Heeeeere’s Johnny! Nation’s best players face off this weekend.
Hottest hand in hockey hits Mariucci: When the #1 Gophers host #5 Boston College this weekend they’ll come face-to-face with the nation’s top-scoring player, Johnny Gaudreau,
Johnny Gaudreau is the nation's top scorer. a great talent with revenge on his agenda.
Gaudreau was not with the then-top ranked Eagles when they were whacked by the Gophers in Minneapolis last season to the tune of 8-1. He was off with the US National team at the World Juniors and was unable to join his BC teammates in time for the December 29th embarrassment at the Mariucci Classic. Despite having hot scorers like senior captain Pat Mullane and 100-career-point man Steven Whitney in their lineup, the Eagles were shot down by a balanced and relentless Minnesota attack that saw six different Gophers score goals.
The rout came barely 24 hours after Boston College bench boss Jerry York notched his record-breaking 925th career coaching win in the semifinal.
That was last season.
This time, while Mullane and Whitney have moved on, Gaudreau is very much in the mix. With 2-5-7 in his first three games, the junior is the NCAA leader in points per game at 2.33. He comes in on a three-game scoring streak.
But that’s just for now. Over his career, Gaudreau has an NCAA-best 1.24 points-per-game average. He is now the 74th player in school history to top the 100-point career plateau (44-58-102). He did it in 82 games.
Gophers paced by Warning, Wilcox: Junior winger Sam Warning has set a torrid pace at the start of the new season. He enters the weekend with nine points (5-4-9) in four games, tied with Northeastern’s Kevin Roy for the NCAA scoring lead. Warning nailed five points in the two games at Bemidji State last weekend. His current four-game scoring streak includes three multiple-point games.
Sophomore goalie Adam Wilcox, meanwhile, is preparing for his 20th and 21st career games against nationally ranked opponents. He’s 11-6-2 against ranked teams and enters this weekend on a four-game winning streak.
Hard to remember that at this time last season, Mike Shibrowski had started two of the first three game and Wilcox was a highly touted but still mostly untested rookie.
Rich Tradition vs. BC: The teams first met in the 1954 NCAA semifinals, a staggering 14-1 Minnesota victory. The Gophers won their first seven outings against the boys from Chestnut Hill before BC finally topped them in the 1985 NCAA tournament.
The Gophers hold a 15-12-2 lead in the all-time series although the Eagles have triumphed in six of the last ten (6-1-3).
TV Coverage: Friday’s 7:00 PM tilt will be broadcast by Big Ten Network with my partner of last weekend, former Gopher defenseman Ben Clymer providing color commentary in the booth.
Sunday afternoon’s 1:00 PM rematch will be on Fox Sports North. Former Gopher Casey Hankinson makes his fist appearance alongside yours truly this season and we’ll feature Clymer between the benches.
Gophers Live with Jamie Hersch and former Gopher coach Doug Woog begins our Sunday coverage at 12:30.
Expect sellout mobs both days and a lot of electricity in the building a these two top-ranked foes lock horns and get to it.
