Michigan
Minnesota
Michigan to Head to Minnesota for B1G Weekend Series
1/10/2018 8:06:00 PM | Ice Hockey
THIS WEEK
Friday, Jan. 12 -- at No. 9 Minnesota (Minneapolis, Minn.), 7 p.m. CT
Live Stats | Listen | Watch | FS Detroit
Saturday, Jan. 13Â -- at No. 9 Minnesota (Minneapolis, Minn.), 7 p.m. CT
Live Stats  | Listen | Watch | FS Detroit Plus
• Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
• Complete Game Notes (PDF): Jan. 12
• Complete Game Notes (PDF): Jan. 13
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan ice hockey team is set to face off with No. 9 Minnesota at 3M Arena at Mariucci this weekend (Jan. 12-13) in a Big Ten Conference showdown. Both contests will be televised, with Friday's being shown on FS Detroit and Saturday on FS Detroit Plus.
The Minnesota Series
Michigan and Minnesota meet for the 276th time since 1923, with the Golden Gophers holding a 136-123-16 record in the all-time series. The two teams first met on Jan. 23, 1923, when Michigan fell to Minnesota, 2-0. Minnesota is U-M's second-oldest opponent behind only Wisconsin. In Minneapolis, Michigan holds a 45-78-8 all-time record against Minnesota. At home, the Wolverines have fared better with a record of 67-50-8.
In Ann Arbor earlier this season (Friday, Nov. 10), Michigan defeated the then-ranked No. 4 Gophers, 5-4 in overtime then settled for a 6-6 tie (shootout loss) the following night.
The "DMC" line of Dexter Dancs (one goal, two assists), Cooper Marody (4A) and Tony Calderone (3G, 1A) combined for 11 points (4G, 7A) during the weekend series.
Scouting the Golden Gophers
The Gophers are led by head coach Don Lucia, who is in his 19th season behind the bench for Minnesota. Lucia holds an all-time record of 438-231-71 through 18 seasons with Minnesota. In his 30 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Lucia has a record of 717-386-100. Previously, Lucia was the head coach at Alaska Fairbanks and Colorado College before arriving in Minneapolis in 1999. At Minnesota, Lucia has led Minnesota to two national championships, eight Big Ten regular-season titles and four conference playoff crowns.
Minnesota enters the weekend against Michigan ranked No. 9 in the country with a record of 13-10-1. Most recently, the Golden Gophers split a series against then-No. 1 ranked St. Cloud State.
Leading Minnesota
Minnesota's offense is led by Sophomore Rem Pitlick, who will head into the weekend with 21 points (9G, 12A). In addition to Pitlick, junior Tommy Novak and freshman Casey Mittlestadt have recorded 18 (2G, 16A) and 17 (5G, 12A) points, respectively.
In net, the Gophers are led by junior Eric Schierhorn, who has started 21 games so far this season. Schierhorn has gone 11-9 with 530 saves, good for a .911 save percentage, and has allowed 2.46 goals per game.
Last Weekend's Home and Home
The Wolverines dropped both contests against No. 1 Notre Dame last weekend by identical 2-1 scores in Ann Arbor and South Bend.
Senior Tony Calderone and Freshman Josh Norris were the only two Wolverines to record goals during the weekend, while sophomore Hayden Lavigne had a combined 59 saves over the two-game span.
Red, White and Go Blue
U-M's Quinn Hughes, Will Lockwood and Josh Norris competed at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo, New York, from Dec. 26, 2017-Jan. 5, 2018. The trio becomes the 45th, 46th and 47th Wolverines -- 39 for the United States, seven for Canada and one for Sweden -- to have played in the WJC.
The United States came away with the bronze medal after defeating the Czech Republic on Jan. 5. Sweden was awarded the silver medal, while Canada came away with the gold medal.
Minnesota's Ryan Lindgren and Casey Mittelstadt were also members of Team USA's bronze-medal team at the 2018 Word Juniors Championships.
GOALLL!!!
Michigan ranks 13th in the nation in goals per game, averaging 3.25 goals over its first 20 games. Captain Tony Calderone ranks tied for fourth in the nation in goals per game at 0.75.
Block It Out
Michigan ranks fourth nationally with an average of 15.05 blocked shots per game and 10th in total blocked shots with 301 on the season.
Run DMC
Michigan's "DMC" line of Dexter Dancs, Cooper Marody and Tony Calderone have combined for 69 points out of a total of 174 team points (39.7%) thus far through 20 games.
Tony Lights the Lamp
Calderone's 15 goals are the most by a U-M player in the first 20 games of a season since Louie Caporusso's 17 goals in 20 games during the 2008-09 campaign. This is the second season in a row that Calderone leads the team in goals in the new year.
Climbin' the Ranks
Marody ranks tied for third nationally with 29 points on the season and first with 22 assists. Calderone is tied for fourth nationally with 15 goals.
Marody in Good Company
Marody's 29 points are most through 20 games since Kevin Porter had 33 in 2007-08 when he won the Hobey Baker Award.
Joe, Don't Ya Know
Junior Defenseman Joseph Cecconi's 12 points (3G, 9A) from the point are the most by a U-M blue liner through 20 games since Zach Werenski had 17 points over that span in 2015-16.
Double Vision for Coop
Marody had his multi-point streak of eight games end against Ohio State on Nov. 24. Over the span he tallied 19 points (4G, 15A) and became the first Wolverine to record multiple points in eight consecutive games since Brian Wiseman did so during the 1993-94 season, when he tallied 21 points (6G, 15A) between Dec. 4, 1993-Jan. 7, 1994.
Shots, Shots, Shots
Michigan currently ranks fourth nationally with an average of 34.8 shots on goal per game, while ranking 14 in the nation with a +4.45 shots on goal margin per game.
Free Hockey
Michigan has had five games head to overtime so far this season. That is the most overtime contests for the Wolverines since they played in nine during the 2015-16 season.
Up Ahead
Michigan returns home for another pair of Big Ten contests as they will play host to Penn State on Jan. 19-20. Puck drop in Ann Arbor is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Friday, while the puck will drop on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Friday's game will be televised on Big Ten Network.
