5 Greatest College Hockey Programs of All Time (5. Minnesota Gophers)

[BleedGopher]

per Joe:

5. Minnesota Golden Gophers​

Yes, I know. Why are the Gophers fifth?

The Gophers are arguably the most well-known college hockey program in the country and have bred some of the greatest college hockey players of all time. Minnesota is home to NCAA record four Hobey Baker winners, the most recent being current NHL defenseman Jordan Leopold. Gopher alumni include players such as Leopold, Alex Goligoski, Phil Kessel, Thomas Vanek and legends like Herb Brooks and John Mariucci.

However, the Gophers have not been as successful in the NCAA tournament as some of their rivals. Minnesota has won five NCAA championships, which is tied for fifth most all time. Unfortunately for Gopher fans, two of those teams with more titles—North Dakota and Wisconsin—are the program's biggest rivals.

Lately, the Gophers seem to have placed more emphasis on individual talent than on building a cohesive team.

Their roster is loaded with excellent recruits, but few wear the maroon and gold sweater for all 4 years. Perhaps by recruiting for the long haul (instead of trying for an immediate fix) the Gophers can return the elite winning tradition back to Minneapolis.


Go Gophers!!

 

[bonin21]

Which Joe? If he puts uw ahead of the Gophers just because of one more title it's clear that's the only thing he's looking at. I could agree with being slotted 4th behind DU, UND, and UM.

His last two paragraphs look like they were written a few years ago. My guess is this person does not pay that much attention to the team and to college hockey.

 

[Gophers1992]

Which Joe? If he puts uw ahead of the Gophers just because of one more title it's clear that's the only thing he's looking at. I could agree with being slotted 4th behind DU, UND, and UM.

His last two paragraphs look like they were written a few years ago. My guess is this person does not pay that much attention to the team and to college hockey.

No reasonable college hockey historian would have us behind Wisconsin. I would also strongly argue we should be ahead of Denver but at least I could see the rationale for that one. I think our edge in win %, tournament wins, FFs, etc. should outweigh Denver's edge in one and done NCAA championships but again at least there's some logic for Denver getting the nod with 4 additional titles.

 

[TNGophfan]

BC and BU probably have arguments as well.

 

[UncleSam'sMisguidedChild]

BC and BU probably have arguments as well.

BC...no way. They've been good for most of the last 25 years. They were almost worthless before Jerry York arrived. Gophers, North Dakota, Michigan, BU, Denver, and UW are almost indistinguishable save for Nattys, which of course is a one and done format. Michigan did their best work in the 50's and 60's, not much since. UW is great, then terrible, then great again, then awful, etc. North Dakota, Denver, and the Gophers have, to me, seemed to be the most consistent winners through the decades.

 

[Gophers1992]

UW is a half-step behind the rest of that group too. They just have a high amount of titles relative to their overall success.

 

[bonin21]

Where is the (surely half assed) article...

 

[Gophers1992]

Also I don't think we have the Hobey record - I thought UMD does?

 

[Gophers1992]

"Few wear the maroon and gold for 4 years" is an absolute garbage and lazy comment as well.

 

[Gophers1992]

I just found the article. It was written in 2011 first of all. And yes it is half assed to say the least.

EDIT: for some reason I'm not able to post the link, but if you copy the contents of Bleed's post into google it will bring you to a crappy bleacherreport article.