Pregame Blog: Minnesota vs. Michigan State Super Saturday Line Combinations & More

Greetings from Madison Square Garden!

I'm here for the Big Ten's Super Saturday where the Gophers (5-4 winners Thursday in the opening game) will face Michigan State (technically the home team) later tonight in the second game of a hockey-hoops doubleheader. Minnesota basketball already played, losing 67-49 to Ohio State.

That's right. On Hockey Day Minnesota, I was in New York covering my first college basketball game.

Records: #13/14 Minnesota (14-12-1, 5-9-1-1 Big Ten), Michigan State (9-15-1, 3-11-1-1 Big Ten)
Date: Saturday January 20th
Time: 7:00 pm CT
Location: Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY
TV: Big Ten Network
Radio: 1130 KTLK AM in Twin Cities
Stream: BTN2Go/Fox Sports Go/TSN Go
Nate is covering for tonight: Zone Coverage/The Athletic

Minnesota-Wisconsin Preview: Gophers trying to get more quality shots on goal and rebounds

They remember Kyle Hayton.

The Wisconsin goaltender is new to Madison, but not to Minnesota. Hayton faced the Gophers last season when the now-senior was a member of St. Lawrence prior to coming to the Badgers as a graduate transfer.

Minnesota tied the Saints 2-2 on the road in dramatic fashion. It took everything the Gophers had to get a goal past him.

"He was good. He stopped a lot of shots. I think we put up 40-something (author's note: 42 to be exact) on him and didn't score until we had the goalie pulled in the last minute or so," said Jack Ramsey. "Good goalie. I think he comes out of the net pretty far so hopefully we can get rebounds and try to crash the net."

BLOG: Updates on Casey Mittelstadt and Scott Reedy; Justin Kloos makes NHL Debut

Casey Mittelstadt is "50/50" to play against Clarkson this weekend.

The freshman forward did skate Wednesday, dealing with an upper body injury. Mittelstadt, who has 2 goals and 2 assists in 5 games, was kept out of Saturday's 4-0 loss to North Dakota as a precaution after being cross-checked during Friday's 2-1 victory, according to Minnesota head coach Don Lucia.

"He'll skate (Thursday). I would say he's 50/50. We'll see where he's at come Friday night," Lucia said.

Lucia also said that Mittelstadt wanted to play. At this point of the season, however, the team would rather error on the side of caution.

Gopher players share memories from Joe Louis Arena

Jack Ramsey (16) earlier this month (Photo: Daniel Mick)

Before the wrecking ball swings later this year towards the walls of Joe Louis Arena, Jack Ramsey skated once again on the same ice sheet his father once called home.

Years later the Minnesota sophomore forward was much bigger and more aware of his surroundings. It’s bound to happen when your first time, as it was for Ramsey, came as a small child unable to stand on his two feet.

“It was cool,” he said about the experience last weekend. “Just to get out there and walk on the bench before the game, and look at all the banners out there and history, see all the names written on the walls. It was incredible to play on the same ice as all the guys that came before me.

“It made me think a lot. It made me think about my dad too so it was pretty special.”

Gophers Hockey Lands In #1 Seed Range For NCAA Tournament (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

The Gophers hockey team sat idle Saturday waiting to find out where they will play and what seed they will receive in the 2017 NCAA tournament.

Late in the night Minnesota regained the fourth and final No. 1 seed it had lost the night before.

Minnesota was already assured of an at-large bid by virtue of its 23-11-3 record and high placement in the Pairwise rankings, which mimic the criteria used by the NCAA selection committee to seed its 16-team field and pick 10 at-large teams.

“Obviously we’re in a much different situation from last year. We’re excited for the selection process [Sunday] and see where we end up,” sophomore forward Jack Ramsey said.

The opportunity opened thanks to Western Michigan losing 3-1 to Denver in the NCHC third-place game. Needing one of Boston College, North Dakota or Penn State to win, the first two results went the other way. The Eagles lost 4-2 to UMass-Lowell and UND lost 4-3 to Minnesota Duluth.

But Penn State, for the second consecutive night, won in double overtime, defeating Wisconsin 2-1 to win its first-ever conference title when Liam Folkes scored on a breakaway. Minnesota, Penn State and Ohio State — as the last at-large team in — will represent the conference in the NCAA tournament.

Moving forward, the Gophers are hoping to learn from the lessons and mistakes it made against Penn State. The Gophers gave up six penalties and 63 shots on goal to the Nittany Lions, totals that disappointed the team.

“I didn’t really like our start. Even though we scored two in the first, I don’t think we managed the puck real well,” Gophers coach Don Lucia said following Friday’s 4-3 defeat. “I thought Penn State played very well. They had a lot on the line [Friday]. They played that way.”

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Game Story: Gophers blank Spartans, win Big Ten championship (St. Paul Pioneer Press)

3/10/2017 Game Story

Michigan State 0
Minnesota 4
FINAL

MINNEAPOLIS- Jack Sadek skated off the ice at the end of the first period having scored more goals in 20 minutes than he had in two years with the Gophers.

In 45 games prior, the sophomore defenseman from Lakeville and Minnesota Wild draft pick had one goal as a Gopher. Making up for lost time and getting a chance to finally show off some goal celebration moves, Sadek finished with two as Minnesota defeated Michigan State 4-0 Friday night at Mariucci Arena.

“I said earlier that I don’t think I’ve scored twice in a game,” Sadek said between laughs. “It feels good to help out the team in a big game.”

With two celebrations in hand, Sadek and his teammates added another after the game. Minnesota’s victory clinched at least a share of its fourth Big Ten Conference championship in four years, and the Gophers became outright champions 45 minutes later when Ohio State beat Wisconsin 5-1.

The Gophers (23-10-2, 14-5-0-0 Big Ten) have put together sixth straight conference championship seasons, including the last two as a member of the WCHA before that league realigned.

“You’re happy for the guys. You feel like it was going to happen this weekend, but you still have to go out and earn it,” Minnesota coach Don Lucia said following the win.

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Story: Gophers hockey on a roll with PK (St. Paul Pioneer Press)

University of Minnesota sophomore forwards Jack Ramsey and Darian Romanko share a line that goes by several nicknames.

“Blue,” for both the jersey color worn in practice and collar style of play. And “trench line,” a name preferred by Ramsey, carried over from his time in junior hockey; it represents digging in and shutting down the top offensive line.

On special teams the 6-foot-1, 204-pound Romanko and the 6-3, 196-pound Ramsey have plenty of help — from scoring forward Justin Kloos to shot-blocking defenseman Jake Bischoff and stingy goalie Eric Schierhorn, among others — to dig in on a penalty kill that has played a major role in the Gophers’ No. 5 national ranking.

“It’s that consistency factor. We work on it a lot in practice,” said Ramsey. “I think a huge thing is we usually have six forwards killing. We have our pairs, so you know who your partner is all the time.”

After sweeping Penn State last weekend, the Gophers (17-7-2, 8-2-0 Big Ten) are a nation-best 10-2-0 since they last faced this weekend’s opponent, Ohio State (13-7-6, 4-5-1). That was at Mariucci Arena on Dec. 2-3 when the teams split a pair of games.

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Pregame Blog: Why Joey Marooney is in tonight against Penn State + Minnesota Line Combinations

Friday's Game Info:

#6/4 Penn State at #7 Minnesota

Date: February 3, 2017
Time: 7:00 p.m. CT
Place: Mariucci Arena
TV: Fox Sports North Plus
Stream: BTN2Go (Free for cable subscribers)
Radio: 1500 ESPN
Nate is covering for tonight: SB Nation College Hockey

Not everything is set in Minnesota's forward lineup as the Gophers hit the stretch run of Big Ten conference play.

"There's some spots to be had right now and that's what we have to try and find out over the next month," said head coach Don Lucia.