also return championship goalie Kenny Reiter. The Gophers faced Reiter twice last year and were 1-0-1 against him, earning a win at home and a tie on the road. Minnesota Duluth raised their championship banner last weekend and got off to a solid start as they beat No. 1 Notre Dame 4-3 to begin the season. The Irish won 5-3 on Saturday.
Bring On The Champs: Minnesota heads to defending national champion Minnesota Duluth this weekend to begin WCHA play. Since the Gophers won back-to-back national championships in 2002 and 2003, they have played 13 games against defending national champions. Minnesota is 9-3-1 in those games. Minnesota went 2-1 against Denver the year after the Pioneers won the 2004 title. The Gophers were 3-1 against Denver after the Pioneers won the 2005 championship. Minnesota was 4-1 against Wisconsin the year after the Badgers won the 2006 title. Minnesota and Michigan State tied 3-3 in their lone meeting the year after the Spartans won the 2007 championship (game was Nov. 23, 2007 and was the last time that Minnesota played a defending national champion).
Keep Counting: Minnesota began the year with a weekend sweep of Sacred Heart. The Gophers won 9-0 on Friday and 6-0 on Saturday to start the year 2-0-0. The 15 goals were the most that the Gophers have scored against the same team in two consecutive games since they tallied 16 goals at Minnesota State on Jan. 16-17, 2004 (Minnesota won 6-0 and 10-3). The 15 goals were the most the Gophers have scored in a home series since they recorded 16 goals on Nov. 1-2, 2002, against Alabama-Huntsville (Minnesota won 12-1 and 4-2).
Not real Gopher fans then.
