The Minnesota men's hockey team announced eight team awards that will be given annually starting with the 2023-24 season.
John Mariucci MVP Award – Jackson Nelson
John Mariucci (Eveleth, Minn.), known as the “Godfather of Minnesota Hockey,” was a two-sport athlete in hockey and football at the University of Minnesota, and returned to his alma mater as head coach of Gopher hockey from 1952 to 1955. Ta. and 1956-1966 (he took a year off to lead the U.S. Olympic team to a silver medal in 1956). As a player, Mariucci was All-American First in 1940 with his team and the Gophers.He captained his hockey team, the Maroon & Gold, with a perfect record of 18-0-0. Led them to the national AAU tournament title. Mariucci also helped his Gopher football program win his 1940 national title. After college, Mariucci played in 223 career NHL games with the Chicago Blackhawks. Mariucci, who passed away in 1987, was elected to the first class of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1973 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder in 1985.
Nelson had his best year in the maroon and gold in his final season at Dinkytown, earning him a nomination to the All-Big Ten honorable mention team. The graduate student served as co-captain and played in all 39 games, setting career highs in goals (19) and points (31) and finishing the year with double-digit assists (12) for the third time. He scored his first and only hat trick as a Gopher, scoring his team's six total goals in the regular-season series opener against 16th-ranked Michigan, including the game-winning goal against Omaha in the NCAA Sioux Falls Regional Tournament. He scored three of those goals.
Mike Crupi Most Valuable Player Award – Oliver Moore
Mike Crupi (St. Paul, Minn.) helped St. Paul Johnson win the 1963 Minnesota High School Tournament and later lettered to the Gophers twice in 1966 and 1967. The forward recorded 44 points (23 goals, 21 assists) and 128 penalty minutes. He has played in 54 games in his career. His 27 penalty minutes against Michigan on January 13, 1967 remains the program's single-game penalty minutes record. Crupi died in a car accident in 1969 while playing professional hockey at the age of 22.
Moore made the B1G All-Freshman team after scoring 33 points in 39 games in his first season of college hockey, ranking fourth in Minnesota's offense and 17th in NCAA rookie scoring. When the calendar turned to 2024, he scored a team-high 21 points in 21 games and had 15 points in a career eight-game point streak from Jan. 8 to Feb. 2, the most of all Gophers. It was the longest record by a player. Year. Moore scored multiple points in nine games, including a career-high three assists on opening night against the Tommies, and had multiple goals in two games against Michigan State and the University of Michigan.
Frank Pond Newcomer of the Year – Sam Lindsell
Frank Pond (Two Harbors, Minn.) was the third captain of the Pride on Ice in the 1923-24 season, leading Minnesota to a 13-1-0 record as conference champions. Pond then served as the program's head coach for five seasons from 1930 to 1935, leading the maroon and gold to a 46-24-4 record behind the bench. Mr. Pound died in 1993.
Lindsell was a playmaking catalyst from his position along the blueline, leading the team with 26 assists, which ranks second among freshman defensive players in the NCAA, and posting a plus-23 rating this season. He burst onto the maroon and gold stage with a multi-assist performance in his collegiate debut against St. Thomas, and finished the year with seven multi-point performances, earning All-Big Ten Second Team and B1G All-Freshman Team honors. Obtained. He appeared in all 39 games for the Gophers, including a season scoring streak in five games from January 8-20, and totaled 12 assists, including a career-best three assists in three games during that span.
Erwin “Doc” Lomnes Leadership & Sportsmanship Award – Mason Nevers
Elwin “Doc” Lomnes (White Bear Lake, Minn.) coached the Maroon & Gold for five seasons from 1947 to 1952 after a successful career as a player at St. Thomas. He was one of only two American players in the NHL in 2017. Lomnes appeared in four Stanley Cup Finals during his career, winning championships with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1934 and 1938. In his 403 NHL games, he served only 46 minutes of penalty time and won the Lady Byng Trophy in 1936. He left in 1984.
Nubaas served as an alternate captain for the Minnesota team during his senior season, appearing in the final 35 games after returning from injury and providing the team with an important leader in the locker room and on the ice. He reached double-digit scoring for the third year in a row, finishing with three goals, 15 points, and 12 assists, earning him a career-high plus-16 rating. He scored 12 points in 24 Big Ten games, making the majority of his offensive performances in the conference. Nevers was also named to the Academic All-Big Ten Team for the third time in his Maroon and Gold career.
Dr. V. George Nagobad Unsung Hero Award – Carl Fish
Dr. V. George Nagovac (Riga, Latvia) remains one of the most influential figures in American hockey at the time. Nagobats was a Gopher hockey team doctor from 1958 until his retirement in 1992 and helped the Minnesota program win his first three national titles in 1974, 1976 and 1979. did. In 1978, Herb Brooks accepted the trophy that Nagovaz donated to the program, and he established the annual Dr. Hockey Physician Award. Received the V. George Nagobattu Unsung Hero Award. But his greatest contribution to U.S. hockey may be on the international stage. Nagovac was named team physician for five U.S. Olympic men's ice hockey teams (1968, 1972, 1980, 1984, 1988). These include his 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics “Miracle on Ice” team that won a gold medal, and his 1972 Olympic men's ice hockey team that won a silver medal in Sapporo. . Nagobats was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003 as a member of his 1980 US Olympic team, and was subsequently honored as an individual by the organization in 2010.
Fisch played in all but one game as a senior, displaying his ultra-competitive personality in helping the Gophers to another 20-plus win campaign. He finished the year with three points, all of which were assists, including multiple points in a home win against Penn State in the Big Ten Conference Tournament opener. That night, he earned a career-high plus-4 and finished the quarterfinal series sweep with a plus-6 rating. Fisch provided a veteran presence to the team's young group along the blueline, winning the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award and being named to the Academic All-Big Ten team this season.
John Mayasic Outstanding Student-Athlete Award – Nathan Ailey
John Mayasic (Eveleth, Minn.) remains a Gopher hockey icon decades after he last laced up his skates. Mayasic, a four-time All-American, holds school records with 298 points and 144 goals in 111 career games, and his 154 assists rank second in program history. Mayasic's No. 8 jersey, which served as his captain for the Maroon and Gold team during the 1954-55 season, is the only number retired by the Gophers in his hockey history. Before joining the Gophers, Mayasic helped Evereth High School win four straight championships from 1948 to 1951. Following his collegiate career, Mayasic won a silver medal at the 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics and also won a gold medal at the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Olympics. Mayasic was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1976.
Ailey played in three games in his first year at the University of Minnesota, posting a 1-1-0 record. The freshman earned a win in his Gopher debut at home against Robert Morris, making a season-high 19 saves in the win. He also made double-digit saves in relief appearances in a Big Ten Conference game at Notre Dame and against Michigan. Early will remain on campus for summer classes and plans to major in agriculture and food business management in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resources Sciences.
Donald M. Clark Community Service Award – Aaron Hugren
Donald M. Clark (Kensal, North Dakota) may never have played for Gopher hockey, but his contributions to the sport of hockey left a lasting impression on the program even after his death in 1999. Masu. Clark, who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1941, contributed to the sport of hockey. He founded the Minnesota Amateur Hockey Association in 1947, then served as vice president of the U.S. Amateur Hockey Association, and was a member of the U.S. Olympic Hockey Committee for many years. Clark was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978. He was awarded the Lester Patrick Award by the NHL in 1975.
Huegren finished the season scoring in eight of the final 11 games, setting career highs with 13 goals and 21 points. He is tied for second on the team with four game-winning goals, all of which came in 13 games between Jan. 20 and March 9. Huegren scored three goals and earned B1G Star of the Week honors, the first of his tenure. During a home sweep in Pennsylvania in February. He continues to be an active member of the local community through his program of outreach through the church.
Tom Mohr Playoff MVP Award – Jackson Nelson
Tom Moll (Hopkins, Minn.) played just 12 games as the Gophers' goaltender with an 8-3-1 record, but his final appearance will never be forgotten. In the 1976 NCAA title game, with the University of Minnesota trailing Michigan Tech 3-1 after the first period, coach Herb Brooks called Mohr in relief. Mohr stopped 11 of 12 shots as Minnesota won 6-4 and clinched the program's second national championship.
Nelson saved some of his best hockey for the end of his college career, carrying the Gophers on his back during the postseason. He scored 11 of his career-best 19 goals in the final eight games of the season, including a four-goal performance, and also scored 13 points in that span, posting a plus-11 rating. He was named to the NCAA Sioux Falls Regional All-Tournament Team after scoring three goals on the national stage, including two goals in the region win over Omaha on his birthday. . Nelson gave his all for the team at the end of the year, blocking a career-high eight shots in the quarterfinal win over Penn State and winning seven of the final eight head-to-head games by double digits.
(Information and photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
