The Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey team is the college ice hockey team at the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota. They are members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I ice hockey. The Golden Gophers have won five NCAA national championships, in 1974, 1976, 1979, 2002 and 2003. The team also shared the 1929 National Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship with Yale. and captured the national Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) championship for amateur hockey in 1940. Under current head coach Don Lucia, the Gophers have earned a spot in the NCAA tournament in eight seasons during a nine-year time span, including five number 1 seeds and three appearances in the Frozen Four. The team's main rivalries are with the University of Wisconsin and the University of North Dakota, although several other schools claim Minnesota as their archrival.
For much of the team's recent history, there has been a strong recruiting emphasis on Minnesota-born high school and junior hockey players, as opposed to out-of-state, Canadian, or European players. This helped high school ice hockey grow in Minnesota, particularly under Hall of Famer John Mariucci, who refused to recruit players from Canada and under whom high school ice hockey grew significantly in Minnesota over tenfold, and later under coach Doug Woog, who only recruited from Minnesota. This practice has been a source of pride for the team and its fans, because it can claim that its success is the result of home-grown talent.
Read more about Minnesota Golden Gophers Men's Ice Hockey: Arenas, Season-by-season Results, Trophies, Coaches
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