BleedGopher
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per FSN:
After playing in the national championship last season, the University of Minnesota men's hockey team entered this year ranked No. 1 in the country.
The Gophers are now unranked midway through the season.
It's been quite a fall from grace for Minnesota, viewed as a college hockey powerhouse. The Gophers won back-to-back national championships in 2002 and 2003 and have been in the running for several others since then -- including last year when they went to the Frozen Four, losing in the final. And as Minnesota entered the 2014-15 season ranked No. 1, many believed the Gophers would once again be a national power.
Yet with 14 regular-season games remaining, Minnesota finds itself outside of the USCHO.com top 20 poll for the first time since 2011. And in the all-important Pairwise rankings -- which mimics the selection of the 16 NCAA tournament teams -- the Gophers are 20th.
While there are still plenty of games to be played, Minnesota knows the clock is ticking if it indeed hopes to get back into the postseason race.
"If you start panicking, that's not going to help," said Gophers senior defenseman Ben Marshall. "There's a lot of games left. But at the same time, it's got to happen this weekend."
http://www.foxsports.com/north/stor...sota-golden-gophers-postseason-chances-012815
Go Gophers!!
After playing in the national championship last season, the University of Minnesota men's hockey team entered this year ranked No. 1 in the country.
The Gophers are now unranked midway through the season.
It's been quite a fall from grace for Minnesota, viewed as a college hockey powerhouse. The Gophers won back-to-back national championships in 2002 and 2003 and have been in the running for several others since then -- including last year when they went to the Frozen Four, losing in the final. And as Minnesota entered the 2014-15 season ranked No. 1, many believed the Gophers would once again be a national power.
Yet with 14 regular-season games remaining, Minnesota finds itself outside of the USCHO.com top 20 poll for the first time since 2011. And in the all-important Pairwise rankings -- which mimics the selection of the 16 NCAA tournament teams -- the Gophers are 20th.
While there are still plenty of games to be played, Minnesota knows the clock is ticking if it indeed hopes to get back into the postseason race.
"If you start panicking, that's not going to help," said Gophers senior defenseman Ben Marshall. "There's a lot of games left. But at the same time, it's got to happen this weekend."
http://www.foxsports.com/north/stor...sota-golden-gophers-postseason-chances-012815
Go Gophers!!