MINNEAPOLIS – In just one season of college hockey, Minnesota Gophers fans have learned a few things about Matthew Knies: He is sizable, physically. He has a nose for the net. He doesn’t care much for Minnesota winters. And he’s up for at least one more of them.
Knies scored the only Gophers goal on April 7 in Boston when they fell 5-1 to Minnesota State Mankato in the Frozen Four semifinals. After that game, the freshman from Arizona was asked about his whirlwind first college season, which included trips to World Juniors and to the Olympics, a Big Ten regular season title and the program’s first Frozen Four trip in eight years. In that moment, it was a great deal to absorb.
“Honestly I haven't really wrapped my head around it. This one stings right now. This is what's stuck in my head,” Knies said, at a podium on ice level at TD Garden. “But, I think it will settle in later in the future that this was the best year of my life. Honestly, this was the most fun group I've been a part of. I'm damn proud to be a part of this team.”
Exactly one week later, Knies decided that being a part of this team — the maroon and gold one that was selling out 3M Arena at Mariucci by the end of his freshman year — is worth giving another try. Despite an opportunity to sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs and start his professional career now, Knies announced he will return to the U of M for his sophomore season.
That news, coupled with the announced return of defenseman Brock Faber earlier in the week, means that two-thirds of the Gophers “Olympic trio” will be back in Minneapolis as the team defends its conference crown and seeks a return to the Frozen Four, which begins on April 6, 2023 in Tampa. The third member of the trio, forward Ben Meyers , signed a free agent pact with the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday and is expected to make his NHL debut soon.
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Faber, who is a second-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings, was reportedly offered a spot on the LA blue line and a chance to make his NHL debut at home in a Sunday, April 10 game versus the Wild in St. Paul, but offered his future employer a polite no thank you.
Brinkman transfers, blue line unsettled
Like the Gophers, Notre Dame has had a productive pipeline from Edina in recent years. That is a trend that will continue next season, after former Gophers defenseman Ben Brinkman told The Rink Live he is headed to northern Indiana for his extra season of college eligibility. Brinkman, who will be a super senior for the Irish next season, was a regular on the Gophers blue line for four years previously.
Never a big point producer – Brinkman has two career goals – he was instead renowned by the Gophers coaches for his steady shut-down defensive play and a physical presence along the boards when needed. His addition to the Notre Dame roster means a reunion with Jake Boltmann, an Irish defenseman who played alongside Brinkman at Edina. Boltmann, who will be a sophomore at Notre Dame, was originally committed to the Gophers but joined the Irish roster in the middle of the 2020-21 season instead.
Brinkman, who was drafted by the Dallas Stars, has gone to development camp with the NHL team in the past. He is one of four Gophers who entered the transfer portal this week, along with defenseman Matt Denman, forward Grant Cruikshank (who is headed to St. Cloud State), forward Jonny Sorenson and forward Jack Perbix, who entered the portal on Friday morning, April 15.
The Gophers are waiting to hear if defensemen Ryan Johnson (a first round pick of the Buffalo Sabres) and Jackson LaCombe (a second-round pick of the Anaheim Ducks) will return. They have two defensemen – Ryan Chesley and Luke Mittelstadt – signed to national letters of intent for next season.
Schedule being revealed, slowly
While the NCHC put its 2022-23 conference schedule out this week, the Big Ten is notoriously more patient with these things, and if history is a guide, we won’t likely see the full Gophers schedule until sometime in the late summer. But from other teams’ schedules, we can piece together a little of who you will see facing off versus the U of M next fall and winter.
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The Gophers split a pair at North Dakota last November, meaning that it’s the Fighting Hawks’ turn to come to Minneapolis this season. Per a The Rink Live story from Brad Schlossman , look for that green team and their army of fans inside 3M Arena at Mariucci over the weekend of Oct. 21-22.
Other nonconference series we expect are with Minnesota Duluth (the only team that swept the Gophers last season), St. Cloud State (they split a home-and-home last season), a home series with Colorado College (the Gophers opened the 2019-20 season with a split at CC) and a road series at Arizona State, which was part of the arrangement to give the Sun Devils a slate of games during the messy 2020-21 season.
One idea that has been floated starting next season is to do away with the home-and-home series versus Minnesota Duluth and instead play two games versus the Bulldogs either at home or on the road. This has been a request from many Gophers fans who would prefer two games in Duluth so they are better able to make a weekend trip to the Twin Ports and North Shore out of the hockey series. Bulldogs fans looking to spend two nights of hockey and two days of shopping and sightseeing in the Twin Cities have expressed similar wishes.
