Three former Gophers are returning to the U to coach under new men's hockey head coach Bob Motzko. Ben Gordon will be an assistant coach, and Ryan Potulny and Stu Bickel will be undergraduate assistants.

Gordon, a four-year player (2004-08) who had 98 points (39 goals, 59 assists), returns after serving as the associate head coach for the Chicago Steel in the USHL last season. He previously served on the Gophers staff in 2016-17 as director of hockey operations, and he helped the Tri-City Storm capture the 2016 USHL Clark Cup as an assistant coach in 2015-16.

Potulny recently retired from a 12-year pro career that included NHL stints with Philadelphia, Edmonton, Chicago and Ottawa. In 126 career NHL games, Potulny recorded 49 points (22 goals, 27 assists). With the Gophers, Potulny had 118 points (68 goals, 50 assists), was an All-America and a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as a senior when he led the nation in points (63) and goals (38) and Minnesota won the 2006 WCHA title.

Bickel had a 10-year pro career that included 94 NHL games with the New York Rangers and the Wild. The defenseman skated one season with the Gophers, appearing in 45 games with seven points (one goal, six assists).

"The experience of our alumni is one of our program's greatest strengths," Motzko said in a statement. "All three of these guys know what it means to be part of this program and what it takes in order to be successful here."

Two Gophers honored

Junior outside hitter Alexis Hart, of Kansas City, Mo., was named co-player of the week and senior setter Samantha Seliger-Swenson, of Minnetonka, was named setter of the week after the No. 7 Gophers volleyball team swept a pair of matches over then-No. 5 Wisconsin and at Indiana last week.

Hart hit .467 last week and had 14 kills and without an error against the Badgers. Seliger-Swenson helped the Gophers hit .371 against the two Big Ten teams. Against Indiana, she also had a team-best 13 digs to surpass 1,000 career digs.

Etc.

• Defending NCAA national champion Minnesota Duluth is ranked No. 1 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine preseason poll. Ohio State University was second in the preseason poll, followed by Notre Dame, St. Cloud State and Providence College.

• The Gophers shot a 10-over 298 on the second day of the Marquette Intercollegiate in Hartford, Wis., to finish seventh in the 11-team tournament. Senior Peter Jones, playing as an individual, shot an even-par 72 for the second day and is tied for sixth place.

• The Carleton women's golf team, ranked No. 1 in Division III, won the title in the MIAC Championships for a second consecutive year, shooting 904 for a new 54-hole tournament record at the Pebble Creek Golf Club in Becker, Minn. St. Benedict was second (970). Senior Ziyi Wang won the individual title with a 221, another meet record.