Gopher's Exhibitian Game

To get a first hand look at the Gophers Men’s Hockey Team this season, be sure to pick up tickets today for their game on October 4th at Mariucci Arena against the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Ooks.

Tickets are selling fast, so be sure to get them today!

Non-Minnesotans on The Golden Gopher Men's Hockey Team

Minnesota kids make up the majority of the Gophers Men’s Hockey Team. In fact, local talent occupies 22 out of the 25 roster slots. That said, the three other players that make up the rest of the roster deserve equal fan support as well. So we thought it would be appropriate to highlight them and their respective collegiate careers up to this point in time.

Sam Warning

A senior Forward from Chesterfield Missouri, last year with the Gophers he achieved a new career high in points, assists and goals. With 34 points total, 14 goals and 20 assists. Expect to see Warning improve and set new career highs in his final season with the Gophers.

Robin Höglund

Höglund, a freshman hailing all the way from MöIndal, Sweden, played for a club team, the Janesville Jets, last year and scored 24 goals in 57 appearances. The forward brings some international flavor to the mostly Minnesota native team.

 
Leon Bristedt

Another freshman hailing from Sweden, although this time Stockholm instead of MöIndal, Bristedt previously played for the club team Linköping.  According to Hockeysfuture.com Bristedt was ranked 24th amongst European prospects in Central Scouting's final rankings prior to the 2014 NHL Draft.

Don Lucia Profile

Meet Don Lucia, the head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers Men’s Hockey Team. Under Lucia, the Gophers Hockey program has maintained its long-standing reign of success, collecting two NCAA National Championship titles in 2002 and 2003.

Prior to taking the coaching reigns at the U, Lucia got his start with the University of Alaska Fairbanks, coaching the Nanooks hockey team for six years. While with the Nanooks he compiled a 99-97-19 record and won a Great West Hockey Conference title.

His second head coaching stop saw Lucia take the helm at Colorado College for six years. While coaching the Tigers he compiled a 166-68-18 record and took the Tigers to a Frozen Four and NCCA Title game, where they finished as a runner up.

Lucia took the Gophers job in 1999, and in his third season in 2002 led the Gophers to their first national championship in 23 years. In his 15 years at the helm, Lucia has compiled a 372-187-65 record. Also under Lucia, the Golden Gophers have won three MacNaughton Cups (awarded to the WCHA's regular season champion) and won the Broadmoor Trophy three times (awarded to the WCHA playoff champion).

One of only four coaches in NCAA history to lead a team to back-to-back titles, Lucia has shaped the Gophers hockey program into a national powerhouse and a pipeline for future NHL stars.

Meet the Assistant Coaches of the Men's Basketball Team

Ben Johnson 

For longtime Gopher fans his name likely rings a bell, as Johnson is a former Gopher player turned coach. Prior to returning home, Johnson acted as an assistant coach on Tim Miles' University of Nebraska staff. While with the Huskers, the former Gopher captain assisted in all-day-to-day basketball-related duties while also serving as a recruiting coordinator.

Dan McHale 

After devoting the early part of his coaching career to Kevin Willard, spending three years with the current head coach at Seton Hall and his previous school, Iona, McHale made the move to work with Richard Pitino – both at Louisville and now Minnesota.

Kimani Young

Young tagged alongside head coach Richard Pitino when he moved up north from Florida International University. Young was an assistant on Pitino’s FIU staff to take on the maroon and gold colors. Young assists in all aspects of the program including recruiting, scouting of opponents and

Richard Pitino Profile

Meet Richard Pitino, the head coach of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. The son of esteemed basketball coach Rick Pitino, it appears as if Richard Pitino is changing the U’s basketball culture by instilling a tradition of winning into a program that once seemed off the beaten path.

Prior to becoming the head coach of the Gophers and leading them to become NIT Champions, Pitino got his start as a an assistant on a multitude of basketball programs, never staying at one place for more than two years.

Pitino got his head coaching break with Florida International University. In his first and only season with the Panthers, he compiled an 18-14 record and instituted a high-pressure defense that saw the team finish eighth in the nation in steals.

As we all know, Pitino then got a call from the University of Minnesota. In his first season with the team Pitino broke the school record for most wins in a season with 25.  With Pitino at the helm, it looks like the progr

Early Wishing For A Bowl Birth

Is it too early to be hoping for a Gopher Football Bowl birth? Call me an irrational fan if you like, but after seeing the strides the team made last year, I don’t think it is. In fact, I will be deciding for myself if the team is bowl worthy or not when they take on Middle Tennessee State this Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium.

I’m going to be there cause Gopher football games rock. You should join me. Also take a tip from me and buy a parking pass ahead of time here. They really come in handy and make getting to the games a breeze.