In the first half of the season, Minnesota was flying, piling up goals, getting great goaltending, and ripping through the schedule. North Dakota, a big, strong team, was seeing its senior leaders play undisciplined, and its goaltending situation up in the air. A team built for the NCAAs was unlikely to get there. But by … Read more
Minnesota will get leading scorer Tyler Hirsch back in the lineup for Thursday’s NCAA semifinal against North Dakota. Tyler Hirsch practiced with the Gophers on Wednesday as he prepared to return to the lineup. (photo: Melissa Wade) Hirsch has missed the last three games, including last weekend’s two NCAA regional games, for “personal reasons.” Hirsch … Read more
Barry Tallackson has shouldered the weight of expectations for four years at Minnesota. Will he repeat his regional heroics at the Frozen Four?
Minnesota’s season began auspiciously. Despite the loss of several of its top players, including the early departures of Thomas Vanek and Keith Ballard to the pro ranks, the Gophers cruised through the first half of the season, racking up a 15-4-0 record and the nation’s No. 1 ranking at the Christmas break. Not bad for … Read more
Minnesota’s leading scorer, junior Tyler Hirsch, is back skating with the Gophers, less than a week after a “bizarre” post-game incident following his team’s WCHA semifinal loss. Whether he will play this weekend or not remains unclear. Hirsch After everyone cleared the ice following last Friday’s WCHA semifinal loss, and as fans were filing out, … Read more
Phil Kessel, the 17-year-old highly-touted U.S.-born phenom, has set a news conference for Friday at the U.S. National Team Development Program headquarters in Ann Arbor, Mich., where he announce a decision on where he will play next season. The Friday news conference date is in contrast to an earlier report, in the Wisconsin State Journal, … Read more
Whenever Krissy Wendell was asked who from her team deserved a Player of the Year award, she’d say Natalie Darwitz. Whenever Darwitz was asked the same question, she’d say Krissy Wendell. The WCHA coaches and SIDs finally had to make a decision, and they have chosen Wendell as the WCHA’s Player of the Year for … Read more
Minnesota goaltender Kellen Briggs is out indefinitely with an unspecified hand injury, the school said today. Briggs, a sophomore, has started 30 games this season, posting a 19-10-0 record with a 2.46 goals-against average and .913 save percentage. Briggs is 26-11-0 in his last 37 starts, dating to last season. In the WCHA, he is … Read more
The Big weekend in the WCHA is here, the Border Battle between Wisconsin and Minnesota. Another Border War features UNH hosting Maine (CSTV, 8 p.m.), and an in-state rivalry in Michigan, between the Spartans and Wolverines (tonight in Ann Arbor, tomorrow at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit) highlight a great rivalry weekend in college hockey. … Read more
No. 10 OSU played No. 3 UMD down to the wire in its last Game of the Week appearance. Can the Buckeyes finish the job against No. 1 Minnesota on Saturday night?
Never before in the NCAA era of women’s college hockey have two unbeaten teams met so late in the season. USCHO will have live broadcasts of No. 1 Minnesota’s showdowns at No. 2 Dartmouth on Saturday and Sunday.
No. 1 Minnesota hasn’t lost since hosting Wisconsin on Feb. 13, 2004. Can the Badgers do it again on their home ice Saturday afternoon?
Three of the nation’s top five women’s hockey teams converge at Bright Hockey Center this Thanksgiving weekend. USCHO will be there with live broadcasts, including a rematch of the 2004 NCAA final.
David De Remer counts down the top 10 games in the rivalry’s brief yet colorful history.
Defending NCAA champion Minnesota is No. 1 for the second straight year in the WCHA Women’s Preseason Coaches poll. Minnesota received seven first place votes to claim the top spot. Wisconsin was picked second, receiving 64 points and one first place vote. Minnesota Duluth ranked third with 58 points while Ohio State was fourth with … Read more
Don Lucia and the Minnesota coaching staff knew this season was going to be different from an offensive standpoint. You don’t lose Thomas Vanek, Troy Riddle, Matt Koalska and Grant Potulny and just pick up where you left off. Still, the Golden Gophers coaches got together for a preseason meeting to discuss personnel and how … Read more
Minnesota-Duluth is the coaches’ preseason pick to win the WCHA, while Wisconsin goaltender Bernd Brückler topped voting for preseason player of the year honors. The coaches poll, conducted by the Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald, put the Bulldogs atop the rankings for the first time. UMD, which returns 73.5 percent of its scoring from last year’s … Read more
Forward Thomas Vanek has signed a contract with the Buffalo Sabres and will forgo his final two seasons at Minnesota, the school announced Friday. Vanek, an All-American last season who was selected by the Sabres with the fifth overall pick in the 2003 draft, is the third Gophers player to leave school early for the … Read more
Kris Chucko, headed to Minnesota in the fall, was one of three players taken from the British Columbia Junior League in the first 50 picks of the draft, including his Salmon Arm teammate Travis Zajac and second-round pick Ray Sawada. Chucko, the 24th overall pick by Calgary, was another player whose stock rose quickly since … Read more
When team Managing Partner Wayne Gretzky stepped to the podium to make Phoenix’s first-round selection in the 2004 NHL Draft, the crowd of mostly Carolina Hurricanes fans, draft prospects and their families, stood to salute ‘The Great One’ with a rousing, heartfelt ovation. Just moments later, the reaction changed to agape jaws when Gretzky announced … Read more