The Gophers are eager to revisit the home-and-home series format.
A trip to St. Cloud State on Friday night will kick off the first of two home-and-home series this season. They'll return to Mariucci Arena on Saturday evening to wrap up the in-state rivalry.
The format creates extra buzz around rivalries, senior captain Kyle Rau said. Last year's schedule didn't include any home-and-home matchups.
"We love them, actually," Rau said. "They're fun to go to different places and play such a good rivalry. St. Cloud is a fun spot to play. And we get to end the weekend at home, so that's awesome too. If we have a good Friday night we have a good chance for a great weekend, so that's the best part about the home-and-homes."
The home-and-home format will continue when Minnesota Duluth travels to Mariucci Arena on Nov. 14 and the Gophers visit Duluth on Nov. 15.
My feature this week takes a look at this year's alternate captains Seth Ambroz and Ben Marshall and their lighthearted personalities. Also check out details and video from Wednesday's access where Lucia said his team was "Too easy to play against."
Don Lucia's scouting report on St. Cloud State: They're a good transition team like always. Got a good core of defensemen returning from last year's team. With [Kalle] Kossila and [Jonny] Brodzinski returning they've got plenty of skill up front. They've got some older guys that can play in their fourth line-type roles. With their experience they can play against anybody. But St. Cloud is always a good skating team. They are off to a good start with Colgate and Union, going 2-2, because those are two very good teams. So they've played a high level so far to begin the year.
• SERIES PREVIEW: NO. 1 GOPHERS VS. NO. 7 ST. CLOUD STATE
