Considering no other school has won a Big Ten men's hockey regular season championship, the results of the preseason coaches poll announced Monday should not be considered a surprise.
The coaches of the seven teams picked the Gophers to win their fifth Big Ten title in a row. If they do, that would be seven conference titles in a row for the Gophers, starting with WCHA titles in 2012 and 2013.
Minnesota finished with a conference record of 14-5-1 last season.
Conference newcomer Notre Dame was selected second in the poll, with Wisconsin third and defending Big Ten tournament champion Penn State fourth.
The coaches also selected the Big Ten preseason watch list, featuring 17 of the best players. The Gophers' Tyler Sheehy, the 2017 Big Ten player of the year, and Wisconsin's Trent Frederic were the only two unanimous selections.
Sheehy, a junior forward, was an All-America pick and a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award last season after amassing a career-high 53 points (20 goals, 33 assists) — the most points in a season by a Gopher in the past decade.
The Gophers also had three other players on the watch list: forwards Rem Pitlick and Casey Mittelstadt and defenseman Ryan Lindgren.
preseason coaches poll
Rank, team 2016-17 Big Ten record
1. Minnesota 14-5-1 43 points
2. Notre Dame Not in conference
3. Wisconsin 12-8-0 36 points
4. Penn State 10-9-1 31 points
5. Ohio State 11-8-1 35 points
6. Michigan 6-12-2 22 points
7. Michigan State 3-14-3 13 points
Preseason watch list
Ryan Lindgren D Minnesota
Casey Mittelstadt F Minnesota
Rem Pitlick F Minnesota
Tyler Sheehy F Minnesota*
Quinn Hughes D Michigan
Will Lockwood F Michigan
Josh Norris F Michigan
Jake Evans F Notre Dame
Jordan Gross D Notre Dame
Andrew Oglevie F Notre Dame
Mason Jobst F Ohio State
Matthew Weis F Ohio State
Peyton Jones G Penn State
Denis Smirnov F Penn State
Trent Frederic F Wisconsin*
Kyle Hayton G Wisconsin
Cameron Hughes F Wisconsin
*-Unanimous selection
