Minnesota at Denver LIVE Friday and Saturday
Eight games against eight ranked teams.
That is exactly what faces the Golden Gophers of Minnesota
(13-13-2, 8-10-2) over their final eight games of the season. The
brutal closing stretch begins on Friday with a two-game series at
second ranked Denver University (18-6-4, 12-4-4). Following this
weekend, Minnesota will host ninth ranked Colorado College, travel
to seventh ranked Minnesota-Duluth, and host the third ranked
Wisconsin Badgers to close out WCHA conference play.
Minnesota enters Friday’s game having not played
competitively since January 30th. The Gophers had Super Bowl
weekend off as they recovered from their lengthy two game road trip
to Alaska. They won their first contest 7-4 in Anchorage, only to
fall to the same Alaska Anchorage team 2-1 the next day. The
Gophers will be boosted by the potential return of leading
goal-scorer Mike Hoeffel who has been sidelined with illness since
January 19th. Minnesota will also hope junior forward Jacob Cepis
continues his hot streak after he has recorded a point in each of
his last nine games.
Like Minnesota, Denver have not played a conference game
since January 30th when they defeated WCHA foe North Dakota 4-2.
Led by longtime head coach George Gwozdecky, the Pioneers are just
a point behind both Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud State for first
place in the competitive WCHA conference.
Junior goaltender Marc Cheverie has proven himself as
Denver’s most important player as he leads the nation with
six shutouts. He also ranks second in the country with a 1.96 goals
against average. On the attacking end of the ice, senior forward
Rhett Rakhshani has led the Pioneers with 17 goals and 35 points.
The Pioneers have amassed a 9-2-3 record at home this season,
and have beaten Minnesota in seven of their last nine meetings.
As it stands right now, these two teams would square off in a
best of 3 series during the first round of the WCHA playoffs. Both
teams however, will be hoping to improve their position before
conference tournament play starts on March 13th. Denver will try to
continue their season success against the Gophers having beaten
them 3-0 in their two season meetings. Action starts live on FCS
Atlantic at 9:30pm ET on Friday night.
