Podcast: That Gopher Hockey Puckcast (Episode 26)

On episode 26 of That Gopher Hockey Puckcast, we officially pay our respects to Don Lucia Era.

Minnesota's head coach stepped down after a 19-year run in charge of the Gophers. Drew Cove, Nate Wells and producer Tom Schreier discuss the ramifications of the coaching change, the challenges the next coach (this was recorded prior to the news of Bob Motzko's hiring) will face along with the team losing a pair of players to early departures in Ryan Lindgren and Casey Mittelstadt.

Plus: A giant mailbag that answers several questions, including the Frozen Four and what were Drew and Nate's favorite pieces to write this season.

Those reading their favorite Frank Serratore quotes can directly download here.


As a reminder, if you subscribed to our old podcast, that feed will no longer work. You need to subscribe to the 'Cast In Gold feed wherever you listen to podcasts. Here it is on iTunes.

Plugs and stuff:

-Drew can be found on Twitter @covedrew and covers Minnesota men's hockey, football and softball for the Minnesota Daily.

-Nate can be found here on this website and at The Athletic (as well as every other website if the various links here don't make clear). You can follow him on Twitter @gopherstate and like/subscribe to his Facebook page. His latest story comes from the West Regional and explores the parallels between the 2011 and 2018 UMD teams, right down to Jack Connolly coming in to speak with the latest Bulldogs team to make an St. Paul Frozen Four.

Feature: Questions facing the Gopher program...beyond finding a coach (The Athletic)

“Selfishly, we feel like we have the best hockey job in the country.”

University of Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle was frank during Tuesday’s press conference announcing head coach Don Lucia would be stepping down after 19 years. As questions turned to who would be Lucia’s successor — the third permanent head coach since 1985 — Coyle mentioned he wants someone who understands what the program means to the state.

“We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished and our incredible tradition,” he said. “I look forward to having conversations with the right people and making sure we find the best fit for our student-athletes and our program.”

However, a new head coach is not the only question facing the Gopher program. Whoever gets the job will have some work to do in 2018-19 after a season that ended with a 19-17-2 record, four consecutive road losses to Penn State and the perfect storm of outcomes to knock the team out of the NCAA Tournament.

Here’s a look at some of the other questions facing Minnesota in 2018-19.

Click here to read the rest!

Radio: This Week in College Hockey with Zig Fracassi (February 26, 2018)

I appeared as a guest on "This Week in College Hockey" on Sirius XM's ESPNU Radio channel. Host Zig Fracassi and I discussed Ryan Lindgren, who went from Boston to New York as part of the Rick Nash trade, as a prospect, Minnesota's season, covering a game at Penn State, how the Big Ten looks entering the playoffs and Notre Dame's season.

A subscription is required, but you can find it here - https://www.siriusxm.com/espnuradio

Game Story: Minnesota embarrassed in Happy Valley (Zone Coverage)

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA- Before the game the Roar Zone, Penn State’s student section, unveiled a giant banner that showed a Nittany Lion chasing a Gopher and said “Ski-U-Meh.”

Photo credit: Nathan Wells

“Meh” might be kind.

Alex Limoges was able to tap a Roar Zone poster of an “easy” button against the glass when he scored his team’s fifth goal in a move which summed up the night for Penn State.

Facing a desperate Penn State team needing wins to keep its NCAA Tournament chances alive, the Gophers were anything but Friday night. The Nittany Lions defeated Minnesota 5-1 in front of 6,171 fans, leaving an embarrassed Gopher squad angry at their own effort.

“It’s really disappointing. When you lose a game because you didn’t bring your effort, that’s on you,” sophomore defenseman Ryan Lindgren said. “When you get outshot (61-15) it’s flat out embarrassing. When you don’t bring the effort that’s on us.”

Click here to read the rest!

Podcast: That Gopher Hockey Puckcast Episode 19

On Episode 19, the Gopher offense comes alive in Madison.

Nate Wells, Drew Cove and producer Tom Schreier discuss all of Minnesota's road sweep over Wisconsin. Offense gets a lot of discussion - well deserved with the Gophers winning 7-1 Saturday and seeing several scoring droughts snapped - but Mat Robson and the Minnesota blue line get their fair shake, as well. So does Nick Seeler making his NHL debut, the latest Gopher alum to do so.

They then turn their attention to this weekend's opponent, Ohio State. Plus: The Big Ten race for home ice and Minnesota's NCAA Tournament standing (spoiler: it's good) are topics of discussion before opening the mailbag.

Those trying to move around in the Joe Louis Arena press box without running into anyone can directly download here.



As a reminder, if you subscribed to our old podcast, that feed will no longer work. You need to subscribe to the 'Cast In Gold feed wherever you listen to podcasts. Here it is on iTunes. While you're at it, please leave a review and give us five stars. It helps out the podcast.

Plugs and stuff

-Drew can be found on Twitter @covedrew and covers Minnesota men's hockey and football for the Minnesota Daily. His latest story is on forwards Darian Romanko and Jack Ramsey thriving in their defensive roles.

-Nate can be found here on this website and at The Athletic (as well as every other website if the various links here don't make clear). You can follow him on Twitter @gopherstate and like/subscribe to his Facebook page.

Gopher Hockey Notebook: Potomak plans, Lindgren speech, Novak status & more

Heralded freshman forward Amy Potomak has enrolled at the University of Minnesota. Unfortunately for Gopher fans, they will have to a while longer to see #16 skate in a game.

Potomak will take classes and practice with fifth-ranked Minnesota while continuing to redshirt, The Gopher Hockey Blog has learned. This allows her to keep a full four years of playing eligibility and get an extra semester of school. The 18 year-old will be a redshirt freshman in 2018-19 provided she doesn't skate in a game.

Potomak missed the first semester as one of 28 players centralized in Calgary with the Canadian Olympic team. Cut from the team in November, the Aldergrove, British Columbia native took her time with Gophers head coach Brad Frost making a decision. In the interim, she skated with teammate Lindsay Agnew on Canada's National Women's Development Team in the Nations Cup.

A side effect of the decision is that she will spend a semester with the team without older sister Sarah. The older Potomak, also cut from the Canadian Olympic team, will continue to redshirt by spending the semester in her native Canada.

Sarah will be a redshirt junior next season.

Game Story: Minnesota's road woes continue against St. Cloud State (Zone Coverage)

ST. CLOUD, Minn.- Missing equipment, missing players and missing opportunities against St. Cloud State, the road continues to plague Minnesota.

The Gophers fell to 1-8-1 in true road games this season, losing 5-2 to the top-ranked Huskies in St. Cloud and matching the number of games the team lost away from Mariucci Arena in 2016-17.

“Playing on the road you have to come out and really dominate the first ten minutes,” said Minnesota junior Brent Gates Jr., who finished with a goal and an assist. “If you come out and let the fans in the game — especially in an environment like this — the first 10 minutes, it’s going to be tough to battle back. You’re going to be chasing the game.”

Mikey Eyssimont twice scored Saturday for St. Cloud State (13-2-3, 7-2-1-0 NCHC) in the first two minutes of a period to help keep the Gophers at bay at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

“That was as good as our team has played,” Huskies head coach Bob Motzko said. “We were on top of pucks and our defenseman were real solid.”

Click here to read the rest!

BLOG: Tyler Nanne at forward, Mittelstadt/Lindgren status, playing MN teams & more

Before the blog begins, here's a reminder this weekend's series is Saturday/Sunday. Minnesota and St. Cloud State do not play tonight. This is due to Huskies head coach Bob Motzko also being the US World Juniors head coach and both teams having players in the tournament. 

Don't worry. I'll remind you again at the bottom. 

It wouldn't be another snap decision. According to head coach Don Lucia after Saturday's 3-1 win over Arrmy, the only way Tyler Nanne would be playing forward this weekend is if he spent the week practicing as a forward.

That's exactly what Nanne has been doing.

The sophomore defenseman has been practicing on the right wing in preparation for Minnesota's series against St. Cloud State. Known for his offense from the blue line, he had been a forward at Edina until his junior year of high school.

"We'll never know until the weekend, but wherever I end up come the weekend I'll play it and play hard," he said.

Podcast: That Gopher Hockey Puckcast Episode 12 (with Chris Peters of ESPN)

On episode 12 of That Gopher Hockey Puckcast we discuss the World Juniors with our first ever repeat guest.

Chris Peters, now at ESPN, comes back on the show to help Nate, Drew and producer Tom Schreier break down the United States' 2018 preliminary World Juniors roster. He highlights the two Gophers on the squad, competition battles to follow, goaltenders, players to keep an eye on, what the US needs to do to repeat and his take on the US-Canada game. Plus: Chris breaks some United States of Hockey news.

Afterwards, Nate and Drew preview the Ohio State series.

Those wanting to skip the line at Raising Cane's can directly download here.


As a reminder, if you subscribed to our old podcast, that feed will no longer work. You need to subscribe to the 'Cast In Gold feed wherever you listen to podcasts. Here it is on iTunes. While you're at it, please leave a review and give us five stars. It helps out the podcast.

Plugs and stuff

-Chris Peters works for ESPN. Much of his work appears on ESPN Insider (subscription required) although you can find him daily on the main ESPN site. Did I mention ESPN? He'll be covering the World Juniors live in Buffalo and is a must-follow for the December 26-January 5 tournament on Twitter @chrismpeters.

-Drew can be found on Twitter @covedrew and covers Minnesota men's hockey and football for the Minnesota Daily. This week he wrote a feature on Tyler Nanne returning to Ohio State, a school he attended while not playing due to a heart condition.

-Nate can be found here on this website and at The Athletic (as well as every other website if the various links here don't make clear). You can follow him on Twitter @gopherstate and like/subscribe to his Facebook page.

Casey Mittelstadt and Ryan Lindgren named to US 2018 WJC Preliminary roster

Minnesota freshman forward Casey Mittelstadt and sophomore defenseman Ryan Lindgren are among the 28 players named Monday (December 5, 2017) to the United States' 2018 World Juniors preliminary roster.

Featuring the best players in the world under 20, the 2018 World Juniors take place December 26, 2017-January 5th, 2018 in Buffalo, New York.

Pregame Blog: 3 Thoughts From Friday, Minnesota-Michigan State Line Saturday Combinations & More

Michigan State (4-3-0, 0-1-0-0 Big Ten) at #5 Minnesota (6-3-0, 2-1-0-0 Big Ten)

Date: November 4, 2017
Time: 4:00 pm CT - NOTE THE EARLY TIME
Place: 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis, MN
TV: Fox Sports North
Stream: BTN2Go/Fox Sports Go
Radio: 1130 KTLK-AM (Wally Shaver and Frank Mazzocco)
Nate is covering for tonight: Zone Coverage and The Athletic

Last night's recap: Ryan Lindgren, Minnesota D shine in win
Pregame Listening: That Gopher Hockey Puckast Episode 6

Game Story: Ryan Lindgren, Minnesota D shines in 3-1 win over Michigan State (Zone Coverage)

MINNEAPOLIS- At the same end of the Mariucci Arena rink where he had to be helped off the last time Michigan State was in town, a healthy Ryan Lindgren spun, fell to the ice and got back up. The Gopher sophomore defenseman could celebrate this time around.

He had scored a goal.

Minnesota (6-3-0, 2-1-0-0 Big Ten) added two more Friday and get help from its defense in a 3-1 victory over the Spartans.

“I thought our D were active tonight,” said Minnesota head coach Don Lucia. “They were much more assertive in their play, something we’ve really tried to get them more involved from an offensive standpoint so it was nice to see them score the goal.”

It began early Friday on No. 5 Minnesota’s first shot of the game. Lindgren and junior defenseman Jack Sadek, part of a Gopher blue line that had two total goals this season, combined for the team’s opening goal 3:22 into the game.

Lindgren, whose freshman season ended last March when he broke his leg trying to beat out an icing call against MSU’s Taro Hirose, hustled to the net.

Click here to read the rest!

Tyler Sheehy 1 of 2 unanimous picks on Big Ten Preseason Watch List

Gopher junior captain Tyler Sheehy is one of two players chosen by all seven Big Ten coaches on the annual preseason watch list.

The reigning Big Ten Player of the Year was joined by three teammates on the watch list. Minnesota, meanwhile, was picked to five-peat in the conference by winning its seventh consecutive regular season title dating back to 2011-2012.

Joined by Wisconsin sophomore forward Trent Frederic as a unanimous selection, Sheehy's 53 points as a sophomore (20G-33A) were the most by any Minnesota player since Ryan Potulny in 2005-2006.

In addition to Sheehy, freshman forward Casey Mittelstadt, sophomore defenseman Ryan Lindgren and sophomore forward Rem Pitlick were among the 17 players named to the preseason watch list. Mittelstadt, one of three freshmen named, comes in as the 8th overall draft pick in June's NHL Draft. Lindgren was one of the top young defenders in the conference last year before his season was cut short due to injury and Pitlick finished strong, scoring 11 goals over the final two months of the season while playing on a line with Sheehy

Don Lucia's team picked to finish first in the conference in preseason marks the second consecutive year the Gophers were chosen to win and third time in the five seasons Big Ten has sponsored men's hockey.

Newomer Notre Dame was chosen second coming off of a season where the Fighting Irish made the Frozen Four. Wisconsin is third followed by the team who dashed the Badgers' NCAA hopes, Penn State. Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State round out the list.

Preseason Watch List

Quinn Hughes, D, Michigan
Will Lockwood, F, Michigan
Josh Norris, F, Michigan
Ryan Lindgren, D, Minnesota
Casey Mittelstadt, F, Minnesota
Rem Pitlick, F, Minnesota
Tyler Sheehy, F, Minnesota***
Jake Evans, F, Notre Dame
Jordan Gross, D, Notre Dame
Andrew Oglevie, F, Notre Dame
Mason Jobst, F, Ohio State
Matthew Weis, F, Ohio State
Peyton Jones, G, Penn State
Denis Smirnov, F, Penn State
Trent Frederic, F, Wisconsin***
Kyle Hayton, G, Wisconsin
Cameron Hughes, F, Wisconsin
***Unanimous Selection

Coaches Poll

1. Minnesota
2. Notre Dame
3. Wisconsin
4. Penn State
5. Ohio State
6. Michigan
7. Michigan State

BLOG: How to get your offseason hockey fix & watch Gophers all at once

Friday and Saturday marked the midpoint of Minnesota's offseason. Each passing day brings us closer to the start of a new year, so it should be no surprise that mid-July features players ramping up in preparation.

In addition to ongoing NHL development camps, several University of Minnesota players are spending their July and August participating in Da Beauty League. Featuring Twin Cities-based NHLers, minor leaguers and collegians playing 4x4 hockey at Braemar Arena in Edina, the league's second season begins today (July 12, 2017) and runs through August. For three games a night (5:10 pm, 6:35 pm, 8:00 pm) at $10 it's a decent value.

2018 WJC: Nate Knoepke, Ryan Lindgren and Casey Mittelstadt participating in US World Junior Summer Showcase

Minnesota incoming freshmen Casey Mittelstadt and Nate Knoepke will try to match sophomore defenseman Ryan Lindgren's accomplishment: Making an American U-20 World Juniors team.

All three will take their first step next month. The Gopher trio join 39 other players named Tuesday to the United States' 2017 World Junior Summer Showcase. Among the under-20 group are 25 forwards, 13 defensemen and 4 goalies.

The event, formerly known as the National Junior Evaluation Camp, takes July 29-August 5th in Plymouth, Michigan and brings in three other top countries in Canada (2017 silver medalist), Finland (2016 gold medalist) and Sweden (fourth place each of the past three tournaments). Each of the countries will scrimmage against one another. Besides getting experience, coaches have an opportunity to decide who to take for December camps and eventually the 2018 WJC.

In the case of Team USA, players initially will be split into two teams before cuts are made in camp.

Tyler Sheehy named 2017-18 Gopher Hockey Captain

(Author's note: Been extremely busy of late so I'm doing some catching up on news that happened last week/early this week. Thanks all for being patient and understanding.)

First team All-American forward Tyler Sheehy can add University of Minnesota team captain to his growing list of honors.

Needing to replace its entire leadership core for the third time in six seasons, Minnesota announced Monday (April 24, 2017) that Sheehy would be the next player to wear a "C" for the Gopher men's hockey team.

BLOG: Penn State may be without leading scorer Andrew Sturtz against Gophers + More

Like Minnesota, Penn State may be without one of its top players Friday night in Detroit when the Nittany Lions face the Gophers in a Big Ten semifinal.

PSU leading goal scorer Andrew Sturtz left in the first period of Thursday’s 4-1 win over Michigan. He did not return following a collision with Wolverines forward Alex Kile and Penn State used 11 forwards the rest of the night.

“That’s above my pay grade. I’m going to find out later on,” head coach Guy Gadowsky responded when asked about Sturtz’s status for Friday.

Sturtz has 21 goals in 33 games this season, including one against Minnesota in the four games between the two teams.

Ryan Lindgren out for season

(Author's note: I wrote this Monday for a publication that ended up not using it. Putting it up on the blog now just for posterity.)

Freshman defenseman Ryan Lindgren will undergo surgery later this week and miss the rest of the season with a leg injury suffered Saturday.

“Ryan was having a really great year for us as a freshman, and you hate to see such a promising season end this way,” Minnesota head coach Don Lucia said in a statement Monday. “It’s tough to lose him for the postseason, but we have a great medical team here at the University of Minnesota, and we know we’ll have him back soon.”

Puck Dynasty Podcast: Gophers eyeing a #1 seed at the NCAA Tournament (Episode 18)

Puck Dynasty is a weekly podcast covering the University of Minnesota men’s hockey team and college hockey. Nathan Wells (SB Nation College Hockey/various outlets), Declan Goff (1500 ESPN/GoMN Sports) and Drew Cove (Minnesota Daily) discuss the latest news, analysis and give their opinions about the Gophers and sport as a whole.

This week the crew are split up with Drew calling in to discuss Minnesota's win and tie against Michigan State. They break down the good, the bad and losing Ryan Lindgren to a season-ending leg injury Saturday.

Twitter questions on this weekend's Big Ten tournament in Detroit get answered, along with what Penn State, Ohio State and Wisconsin need to do to get off the bubble to make the NCAA Tournament. Minnesota's quest for a #1 seed ends up getting some air time as well.

Towards the end of the episode Drew and Declan disagree on what is the best Gopher jersey while Nate explains why he enjoys watching Denver and was surprised to see Jake Bischoff not unanimously named an all-Big Ten first team player.

Somewhere in between Tyler Sheehy gets overlooked despite being the Big Ten Player of the Year.

Those going through all 700K NCAA Tournament scenarios can directly download at 1500 ESPN, Podcast One or subscribe on iTunes.

Follow Nate (@gopherstate), Declan (@dexstweets) and Drew (@drewcove48) on Twitter. If you like what you hear, be sure to give it a five star review on whatever platform you consume podcasts.

Show notes:

-For NCAA Tournament possibilities, click here.

-For predicting which teams get into the NCAA Tournament, click here.

Tyler Sheehy named Big Ten player of the Year; 6 Gophers earn honors

(Portions of this article originally appeared at SB Nation College Hockey)

On Friday, Minnesota won its fourth straight Big Ten regular season championship. On Monday, the Gophers had four of the six spots on the All-Big Ten First Team, led by Big Ten Player of the Year Tyler Sheehy.

Sheehy, senior forward Justin Kloos, senior defenseman Jake Bischoff (New York Islanders) and sophomore goaltender Eric Schierhorn were all named to the All-Big Ten First Team along with Ohio State forward Mason Jobst and Penn State defenseman Vince Pedrie.