The Minnesota Golden Gophers men’s hockey team’s path back to the national championship game will begin on the road next season.
The Gophers, along with the Big Ten Conference, unveiled the full schedule for the 2014-15 season today. Minnesota’s 36-game slate starts on the road Oct. 10-12 in East Bend, Indiana for the Ice Breaker Tournament.
Minnesota won the Ice Breaker Tournament as the host team last season. Competition this season will include Notre Dame, RPI and Minnesota Duluth.
According to a press release from Gophers Athletics, it will be the first since 2009-10 that Minnesota opens the season away from Mariucci Arena.
The home opener is the two weeks later with games Oct. 24-25 against Bemidji State.
Minnesota will head east once again this season with games against Boston College and Northeastern on back-to-back days, Nov. 28-29. That will be followed by the Big Ten opener at Michigan State the first week of December.
The 24th annual Mariucci Classic is scheduled for Jan. 1-2, 2015 with hockey powers Massachusetts-Lowell, RPI and Merrimack invading the Twin Cities.
As SB Nation points out, the following weekend of hockey will pit the Gophers against Michigan in Ann Arbor. The series will coincide with the World Juniors, which will likely rob a few players from each team during that time.
The second annual North Star College Cup will feature the Gophers, Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State-Mankato and Bemidji State. Former WCHA foe St. Cloud State will sit out this season. The tournament features the five Division I hockey programs in the State of Hockey.
Click here for the full schedule.
