Ignatius L Hoops
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Gophers Close Out Regular Season with Border Battle - University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota and Wisconsin will face off for the 301st time on Friday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
gophersports.com
AGAINST THE BADGERS
In a Border Battle rivalry that dates back to the inaugural season of Gopher Hockey in 1922, Minnesota holds a 176-100-24 all-time record against Wisconsin while the two teams have met 300 times entering the weekend. The Big Ten opponents split a pair of games earlier this season in Madison (a 3-4 overtime loss and a 4-1 win for Minnesota).
SATURDAY IS FOR THE SENIORS
Minnesota will honor the senior class of Ben Brinkman, Grant Cruikshank, Matt Denman, Blake McLaughlin, Sammy Walker and graduate student Sam Rossini following Saturday night's regular-season finale at 3M Arena at Mariucci. The Class of 2022 owns a 79-49-11 record including a mark of 45-18-0 over the last two seasons. Minnesota is 10-1-2 in regular-season home finales since the start of the 2007-08 season.
Grant Cruikshank's from a speedskating family, but different path led him to Gophers men's hockey
The son of former Olympic legend Bonnie Blair uses his speed to torment Gophers' opponents.
www.startribune.com
At the young age of 5 or 6, Gophers forward Grant Cruikshank got a taste of the family business of speedskating and decided it might not be for him.
His mother, Bonnie Blair Cruikshank, is a five-time Olympic gold medalist. His father, Dave Cruikshank, is also a former Olympic speedskater, and his sister, Blair, is an Olympic hopeful.
Grant, though, bailed after getting lined up in a race with mixed age groups competing at the same time.
"He looked at this kid on the starting line who was head and shoulders bigger than him," Bonnie said. "He was like, 'Whoa! I'm not going to skate against THAT guy.' … It was like, 'Forget this. I'm just going to stick with hockey.' "