It is no secret Notre Dame has a major recruiting presence in Minnesota's hockey community. The Irish have seven Minnesotans on their roster and five that have been in the lineup against the Gophers this weekend at Mariucci Arena.

Their top scorer with 10 points is Mario Lucia from Plymouth, son of Gophers coach Don Lucia. Edina products Steven Fogarty is fourth in scoring with seven points and Connor Hurley is seventh in scoring with five points.

Defensemen Jordan Gross (Maple Grove) and Tony Bretzman (Mendota Heights) have a regular presence on the Notre Dame blue line. Two more Edina products Bo Brauer and Ben Ostlie complete the heavy Minnesota presence.

"No question having players from Minnesota is important to our program," Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson said. "We know where the good players come from and Minnesota develops more players than anywhere in North America"

Over the last several years Jackson has made more of an effort to bring in Minnesota talent, a tradition that was started long before he took over as coach but slowly faded.

Edina High School has been a regular pipeline to South Bend, Ind. Hornet Dylan Malmquist is also committed to Notre Dame.

"I like the character of the kids and their values. They're more than one-dimensional athletes," Jackson said.

Notre Dame has yet to win a college hockey national championship, but under Jackson have two Frozen Four appearances (2008, 2011). More talent from Minnesota could more mean Frozen Four appearances and eventually a national title.

Friday replay: Gophers blow by Notre Dame 5-0, Wilcox returns to top form with 9th career shutout, read Friday night's game story and postgame blog, and watch video of coach Don Lucia sophomore forward Taylor Cammarata.

My feature this week takes a look at how the new "Power 5" autonomy could affect college hockey's unique parity. Also check out news from throughout week on the Ice Gold blog.

• SERIES FINALE PREVIEW: NO. 15 NOTRE DAME at NO. 1 GOPHERS

Sunday 4 p.m. at Mariucci Arena.

TV/radio/live stream: ESPNU; 1500-AM; ESPN3/WatchESPN.

Gophers at a glance: The Gophers (6-1) are coming off their most complete effort of the season. Twelve players contributed 15 points in Friday's 5-0 victory over Notre Dame. The five goal-scorers were assisted by seven individuals. Kyle Rau, Taylor Cammarata and Michael Brodzinski were the only multipoint scorers with two assists apiece. The defensemen showed improvement despite playing without the injured Brady Skjei. The Gophers gave up only 20 shots on goal and Adam Wilcox eliminated any mistakes to secure his ninth career shutout. The off day in-between games shouldn't be a problem for the Gophers. They opened the season with a Friday/Sunday schedule and won the Ice Breaker Tournament at Notre Dame.

For more on Notre Dame and TV details for Sunday night, read full series finale preview.

• Gophers Sunday lines
Forwards (left wing, center, right wing)
Leon Bristedt, Kyle Rau, Hudson Fasching
Sam Warning, Justin Kloos, Taylor Cammarata
Connor Reilly, Vinni Lettieri, Seth Ambroz
A.J. Michaelson, Christian Isackson, Ryan Reilly

Defensemen (left, right)
Ben Marshall, Michael Brodzinski
Mike Reilly, Ryan Collins
Jake Bischoff, Jack Glover

Goaltenders
Adam Wilcox, Nick Lehr, Ryan Coyne

• Minnesotans in Notre Dame's lineup
Steven Fogarty, forward, Edina
Mario Lucia, forward, Plymouth
Connor Hurley, forward, Edina
Jordan Gross, defenseman, Maple Grove
Tony Bretzman, defenseman, Mendota Heights