Articles by Chris Eckes

Minneapolis, MN – With their backs to the wall, the Minnesota Golden Gophers won a gritty game Saturday to give themselves a chance. An equally gutsy performance Sunday evening means the Gopher hockey season isn’t quite over yet. Minnesota (16-14-7 overall) beat Notre Dame (15-15-7) 3-2 in a fierce struggle of a game Sunday. With both teams facing elimination, the Gophers showed adversity, scoring three goals in the 2nd period after going down 1-0 and […]

State College, PA – Just one weekend ago, Minnesota fought back from two third-period deficits in South Bend to steal five of six points from Notre Dame. A week later, the tables turned. Despite being vastly outshot and generally outplayed, the Minnesota Golden Gophers (14-12-6 Overall, 9-7-6-4 B1G) found themselves with one-goal third-period leads both Friday and Saturday against the Penn State Nittany Lions (20-10-4, 12-8-4-1). This time, it was the Gophers’ turn to give […]

South Bend, IN – The second half surge continues for the Maroon & Gold. Many viewed the 19-20 campaign as potentially another lost season for the Gophers, especially after a 5-9-4 start. However, the young team started rounding into form after the break, and the Golden Gophers came bursting out of the gates after Christmas, to the tune of a 9-2-1 record. The latest of these solid results are a win and a tie at […]

Minneapolis, MN – For five periods this weekend, it looked as if nothing could stop the Gophers continuing their winning streak. In the third period Saturday, Minnesota did as much to beat themselves as Michigan State did. A sloppy final period of Saturday’s game put a slight tarnish on an otherwise successful weekend, as the Gophers (13-11-4 Overall, 8-6-4-3 B1G) split with Michigan State (14-13-1, 10-7-1). The split moved both teams into a tie for […]

Madison, WI – Just a few short weeks ago, Minnesota was 5-9-4 at the winter break and staring right down the barrel of another lost season. Funny what change a couple weeks can make. The second half surge continued another weekend, as the Gophers (12-10-4 Overall, 7-5-4-3 B1G) went into the Kohl Center and swept the Wisconsin Badgers (10-15-1, 5-12-1-1) behind another 10-goal offensive outburst. Minnesota has now won five straight and is 7-1-0 since […]

Minneapolis, MN – After a rocky start to the first half of the 2019-2020 season, the Gophers may finally be showing some life. Minnesota (10-10-4 Overall, 5-5-4-3 B1G) put itself in the discussion for the Big Ten conference title with emphatic 6-3 and 4-1 wins over the sixth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes (15-8-3, 8-6-2-0). The biggest issue for the Gophers this season has been scoring goals. That was not the case against typically-stingy Ohio State. Minnesota […]

After a successful Mariucci Classic and another week off, the Minnesota Gophers (7-9-4 Overall, 2-4-4-3 B1G) start up the second half of the season in earnest on January 10th. With the Gophers firmly entrenched in the middle of the pack, both in the conference and nationally, I’ve been thinking about the team itself and about how individual players have met / exceeded my expectations. I’ll be assigning letter grades to everyone that has played a […]

Minneapolis, MN – For the first time in what feels like a very long time, the Minnesota Gophers have come out on top in a clash of the state’s college hockey programs. A 5-2 Saturday win over a strong Bemidji State team and a gratifying 4-1 Sunday triumph over coach Bob Motzko’s former SCSU Huskies capped off a Mariucci Classic victory and, more importantly, a successful start to the second half of the season for […]