Gophers Men's Hockey to enter season ranked in top-10
Minnesota Golden Gophers' hockey is right around the corner and on Monday, the USCHO released its preseason rankings.
Leading the way in the preseason poll is the Denver Pioneers. The Pioneers entering their eighth season under head coach David Carle are coming off their second national championship in their years.
Boston College, Boston University, Michigan State, and North Dakota round out the top five.
That being said, the Golden Gophers are the first team on the outside of the top five, ranked No. 6 in the poll, making them the No. 2 ranked Big Ten program ahead of this season.
Michigan, Quinnipiac, Cornell, and Wisconsin follow the Gophers in the top 10. Notre Dame also made the top 20, coming in at No. 18. The only Big Ten program to not be ranked inside the preseason poll is Penn State.
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The Gophers will take on St. Cloud State at St. Cloud on October 5 in an exhibition matchup.
They'll then begin their 2024 season on October 11 in Las Vegas against Air Force as part of the 2024 Ice Breaker. They'll also take on the winner of UMass and Omaha on October 12.
The Golden Gophers will then travel to Duluth for a weekend set against the Bulldogs on October 18 and 19 before finally getting to play their home opening series on October 25 against St. Thomas.
They'll start Big Ten play a few days later on November 1 against Penn State at home.
The Gophers are coming off a 23-11-5 season in which they made the NCAA Sioux Falls Regional, defeating Omaha 3-2 before losing two days later to Boston University 6-3. This upcoming season, the Gophers will look to make their fifth straight NCAA Tournament after missing three straight seasons from 2017-18 through 2019-20.
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