College hockey battles inside Minnesota borders heat up

The boxscore's attendance figure read 2,586. The actual number of fans in the seats for the 224th meeting between Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth appeared to be closer to 500.

The dismal season-opening crowd in South Bend, Ind., fell far short of the standards these in-state rivals have come to expect. However, once the sounds of the game filled the nearly empty arena, the tradition's intensity was rediscovered in a one-goal victory for the Gophers.

Fan support and atmosphere won't be an issue at meetings No. 225 and No. 226 this weekend.

"I know there will be more people here this time," Gophers senior Ben Marshall joked.

The two University of Minnesota system programs will play a home-and-home series in front of 16,500-plus expected fans. The series opens Friday night at Mariucci Arena and heads north to downtown Duluth on Saturday.

Historic in-state rivalries such as this one have new value in college hockey. The sport's conference realignment before last season separated the five Division I Minnesota hockey programs into three conferences. And while these teams no longer all compete for the same conference title, players and coaches around the state said the separation has raised the stakes for in-state games.

"When we play in-state rivals there is a lot of pride that goes into the game," Marshall said. "When we play those kind of teams, it intensifies the game a lot and makes everyone battle a little harder, and makes the game that much more fun."

More than half of the Gophers' nonconference schedule is against in-state rivals and former WCHA foes. Nine of the 16 games are played against Minnesota Duluth (three), Bemidji State (two), St. Cloud State (two) and Minnesota State (one), with one more game coming against either UMD or Bemidji in January's North Star Cup tournament. Four of the Minnesota programs are ranked in the top 15, and Bemidji State has received some top 20 votes.

"We just want to play good teams, and you see us do that with St. Cloud, UMD, and Bemidji is looking better," Gophers coach Don Lucia said. "We get Mankato for the first game of the North Star Cup, who is going to be one of the top teams in the country this year without question. We're going to have our hands full with nonconference. The in-state rivalries always bring a lot of intensity."

We asked those involved in this weekend's latest in-state showdown and others around the state to share their thoughts on Minnesota rivalries:

Gophers senior captain Kyle Rau, on playing Duluth: "[Two] University of Minnesota schools. We wear the same colors out there. Our fans get excited when we play them and their fans get excited, too. They've got a bunch of Minnesota kids, too, which makes it fun because you grew up playing against them. The in-state rivalries are really important to us here because we want to be the best, and have the best record at the end of the year. And we have a good start to that so far."

UMD coach Scott Sandelin: "For our fans, I think it's fun because it goes back to the big-school, small-school rivalry. … I thought last year's game in the North Star Cup was a heck of a hockey game. I wish we didn't have to have a shootout and could have kept playing. … Then you compare this to when we played them at Notre Dame in front of 500 people. It was a lot different for both teams."

Gophers junior defenseman Mike Reilly: "[Minnesota Duluth is] one of the teams that likes to try to get under our skin and get us rattled. I haven't been able to play there yet, so I'm looking forward to that. It's going to be a great crowd, and they're right on top of you. It's a weekend I've been looking forward to for a while now. … [In-state schools] have had success over the years and so have we … so it's a little bit of hatred toward both sides, and they are matchups we're going to look forward to."

Coach Bob Motzko on St. Cloud's rivalry with Minnesota: "It is big — big for the Minnesota kids and big for our fans. You can't hide from it. … It's one of the better atmospheres you're going to see in college hockey. It's great for our state that we're still playing, and we sure hope in the future we continue to play."

WCHA commissioner Bill Robertson: "The Bemidji State-Minnesota State rivalry is huge, but at the same time our two WCHA schools have unique rivalries and past rivalries with the University of Minnesota, Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State. Having rivalries in other conferences and within state boundaries make it very appealing for fans to follow all these teams. It helps conferences and the sport of college hockey nurture more fans and more attention."