The Minnesota Gophers and Gopher Hockey are hosting the Day of 10,000 Steps on Sunday, July 26th! With the belief that people are supposed to get 10,000 steps on a daily basis, the Gophers will take a walk through Minnesota's campus and along the Mississippi River. For more information, click
here and to register for the event in advance, click
here.
The Gopher Hockey Team just released their roster for the 2015-2016 season. As always, there's some people that need an introduction and a warm welcome to the program.
Brock Kautz (No. 1) - Rochester, Minnesota
Brock Kautz (
@BroKautz30), a native of Rochester, Minnesota, enters as a freshman goalie. Last season he played for the Minnesota Wilderness of the North American Hockey League. In 23 regular season games, Kautz had a .906 save percentage and gave up 2.33 GAA. Kautz, along with incoming freshman Darian Romanko, won the NAHL playoff championship with the Wilderness this past season. Before that, he played three seasons for the Janesville Jets where he averaged a 0.911 save percentage and 2.71 GAA.
Jack Sadek (No. 2) - Lakeville, Minnesota
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| Getty Images |
Jack Sadek (
@JackSadek16) enters the Gophers as a defenseman. Last season he led the Lakeville North Panthers to an undefeated season (31-0) and the Class 2A Minnesota State Championship. Sadek finished the regular season 5-20--25 and the playoffs/state championship 2-6--8. He was recently drafted to the Minnesota Wild in the seventh round, number 204 overall. Sadek attended the Minnesota Wild development camp last week while at the same time attending his first collegiate courses. Luckily, he has been able to receive advice from former Gophers such as Mikey Reilly (
@mreilly93) and Sam Warning, and current Gopher, Robin Höglund (
@Hoogi29), who all attended the development camp with him. Sadek has also been able to receive advice from his cousin over the yeras, former Gopher Brady Skjei (
@BradySkjei). Sadek took number 2, Skjei's old number.
Brent Gates Jr. (No. 10) - Grand Rapids, Michigan
Brent Gates Jr. (
@brentgatesjr), a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, is an incoming forward that decommitted from Notre Dame last fall. Gates was recently drafted to the Anaheim Ducks in the third round, number 80 overall. Gates spent the last two seasons in the United States Hockey League (USHL) with the Green Bay Gamblers. Last season, Gates finished with 10 goals and 17 assists. Gates's father, also Brent, played baseball for the Minnesota Gophers from 1989-1991.
Curtis Simonson (No. 14) - Grand Rapids, Minnesota
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| Minnesota Magicians |
Curtis Simonson, a native of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, is a defenseman that spent the last season with the Minnesota Magicians of the NAHL. Simonson played his last year of junior hockey eligibility this past season. During the regular season and the playoffs, he played in 54 games and finished the season 3-1--4. Simonson was a late commit, and it was just announced this July that he would play for the Gophers.
Jack Ramsey (No. 16) - Chanhassen, Minnesota
Jack Ramsey (
@Ramsey_16), born in Farmington, Michigan, is an incoming forward for the Gophers. Ramsey played high school hockey for Minnetonka with current Gophers Vinni Lettieri (
@19Lettieri95) and Stevie Johnson (
@Steviej5). He has spent the past two seasons with the Penticton Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). As an assistant captain this past season, Ramsey finished the regular season 17-21--38 and playoffs 3-6--9. Ramsey was drafted in 2014 by the Chicago Blackhawks in the seventh round, number 208 overall. His father, Mike Ramsey, was a member of the 1980 USA Olympic "Miracle on Ice" Team.
Tommy Novak (No. 17) - River Falls, Wisconsin
Tommy Novak (
@paraloschicos15), a forward from River Falls, Wisconsin, will enter Minnesota as a recent Nashville Predators draft pick. Novak was drafted in the third round, number 85 overall. Novak spent the last season in the USHL with the Waterloo Blackhawks. In 46 regular season games, Novak finished 14-34--48. Before playing in the USHL, he played three years of high school hockey for St. Thomas Academy. In 2014, he helped the US win a gold medal at the Five Nations Tournament.
Tyler Sheehy (No. 22) - Burnsville, Minnesota
Tyler Sheehy (
@TSheehy22) will be a forward for the Gophers this upcoming season. The Burnsville native was originally verbally committed to Ohio State University but decided to re-open his search once the Buckeyes fired Mark Osiecki in April 2013. After playing high school hockey for Burnsville, Sheehy went on to play for the Waterloo Blackhawks of the USHL, forgoing his senior season with the Blaze. During his one full season with the Blackhawks in 2013-14, Sheehy finished the regular season 21-28--49 and the playoffs 8-7--15. This past season during March, Sheehy was traded from the Blackhawks to the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL. In the beginning of the season, Sheehy was 15-26--41 with Waterloo and finished the season 2-10--12 with Youngstown.
Ryan Norman (No. 23) - Maplewood, Minnesota
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| Gopher Commits Tumblr |
Ryan Norman (
@Ryan_Norman23), a native of Maplewood, Minnesota, has spent the last three seasons as a forward for the Shattuck St. Mary's prep team. He has led the team in scoring the past two seasons - Norman finished the 2013-2014 season 27-44--71 in 53 games, while finishing the 2014-2015 season 27-38--55 in 54 games. His father, Tom Norman, played college hockey for North Dakota.
Darian Romanko (No. 26) - Shoreview, Minnesota
Darian Romanko (
@dromanko_26) of Shoreview, Minnesota has spent the last two seasons playing as a forward for the Minnesota Wilderness of the NAHL. This past season he finished with 31 goals and 30 assists in 54 regular season games. Romanko was 7-12--19 in the playoffs where he and the Wilderness won the Robertson Cup in the NAHL playoffs. Before playing in the NAHL, Romanko played three years of high school hockey for Mounds View High School.
Eric Schierhorn (No. 37) - Anchorage, Alaska
Eric Schierhorn (
@Eschierhorn29), a native of Anchorage, Alaska, has been the goalie for the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL the past two seasons. During the 2013-2014 season, he had a 0.875 save percentage and 2.94 GAA. During the 43 regular season games of the 2014-2015 season, Schierhorn had a .927 save percentage and gave up 2.51 GAA. Schierhorn was recently named the 2014-2015 USHL Goaltender of the Year. A week before that, he was named USA Hockey's Dave Peterson Goalie of the Year. Schierhorn, who finished the season 26-13-4, set a club record for single-season victories, had more saves (1,352) than any other goalie in the USHL, and was ranked first in the league with his .927 save percentage.
Michael Szmatula - Commerce Township, Michigan
Michael Szmatula (
@MichaelSzmatula) of Commerce Township, Michigan is a transfer from Northeastern University. He played his freshman and sophomore seasons with the Huskies, where he finished as the third leading scorer with 29 points in 36 games. Before playing for Northeastern, Szmatula played for the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the USHL where he finished off his junior career by helping the Fighting Saints win the Clark Cup. He was named MVP of the Clark Cup and was named a USHL First Team All-Star. He also helped Dubuque win its first Anderson Cup in 30 years. Szmatula will sit out the 2015-2016 season per NCAA rules and will have two seasons left of eligibility starting in 2016-2017.
As the summer continues to wind down, it's time to start looking to the 2015-16 Gopher Hockey season. With three seniors, and ten new additions to the roster it should make for an exciting season. To check out the full roster, click
here. Don't forget to register for a "Day of 10,000 Steps!"
