Minnesota Scene: Gophers hockey assistant Grant Potulny named Northern Michigan's head coach

Gophers men's hockey assistant coach Grant Potulny was named Northern Michigan's head coach on Tuesday.

Potulny, 37, has been a Minnesota assistant under coach Don Lucia for the past eight seasons.

Potulny will replace Walt Kyle, who was fired in March after coaching the Wildcats for 15 seasons.

Potulny, a Grand Forks native, was a three-year captain for the Gophers, leading them to back-to-back NCAA championships in 2002 and '03. His overtime goal against Maine in the 2002 NCAA final at Xcel Energy Center gave the Gophers their first national championship since 1979.

With Potulny as an assistant, the Gophers have won six consecutive conference regular-season titles — the past four in the Big Ten and two before that in the WCHA. Minnesota advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four in 2012 and 2014. Potulny worked primarily with the Gophers forwards.

Potulny also was an assistant coach for the gold medal-winning U.S. team in the World Junior Championship this year.

The Gophers' Sara Groenewegen on Monday was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week for the third time this season and 14th overall after her performances in a sweep of Northwestern over the weekend.

• Gophers baseball third baseman Jordan Kozicky was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for his performances against North Dakota State and Indiana. Kozicky hit .615 on the week, scoring four runs and adding three RBI on nine hits with one home run.