West Regional

Big Ten Tournament
The Minnesota Gophers suffered an upset by Ohio State last weekend losing 3-1 in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. The Gophers had a first round bye and faced Ohio State after the Buckeye's 2-1 overtime win against Michigan State. The Gophers lone goal of the night came from Captain Kyle Rau (@KyleRau) assisted by Taylor Cammarata (@Cammy12Scores) and Travis Boyd (@Tboyd93). The Wisconsin Badgers went on to win the Big Ten Tournament defeating Ohio State 5-4 in overtime.

NCAA Tournament
The Gophers are the overall No. 1 seed in this year's NCAA Tournament. They face Robert Morris in the first round of the West Regional this Saturday. The tournament starts tomorrow, March 28, starting with Union and Vermont playing at 2:00pm. There will not be a repeat of last year seeing that Yale did not make the tournament. The tournament finishes up April 12 with the championship game being played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

West Regional
There are four teams in the West Region including the Minnesota Gophers. The No. 2 seed is Notre Dame, the No. 3 seed is St. Cloud State, and the No. 4 seed is Robert Morris. The West Regional is being played at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. If you're still looking to purchase tickets, there are single session tickets and two day event tickets for sale here. They are also offering a deal to students - tickets are $26 (plus TicketFast fee) and Gopher Sports is providing a free bus from Mariucci to the Xcel for students. If you're interested in purchasing student tickets, they are available here.

Open Practice
Tomorrow, March 28, each of the four teams competing in the West Regional will be holding an hour-long, free open practice at the Xcel. Robert Morris kicks it off at 11:30am followed by Minnesota at 12:45pm, St. Cloud State at 2:00pm, and Notre Dame at 3:15pm.

Robert Morris
Robert Morris is 19-17-5 overall this season and are 13-9-5 in their conference. Robert Morris won the Atlantic Hockey tournament to claim their spot in the regional. This Pennsylvania based team has never faced the Gophers. This will also be Robert Morris's first tournament berth.

Saint Cloud State
After the conference switch, Minnesota and SCSU did not play a series against each other this season. The Gophers faced SCSU once this season in the Northstar College Cup. The Gophers topped SCSU 4-1 and went on to win the inaugural Northstar Cup. This was the first time brothers Michael Brodzinski (@Mbrodzinski20) and Jonny Brodzinski (@Brodzyy) faced each other in collegiate play. The Huskies are 21-10-5 overall this season and are 15-6-3 in the NCHC conference. Similar to the Gophers, SCSU claimed the inaugural regular season title in their new conference.

Notre Dame
The Notre Dame Irish are 23-14-2 overall this season and are 9-9-2 in Hockey East conference play. The Gophers faced the Irish earlier this season and split the series. The Gophers lost 4-1 the first night but came back to win 5-4 the next night. Coach Don Lucia will not only be facing off against his alma mater, but his son, Mario Lucia (@MLucia2293) is also currently on the team.

Iron Man
Goaltender Adam Wilcox continues to be the backbone of the Minnesota Gophers. He was recently named the B1G Ten's Goaltender of the Year and the B1G Ten's Player of the year. Wilcox leads the Big Ten Conference in wins at 23 and shutouts at 3 for goaltenders.Wilcox finished with a 13-2-3 conference record and allowed just 30 goals in 18 conference games. Wilcox is one of the primary reasons that the Gophers have been successful this season.

Wilcox is a finalist for the Mike Richter award that will be presented at the 2014 Frozen Four. He is also a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. If you haven't already, vote for him here! You can vote every 24 hours.

Captain Condon
Nate Condon (@Condo16), the senior captain, is nearing the end of his collegiate career. Condon is 7-13--20 this season and 38-60--98 in his career. He remains a mere 2 points away from reaching the milestone of 100 career points. He has skated in 154 consecutive games and 155 games total in his career with the Minnesota Gophers.

Mikey Reilly
Mikey Reilly (@mreilly93) leads all B1G Ten defensemen in goals, assists, and overall points this season. He is 8-21--29 going into this weekend's play. The sophomore defenseman is tied for 6th nationally in points at this point in the season. M. Reilly was recently named the B1G Ten's Defensive Player of the year which is open to both offensive and defensive players in the conference.

Academic All-Big Ten Team
The Minnesota Gophers had 14 student athletes on the Academic All-Big Ten Team this year. To be eligible for this, student athletes must be letterwinners who are in at least their second academic year and carry a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. The 14 Gophers that made the cut included 4 repeat winners. Seniors Nate Condon, Justin Holl (@12JHoll), Tommy Serratore (@Serratore1489), and Michael Shibrowski (@shibby_01) are all repeat winners. In fact, all four of them are three-time Academic All-Big Ten selections. The other Gophers that were selected to the Academic All-Big Ten Team were Seth Ambroz (@Ambroz17), Travis Boyd (two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection), Christian Isackson (@ChristianIsacks), Jake Parenteau (@jacobjames6), Kyle Rau (two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection), Connor Reilly (@CReilly81), Ryan Reilly (@rreilly08), Brady Skjei (@BradySkjei), Sam Warning, and Adam Wilcox.

Good luck to the Gopher Men's Hockey Team as they compete in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament this weekend. They play at 4:30pm on Saturday against Robert Morris. If the Gophers win, they will play the winner of the Notre Dame and SCSU matchup at 6:30pm on Sunday. Both games will be at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. All of the NCAA Tournament games will be broadcast by the ESPN networks. The Gophers will be on ESPN2 Saturday night. The winners of Minnesota/Robert Morris and Notre Dame/SCSU will faceoff on ESPNU Sunday night. Saturday night's game will be streamed (listen) on 1500 ESPN.