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2002–03 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey season
NCAA Division I National Champion Dodge Holiday Classic, Champion WCHA Tournament, Champion NCAA Tournament, Champion
Conference	T-2nd WCHA
Home ice	Mariucci Arena
Rankings
USA Today/AHCA	2
USCHO.com	2
Record
Overall	28–8–9
Conference	15–6–7
Home	14–4–6
Road	9–4–3
Neutral	5–0–0
Coaches and captains
Head coach	Don Lucia
Assistant coaches	Mike Guentzel Bob Motzko Robb Stauber
Captain(s)	Grant Potulny
Alternate captain(s)	Paul Martin Nick Anthony
Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey seasons « 2001–02 2003–04 »

The 2002–03 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey season was the 82nd season of play for the program and 44th in the WCHA. The Golden Gophers represented the University of Minnesota, played their home games at the Mariucci Arena and were coached by Don Lucia, in his 4th season.

Season

Fresh off of the program's fourth national title, the first in 23 years, Minnesota entered the season with high hopes. Though the team lost several key players to graduation, including Hobey Baker Award-winner Jordan Leopold, they brought in an impressive collection of young talent. Perhaps the brightest young star that had ever donned the maroon and gold to that point, Thomas Vanek debuted for the team and Gophers would need the highly-regarded Austrian to make up for the lost offensive production of the departed John Pohl and Jeff Taffe.

Though the Gophers were ranked #1 entering the year, that was due mostly to their being the defending champions. The Gophers suffered a setback when Team captain Grant Potulny was injured in the first game against Ohio State. What was initially thought to just be a fractured fibula that would keep him out for 4–6 weeks turned out to include ligament damage that would sideline Potulny for up to 4 months. Without him, the team looked a little out of sorts as the roster sought to soldier on. While Minnesota never looked bad, they weren't able to consistently put together a good stretch of games in the first two months of the season. Part of the problem was that Don Lucia was still trying to find out which one of his two goaltenders deserved to be the starter. Both Travis Weber and Justin Johnson got playing time but neither was able to seize control of the Minnesota cage by mid-November. The goalie rotation continued until Johnson had a rather a poor outing against Colorado College which was followed up by a solid performance by Weber. Afterwards, Weber remained in the cage and strung several good outings together, including a road sweep of long time rival Wisconsin.

While Weber established himself in the cage, the offense too had steadily come along. The Gophers had shown from the start that the team could score but they had trouble with their consistency. With Vanek at the lead, the Gophers steadily improved throughout the fall and turned themselves into one of the best offenses in the country come winter time. While the team sorted through its early-season jitters, their ranking declined. When December rolled around the team had dropped to #10, however, because the NCAA tournament had expanded to 16 teams for that season, they were still in a solid position to earn a berth. The Gophers took no chances, however, and reeled off a series of impressive wins to jump up to 4th by the time January rolled around.

The team was stymied when they began the second half of the season and went winless in three games. They arrested their fall with a win over top-ranked North Dakota and then mostly held serve over the following month and a half. Entering the final few weeks of the season, Minnesota sat 7th in the polls but had a tremendous opportunity to move up with four games against ranked teams. Minnesota went 2–0–2 in those games, which, though they did not see their ranking improve, they were able to finish in a tie for second in the WCHA standings.

Conference tournament

Because they held the tie-breaker, the Gophers received the second seed for the WCHA tournament and got to take on a bad but improving Michigan Tech squad. The Gophers won the first game fairly easily and appeared to be heading to a sweep in the second when Weber suffered an injury to his finger. Johnson was installed for the remainder of the contest and though the Gophers marched on to the semifinals, doing so without their starting goalie was not ideal. Though he was initially expected to be ready for the next game, Weber was unable to play against Minnesota State–Mankato. Seeing their backup needed a hand, Minnesota's offense shelled the Maverick cage, firing 49 shots to MSU's 17. Due to a masterful performance from opposing netminder Jon Volp, however, the two still needed overtime to settle the score. Just less than 4 minutes into the extra session, Vanek scored his 26th goal of the season and sent the Gophers to the championship match.

Colorado College was all that stood between Minnesota and a conference title. The top-seeded Tigers were the favorites to win but it was the Gophers who got off to a blazing start. Potulny had a hand in all three of Minnesota's goals in the first period to build a huge lead. The Tigers fought back with two power play goals in the second half of the game along with 38 shots but Johnson held the fort and enabled the Gophers to skate away with a 4–2 win.

NCAA tournament

Because they were hosting one of the four regionals, Minnesota was going to be placed in the West bracket. The WCHA championship helped Minnesota earn one of the #1 seeds and an advantageous match for the first round. Additionally, because two of the teams seeded 4th were also members of the WCHA, Minnesota was assigned to play Mercyhurst. While the Lakers won their conference tournament, they weren't considered much of a threat to the Gophers. With the return of Weber between the pipes and Potulny netting a hat-trick, Minnesota proved those sentiments correct with a resounding 9–2 victory.

Minnesota's second game was expected to be a much closer affair as they were taking on #6 Ferris State. The Bulldogs were led by Hobey Baker finalist Chris Kunitz and gave the Gophers a demonstration of his abilities when he scored twice in the first period. Fortunately for Minnesota, they scored five times in the opening frame and cruised to a 7–4 victory.

The national semifinal saw Minnesota fight and law back from the brink of disaster. Facing off against #4 Michigan, the Gophers were badly outplayed in the first period and found themselves down by a goal. A Jed Ortmeyer score after the mid-way point of the game put the Wolverines up by two and had Minnesota staring into the void. Troy Riddle cut the lead in half on a rebound from Vanek before the end of the second while a marker less than two minutes into the third from Gino Guyer tied the score. Chris Harrington took two separate minor penalties afterwards but the Minnesota penalty kill held and kept the game knotted at 2-all. Overtime was required and both teams found it difficult to get the puck on the goal. In almost 9 minutes only 5 shots were recorded but it was the last one from Vanek that counted and sent Minnesota to the championship game.

The final game of the year came against New Hampshire in a rematch from earlier in the season. Minnesota carried the balance of play but Mike Ayers put up a strong performance in goal for the Wildcats and kept his team in the game. After two periods, Minnesota was leading on the shot clock 30–16 but the teams remained tied with one goal apiece. As time went on, it was just one mistake that separated Minnesota from disaster but, as he had most of the season, Thomas Vanek stepped in as the hero. Just past the 8-minute mark, Vanek broke the tie and then assisted on a second goal just 3 minutes later. After a power play goal from Barry Tallackson, Minnesota suddenly had a commanding 3-goal lead. New Hampshire desperately tried to tie the game but they had been outmatched on the ice all night. Pulling their goalie only allowed the Gophers to score a 5th goal and ensure the team a national championship. Minnesota was the first team in over 30 years to defend their national title.

Departures

Player	Position	Nationality	Cause
Nick Angell	Defenseman	United States	Graduation (signed with Milwaukee Admirals)
Adam Hauser	Goaltender	United States	Graduation (signed with Providence Bruins)
Jordan Leopold	Defenseman	United States	Graduation (signed with Calgary Flames)
Mark Nenovich	Defenseman	United States	Graduation (retired)
Pat O'Leary	Forward	United States	Graduation (signed with Quad City Mallards)
John Pohl	Forward	United States	Graduation (signed with St. Louis Blues)
Jeff Taffe	Forward	United States	Graduation (signed with Phoenix Coyotes)
Erik Wendell	Forward	United States	Graduation (signed with Rockford IceHogs)

Recruiting

Player	Position	Nationality	Age	Notes
P. J. Atherton	Defenseman	United States	20	Edina, MN; selected 170th overall in 2002
Gino Guyer	Forward	United States	18	Coleraine, MN
Chris Harrington	Forward	United States	20	St. Cloud, MN
Tyler Hirsch	Forward	United States	18	Bloomington, MN
Peter Kennedy	Defenseman	Canada	18	Brookfield, NS
Andy Sertich	Defenseman	United States	19	Coleraine, MN; selected 136th overall in 2002
Dustin Smieja	Goaltender	United States	18	Saint Paul, MN
Thomas Vanek	Forward	Austria	18	Baden bei Wien, AUT

Roster

April 15, 2003.

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
2		Peter Kennedy	Freshman	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	1984-05-24	Brookfield, Nova Scotia	Ottawa Jr. Senators (CJHL)	—
3		Chris Harrington	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	1982-05-07	St. Cloud, Minnesota	Omaha Lancers (USHL)	—
4		P. J. Atherton	Freshman	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1982-08-16	Edina, Minnesota	Cedar Rapids Roughriders (USHL)	TBL, 170th overall 2002
5		Jon Waibel	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1982-05-19	Baudette, Minnesota	USNTDP (USHL)	ANA, 153rd overall 2000
6		Judd Stevens	Sophomore	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	203 lb (92 kg)	1983-04-09	Wayzata, Minnesota	Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)	—
7		Gino Guyer	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	1983-10-14	Coleraine, Minnesota	Lincoln Stars (USHL)	—
9		Andy Sertich	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	1983-05-06	Coleraine, Minnesota	Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)	PIT, 136th overall 2002
10		Paul Martin (A)	Junior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1981-06-20	Minneapolis, Minnesota	Elk River High School (MN-HS)	NJD, 62nd overall 2000
11		Dan Welch	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	1981-02-23	Hastings, Minnesota	Omaha Lancers (USHL)	LAK, 193rd overall 2000
13		Keith Ballard	Sophomore	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	199 lb (90 kg)	1982-11-26	Baudette, Minnesota	Omaha Lancers (USHL)	BUF, 11th overall 2002
14		Chad Roberg	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	1980-10-25	Duluth, Minnesota	East High School (MN-HS)	—
15		Mike Erickson	Sophomore	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1983-04-12	Elk River, Minnesota	Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)	—
16		Nick Anthony (A)	Senior	F	5' 0" (1.52 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	1979-01-30	Faribault, Minnesota	Twin City Vulcans (USHL)	—
17		Garrett Smaagaard	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	1982-08-13	Eden Prairie, Minnesota	Eden Prairie High School (MN-HS)	—
18		Grant Potulny (C)	Junior	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	204 lb (93 kg)	1980-03-04	Grand Forks, North Dakota	Lincoln Stars (USHL)	OTT, 157th overall 2000
19		Matt DeMarchi	Senior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1981-05-04	Bemidji, Minnesota	North Iowa Huskies (USHL)	NJD, 57th overall 2000
20		Joey Martin	Junior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	203 lb (92 kg)	1981-07-17	Buffalo, Minnesota	Omaha Lancers (USHL)	CHI, 193rd overall 2000
21		Troy Riddle	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1981-08-24	Minneapolis, Minnesota	Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)	STL, 129th overall 2000
23		Tyler Hirsch	Freshman	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	1984-01-04	Bloomington, Minnesota	Shattuck-Saint Mary's (MSHSL)	—
24		Matt Koalska	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1980-05-16	Saint Paul, Minnesota	Twin City Vulcans (USHL)	NSH, 154th overall 2000
25		Jerrid Reinholz	Sophomore (RS)	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	189 lb (86 kg)	1979-07-15	Ramsey, Minnesota	Minnesota–Duluth (WCHA)	—
26		Thomas Vanek	Freshman	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	214 lb (97 kg)	1984-01-19	Baden bei Wien, Austria	Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)	—
27		Barry Tallackson	Sophomore	F	6' 5" (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1983-04-14	Grafton, North Dakota	USNTDP (USHL)	NJD, 53rd overall 2002
28		Brett MacKinnon	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1981-01-02	Wayzata, Minnesota	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL)	—
29		Jake Fleming	Sophomore	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	166 lb (75 kg)	1982-08-28	Osseo, Minnesota	Omaha Lancers (USHL)	—
31		Travis Weber	Sophomore	G	5' 11" (1.8 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1983-05-26	Hibbing, Minnesota	USNTDP (USHL)	—
32		Dustin Smieja	Freshman	G	6' 4" (1.93 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	1984-07-14	Saint Paul, Minnesota		—
33		Justin Johnson	Sophomore	G	5' 10" (1.78 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	1980-09-22	Ham Lake, Minnesota	Lincoln Stars (USHL)	—

Season standings

Note: PTS = Points; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against

Schedule and results

NCAA Championship

(W1) Minnesota vs. (NE1) New Hampshire

Scoring statistics

Goaltending statistics

Awards and honors

Players drafted into the NHL

2003 NHL Entry Draft

† incoming freshman

References

1. 2006–07 Minnesota Men's Hockey Yearbook. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics. 2006.
2. "Potulny Injury More Severe Than Thought". USCHO. October 18, 2002. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
3. "Saturday, November 16, 2002". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
4. "This Week in the WCHA: March 19, 2003". USCHO. March 19, 2003. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
5. "Saturday, March 22, 2003". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
6. "2003 U of M Frozen Four Highlight". YouTube. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
7. "Univ. of Minnesota". Elite Prospects. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
8. "Minnesota Men's Hockey 2018-19 Media Guide" (PDF). Minnesota Golden Gophers. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
9. "Minnesota 5, New Hampshire 1". USCHO.com. April 12, 2002. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
10. "Minnesota 5, New Hampshire 1". CollegeHockeyStats.net. April 12, 2003. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
11. "Minnesota 2002-2003 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
12. "NCAA Division I Awards". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
13. "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
14. "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 17, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
15. ^ "WCHA Awards". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
16. ^ "WCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
17. "Hockey East All-Rookie Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. May 16, 2013.
18. "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 129-144" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
19. "2003 NHL Entry Draft". Hockey DB. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
20. ^ Players are identified as an All-Star if they were selected for the All-Star game at any time in their career.

External links

• Official website

• Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey seasons
• 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season
• 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey by team
• 2002–03 WCHA men's ice hockey season
• NCAA men's ice hockey Frozen Four seasons
• NCAA men's ice hockey championship seasons
• 2002 in sports in Minnesota
• 2003 in sports in Minnesota