Noora Räty and Finland take home bronze

Golden Gopher women's hockey goalie, Noora Räty, helped Finland take home the bronze medal at the Olympics. Noora was Finland's starting goalie and aided Finland beat the Swedes 3-2 yesterday. This was the first medal for Finland since 1998. While with the Finland women's hockey team, Noora didn't miss a ninute on the ice and made sure to sport her gold pads, block and gloves in honor of the Golden Gophers. Räty returns to the Gophers just in time to face Minnesota State this weekend in the WCHA playoffs at Ridder Arena.

First game at the Target Field will be a Gopher Extravaganza

The MN Twins and the U of M announced today that the first game to be played on the Target Field will be on March 27 when the Gophers play the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. This will also be the first time the general public will be allowed to visit the Target Field. The attendance will be capped at 25,000 excited fans and is being allowed for testing purposes. The Twins want to make sure everything is perfect before their season opener. The Gopher game will cost $2 for general admission with all proceeds going to the MN Twins Community Fund.

Gophers sweep the Tigers at Mariucci

This weekend at the Mariucci Arena, the Minnesota Gophers’ hockey team really spread the wealth as they swept Colorado College in a 7-4 win. Each of the seven goals by the Gophers was by a different player, including four defensemen (David Fischer, Aaron Ness, Nick Leddy and Cade Fairchild).

The Gophers led well into the second period, until the Colorado Tigers clawed back by scoring two goals. The Tigers were sorely mistaken they had a chance against the Gophers, when Cade Fairchild scored yet another goal with a little of three minutes remaining in the game. The Gophers also out shot the Tigers 42-26 definitely earning the win. Minnesota is now only three points away from Colorado College’s fifth place ranking in the WCHA and, with any luck, will make the first-round home series in the upcoming league playoffs. Make sure to come cheer on your favorite Gopher at the next game!

Olympians on the Ellen Show

The Women's US Olympic hockey team interviewed with Ellen DeGeneres including former Gopher Gigi Marvin.

Gophers swim team going for the Big Ten Championship

The Big Ten Championships for the women's swimming and diving teams kicked off today at Purdue and go until Saturday (Feb. 20th). Starting the first night of the competition will be two relays at 6:30 pm and the next three days will consist of preliminaries, diving and the finals. Entering the Big Ten Championships with a few of the best times in the conference is a big boost of confidence for the Gophers. Two divers will compete this year for the U of M, including U.S. Olympian and recent Winter Nationals title champion Kelsci Bryant. They really need your support so cheer on your favorite swimmer, even if you cant make it to Purdue.

Gophers baseball picked for second in the Big 10

According to a preseason poll done by Baseball America, the Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball team was picked to finish second in the Big 10 conference. Baseball America surveyed coaches across the board for this poll. Along with the Gophers, the Buckeyes and the Wolverines have been predicted to be the three teams to represent the Big Ten in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. The U of M Gophers also had the most players in the conference to be selected to the preseason All-Big Ten. The baseball season is right around the corner and maybe we'll even get first this season! Go Gophers!

Gophers vs. Badgers at Target Center

The Minnesota men's hockey team is playing the Wisconsin Badgers at the Target Center on May 5 and tickets are now available. Tickets are about thirty dollars a piece and are available at the Target Center box office.

This game between the Gophers and Badgers will be the first college hockey game played at the Target Center since the WCHA Final Five in 2000. These two teams used to play games regularly at the Target center between 1994 to 1998. There were five total games in that time span and the Golden Gophers won all of them. Over a decade later, the Gophers will have their chance to continue the legacy of kicking some major Badger butt!

Go Gophers!

Katie Ohm accepted into the Mayo Program

Our Gophers don't only have skills on the court, but in the classroom as well. Katie Ohm, of the Gopher Women's basketball team, has been accepted into prestigious Mayo PT program. The May Clinic in Rochester, MN is one of the most respected hospitals in the world. With 350,000 patients treated yearly and major research on diseases, the hospital also has a teaching program with a 100 percent job placement rate. With only a 28 percent acceptance rate, the Mayor PT program is highly competitive. Congratulations Katie!

Westbrook's 19 foot jump shot

On Saturday, the Gopher basketball team took on Penn State. As time expired in the last period, Lawrence Westbrook of the Gophers took a 19-foot fade-away jumper and stunned the crowd with a winning basket. This was a really important Big Ten victory for the Golden Gophers, who won 66-64. If you missed it, it was crazy!

Former Golden Gopher will miss Olympics

Paul Martin, a New Jersey Devils player and Golden Gophers alum, will miss out on the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver due to injury. Martin was hurt during a game against Pittsburgh in October, and was on the road to recovering before the Olympics began, but now needs surgery when his fracture didn't completely heal. Paul Martin will be in a cast for the next two weeks but the US plays Switzerland beginning February 16th. This is really difficult for Martin, since it would have been his first Olympic game. I send my prayers to Martin and maybe we'll get to see him the next time around!

Gopher baseball releases schedule for 2010

The Minnesota Gopher baseball team has released its schedule for the 2010 season. They will be battling it out against one-nonconference team that went to NCAA Super Regionals last year and four of their own conference teams that were apart of the NCAA Regionals last year. This shall make for an interesting season, so let’s hope they can keep their record as high as last season.

The first game of the season includes the Pro-Alumni game this Saturday! I am so pumped for the Gopher baseball season to get under way. The first actual Gopher game will be against Akron on the 19^th of February in Fort Myers, Florida. They’re coming back with 20 previous players from the 2009 season, which finished 40-19 and second in the Big Ten regular-season at 17-6, before moving onto the Big Ten Tournament Championships and the final game of the NCAA Regionals.The Gophers baseball team are going to do a lot of traveling in their first few weeks back in the game, but they’re a strong team and I have a lot of faith in them.

P.S. As I said yesterday, the Minnesota baseball team will be hosting the Pro-Alumni Game this year, but I failed to mention that it’s the first time since 2007. Hope to see you all there!

Pro-Alumni Game at U of M

The University of Minnesota Golden Gopher baseball team will be hosting the 17th annual Pro-Alumni and Legends game this upcoming Saturday. On Friday night, there will be a dinner at the TCF Bank Stadium for all alumni of the Golden Gopher Baseball team to attend. Some famous faces you'll see at the game include Major Leaguers Robb Quinlin and Jack Hannahan, along with Hall of Famer Paul Molitor and former Gopher assisant coach Herb Isaksson. This game should be really fun for the alumni, fans and current players alike. Its great to see them all have a chance to get together again and it should be really great game. Go Gophers!