Gopher men’s hockey #1 in polls for first time since 2014

MINNEAPOLIS – For the first time in more than six years, the Gopher men’s hockey program sits on top of both national men’s Division I hockey polls as the Maroon & Gold head into the holiday break.

Minnesota (8-0-0 overall, 8-0-0-0-0-0 Big Ten) jumped to the top of the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll with 34 of 40 first-place votes and 786 total points and later moved to the top spot on the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine 2020-21 Men’s College Hockey Poll with 498 points and 23 first-place votes.

It is the first time the Gophers have been ranked first by either poll since Nov. 10, 2014.

In the program’s 100th season, the Gophers are off to the team’s best start since the 1987-88 campaign with eight-straight wins and four-straight Big Ten series sweeps. Minnesota has not trailed this season and has outscored its opponents 27-8 on the year. The Maroon & Gold have actually won 10-straight games dating back to the end of the 2019-20 campaign – the program’s longest winning streak since the 1995-96 season (11 games).

Minnesota has now completed the first segment of its 2020-21 schedule. The Big Ten Conference will announce the remainder of the schedule at a later date.