Minnesota Gopher men’s hockey head coach Don Lucia led the U.S. Junior team to a 5-1 victory over the Czech Republic today in their World Junior Championships opening game in Sweden.
Lucia, who is the head coach for the junior team for the first time and has St. Cloud State head coach Bob Motzko as an assistant, got goals from five different skaters in the convincing win as the U.S. tries to defend its 2013 tournament title.
One of the skaters to light the lamp was Hudson Fasching, Gopher freshman and Burnsville native, as he found the back of the net in the second period.
He and Brady Skjei, a sophomore defenseman for Minnesota, are the two U of M representatives that join Lucia in Sweden, as does the head coach’s son Mario.
The U.S. plays three more preliminary round games before the playoff round starts on Jan. 2, with their next contest coming Saturday against Slovakia.
