The 15-6-1 University of Minnesota hockey team play just once this weekend against the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the annual U.S. Hall of Fame game. They are looking to rebound after losing 3-2 to Northeastern in the Mariucci Classic championship. Before that, the Gophers beat Niagara 5-1 while Notre Dame defeated Boston University 5-2 in the first-ever college hockey game on Versus (now NBC Sports Network).
Minnesota enters this weekend ranked third in the USCHO poll and fifth in the USA Today/USA Hockey poll. Notre Dame mirrors the Gophers in the rankings as the Fighting Irish are fifth in the USCHO poll and third in the USA Today/USA Hockey poll. It's the first time Minnesota has been in a game featuring two top-five teams since playing New Hampshire November 7-8, 2008.
Details for this weekend's series are below.
Game Location: Mariucci Arena, Minneapolis, MN
Game time: Saturday January 7th, 7:00 PM CST
TV Schedule: BTN (Find your channel here)
Announcers: Rob Andringa, Dan Kelly and Mark Strobel
Radio: ESPN 1500
Announcers: Wally Shaver & Frank Mazzocco
For more Gophers coverage, check out The Daily Gopher and for the Notre Dame perspective read One Foot Down.