The Minnesota men's hockey team enters Big Ten play on a high after a statement weekend, but coach Brett Larson is already working to keep his players from getting comfortable. The Gophers host Penn State for a two-game series at 3M Arena at Mariucci this weekend.
Last week, Minnesota swept North Dakota, which arrived in Minneapolis unbeaten and ranked No. 3 in the country. The Gophers won both games 5-3. Defenseman Jacob Rombach was among the thousands of students who rushed the field at Huntington Bank Stadium a day later, after the Minnesota football team upset Iowa.
The reward for the hockey team's work was a demanding session when players returned to the rink on Monday. "We talked about compete and how we brought it all weekend, and then on Monday we had a compete day, all practice," sophomore forward Tate Pritchard said.
The sweep closed out a six-game non-conference stretch in October in which Minnesota went 2-3-1. The wins were enough to return the Gophers to the national polls.
Penn State arrives at 2-4-0, and Larson sees similarities to his own team's early struggles. Minnesota opened the season 0-3-1 after leaving Duluth. "They're fighting for their lives right now. They're hungry, just like we were. We can't be overconfident, or I call it 'full.' We need to be hungry," Larson said.
The Nittany Lions reached the Frozen Four for the first time in 2025 and returned to the NCAA tournament last season behind Gavin McKenna, the top pick in the 2026 NHL draft. This year's group is younger and lost its first four games before sweeping a home series against Canisius.
Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky is known for teams that fire shots from everywhere. Larson has not faced Gadowsky as a head coach, but he competed against his teams as an assistant at Minnesota Duluth and Ohio State. "They play fast. They transition the puck as good as anybody in college hockey," Larson said. "If you're careless with the puck in the offensive zone, they're gonna burn you, going the other way with numbers."
Minnesota's confidence is high despite its sub-.500 record, helped by rookie Wyatt Cullen, who was drafted 10th overall by Nashville last summer. His hat trick on Friday night earned him the Big Ten's first star of the week. Larson praised how Cullen earned it. "He wasn't out there just trying to dangle through people; he was playing the game the right way and got rewarded for it. So that's kind of the message for our whole team."
Larson did not join the field storming after the football victory, but he said fans were friendlier toward him on Saturday. "All I know is it's a lot more fun to go to the football game after a win," he said.
Friday's opener starts at 7 p.m., and the Halloween night rematch is set for 6 p.m. Both games will be shown on Fox9+ and B1G+.
