It's too hot for the other kind. So I hereby present a mid-summer alternative to hockey's traditional Hot Stove League. This column is a potpourri of Gopher hockey news, presented while we're still triple digits (in days) from the start of a new season.
NHL Draft coming: A number of eyes will be on current Gophers as well as some prospects as the National Hockey League holds its annual Entry Draft June 26-27 in Sunrise, Fla. The draft takes place at the BB&T Center and is the League's 53rd attempt at sharing the wealth.
A few noteworthy Gopher draft notes: A total of 194 Gophers have been claimed in the NHL Entry Draft including 19 first-rounders. . . . The Gophers' highest draft pick was Erik Johnson (1st overall), who was nabbed by the St. Louis Blues in 2006. . . . The first UM player ever drafted was Wally Olds (5th round, 1969), who never played in the League but jumped to the WHA. . . . Seventeen Gopher hockey alums laced 'em up in the NHL last season. . . . All three members of Minnesota's full-time coaching staff were selected in the NHL Entry Draft: Head Coach Don Lucia (10th round, 1978, Philadelphia); Associate Head Coach Mike Guentzel (seventh round, 1981, New York Rangers) and Assistant Coach Grant Potulny (fifth round, 2000, Ottawa).
Ryan Collins takes his third shot at Team USA: The about-to-be sophomore defenseman from Bloomington will be among the invitees for tryouts for the U.S. National Junior team, to be held at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y., Aug. 1-8. The U.S. team will play Finland and Sweden in the tryout series, which will help select players who will participate in the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship in Helsinki next winter.
He previously helped Team USA win a gold medal at the Under-18 World Championships in 2014.
Collins, who saw action in 32 Gopher games as a freshman (1-8-9, including his first career goal March 14 against Penn State), skated in all five games at last year's World Junior Championships in Toronto and Montreal.
M Club announces newest class of honorees: This is the pinnacle of recognition for any player in any varsity sport who has ever worn the Maroon and Gold. This year's inductees include 14 members from ten different sports, spanning 75 years of UM athletics.
The most recognizable hockey honoree is Buzzy Schneider, who famously helped lead the Herb Brooks-coached Team USA to immortality at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympic Games. Schneider (whose real name, unknown to a lot of fans, is Bill) had previously helped power the Gophers to their first NCAA hockey championship. One of the all-time great scorers, Schneider nailed 50 goals and 115 points during his UM career.
Another great Gopher Olympian, Dick Meredith, will also be honored. Meredith skated on two Olympic teams. They tell me that everyone in college hockey knew who "Dickie" Meredith was, even before the end of his freshman season in 1952-53. He helped the Gophers into the NCAA tournament and was named to the all-tournament team that season. He went on to score two goals for the 1956 silver medal Olympics team, potting another pair of red-lighters for the 1960 Olympic squad that won it all.
Speaking of devastating scorers: A great name from deeper in Gopher hockey history is also a new M Man: Roland DePaul. In the late 1940s, he led the team in scoring for three seasons, lighting the lamp at the sizzling rate of a goal per game from 1946-49. DePaul posted a 69-point season in 1948-49 when he wore the captain's "C."
Women's hockey has new member of M Club, too: Ronda Curtin was the Gophers' first two-time All-American and contributed to Minnesota's first national title in 2000. She earned All-America and All-WCHA honors. Curtin remains the only Gopher player to be named WCHA Defensive Player of the Year twice. She was also WCHA Player of the Year during the memorable 2001-02 season when the Gophers ran the table at the national championships.
One non-hockey note: By the way, I'm delighted to see 1980s baseball standout Brent Gates among the new M Club honorees. As you may know, I also broadcast Gopher baseball for several seasons and he was one of the players who made coming to the ball yard a thrill every day. Gates was an All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year who still owns the school's second-highest career bating average, .387. A first-round pick in the MLB draft, Gates played seven seasons in The Show.
Congratulations to all of this year's M Club honorees. They were, as always, selected by current and former UM athletics administrators, coaches and letterwinners. This year's 14-member class of inductees makes a total of 334 individuals across 27 varsity sports to be honored through the years. The induction ceremony takes place Oct. 15.
DOUG McLEOD is the play-by-play voice of Gopher hockey and other events on FOX Sports North and a longtime voice of UM athletics.
