Pregame Blog: Minnesota vs Clarkson lines, TV Schedule, Gopher expectations + More

#9 Clarkson (4-1-1, 0-0-0 ECAC) at #7 Minnesota (3-2-0, 1-1-0-0 Big Ten)

Date: October 27, 2017
Time: 7:00 pm CT
Place: 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis, MN
TV: Fox Sports North Plus (AVAILABLE in Twin Cities)
Stream: BTN2Go/Fox Sports Go
Radio: 1130 KTLK-AM (Wally Shaver and Frank Mazzocco)
Nate is covering for tonight: Zone Coverage

Pregame Reading/Listening: 
-Casey Mittelstadt/Scott Reedy updates; Justin Kloos NHL debut
-Gophers' return to North Dakota mixes old and new in college hockey's best rivalry (The Athletic)
-That Gopher Hockey Puckast Episode 5

Greetings from snowy Minnesota where we've gone from 90 degrees to snow in a span of five weeks.

Not having played the Gophers in Minneapolis since 1990 in the old building, Clarkson makes its first visit to Minnesota since the 2013 Ice Breaker. The Golden Gophers are 4-0-0 all-time against the Golden Knights, including a 4-3 comeback OT victory last year at Cheel Arena.

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.

Podcast: That Gopher Hockey Puckast Episode 5

Two guests join me for episode 5 of That Gopher Hockey Puckast.

First, Josh Seguin of College Hockey News helps preview Clarkson before they face the Gopher men at Mariucci Arena. We discuss the Golden Knights' 4-1-1 fast start, #9 rating, Eden Prairie, MN native Jake Kielly's play in net, how the ECAC shapes up and Josh drops some knowledge on new Wisconsin goaltender Kyle Hayton, who previously played 3 seasons at St. Lawrence.

Next, Nicole Haase of USCHO and The Victory Press, among other outlets, lends her expertise. She and I preview #6 Minnesota women hosting #1 Wisconsin at Ridder Arena on Saturday and Sunday. Topics include: The Badgers continuing their run of goalies, what to take from a 10-0-0 start, reloading vs. rebuilding, some first month surprises throughout the college hockey landscape and end with some USA-Canada talk in the lead up to the Olympics.

Those feeling old seeing players they covered now coaching 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:

You can follow Drew on Twitter @covedrew. Nate can be found @gopherstate.

Josh covers ECAC for College Hockey News. His latest there is a feature on Quinnipiac being CHN's Team of the Week. You can find him on Twitter @JoshSeguin24.

Nicole is a D1 and D3 women's hockey columnist for USCHO while also doing features for The Victory Press. Her latest at USCHO deals with Wisconsin's 10-0-0 start. You can find her on Twitter sharing dog and koala photos @nicolehaase.

Feature: Gophers' return to North Dakota mixes old and new for college hockey's best rivalry (The Athletic)

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — As a kid, Ryan Norman never had much use for the North Dakota jersey his father bought him. Being different, he put on Gopher gear to wear at the rink, having developed a bond with that team.

“We had a little bit of a rivalry growing up because I always liked cheering against him,” Norman told The Athletic of his father Todd, who played at UND from 1984-86. “I thought that it was funny to grind his gears a little bit when we would watch those games together as a kid.”

This past weekend the junior forward put on Gopher gear once again, this time a member of the team, as Minnesota made the 300-plus mile trek to North Dakota's Ralph Engelstad Arena for the first time since January 2012. None of the players on either team had participated in one. They didn’t personally know the chilling tales of snowballs thrown at buses. Many of their experiences came from growing up watching games and seeing clips on YouTube.

Five years had passed since Ben Blood and Kyle Rau’s bad-blood handshake was the final image of Gopher-UND games in Grand Forks.

“Everyone getting together at someone’s house, or trying to get tickets to the game and there’s always a brawl in any game it seemed like,” said Jack Ramsey, whose father Mike helped Minnesota win the 1979 national championship against the then-Fighting Sioux. “If your friend was cheering for North Dakota, you hated him for that week. Thinking of Gopher hockey games growing up, North Dakota games were the biggest ones to look forward to.”

Read the rest here (subscription required)

Gophers commit Clayton Phillips traded to Muskegon

Clayton Phillips is now a member of the Muskegon Lumberjacks.

The Edina, MN native and Minnesota defenseman verbal commit was traded Tuesday from the Fargo Force (USHL) to Muskegon. The Lumberjacks received Phillips and a 9th round 2018 USHL Phase 1 pick in exchange for 2nd round 2018 USHL Phase 1 and Phase 2 picks, along with a player to be named later. (Here's a primer as to what Phase 1 and Phase 2 drafts mean.)

Phillips asked to be traded, according to Fargo head coach Cary Eades. Chris Murphy of The Forum reported that Phillips was not in the Force lineup last Thursday nor did he play in either of Fargo's two road wins at Omaha last weekend.

"They've been great to me," Phillips told the author last season about the Fargo coaching staff. "I got my feet wet a little bit (in 2015-16) and this year they've been great to me, putting me in situations and it's been good."

Something changed between then and now. Fargo's leading returning scorer this season, the 5'11", 188 lbs Phillips had three points (1G-2A) in three games. A year ago he finished with 20 points (7G-13A) in 56 regular season games.

Listed at 5'11", 188 lbs, Phillips is an offensive defenseman who likes to join in the rush.

Muskegon has previously been home to Gopher players like Michael Brodzinski, Eric Schierhorn and Rem Pitlick, who found new life with the Lumberjacks when traded.

Philips is expected to arrive at Minnesota in fall 2018 after graduating high school. One of the younger draft eligible players, he is a 2017 3rd round NHL draft pick (99th overall) of Pittsburgh.

Podcast: That Gopher Hockey Puckast Episode 4

Nate and Drew return from Grand Forks to discuss Minnesota's series split with North Dakota with producer Tom Schreier.

They break down Friday's 2-1 win, Eric Schierhorn's 34 saves, Saturday's 4-0 loss, how the Minnesota-North Dakota rivalry is in 2017 and what the experience is covering a game at Ralph Engelstad Arena. They also answer questions on special teams, future college hockey expansion and what makes a successful month for the Gophers.

Those compared to Josh Duhamel 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.

You can follow Drew on Twitter @covedrew. Nate can be found @gopherstate.

Game Story: Major penalty dooms Minnesota against North Dakota (Zone Coverage)

GRAND FORKS, ND --Three goal celebrations later, Minnesota’s penalty finally came to an end.

Christian Wolanin and North Dakota made the most of a five-minute major power play, putting the game out of reach before the second period was five minutes old, and handing the Gophers a 4-0 loss at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

The result snaps a seven-game unbeaten streak for Minnesota (3-3-0, 1-1-0-0 Big Ten) against the Fighting Hawks.

“You come out, and this is a very difficult place to play, and we had an opportunity tonight to win two. It’s hard enough to win one in a weekend, but you are going to come out and have a parade to the penalty box through two periods,” Gopher head coach Don Lucia said. “We didn’t give ourselves a chance. That’s what disappointing, the parade to the penalty box.”

Read the rest here.