This is the first of four previews for teams playing in the 2023 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four this week in Tampa, Fla. Click here for all of USCHO’s Frozen Four coverage.
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Season record: 28-9-1
How they got to Tampa: Won the Fargo Regional, beating Canisius 9-2 and St. Cloud State 4-1.
Top players: F Logan Cooley (20-37-57), F Jimmy Snuggerud (21-29-50), F Matthew Knies (21-20-40), F Bryce Brodzinski (19-11-30), D Jackson LaCombe (9-26-35).
Top goalie: Justen Close (25-9-1, 1.99 goals-against average, .928 save percentage).
Why they’ll win the national championship: All season long, Minnesota has repeatedly shown that when the Golden Gophers play their game, they’re nearly impossible to beat. They can score, they can defend, they have solid special teams. Especially in the second half of the season, they’ve shown how to learn from mistakes and progress. They’ve been the top team in the nation for the entirety of the second half of the season partly because of their ability to adapt.
Why they won’t the national championship: The Gophers have struggled on occasion to recover from mistakes within an individual game. Given the tough opposition they’ll face in Tampa and the number of freshmen on their roster, the Gophers are contending with some not insignificant unknowns.
The Golden Gophers are making their second consecutive Frozen Four appearance, and coach Bob Motzko said that last year’s trip taught him a very important lesson.
“Well, I don’t like losing the first game,” he said. “There’s nothing worse than having to get on a plane and leave.”
In their semifinal game against Minnesota State in the 2022 Frozen Four, the Gophers took a 1-0 lead after the first period and watched that evaporate through the next two, losing to the Mavericks 5-1 after having been outshot 32-17.
“Thank goodness we’ve punched our ticket to get back again,” said Motzko, “because we have guys that have been there. We scored the first goal last year and then we never really got off again.”
Much has been made about how young Minnesota is, with 10 freshmen who have seen significant time this season. The most celebrated among them are the team’s scoring leaders, Logan Cooley and Jimmy Snuggerud. Both are first-round draft picks — Cooley with Arizona and Snuggerud with St. Louis — and the pair shared the Big Ten scoring title this season.
As good as they are, though, Motzko said that it’s his veterans who have helped prepare this year’s team for its trip to Tampa. “The key to our team is still our older guys that are back with us,” he said.
Never was that more evident than in Minnesota’s performance in the Fargo Regional. After that disappointing showing against Minnesota State in last year’s Frozen Four, the Gophers learned how to play a managed game to advance this year.
To get to Tampa, Minnesota first beat Canisius 9-2 before defeating St. Cloud State 4-1 in Fargo. In that regional title game, the Gophers outscored the Huskies 3-1 in the final two periods in spite of being outshot 22-16 in that span and having to kill off three penalties to St. Cloud’s two.
The Gophers may also have learned a lesson from their Thanksgiving trip to Arizona State. After splitting with the Sun Devils, Motzko was frank about how the extracurriculars of that trip — a big Thanksgiving dinner at the home of forward Matthew Knies’ family in Phoenix — were distracting to the team. Heading to Tampa, Motzko wants his players to enjoy the experience but focus on hockey.
“There is so much pageantry going on this week, and we’ve got older guys that can guide that,” said Motzko. “Hopefully, there’s a lesson from our guys from a year ago, just how to stay in the moment, that they can lend some leadership down to our young guys. Yes, I want them to enjoy and embrace every moment, but there has to be a time when you shut it all off and it’s back to hockey and it’s back to the task at hand.
“My hope right now is that we have enough leadership that lived that last year that can take the next step.”
As the No. 1 seed, Minnesota is a well-known quantity heading into the Frozen Four. The Gophers have the second-best offense in the nation, the sixth-best defense, the fourth-best power play and the 12th-best penalty kill. Minnesota’s loaded and everyone knows it.
Motzko knows that the Gophers’ first opponent, Boston University, is primed too.
“We’re playing a team of 29 wins in Boston University,” said Motzko, “and it is going to be a tug-of-war match. First-year coach that’s just done a terrific job. You know they’re loaded with talent and they’re on a hot streak right now, too.”
Motzko said that while the Gophers will “dig into” the Terriers to prepare for the match, they’ll be working on what they can control themselves heading into Tampa.
“I love our leadership,” he said. “I love our talent. We’re in a great spot. We’ve just got to get after it, get out there and play our game.”
