For the 23rd time in both Minnesota’s and Boston’s program histories, they will play in the Frozen Four. The semifinal game will be broadcast on ESPN2 at 4 p.m. Thursday.

The head-to-head history of the two perennial powers is deadlocked at 12 games apiece. Boston most notably defeated the Gophers by a score of 4-2 to earn their first title in the 1971 National Championship.

Minnesota fired back in 1974’s Frozen Four, winning 5-4 en route to head coach Herb Brooks’ first national title. The two blue bloods met again in 1976, with the Gophers toppling the Terriers 4-2 in the Frozen Four. That 1976 game is iconic not just because of the stakes — it included a massive bench-clearing brawl.

“The ’76 game with the big fight in Denver still sticks in my craw,” former Boston head coach Jack Parker told Tim Rappleye of College Hockey News. “That was probably the best team I ever had that didn’t win the National Championship.”

Both Brooks and Parker won three championships at their respective schools during their coaching tenures. Minnesota and Boston met nearly 20 years later in 1994, with Boston achieving their first national semifinal win over the Gophers 4-1.

“Depth,” Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko said when asked what he admires most about his opponent. “All four lines can score, a couple of defensemen that are highly offensive and dangerous. They’ve got a lot of seniors with 29 wins. On paper, I pick it up, and then you watch film and confirm that this team deserves to be here.”

Motzko has reason to be wary not just of his opponent but the location of the game. The last time the Gophers traveled this far south for a hockey game, they had a surprisingly tough two-game series versus the sub-.500 finishing Arizona State. They narrowly conquered the Sun Devils 3-2 in the first match but lost 6-5 in overtime during the second meeting on Thanksgiving weekend.

According to Motzko, his team got into “vacation mode” too quickly down in Tempe, Arizona.

“It was an unfortunate ending last year, and it’s something you go to bed thinking about,” said Gophers team captain Brock Faber, who was a starting defenseman on the 2022 Frozen Four team, which lost to Minnesota State-Mankato 5-1. “With all the cameras and being in Tampa, you’re gonna want to walk around and go to the beach, but we need to try to stay focused and bring home a national championship.”

In their downtime during the NCAA tournament, Faber and his teammates frequently watch a plethora of movies, from action flicks to rom-coms, to relax.

On the other end of the rink, current Boston head coach Jay Pandolfo is experienced in stopping top-tier lines like Minnesota’s, which features two Hobey Baker Hat Trick Finalists Logan Cooley and Matthew Knies. The Terriers’ convincing 5-1 first-round win over the explosive WMU trio of Polin, Sasson & McAllister is proof the Bostonians can hang with the best of lines.

“Big thing for us is to make sure to manage the puck, know who you’re out there against, try to take away time and space,” Pandolfo said. “The Minnesota line is arguably the best in the country; you don’t want it to be an up-and-down game when they’re on the ice. When it’s time to put pucks deep … it’s a lot harder instead of turning pucks over in the neutral zone and letting them come in transition.”

A player to watch on the Boston Terriers is freshman defenseman Lane Hutson. He is the highest-scoring D-man in the country (7th overall) with 15 goals and 33 assists, totaling 48 points. Hutson totaled more points per game than Boston’s 2019 Hobey Baker Award winner, Cale Makar. One could make a valid case that Hutson was snubbed from the same award this season.

Senior forward Matt Brown is also a force on the offensive end, tallying 16 goals and 30 assists this season.

It’s also noteworthy that Boston is 21-0 when scoring first in hockey games this season. Similar to their game against St. Cloud State, where the Gophers outshot the Huskies 14-6 with Fargo Regional MVP Bryce Brodzinski netting the first goal of the game, Minnesota needs to have an excellent first period.

The Gophers defeated in-state rival St. Cloud State 4-1 in the Fargo Regional Final and the Terriers beat Cornell 2-1 in the Manchester Regional Final.

“It’s hard hockey,” Faber said. “St. Cloud was a Frozen Four caliber team, and it’ll be the same pace.”

The Gophers absolutely needed one thing to go right for them Saturday evening, what was missing in their first game against St. Cloud State, production from their top line of Logan Cooley, Matthew Knies and Jimmy Snuggerud. The Huskies didn’t let Knies or Snuggerud have any points, but they failed to stop Top 3 2022 NHL draft pick Logan Cooley.

Cooley netted his second straight game winning goal against the Huskies and sent the Minnesota men’s hockey team to their second straight Frozen Four.

The Gophers had an excellent first period, outshooting St. Cloud 14-6. Fargo Regional MVP Bryce Brodzinski soon scored his fourth goal in two games, slotting a one-timer home from the left circle.

The Huskies barked back. Adam Ingram sniped a powerplay goal through traffic after a holding penalty on Brock Faber, tying the game.

This was the night’s only blunder for Gophers goalie Justen Close, who finished with 27 saves. This was also the only blunder for the Minnesota penalty kill unit, which had a busy night, stopping four out of five man-advantages for St. Cloud.

“We’ve never taken that many penalties all year … and Close was outstanding,” said Motzko, who double-shifted Knies, Jaxon Nelson, Mason Nevers and Aaron Huglen on the kill. “[St. Cloud] cut their bench short … They were double-shifting their top two lines for a big part of the game. Finally, I just said ‘have at it’ and ‘let’s go finish this thing off.’”

In his third game back from a lower-body injury, Jackson LaCombe during the second period saucered a deep pass from one crease to the other, hitting Cooley ahead of two Huskies. The freshman phenom and Hobey Baker finalist pumped a shot beyond the pads of Huskies goalie Jaxon Castor into the left side of the goal.

“The play just kind of opened up and Cooley has some blazing speed,” LaCombe said. “So I kind of just threw it up there and he made a great play to finish it off.”

LaCombe was crucial in Minnesota’s mission to take back the lead; he was also the key cog in putting the game away. After receiving a faceoff win inside the Huskies’ zone, he blasted a rocket from the point with eight minutes remaining in the regional final to put the Gophers up 3-1.

With 31 seconds left, Nelson placed the cherry on top, adding an empty net goal by booming the puck all the way from the glass behind his own goalie. Minnesota would come out victorious, winning 4-1 against a bitter in-state rival.

“I got a lot of connections on that other side — 13 years I spent there,” Motzko said. “Probably not the ideal team that I wanted to play. They did a terrific job this year and I’m proud of everybody over there in that program.”

The Gophers also took the season series, which was previously tied at one game apiece, at a neutral site, each team having won a game at its home arena.

Boston University is the Gophers’ next opponent after the Terriers defeated Cornell in the Manchester Regional Final 2-1. They’ll play in Tampa Bay at Amalie Arena on April 6 with the game televised on ESPN2 at 4 p.m. Central Standard Time.

This will be the fourth time the two blue blood programs will meet in the Frozen Four. Michigan and Quinnipiac will face off at 7:30 p.m. Central Standard Time.

“Definitely very excited,” Brodzinski said. “We were there last year and got a taste of the compete level and intensity it takes going in.”

Ever seen an avalanche? Maybe one that’s white, but not maroon and gold.

Shades of the iconic 2006 Holy Cross first-round upset returned in Fargo for the first one and a half periods Thursday night as the top-seeded Minnesota Gophers were given everything the underdog Canisius Griffins had.

“They got on top of us early and had a couple of good goals and kept us on our heels for a while,” said Bryce Brodzinski, who scored the second hat trick of the Gophers’ season. Jimmy Snuggerud scored the first in a 4-1 early October win over Minnesota State-Mankato.

Gophers head coach Bob Motzko described this game as the closest game with a 9-2 final score he’s ever seen.

Just like the Gophers have been for most of the season, they weren’t a first-period team whatsoever Thursday. Minnesota was clearly rattled to begin the game, turning over pucks left and right in the neutral zone.

The finish of the first of some ticky-tack penalties on the Gophers pumped up Canisius’ momentum. The Griffins’ Daniel DiGrande completed a slapshot just as Gopher Connor Kurth returned to the ice from a hooking call and tied the game 1-1.

Five minutes later, Griffin Nick Bowman made an excellent move, which planted him on No. 2 of SportsCenter’s Top 10 by maneuvering the puck between Gopher Colin Schmidt’s legs and firing a wrister at the top left shelf. Schmidt made his first in-game appearance for Minnesota since the final regular season series versus Ohio State nearly one month ago.

Canisius all of a sudden had a surprising 2-1 lead in this David vs. Goliath affair. Five minutes went and gone; slowly but surely the game started to make sense for the Gophers.

It began with a superb effort by Aaron Huglen, managing to corral an open puck chased by two Griffins and slotting home the equalizer. Huglen’s line continued to vault Minnesota out of the doldrums, and Kurth swept in his seventh goal of the season to give the Gophers their first lead since the 11-minute mark of the first period.

“Early on, we were trying to do things ourselves and score goals like that,” Brodzinski said. “Guys were getting a little frustrated, but [Brock] Faber is a great leader and kinda gave it to us in the locker room a little bit to stick together and play our game.”

Motzko said the lengthy TV timeouts and longer intermissions were critical to calming the team down and settling in throughout the game. Unlike the regular season, there is more than one TV timeout in each period during the NCAA tournament.

“We stuck with it,” Motzko said. “I had to cut the bench short tonight, I haven’t done that a lot. We had to play a grind game and that’s something we’re continuing getting better at.”

After a game-changing five-minute major was called on Canisius’ Stefano Bottini for contact to the head on Jackson LaCombe, Minnesota didn’t just stick with it, they ran the Atlantic Hockey Conference Champions beneath the ice sheet at Scheels Arena.

Snuggerud was the first to add to the heavy 6-goal avalanche in the third period, which was beneficial for the Gophers’ unusually quiet top line. Logan Cooley did manage to serve up three assists in the period with Matthew Knies absent of points on the night.

Two of Cooley’s assists were to Brodzinski, who secured a hat trick in the last 10 minutes of the game. What’s even more impressive is Brodzinski nearly had 4 lamp lighters, with a goal called back before he scored 2 more to close the contest.

Mason Nevers and Brody Lamb also added to the beatdown. Lamb is on a 2-game goal-scoring streak after not scoring since late October.

“We got the lead at the end of the second, and every puck had to get deep,” Motzko said. “If they kill [the five-minute major] off, we got a hockey game till the end and Snuggy gets his mitts on one … we follow it up with another one … then it loosened up.”

Minnesota will play St. Cloud State on Saturday in the Fargo Regional Final at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2. The Huskies blanked the Minnesota State-Mankato Mavericks 4-0 on Thursday afternoon while firing off 13 fewer shots on goal. If the Gophers are victorious, they will advance to their second straight Frozen Four.

“They’re a solid team,” said Aaron Huglen of the Gophers’ in-state rival, against whom they are 1-1 this season. “Coach said after the game they’re going to try to shut us down offensively so we just gotta bring it to ’em, play smart … chip away.”

When a team gets placed as the top overall seed in an NCAA athletic tournament, it may be convenient to presume they would have the easiest road to a championship. In the case of the top-ranked Minnesota Gophers men’s hockey team, that is unfortunately not the case, as their region involves two hungry arch-rivals motivated to topple the top Minnesota squad.

To garner as much attendance as they can, the NCAA sets up each region based on geography. Thus, western Minnesota gets the toughest of the two-seeds in the bracket: Gophers’ head coach Bob Motzko’s former team in St. Cloud State and Minnesota State-Mankato, who has booted Motzko & Co. from this tournament the last two years.

“This is what you play for,” said an eager Motzko on Wednesday. “We’re excited to get on the road, we’ve been home for a month.”

Before the Gophers have to worry about the NCHC tournament champion Huskies or CCHA tournament champion Mavericks, they will play the Atlantic Hockey tournament champions, the Canisius Griffins, on Thursday night.

Sitting at a record just above .500 (20-18-3), Canisius was a surprise team to come out of the middling Atlantic Hockey Conference, which usually only sends its tournament champion to the NCAA tournament as the lowest seed.

The maestros of the Griffins’ success this year are senior forward Keaton Mastrodonato (36 points: 16 goals, 20 assists), who is a two-time Hobey Baker nominee (2020-21, 2021-22), and senior forward Ryan Miotto (35 points: 17 goals, 18 assists). Senior netminder Jacob Barczewski is on a hot streak, allowing two goals or fewer in his last eight games. The Griffins shut out three of their opponents and finished 6-2 in that timeframe.

The last No. 1 overall seed to fall in the first round was St. Cloud State in 2019 to Atlantic Hockey Conference member American International by a score of 2-1 at Fargo’s Scheels Arena, where the Gophers and Griffins will compete.

Minnesota has a similar scratch on their tournament history, being the first ever top-seed to fall in the first round with the bracket expanded to 16 teams. In 2006, Holy Cross (another Atlantic Hockey Conference member), upset Phil “The Thrill” Kessel in his last game in a maroon & gold uniform. The Crusaders won 3-2 in overtime at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

“We just stick to the same game,” Gophers senior forward Jaxon Nelson said when asked if their approach as players changes in the postseason. “We like to get pucks deep and drive the puck low, be able to get back on the backcheck and prevent teams from scoring on the rush.”

Looking ahead to Saturday’s tilt, if the Gophers win they will play against two teams against whom they are 1-1. Minnesota split a home-and-home series with Mankato in October and split a home-and-home series with St. Cloud in January.

In both wins over those teams, freshmen forward top-liners Jimmy Snuggerud and Logan Cooley stepped up. Snuggerud secured a hat trick against Mankato and Cooley netted a 3-on-3 overtime game-winning goal with 18.8 seconds remaining.

“We’re the most hated team here,” Motzko said. “Any of the green [North Dakota] fans show up, you know who they’re against. There’s two other Minnesota teams … We got a target on us, so we are the underdog.”

Here is the skinny on both teams playing in the other regional first round matchup at 4 p.m. Central Standard Time on ESPNU:

Minnesota State-Mankato: The Mavericks are tied for second in the nation for only allowing 2 goals per game and are first in the country on successful power plays, 27.9% of the time. The main producer in that powerplay unit is junior forward David Silye, who leads the team with 12 and has scored 23 total goals this season.

Mankato is also very successful on the faceoff, the top in the nation in faceoff win percentage (60%). The reason for their low seeding is due to true head-scratching losses against smaller schools like Ferris State (twice), Bemidji State (twice) and St. Thomas. Averaging a goal per game on special teams can make any team ripe to win a tough region.

St. Cloud State: In both games against the Gophers, the Huskies played stellar defense and featured excellent goaltending from senior Jaxon Castor. The only game this season where Minnesota’s vaunted offense was shut out was at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on Jan. 7 when St. Cloud came out victorious 3-0.

The Huskies are the most pesky team the Gophers have played, forcing top skating speeds on the full sheet of ice, making it hard to earn good scoring opportunities. They also have lethal scoring forwards led by senior Jami Krannila, with 21 goals to his name.

This season the Huskies were hampered with many key injuries, including senior defenseman Dylan Anhorn done for the year and team captain graduate student defenseman Spencer Meier, with a season-long upper-body issue. When fully healthy, this team would have been a likely one-seed over the Denver Pioneers.

No. 1 ranked Minnesota will travel to Fargo to play against 16-seed Cansius on Thursday at 8 p.m. Central Standard Time in the first round of the 2023 NCAA Men’s Hockey Tournament.

Gophers defenseman Mike Koster said the team hasn’t before played in a regional this close to home, with the other three regionals playing out east.

“I don’t look too much into that, obviously it’s a place that a lot of guys are familiar with whether playing in youth or juniors up there,” he said.

If victorious, they will take on the winner of two familiar foes on Saturday. Eight-seed and NCHC conference champion, St. Cloud State, or 9-seed and CCHA conference champion, Minnesota State-Mankato.

“We feel like it’s a pretty exciting bracket,” forward Mason Nevers said. “Canisius is a great team, they’re coming in on a hot streak … just won a championship. It’s hard to look much further than that, our whole mindset is just Canisius right now, but three Minnesota teams is a lot of fun.”

The Gophers are 1-1 against each Minnesota-based team this season. They split a home-and-home series in early October versus Mankato, winning 4-1 at Mariucci Arena and losing 3-2 down south.

The Gophers also split a home-and-home series in early January versus St. Cloud, losing 3-0 at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center and winning 2-1 at Mariucci Arena courtesy of a Logan Cooley game-winning goal with 18.8 seconds remaining in 3-on-3 overtime.

“I’ll be honest, I’ve been in so many of these tournaments … it’s just crazy,” head coach Bob Motzko said on his Minnesota-filled region. “Maybe in my younger days, I was more into the where and the who … you just want to be there. Should be great crowds.”

-Official Bracket-

(Fargo Regional)

1 Minnesota
Canisius (Atlantic Hockey Champion)

St. Cloud State (NCHC Champion)
Minnesota State-Mankato (CCHA Champion)

(Manchester Regional)

4 Denver
Cornell

Boston (Hockey East Champion)
Western Michigan

(Allentown Regional)

3 Michigan (Big Ten Champion)
Colgate (ECAC Champion)

Penn State
Michigan Tech

(Bridgeport Regional)

2 Quinnipiac
Merrimack

Harvard
Ohio State

If there is one Achilles’ heel for the top-ranked Gophers this season, it’s momentary lapses in judgment for short time frames that pull the other team back in the game.

At the conclusion of the first period Saturday against the No. 4 Michigan Wolverines, it was all Minnesota. But in the blink of an eye, Michigan regained momentum in the second period.

The Wolverines rode that wave into the third period, even when they lost the lead, to win their second consecutive Big Ten Tournament Championship 4-3 against the Gophers.

Minnesota starts out strong, but it was not enough

The Gophers haven’t been a first period team this season but were on Saturday. They managed to generate a boatload of scoring chances. The sole shot that went through the net was courtesy of Brody Lamb receiving a breakaway feed from Logan Cooley. The Gophers outshot the Wolverines 7-6 but most of Michigan’s chances were far from wide open like Minnesota’s.

Rutger McGroarty woke the Wolverines up in the second period. Much like Adam Fantilli’s 15-second 2-point stretch in January against Minnesota, McGroarty scored twice Saturday in less than a minute.

The freshman from Lincoln, Nebraska, rebounded an Ethan Edwards shot dead center in front of the net and received a bounce pass off the boards from Fantilli at the left crease. Head coach Bob Motzko blamed some missed defensive assignments on McGroarty’s 34-second highlight reel.

“This is going to help us,” Motzko said. “Not the loss, playing in a tense game. Going into next week…we’ve played two games in 23 days, you can’t necessarily duplicate that in practice.”

Finding those “soft areas,” preached by interim coach Brandon Naurato, was crucial for McGroarty’s offensive outburst. “He’s [Naurato] been telling us to get to the net and just make good things happen when you’re around there,” McGroarty said.

Minnesota has battled back in games all season, and they didn’t quit Saturday, either. Jimmy Snuggerud found Cooley on a 2-0 breakaway to tie the game. Snuggerud and Cooley had to race as fast as they could to the loose puck, saucering closer and closer to Michigan’s goalie, Erik Portillo.

Portillo was an easy target for the Minnesota student section as he continued his trend of directly or indirectly dislodging the net from its pegs on the ice. Ohio State’s Jakub Dobeš also had this in his back pocket as a failsafe whenever the Gophers were within striking distance.

Rhett Pitlick began the third period with an incredible individual effort to deke and dodge two Michigan defenders on a breakaway and capped it off with a goal to give Minnesota a 3-2 edge with 18 minutes to go. This was Pitlick’s second goal since Dec.10.

Wolverines rally for third period comeback 

Michigan continued to capitalize on scoring chances though and would come out winners in the end. A Seamus Casey shot from the blue line tied the game; Motzko challenged it for offsides, however, McGroarty “tagged up” before the puck was touched over the Minnesota blue line. The call stood.

Dylan Duke proceeded to give the lead back to the Wolverines, barely sliding the puck behind Gophers goalie Justen Close as both of them dove at each other in the crease. This was Duke’s fifth goal against the Gophers this year, scoring 4 in their first two meetings at Yost Arena.

“That’s just Duker,” McGroarty said. “He gets greasy once and we love him for it. Big time players score big time goals in big time moments.”

Motzko gave credit to Michigan for generating key turnovers that were crucial for their third period comeback.

Michigan and Minnesota showcase hockey’s future

Nine of 12 All-Big Ten Conference selections (Minnesota: 6, Michigan: 3) and 24 NHL draft picks (Minnesota: 14, Michigan: 10) played in the Big Ten Tournament Championship. The future of the sport laid it all out at Mariucci Arena Saturday before the true gauntlet of the NCAA Tournament.

Michigan is the youngest team in the NCAA with an average age of 21 years old. Minnesota is the next youngest. Most Wolverines, including freshmen McGroarty and Fantilli, were not a member of their 2022 Big Ten Tournament Championship squad.

“You listen to them with every word that they say,” Fantilli said about Michigan’s senior leadership. “Just trying to soak it all in was the biggest thing we could do as freshmen and just copy what they do.”

Fantilli earned Most Outstanding Player of the Big Ten Tournament by breaking the tournament record with a league-high 7 goals and 11 points scored through four games played. Fantilli leads the NCAA in goals (27) and points (61).

Even with Michigan’s victory, Minnesota still retains the overall top-seed in the NCAA tournament. They will be playing their first regional matchup in Fargo, North Dakota, on Thursday.

“It stings, but at the end of the day we’re looking for a bigger trophy,” team captain Brock Faber said. “That’s not going to happen if we don’t learn from this lesson quickly.”

Last time the Gophers and Michigan State played, the Spartans converted the first nine out of 10 shots on-goal, leading the Gophers 2-1 in the second period before allowing 5 unanswered goals. The Big Ten Semi Final match on Saturday was quite similar.

Returning from a well-earned bye week, one would’ve expected a sleepy start from the Gophers. On the NCAA tournament bubble and fighting for their season’s livelihood, one would’ve predicted a spirited start from the Spartans. That’s exactly how this game began.

Michigan State was initially gifted a rare “elbowing” powerplay as Logan Cooley’s arm made contact with Jagger Joshua’s mouth. The Spartans capitalized on that buffer by taking the first lead of the game. Jeremy Davidson rang home a one-timer from the left crease.

Michigan State outraced Minnesota for the better part of the opening period. They jumped out to 11-3 shots on goal advantage, peppering Gophers goalie Justen Close. It wasn’t until Minnesota’s first powerplay, off of a blatant trip on Rhett Pitlick, when the team and crowd erupted.

Jaxon Nelson, who previously almost netted a shot in front of the Spartans goal off a great feed from Bryce Brodzinski, was successful the second time around in the same location. Matthew Knies found him in a wide-open position during Minnesota’s first powerplay opportunity.

From there on, the Gophers never looked back and finally got their in-game caffeine from the re-energized crowd. With two minutes remaining, fourth-liner John Mittelstadt slotted in his third goal of the year, and Michigan State lost all of its initial momenta heading into the first intermission.

“That was probably our best [stretch of the game],” said head coach Bob Motzko. “That last part of that first period … there were about three or four plays where we started using our speed to get things going, and we fed off that.”

The gas pedal was still in full throttle from the Gophers in the second period. Aaron Huglen, who has quietly been one of the biggest glue guys on offense this season for Minnesota, slapped in a rebound from Cal Thomas to extend the Maroon and Gold’s lead to 3-1 over Sparty. Sieve chants cued for Dylan St. Cyr, who has had major issues in-net versus Minnesota this year.

Halfway through the second period, Minnesota tied the Spartans with 17 shots apiece, a far cry from their sluggish start.

In the final period, Cooley pulled a goal out of his magic hat of absurd shots. In late November, he completed “The Michigan” lacrosse-style shot against Arizona State. Saturday, he missed a shot on-goal high on the glass, but the puck banked off the boards and bounced off the back of St. Cyr’s pads into the goal.

Cooley continued to spartan-kick Michigan State’s season off the NCAA tournament bubble cliff with four minutes remaining by corralling a puck all alone in their zone and sliding through an empty netter. Minnesota would win 5-1 with Close masterfully saving 29 of 30 Spartan shots on net.

With the No. 2 seed Michigan Wolverines blasting the No. 3 seed Ohio State Buckeyes 7-3 in Ann Arbor, the stage is set for a rematch of the 2022 Big Ten Tournament Championship. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network next Saturday at 7 p.m. Central Standard Time. The Gophers are 3-1 this season against the Wolverines.

“Just up and down the lineup — they’ve got skill everywhere,” Gophers defenseman Mike Koster. “They got D that can get up and in the rush too, so obviously it’s a very exciting hockey game when we play them.”

Saturday marked defenseman Ryan Chesley’s first hockey game since Chesley injured his wrist against Wisconsin a month ago.

“Kinda crazy — I don’t think he missed a beat,” said Motzko on Chesley’s play. “He’s just a whale of a competitor.”

Forward Garrett Pinoniemi also saw in-game ice time. The last time he laced up the skates was against Penn State on Feb. 18, a week after suffering an upper-body injury in practice.

“I love playing with Pino,” said Mittelstadt, Pinoniemi’s linemate. “He’s so smart and plays the game so well. We just have great chemistry playing together all year.”

During that same week of practice, star defenseman Jackson LaCombe also went down with an injury to his lower body. Motzko said postgame the Hobey Baker nominee was a close decision to sit against Michigan State and will likely return next week.

Two-year starting Gophers goalie Jack LaFontaine signed an entry-level deal on Jan. 9, 2022, with the Carolina Hurricanes. The departure left the Gophers no choice but to plug in backup netminder Justen Close, who, in his three-year career, only made six in-game relief appearances with zero starts.

Close stepped up to the challenge. Last season, Minnesota reached its first Frozen Four since 2014, with Close finishing the year posting a .925 save percentage and allowing an average of 1.95 goals.

Now, in his first full season as a starter, Close is one of nine semifinalists for the Mike Richter Award given to the best Division I goalie in the country. His stats are quite similar to his previous season, with a .928 save percentage and 1.99 goals allowed on average.

“It’s almost from day one when he got in there … he looks the same almost every day in practice and every game,” Head Coach Bob Motzko said, who refers to Close as the “backbone of his team.”

“He’s got a mature, comfortable look about him. But on the other hand, he’s even maturing more and gaining more confidence the more he plays,” Motzko added. “We’ve needed him a few times this year where it’s been all him, and he’s just been a steady rockhorse back there.”

Motzko and Close treated losing LaFontaine last year as if they were losing a player to a season-ending injury. Close said he admired LaFontaine’s work ethic and attention to detail, along with being a terrific teammate, but now it was his turn to save a season in which their usual NCAA tournament destination was uncertain.

Yet surprisingly, the jump from watching most games from the bench was not huge. With all of the reps Close ran through in practice versus premier players on a top-tier team, he just had to keep the game simple, focus on the basics and block out the noise.

“Things have stayed pretty much the same,” Close said. “Approach each weekend with the status quo and hopefully get the same result.”

His routine for success has been amplified by volunteer goaltending coach Brennan Poderzay, who has been a member of the Gophers coaching staff since the start of the 2021-22 season.

Every week for Close and Podzeray is treated like the last. They begin preparing for each weekend by reviewing film from the previous two-game series, followed by an on-ice session to make adjustments. As the week rolls on, Podzeray scouts the other team’s tendencies and relays to Close what sticks out. In Close’s mind, “Podzy” is a fantastic coach and even better friend, who always starts practices implementing entertaining drills.

“Consistency is what we all search for as coaches and players,” said Podzeray, who formerly coached at Minnesota State-Mankato. He most notably partnered with three-time WCHA goaltending champion and Mike Richter finalist Dryden McKay, who won the Hobey Baker in 2022.

“Justen is unflappable week to week and inside the net, never having bad body language or showing signs that he’s shaken or fragile — he’s just a professional,” Podzeray said.

Podzeray described the atmosphere at the University as a “different animal” compared to other programs he’s been a part of due to heightened expectations. Close’s even-keeled nature on and off the ice, in a hypersensitive hockey market, sets him up for success.

“Justen throughout my course of 6-7 years being involved in college hockey has been the goaltender that has challenged me the most,” Podzeray said. “We’ll be watching film, and I’ll see something that I see, and he’ll come back with [an adjustment] that is 10 times and 10 steps ahead of what I saw. I’m so happy for him that he’s getting the recognition that he does deserve.”

By completing six shutouts this season, Close has blanked the highest number of opponents of any Gopher goalie since Adam Wilcox in the 2014-15 season (tied for second-most in program history). It is clear that he shouldn’t change anything in between the pipes.

3M Arena at Mariucci hasn’t seen on-ice action from the men’s team since Jan. 28, and the Gophers gave their fans a show. On Friday, they shut out the eighth-ranked team in the nation, Ohio State, and scored 5 straight goals to come back from a 2-goal deficit on Saturday.

Koster cooks in two-goal second period

Ohio State goalie Jakub Dobeš was the main character of the first period. He was involved in an on-ice collision with Gopher Bryce Brodzinski and had his own net leave its hinges four times (the fourth time he was called for a delay of game). Karma for Dobeš didn’t fare well in the second period, as he was scored on by Brock Faber and then peppered with Gopher power plays resulting in three scores for Minnesota.

Two of those successful power plays were because of Mike Koster, who managed to record his first multi-goal game. Given the leading scorer from the defensive unit, Jackson LaCombe (8 goals), didn’t suit up due to a lower body injury, this was an exceptional outing.

Justen Close finished with 23 saves on 23 shots for a shutout. Minnesota finished off Ohio State in a quiet third period, shooting a total 38 shots on net.

“You can’t replace a player like Jackson, he’s one of the top players in the country…but we got depth on the backend,” Koster said. “All six of us (defenseman) played great tonight, so it was just a great team effort.”

Head coach Bob Motzko said this is the deepest defensive core he’s ever been able to coach.

“It won’t come around again,” said Motzko, as even without LaCombe and Ryan Chesley, the team hasn’t seen much difference in defensive dominance.

Back-to-back goals propel Gophers to senior day win

In the Gophers’ eighth home sellout of the year, both teams were far more physical near the end of the first period. This time around it bit the Gophers as they faced a 2-goal deficit early in the second period, thanks to a couple of five-minute majors on Snuggerud (boarding) and Matthew Knies (contact to the head).

“It’s a playoff game,” Brodzinski said. “We were fighting to keep them out of it…so it was very intense the entire weekend, but those are the hockey games you want to be in.”

Besides those two powerplay goals, Minnesota was solid the rest of the way, scoring 5 straight goals, with the first 2 coming 13 seconds between each other. Aaron Huglen cut the Ohio State lead in half and Matthew Knies rebounded a shot by Snuggerud to tie the game, interrupting the Mariucci PA announcer relaying Huglen’s score.

“We needed one to get the crowd going,” Motzko said. “And once that came, we picked it back up.”

Knies wasn’t finished carrying the Gophers back, as he made a fantastic feed to Logan Cooley to give the Gophers a 3-2 lead going into the second intermission. After Snuggerud forced a turnover behind the Buckeyes’ net, Knies made a behind-the-back pass from in between his legs to Cooley directly behind him.

After their five-minute majors, Knies and Snuggerud “had no choice” but to return to the ice strong, according to Motzko. “I love to see the toughness but not the stupidity.”

The third period was relatively quiet but did feature 2 goals from two seniors. Brodzinski completed an unassisted backhanded breakaway goal followed by Ryan Johnson saucering in an empty net goal.

Brodzinski and Johnson were two out of seven skaters celebrated postgame for their last home regular season game. The rest included Close, LaCombe, Colin Schmidt, Jaxon Nelson and Matt Staudacher.

“I love all those guys,” Knies said. “It’s honestly sad to be a part of this day to kind of see that it’s their last game here…they’ve taught me a lot on and off the ice. I can’t thank them enough.”

Minnesota will receive home-ice advantage through the entirety of the 2023 Big Ten Men’s Hockey Tournament. They will face the lowest seeded team to win their best-of-three quarter final series on March 11 at Mariucci. The matchups for the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals are as follows:

5 Michigan St. @ 4 Notre Dame
7 Wisconsin @ 2 Michigan
6 Penn State @ 3 Ohio State

This week, the Gophers will travel south to Rochester to compete in a public intra-squad scrimmage. With the week off, Motzko expects Garrett Pinoniemi back for their next game with Chesley out and LaCombe questionable.

It is incredibly rare for two freshmen and a sophomore to consistently produce goals the way Logan Cooley, Jimmy Snuggerud and Matthew Knies have for the Gophers this season. With their guiding offense, the men’s hockey team claimed the 2022-23 Big Ten Regular Season Title on Thursday, with one series still remaining in the conference. 

The three skaters arrived in Minneapolis from around the country. Cooley is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Knies is from Phoenix, Arizona and Snuggerud is from Chaska. 

All three are atop the statistical leaderboards for Minnesota. Cooley leads the pack with 44 points (15 goals, 29 assists), with Snuggerud in second tallying 43 points (19 goals, 24 assists) and Hobey Baker front-runner Knies in third totaling 36 points (20 goals,16 assists). 

“On and off the ice, getting to know each other and always being around each other is the best way to build camaraderie,” Knies said. “Learning our strengths as players and recognizing where we are on the ice consistently is beneficial.”

During Friday’s and Saturday’s games against No. 7 Penn State, the line exploded. Snuggerud snagged two goals in the first game, Knies managed to score three goals, including the game-tying empty-net goal and game-winning 3-on-3 overtime goal on Saturday. Cooley became the first Big Ten player to score five points in not just a single game, but a single period, picking up a goal and four assists in Minnesota’s five-goal second period blowout on Friday. 

“They’ve got that ability…they’re special players,” said head coach Bob Motzko on Saturday. “That’s why you put them out there, to find ways to do it in moments like that.”

When this trio clicks, it can make NHL teams salivate. Cooley was drafted third overall by the Arizona Coyotes in 2022, Snuggerud 23rd overall by the St. Louis Blues in 2022 and Knies 57th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2021. 

Knies, Cooley and Snuggerud began playing alongside one another in October 2022, following a hat-trick performance by Snuggerud against Minnesota State Mankato, which prompted head coach Bob Motzko to form the line that many across the country are dubbing the best in college hockey.

“We realized that this can be an opportunity for us to come together and build chemistry throughout the year,” Snuggerud said. “We didn’t really sit down and talk about it, we just came together at practice and were pretty jazzed.”

Other notable feats from this line include Knies allocating two overtime-winning goals this season and Cooley pulling off “The Michigan” at Arizona State while also beating St. Cloud State with an overtime-winning goal of his own. 

“At the start, we all wanted to be the one that was the driving force and we learned to instead lean into our strengths,” Knies said. “Logan can skate really well, so when we get a play in the zone, we try and get the puck to him. When the play is broken or coming to an end, we make sure the puck is on Jimmy’s stick, so he can fire it through the net.”

The pressure of being heralded as one of the top lines in hockey as such a young group does not faze them one bit. 

“We’ve all dealt with the pressure really well…We don’t pay attention to that stuff, we just try to play our game,” Cooley said.

Before this season, Cooley and Snuggerud came from the same pipeline of the USA National Team Development Program (NTDP) U18 team. Knies last played for the USHL. 

“We [Cooley and Snuggerud] always know where we are on the ice, being roommates on the NTDP; we’re going on three years playing together, so it’s been fun,” Cooley said.

Cooley and Snuggerud both agree their older linemate Knies is consistently good on the forecheck and helps guide the trio.

“He’s been through the program before, so he knows what it takes to make it that far through a season,” Snuggerud said. “He’s been there for Cools and I as young guys just driving us throughout the season.”

Knies returned to the program after a wild freshman season in which he was a U.S. Olympian, the Most Valuable Player in Minnesota’s time in Worcester for the 2022 NCAA Regionals and named the University of Minnesota’s Male Rookie of the Year. Stepping into a leadership role was natural for a Gopher team that is the second youngest team in Division I Hockey with an average age of 21 years. 

“Something that I wanted to add to my game is to set an example for these two and for all the younger players coming in,” Knies said. “Just someone that you can lean on in practice or in game situations and when things aren’t going their way…I kind of learned from Benny Meyers in the Frozen Four to be that guy and kind of return the favor.”

Off the ice, you can most likely find these three at their favorite place to eat on campus: Stadium Village’s Chick-Fil-A. They are currently craving to try a chocolate shake for the first time. 

“Just how talented these two are…it’s been extremely fun playing with these guys who want to play well at a professional level and we push each other every day,” Cooley said. “It’s been a really fun experience playing with these two.”