The season is finally here and the Gophers will open it up with a tournament mindset. College Hockey Inc.'s Ice Breaker Tournament is being hosted by the Gophers for a third time since its inception in 1997.
The host Gophers won it in 2007 and kickoff Friday night with Mercyhurst.
Check out the full season preview and videos - Preview and Seth Ambroz.
Forward Sam Warning's return brought some change to the Gophers' lines for the season opener. As coach Don Lucia anticipated, the junior forward will skate in the first line with Kyle Rau and Hudson Fasching.
Warning sat out of last week's exhibition for precautionary reasons.
Freshman Vinni Lettieri moved to the third line with Travis Boyd and Christian Isackson. This group could undergo several changes in Friday night's season opener with Mercyhurst. Lucia said one of the biggest uncertainties right now is who will skate with the junior Boyd.
"The big question mark right now I have, is who is going to play with Boyd," Lucia said on Wednesday. "We've been rotating different people in there. We'll let them fight it out at tomorrow's practice on who it's going to be on opening day."
Isackson and Connor Reilly earned the job last weekend.
