MINNEAPOLIS – Gopher Hockey’s sixth year of Big Ten Conference play is set for 2018-19 as the league unveiled its 24-game schedule for the Maroon & Gold on Tuesday afternoon.
The 98th season of Gopher Hockey will see the Maroon & Gold take the ice for the first time under new head coach Bob Motzko, who returns to the University of Minnesota after helping the program claim back-to-back national championships in 2002 and 2003 as an assistant coach.
Next year’s Big Ten schedule starts out with a bang for the Gophers as they open the conference slate with a Border Battle matchup at Wisconsin (Nov. 9-10) before hosting Michigan State (Nov. 23-24) and Ohio State (Nov. 30-Dec. 1). A road series at Michigan (Dec. 7-8) closes out Minnesota’s 2018 Big Ten schedule.
The Maroon & Gold kick off 2019 by hosting Penn State (Jan. 4-5) at 3M Arena at Mariucci followed by road trips to Notre Dame (Jan. 11-12) and Michigan State (Jan. 18-19). Minnesota then hosts back-to-back Big Ten home series with Wisconsin (Jan. 25-26) and Michigan (Feb. 1-2). Minnesota’s final two Big Ten regular-season road series come at Penn State (Feb. 8-9) and at Ohio State (Feb. 15-16).
The Gophers close out the Big Ten regular-season schedule by hosting Notre Dame (Feb. 22-23) as the defending NCAA runner-ups visit 3M Arena at Mariucci.
The 2019 Big Ten Ice Hockey Tournament begins with best-of-three quarterfinal series (March 8-10) followed by single-game semifinals (March 16) and the championship contest (March 23). All games in the Big Ten tournament will be hosted by the high seed of each matchup.
Minnesota’s nonconference schedule will be announced when finalized while game times and broadcast information will be announced at a later date. Schedule subject to change.