The No. 14 University of Minnesota Duluth men's hockey team is set to play longtime rival, the No. 6 University of Minnesota. The in-state matchup starts 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 3 in Minneapolis and continues back home at 7:07 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 4.
HONORING ADAM JOHNSON The Bulldogs will honor former player Adam Johnson this Saturday at AMSOIL Arena with a moment of silence, video tribute, and stick salute pregame. In addition, the team will wear helmet stickers with the initials "AJ" to pay tribute to Johnson.
IN RECENT HISTORY The last four times UMD and UMN have faced off, the Bulldogs have won, including three performances where they won by two or more goals. Since 2015, UMD has won ten of twelve games against UMN (10-1-1).
LAST TIME OUT Most recently, the Bulldogs swept the Gophers in a October 2021 home-and-home series. On Friday, Oct. 22, UMD beat UMN 5-3, including goals by current Bulldogs Blake Biondi, Quinn Olson, and Owen Gallatin. The next night, this time in Duluth, Biondi scored the game winner in a 2-1 victory. Olson is the current Bulldog with the most career points against the Gophers (2-2-4).
POWER PLAY POWERHOUSE UMD continues to stand out on the power play, ranking second nationally in power play goals (12) and third in power play percentage (.387) so far this season. Only Michigan (B1G) ranks higher in both categories (17, .415), with Western Michigan (NCHC) leading in PP percentage (.444). Five of the Bulldogs 12 power play goals have come from sophomore Ben Steeves. He ranks second nationally in power play goals, behind only Northern Michigan's (NCHC) Tanner Latsch (6).
RIVALRY REBOUND Both and UMN enter this weekend on losing streaks, unsuccessful in their last weekend series. The Gophers were swept in the border battle against No. 14/18 Wisconsin. The BIg Ten opponent brought UMN's conference record to 0-2 and ended their reign as first in the USCHO and USA Hockey/The Rink Live polls. They also split their prior series against North Dakota (NCHC), ending Saturday, Oct. 21 with a 2-1 loss. The Bulldogs went into last weekend's series at Cornell undefeated, but left Ithaca, N.Y. with their first losses. Both teams are looking to reset their streak against their ranked rival.
MCMEN'A'MIN Prior to last weekend's series, UMD announced graduate transfer Connor McMenamin would be joining the Bulldogs captaincy group for the rest of the 2023-24 season. He spent the past four seasons at Penn State, including two as an alternate captain. Through his first seven games at UMD, McMenamin has two goals and two assists, scoring twice on Saturday, Oct. 14 versus Northern Michigan. McMenamin will appear in front of a home crowd with the 'A' for the first time this Saturday.
SCOUTING THE GOPHERS Underclassmen lead UMN in offensive production this season. Sophomore Jimmy Snuggerud leads in points (7), followed by classmate Brody Lamb and freshman Oliver Moore (6). All of Snuggerud's points came in the first three games of the Gophers' season. He had back-to-back two-goal performances against St. Thomas to open the season, but has stayed quiet in UMN's three most recent games.
BETWEEN THE PIPES Senior Zach Stejskal and fifth-year Matthew Thiessen have continued to share the crease for the Bulldogs. Last weekend, Stejskal and Thiessen each took a turn in net. It's a completely different story for the Gophers, however. Graduate Justen Close is the only goaltender who has appeared in net for UMN this season, playing (358:10). He played a major role in the Gophers postseason run last season and continues to be the go-to goalie for his team. Both Stejskal and Close have earned conference weekly honors this season.
SOLD OUT CROWD Friday night's game in Minneapolis officially sold out on Monday, the program's first sell out of the season. UMD and UMN will play in front of approximately 10,000 fans.
