Where Gophers hockey stands entering winter break

Minnesota has found some momentum heading into its longest break of the season.

Minnesota celebrating a goal against Ohio State. | Picture credit via: Ohio State Athletics

Gophers men's hockey dropped its final game of 2025 on Friday night in a high-scoring 6-5 overtime battle at Ohio State. Now 8-10-1 on the season, where do things stand heading into the winter break?

Minnesota had a bumpy 2-7-1 start to the season, as it was thrown to the wolves with an early-season gauntlet that consisted of games against nationally-ranked Boston College, North Dakota and Wisconsin. After sweeping Notre Dame at home, it looked like they turned a corner before an alarming 6-2 home loss against Long Island University (LIU).

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The Gophers proceeded to rattle off a series split against No. 5 Penn State at home, and an impressive 6-5 overtime win at No. 4 Denver. They carried that momentum into another split on the road this week against Ohio State. They've quietly won 6 of their last 9 games.

Minnesota will play an exhibition against in-state foe Bemidji State on Jan. 2 on the road, but its next regular season series won't be until Jan. 9 and Jan. 10 against top 10 Penn State in Happy Valley.

The Gophers began the season at No. 8 in the preseason USCHO top 20 poll, with hopes of competing for a Big Ten title, and maybe even a national title. Are those goals still on the table? With a 4-4 start in conference play, Minnesota is in a tie for third in the Big Ten standings as of Saturday morning. Making noise in the regular-season race is a tall task, but they still have two series against first-place Michigan and one more against Wisconsin.

For example, Penn State sat at 7-9 at this point in the season last year. The Nittany Lions proceeded to finish with a 22-14-4 record, which included a trip to the Big Ten conference tournament semifinals, and then a trip all the way to the Frozen Four before losing to Boston University in the semis. Can Minnesota make a similar run?

Well, the Gophers are currently No. 27 in the latest NCAA Pecentage Index (NPI), which is the main tool used to choose at-large teams for the NCAA Tournament. They have a ways to go before climbing into the top 16, but they'll have more than enough opportunities to improve their resume in Big Ten play.

Minnesota was tasked with replacing a ton of production in the offseason, and it relied on a lot of young players to begin the season. Freshmen such as LJ Mooney and Javon Moore have begun to find their groove, and the Gophers could be a dangerous team this winter.