1975–76 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey season

March 2026 August 2023 color:white; background:#862334; a #FBB93C 2px white white Minnesota Golden Gophers white 1975–76 Minnesota Golden Gophers men Minnesota Golden Gophers logo (old).svg 225 WCHA3rd Big Ten 3rd 28–14–2 18–13–1 / 4–8 13–6–0 12–8–2 3–0–0 Herb Brooks Brad Buetow Pat Phippen Warren MillerTom Vannelli Williams Arena National championWCHA tournament, co-champion NCAA tournament champion 1974–75 1976–77 background:#862334; color:#FFFFFF; a #FBB93C 2px background:#eeeeee; The 1975–76 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey team represented the University of Minnesota in college ice hockey. In its 4th year under head coach Herb Brooks the team compiled a 28–14–2 record and reached the NCAA tournament for the third consecutive year and seventh all-time. The Golden Gophers defeated Michigan Tech 6–4 in the championship game at the DU Arena in Denver, Colorado to win their second national championship. Season Fast start After a disappointing end to what was otherwise a tremendous season, Minnesota entered the 1975–76 campaign with a fairly young team. Herb Brooks' squad had only two seniors and four juniors leaving the team rather shorthanded in terms of experience. The Gophers' didn't let their youth stand in the way of a fast start, however. Minnesota won their first game in October over the US National Team which kicked off a 5-game winning streak. The Gophers suffered their first loss in their first true road game of the season when they were beaten by Denver in overtime. While Minnesota recovered to earn a split for the weekend, that series was the start of a 10-game trend where they alternated wins and losses. At the end of December Minnesota finally stopped losing every weekend and put together another 5-game winning streak to push their record to 14–5. New Year and .500 hockey The Gophers began 1976 with a series against the defending national champions, Michigan Tech and while they split the series, the two teams combined for 25 goals in the two games. Minnesota then took seven out of eight points against Notre Dame and Denver before visiting Michigan and dropping both contest to the surprisingly strong Wolverines. After two more wins at Minnesota–Duluth the Gophers lost two more Big Ten contests, this time to Michigan State. Two losses dropped Minnesota's Big Ten record to 2–6 though they were still well positioned with a 19–10–1 mark in the WCHA. The following weekend the Gophers split with Wisconsin to guarantee that they would finish with a losing record in the Big Ten and continued to split each weekend for the remaining 4 weeks of the regular season. WCHA tournament Despite their mediocre finish, Minnesota managed to hold onto home ice for the first round of the WCHA tournament and played host to Colorado College. The Gopher defense stepped up in the first game and gave Minnesota a 4-goal margin of victory that allowed the team to cruise to a 10–5 series win after taking the second contest. Minnesota was forced to hit the road for the second round, heading to Michigan State and facing off against the nation's leading scorer in Tom Ross. Minnesota was able to hold the Spartan offence to only two goals in the first game but could only manage two itself and the match ended in a 2-2 tie. both offenses woke up for the deciding second game and managed to score six times in regulation. Overtime was played at the same high pace but the goaltenders turned aside everything that came their way for over 40 minutes before Minnesota broke the tie and captured their third straight WCHA championship. Jeff Tscherne recorded 72 saves in the win, a Minnesota team record as of 2018.Minnesota men's hockey 2018-19 Media Guide https://s3.amazonaws.com/gophersports.com/documents/2018/12/31/MHK_Guide_2019.pdf Minnesota Golden Gophers June 13, 2019 NCAA tournament As they had two years earlier, Minnesota opened as the underdog against ECAC champion Boston University and just like 1974 the Gophers were able to send the Terriers packing. In the championship game Minnesota met Michigan Tech for the third consecutive year, the only time in NCAA where the same two team made the final three years running (as of 2019). The defending champion Huskies had produced a stellar season thus far and had already set a new NCAA record with 34 wins on the season. The top offense in the nation was led by future NHL-er Mike Zuke who had posted 103 points on the season and was only two behind Tom Ross for the scoring title. It didn't take much time from the start of the contest to figure out that it was not Jeff Tscherne's night. Michigan Tech scored three times in under four minutes to build a huge lead less than twelve minutes into the contest. Tscherne remained in net for the rest of the period and was able to stem the tide but it was a power play goal from Tom Vannelli at the end of the first that gave Minnesota some breathing room. Tscherne was replaced by Tom Mohr from the second on and the junior netminder was given time to settle in when Minnesota opened an offensive salvo on the Michigan Tech net. The Gophers outshot the Huskies 16–3 in the second and scored three times to erase the Tech advantage and take the lead themselves. Michigan Tech halted the Gopher charge with their fourth goal that came with 36 seconds to play to send the teams into the final frame in a tied game. The play was much more even in the third but Minnesota managed to score first with team captain Pat Phippen's goal near the middle of the stanza. Mohr held the Huskies off the scoresheet and allowed Warren Miller to cap the scoring with 30 seconds left. Minnesota's second championship in three years was even more improbable that their first and the 1976 Golden Gophers became the first team since the 1948–49 Boston College Eagles to have a national champion composed entirely of American players. Furthermore, with Jim Boo having been raised in Minnesota they were the second team to have all of their players hail from one state. Tom Vannelli's 5 points in the title tile earned him the Tournament MOP, however, for the only time in its history the NCAA did not name an All-Tournament Team. No Minnesota players were named to the AHCA All-American West TeamMen's Ice Hockey Award Winners http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_icehockey_rb/2013/MIH%20awards%20for%202013.pdf NCAA.org June 11, 2013 and only Reed Larson made an appearance on an All-WCHA Team,WCHA All-Teams https://www.augenblick.org/chha/wcha_all.html College Hockey Historical Archives May 19, 2013 earning first-team honors. Three Minnesota players were taken at the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft. Reed Larson went on to have a very successful NHL career, becoming a three-time NHL All-Star. Standings MIN MIN Schedule |- !colspan=12 style="color:white; background:#862334; a #FBB93C 2px" | Regular season October 25 w yes yes US National Team Eveleth Hippodrome Eveleth, Minnesota Hall of Fame Game 5–2 1–0 October 27 w yes no 1975 men Saint Louis Billikens Saint Louis Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 4–3 2–0 October 28 w yes no 1975 men Saint Louis Billikens Saint Louis Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 6–3 3–0 November 7 w no 1975 men Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs Minnesota–Duluth Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 5–4 OT 4–0 1–0 November 8 w no 1975 men Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs Minnesota–Duluth Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 4–2 5–0 2–0 November 14 l yes 1975 men Denver Pioneers Denver DU Arena Denver, Colorado 2–3 OT 5–1 2–1 November 15 w yes 1975 men Denver Pioneers Denver DU Arena Denver, Colorado 5–1 6–1 3–1 November 21 l yes 1975 men Michigan State Spartans Michigan State Munn Ice Arena East Lansing, Michigan 1–3 6–2 3–2 / 0–1 November 22 w yes 1975 men Michigan State Spartans Michigan State Munn Ice Arena East Lansing, Michigan 4–2 7–2 4–2 / 1–1 November 28 l no 1975 men Wisconsin Badgers Wisconsin Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 2–4 7–3 4–3 / 1–2 November 29 w no 1975 men Wisconsin Badgers Wisconsin Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 6–1 8–3 5–3 / 2–2 December 3 l yes no US National Team Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 1–3 8–4 5–3 / 2–2 December 5 w no 1975 men North Dakota Fighting Sioux North Dakota Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 4–2 9–4 6–3 / 2–2 December 6 l no 1975 men North Dakota Fighting Sioux North Dakota Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 3–6 9–5 6–4 / 2–2 December 19 w no 1975 men Colorado College Tigers Colorado College Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 6–2 OT 10–5 7–4 / 2–2 December 20 w no 1975 men Colorado College Tigers Colorado College Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 3–2 11–5 8–4 / 2–2 December 27 w yes yes 1975 men Saint Louis Billikens Saint Louis St. Louis Arena St. Louis, Missouri 7–4 12–5 8–4 / 2–2 December 28 w yes yes 1975 men Saint Louis Billikens Saint Louis St. Louis Arena St. Louis, Missouri 7–5 13–5 8–4 / 2–2 January 2 w no 1975 men Michigan Tech Huskies Michigan Tech Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 10–5 14–5 9–4 / 2–2 January 3 l no 1975 men Michigan Tech Huskies Michigan Tech Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 2–8 14–6 9–5 / 2–2 January 9 w yes 1975 men Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame Athletic & Convocation Center Notre Dame, Indiana 6–3 15–6 10–5 / 2–2 January 10 t yes 1975 men Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame Athletic & Convocation Center Notre Dame, Indiana 4–4 OT 15–6–1 10–5–1 / 2–2 January 16 w no 1975 men Denver Pioneers Denver Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 3–1 16–6–1 11–5–1 / 2–2 January 17 w no 1975 men Denver Pioneers Denver Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 6–4 17–6–1 12–5–1 / 2–2 January 23 l yes 1975 men Michigan Wolverines Michigan Yost Ice Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan 3–7 17–7–1 12–6–1 / 2–3 January 24 l yes 1975 men Michigan Wolverines Michigan Yost Ice Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan 3–5 17–8–1 12–7–1 / 2–4 January 30 w yes 1975 men Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs Minnesota–Duluth Duluth Arena Auditorium Duluth, Minnesota 5–3 18–8–1 13–7–1 / 2–4 January 31 w yes 1975 men Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs Minnesota–Duluth Duluth Arena Auditorium Duluth, Minnesota 6–3 19–8–1 14–7–1 / 2–4 February 6 l no 1975 men Michigan State Spartans Michigan State Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 2–4 19–9–1 14–8–1 / 2–5 February 7 l no 1975 men Michigan State Spartans Michigan State Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 4–5 OT 19–10–1 14–9–1 / 2–6 February 13 w no 1975 men Wisconsin Badgers Wisconsin Dane County Coliseum Madison, Wisconsin 5–4 OT 20–10–1 15–9–1 / 3–6 February 14 l no 1975 men Wisconsin Badgers Wisconsin Dane County Coliseum Madison, Wisconsin 3–9 20–11–1 15–10–1 / 3–7 February 20 w yes 1975 men Colorado College Tigers Colorado College Broadmoor World Arena Colorado Springs, Colorado 4–1 21–11–1 16–10–1 / 3–7 February 21 l yes 1975 men Colorado College Tigers Colorado College Broadmoor World Arena Colorado Springs, Colorado 3–4 21–12–1 16–11–1 / 3–7 February 27 l no 1975 men Michigan Wolverines Michigan Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 2–5 22–12–1 17–11–1 / 4–7 February 28 w no 1975 men Michigan Wolverines Michigan Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 7–4 22–13–1 17–12–1 / 4–8 March 5 w yes 1975 men North Dakota Fighting Sioux North Dakota Winter Sports Center Grand Forks, North Dakota 5–3 23–13–1 18–12–1 / 4–8 March 6 l yes 1975 men North Dakota Fighting Sioux North Dakota Winter Sports Center Grand Forks, North Dakota 1–5 23–14–1 18–13–1 / 4–8 |- !colspan=12 style="color:white; background:#862334; a #FBB93C 2px" | #FFFFFF WCHA tournament March 10 w yes no 1975 men Colorado College Tigers Colorado College Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota WCHA First Round Game 1 5–1 24–14–1 18–13–1 / 4–8 March 11 w yes no 1975 men Colorado College Tigers Colorado College Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota WCHA First Round Game 2 5–4 25–14–1 18–13–1 / 4–8 |- align="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" |colspan=12|Minnesota Wins Series 12-5 March 13 t yes yes 1975 men Michigan State Spartans Michigan State Munn Ice Arena East Lansing, Michigan WCHA Second Round Game 1 2–2 OT 25–14–2 18–13–1 / 4–8 March 14 w yes yes 1975 men Michigan State Spartans Michigan State Munn Ice Arena East Lansing, Michigan WCHA Second Round Game 2 7–6 3OT 26–14–2 18–13–1 / 4–8 |- align="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" |colspan=12|Minnesota Wins Series 9-8 |- !colspan=12 style="color:white; background:#862334; a #FBB93C 2px" | #FFFFFF NCAA tournament March 14 w yes yes 1975 men Boston University Terriers Boston University DU Arena Denver, Colorado National Semifinal 4–2 27–14–2 18–13–1 / 4–8 March 15 w yes yes 1975 men Michigan Tech Huskies Michigan Tech DU Arena Denver, Colorado National championship 4–2 28–14–2 18–13–1 / 4–8 Source: Minnesota men's hockey 2018-19 Media Guide https://s3.amazonaws.com/gophersports.com/documents/2018/12/31/MHK_Guide_2019.pdf Minnesota Golden Gophers June 13, 2019 Roster and scoring statistics No. Player Year Position Hometown S/P/C Games Goals Assists Points #FFFFFF PIM 15 Tom Vannelli Junior C Saint Paul, MN Minnesota 44 26 43 69 72 10 Warren Miller Warren Miller (ice hockey) Senior F South Saint Paul, MN Minnesota 44 26 31 57 52 11 Pat Phippen Junior LW Roseville, MN Minnesota 41 17 33 50 50 9 Tom Younghans Sophomore RW Saint Paul, MN Minnesota 44 19 24 43 94 26 Reed Larson Sophomore D Minneapolis, MN Minnesota 42 13 29 42 94 7 Don Madson Freshman C Grand Rapids, MN Minnesota 42 14 24 38 32 3 Joe Micheletti Junior D / C International Falls, MN Minnesota 33 7 24 31 46 18 Tom Gorence Freshman RW Saint Paul, MN Minnesota 40 16 10 26 24 6 Bill Baker Bill Baker (ice hockey, born 1956) Freshman D Grand Rapids, MN Minnesota 44 8 15 23 28 25 Daniel Bonk Freshman F South Saint Paul, MN Minnesota 42 7 15 22 32 22 Ken Yackel Jr. Sophomore RW South Saint Paul, MN Minnesota 37 9 6 15 39 21 Bruce Lind Sophomore D Richfield, MN Minnesota 42 5 10 15 73 14 Mark Lambert Mark Lambert (ice hockey) Sophomore C Saint Paul, MN Minnesota 44 6 8 14 22 4 Robin Larson Sophomore D Roseville, MN Minnesota 41 2 12 14 23 12 Phil Verchota Freshman LW Duluth, MN Minnesota 42 8 3 11 55 17 Russ Anderson Sophomore D Minneapolis, MN Minnesota 39 2 9 11 111 19 Bob Fish Bob Fish (ice hockey) Freshman LW Warroad, MN Minnesota 24 3 3 6 2 2 Brad Morrow Brad Morrow (ice hockey) Senior D Anoka, MN Minnesota 27 1 3 4 8 24 Tim Rainey Freshman RW Bloomington, MN Minnesota 26 1 2 3 12 8 Tony Dorn Freshman D Thief River Falls, MN Minnesota 24 1 1 2 12 23 Bryan Fredrickson Sophomore RW Minneapolis, MN Minnesota 10 0 1 1 16 20 Jim Boo Sophomore D Rolla, MO Missouri 19 0 1 1 21 5 Joe Baker Joe Baker (ice hockey) Sophomore D White Bear Lake, MN Minnesota 0 - - - - 1 Steve Janaszak Freshman G Saint Paul, MN Minnesota 4 - - - - 30 Tom Mohr Junior G Hopkins, MN Minnesota 12 - - - - 35 Jeff Tscherne Sophomore G Edina, MN Minnesota 29 - - - - Total Minnesota Golden Gophers 1975-76 Skater Stats https://www.eliteprospects.com/team/776/univ.-of-minnesota/1975-1976?tab=stats Elite Prospects July 9, 2019 Goaltending statistics No. Player Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals against Saves Shut outs #FFFFFF SV % #FFFFFF GAA 30 Tom Mohr 12 733 8 3 1 33 316 0 .911 2.70 35 Jeff Tscherne 29 1783 19 9 1 104 864 0 .893 3.50 1 Steve Janaszak 4 238 1 2 0 21 75 0 .781 5.30 Total 44 28 14 2 158 0 1976 championship game (W1) Michigan Tech vs. (W2) Minnesota Michigan Tech Minnesota University of Denver Arena March 27 4 – 6 2 Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st MTUWarren YoungJoelson, Dempsey 7:55 1–0 MTU MTUWarren YoungJoelson and Decker 10:36 2–0 MTU MTUJim MurrayJessee 11:31 3–0 MTU MINTom Vannelli – PPYounghans and Phippen 17:05 3–1 MTU 2nd MINJoe MichelettiLarson and Vannelli 22:55 3–2 MTU MINBill BakerVannelli and Phippen 30:26 3–3 MINTom GorenceLarson 32:47 4–3 MIN MTUNels GoddardRoberts and Zuke 39:24 4–4 3rd MINPat Phippen – GWVannelli and Larson 48:37 5–4 MIN MINWarren MillerPhippen and Vannelli 59:30 6–4 MIN Shots by period Team 1 2 3 T Minnesota 8 16 11 35 Michigan Tech 12 3 9 24 Goaltenders Team Name Saves Goals against Time on ice MIN Jeff Tscherne 9 3 MIN Tom Mohr 11 1 MTU Bruce Horsch 29 6 Players drafted into the NHL/WHA 1976 NHL Amateur Draft = NHL All-Star team= NHL All-StarPlayers are identified as an All-Star if they were selected for the All-Star game at any time in their career. = NHL All-Star and NHL All-Star team= Did not play in the NHL Round Pick Player NHL team 2 22 Reed Larson Detroit Red Wings 3 54 Bill Baker Montreal Canadiens 5 75 Phil Verchota Minnesota North Stars Minnesota men's hockey 2018-19 Media Guide https://s3.amazonaws.com/gophersports.com/documents/2018/12/31/MHK_Guide_2019.pdf Minnesota Golden Gophers June 13, 2019 1976 WHA Amateur Draft = Did not play in the WHA Round Pick Player WHA Team 5 49 Bill Baker New England Whalers Minnesota men's hockey 2018-19 Media Guide https://s3.amazonaws.com/gophersports.com/documents/2018/12/31/MHK_Guide_2019.pdf Minnesota Golden Gophers June 13, 2019 References Category:Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey seasons Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota