GOPHERS MEN'S HOCKEY PREVIEW
Gophers men's hockey ready for Notre Dame and its Minnesota connections
Trevor Janicke, a senior from Maple Grove, leads the Irish with 15 points. His brother, Justin, has four goals and two assists.
January 12, 2023 at 11:07PM
6 p.m. Friday, 5 p.m. Saturday at Notre Dame * TV: Peacock. Radio: 103.5-FM/1130-AM
Gophers update: The No. 2 Gophers (16-6-0, 10-2-0 Big Ten) split a home-and-home nonconference series with St. Cloud State last weekend. Minnesota lost 3-0, including two empty net goals on Saturday in St. Cloud, and won 2-1 in overtime at home on Sunday on Logan Cooley's goal with 18 seconds remaining in overtime. ... The victory was the 100th with the Gophers for coach Bob Motzko. ... The Gophers are third in Division I in scoring, averaging four goals per game. Jimmy Snuggerud and Matthew Knies lead the Gophers with 12 goals. Cooley has 11 goals. ... The Gophers swept Notre Dame 4-1 and 3-0 on Nov. 4-5 in Minneapolis. ... The Gophers split two games at Notre Dame last season ... winning 5-1 before losing 3-2 in overtime.
Notre Dame update: The Irish (10-10-2, 5-6-1 Big Ten) are coming off a series split at Wisconsin last weekend (losing 2-0, winning 6-4). ... The Irish are 7-3-1 at home this season. ... Trevor Janicke, a senior from Maple Grove, leads them with 15 points (six goals, nine assists). Janicke's brother Justin, a sophomore, has contributed four goals and two assists. Their father, Curtis, played for the Irish from 1989-93. ... Junior Ryder Rolston, son of former Wild center Brian Rolston, has 14 points (six goals, eight assists). ... Goalie Ryan Bischel, a senior from Medina, has a 2.57 GAA and .924 save percentage. Bischel has played all but 41 minutes of Notre Dame's 22 games.
Neal: Johnson, starting over again with Gophers roster, doesn’t have to go backward
Avoiding “disaster” status this season is possible with the U's group of short-timers, and any more than that would be celebrated as overachieving.
