Minnesota Scene: Injured Tommy Novak out for rest of Gophers hockey season

Sophomore forward Tommy Novak of the Gophers will miss the rest of the hockey season because of a lower-body injury, the team announced Monday.

He suffered the injury on Saturday in a 4-2 victory over Michigan at Mariucci Arena. The native of River Falls, Wis., had five goals and nine assists in 20 games this season.

"We're really disappointed for Tommy, and losing him for the year is a big blow for our program," Gophers coach Don Lucia said.

Minnesota United FC has added three assistant coaches. A team spokesman confirmed Monday that Mark Watson and Marius Rovde will join head coach Adrian Heath's staff while Ian Fuller will be a holdover from last season's staff.

Watson and Fuller were both on Heath's staff when he coached at Orlando City SC. Watson, 46, is a former Canadian national team defender and San Jose Earthquakes head coach. He left Orlando at the same time the team fired Heath this past summer.

Fuller, 37, is a former Clemson forward and was a player-coach under Heath for three seasons before earning a promotion to assistant in 2014. The club let him go in late 2015, and United hired him as an assistant in early 2016.

Rovde, 44, will serve as the goalkeeper coach. He previously held the same position with the Vancouver Whitecaps FC since 2011. He also played professionally as a keeper in his native Norway and the United Kingdom.

Penn State — for the first time in program history — was ranked No. 1 in the USCHO.com weekly college hockey poll, jumping three spots. Denver was the No. 1 team in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll with the Nittany Lions second.

The Gophers, who have won six games in a row, are No. 7 in both polls, up two spots after a sweep of Michigan.

The only other Big Ten team in the USCHO.poll is Ohio State at No. 11. Minnesota Duluth is No. 4, North Dakota No. 8, Bemidji State No. 18 and Minnesota State Mankato No 20.