1978–79 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 1978–79 Minnesota Golden Gophers men Minnesota Golden Gophers logo (old).svg 225 WCHA1st Big Ten 2nd 32–11–1 20–11–1 / 10–2 20–4–1 9–7–0 3–0–0 Herb Brooks Brad BuetowJohn PerpichMike Foley Bill Baker Phil VerchotaSteve Christoff Williams Arena National championBig Ten, championWCHA tournament, co-champion NCAA tournament champion 1977–78 1979–80 background:#862334; color:#FFFFFF; a #FBB93C 2px background:#eeeeee; The 1978–79 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey team represented the University of Minnesota in college ice hockey. In its 7th year under head coach Herb Brooks the team compiled a 32–11–1 record and reached the NCAA tournament for the eighth time. The Golden Gophers defeated North Dakota 4–3 in the championship game at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit, Michigan to win their third national championship. Season Early lead Minnesota began the 1978–79 season well, winning two games before each of their losses through mid-November. Steve Janaszak, one of the four remaining players from Minnesota's last national championship team, received the lion's share of minutes in goal as the Gophers built an early lead in both the WCHA and Big Ten. After the calendar had turned to December, Minnesota visited a resurgent North Dakota who had already climbed up to second place in the conference. The teams split the series and Minnesota headed home with an 11–4 record. The Gophers played host to three ECAC Hockey teams during the winter break and though Harvard gave them a good game, Minnesota swept both weekend to build their record to 15–4. When the Gophers returned to conference play they throttled Michigan with Janaszak posting his only shutout of the season. That dominance likely led to a bit of soft play the following weekend when the Gopher's didn't show up against Minnesota–Duluth and the squad played its first weekend all season without recording a win. Trouble on the road After the failed homestand Minnesota spent the following two weekends outside of Minnesota. The first series against Wisconsin began well but the Badgers salvaged a split in the second game. The Gophers then headed southwest to play Denver and lost both games to a middling Pioneer squad. With their conference record dented, Minnesota returned to the Williams Arena and hosted two weak teams over two weeks, easily winning four games, before ending up in Notre Dame where they lost two close affairs. The pair of losses were at an inopportune time because it allowed North Dakota to build a 5-point lead in the WCHA race.North Dakota men's hockey 2018-19 Media Guide https://s3.amazonaws.com/undsports.com/documents/2018/11/15/2018_19_HKY_Media_Guide_for_web.pdf North Dakota Fighting Hawks July 22, 2019 While the two teams would play to end the season Minnesota needed help from a bad Michigan State team who were fighting just to make the conference tournament. Before they could worry about that, however, they had to take care of business at home against Michigan Tech. The Gophers won both of their games and watched as the Fighting Sioux lost on Saturday to give Minnesota a chance at the conference title. The next weekend Minnesota opened with a 5–2 win over North Dakota but could not keep the momentum going and failed to win the crown after losing the second game. WCHA tournament With their second-place finish Minnesota was guaranteed home ice for the conference playoffs. After breezing through the first round against Michigan Tech, Minnesota hosted Minnesota–Duluth, one of only two team to have a winning record against the Golden Gophers in the regular season. Minnesota fought valiantly in the first game with Janaszak turning aside all but one shot from a potent Bulldog attack. Minnesota pulled away in the second game, scoring six times, and captured their sixth WCHA tournament title. NCAA tournament While the Gophers earned one of the two WCHA bids, the other went to North Dakota and because the Fighting Sioux had finished the regular season with a better conference record, Minnesota was slotted into the second western seed. Because of this Minnesota was forced to begin the tournament against CCHA champion Bowling Green who had proven the year before that they could compete on a national stage. Minnesota proved the stronger team, however, winning the first round match 6–3 and punching their ticket to Detroit. In the semifinals Minnesota met New Hampshire, the top offence team in the east, and the two battled a close contest for 60 minutes with the Gophers ending up as the victors. In the championship game Minnesota faced UND for the seventh time that season. The Fighting Sioux elected to start senior Bill Stankoven over freshman Bob Iwabuchi despite the underclassmen's superior numbers. That choice did not pan out as the Gophers scored three times in the first period and took a 2-goal lead into the second. Iwabuchi found himself in goal from the remainder of the contest but the Fighting Sioux had a tough hill to climb. Janaszak played strong throughout the game but couldn't stop North Dakota from cutting into the lead with a late second period goal. Neal Broten restored the two goal advantage less than three minutes into the third but UND narrowed the gap back to 1 with just over ten minutes to play. The two teams fought desperately in the final half-period but neither side was able to score and Minnesota earned their third national title in only 6 years. Awards and honors For his superlative play in the three games, Steve Janaszak was named Tournament MOP and was on the All-Tournament Team with teammates Mike Ramsey, Steve Christoff and Eric Strobel.NCAA Frozen Four Records http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/frozen_4/2009/f4recs.pdf NCAA.org 2013-06-19 https://web.archive.org/web/20120817163005/http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/frozen_4/2009/f4recs.pdf 2012-08-17 live Defenseman Bill Baker was the team's sole representative on 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 the All-WCHA First TeamWCHA All-Teams http://www.augenblick.org/chha/wcha_all.html College Hockey Historical Archives May 19, 2013 while team scoring leader Steve Christoff made the WCHA Second Team. The 1978–79 Minnesota team joined the 1948–49 Boston College Eagles as the only teams to win a championship with all of their players having been born in one state or province and was the second time Minnesota had won a championship with only American players. Two Gophers were taken in the 1979 NHL entry draft with both (Mike Ramsey and Neal Broten) becoming All-Stars. Head Coach Herb Brooks would leave Minnesota that summer when he signed on to serve as the bench boss for the US National Team at the 1980 Winter Olympics. Unsurprisingly, Brooks drew heavily from the program he ran for seven season with 8 of 20 players coming from the 1979 championship team: Bill Baker, Neal Broten, Steve Christoff, Steve Janaszak, Rob McClanahan, Mike Ramsey, Eric Strobel and Phil Verchota. Standings MIN MIN Schedule |- !colspan=12 style="color:white; background:#862334; a #FBB93C 2px" | Exhibition October 20 w yes yes 1978 men North Dakota Fighting Sioux North Dakota Minot, North Dakota Exhibition 6–5 |- !colspan=12 style="color:white; background:#862334; a #FBB93C 2px" | Regular season October 21 w yes yes 1978 men North Dakota Fighting Sioux North Dakota Eveleth Hippodrome Eveleth, Minnesota US Hockey Hall of Fame Game 5–3 1–0 October 28 w no 1978 men Wisconsin Badgers Wisconsin Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 8–4 2–0 1–0 / 1–0 October 29 l no 1978 men Wisconsin Badgers Wisconsin Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 5–9 3–0 1–1 / 1–1 November 3 w yes 1978 men Michigan State Spartans Michigan State Munn Ice Arena East Lansing, Michigan 6–4 3–1 2–1 / 2–1 November 4 w yes 1978 men Michigan State Spartans Michigan State Munn Ice Arena East Lansing, Michigan 6–5 OT 4–1 3–1 / 3–1 November 10 l no 1978 men Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 2–3 4–2 3–2 / 3–1 November 11 w no 1978 men Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 4–1 5–2 4–2 / 3–1 November 17 w yes 1978 men Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs Minnesota–Duluth Duluth Arena Auditorium Duluth, Minnesota 5–4 OT 6–2 5–2 / 3–1 November 18 l yes 1978 men Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs Minnesota–Duluth Duluth Arena Auditorium Duluth, Minnesota 4–5 6–3 5–3 / 3–1 November 24 w yes 1978 men Colorado College Tigers Colorado College Broadmoor World Arena Colorado Springs, Colorado 8–3 7–3 6–3 / 3–1 November 25 w yes 1978 men Colorado College Tigers Colorado College Broadmoor World Arena Colorado Springs, Colorado 8–3 8–3 7–3 / 3–1 December 2 w no 1978 men Michigan Wolverines Michigan Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 8–2 9–3 8–3 / 4–1 December 3 w no 1978 men Michigan Wolverines Michigan Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 10–5 10–3 9–3 / 5–1 December 15 l yes 1978 men North Dakota Fighting Sioux North Dakota Winter Sports Center Grand Forks, North Dakota 1–4 10–4 9–4 / 5–1 December 16 w yes 1978 men North Dakota Fighting Sioux North Dakota Winter Sports Center Grand Forks, North Dakota 6–3 11–4 10–4 / 5–1 December 22 w yes no 1978 men Princeton Tigers Princeton Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 6–2 12–4 10–4 / 5–1 December 23 w yes no 1978 men Princeton Tigers Princeton Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 6–2 13–4 10–4 / 5–1 December 27 w yes no 1978 men Harvard Crimson Harvard Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 5–4 14–4 10–4 / 5–1 December 28 w yes no 1978 men Yale Bulldogs Yale Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 7–3 15–4 10–4 / 5–1 January 5 w yes 1978 men Michigan Wolverines Michigan Yost Ice Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan 10–1 16–4 11–4 / 6–1 January 6 w yes 1978 men Michigan Wolverines Michigan Yost Ice Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan 3–0 17–4 12–4 / 7–1 January 12 t no 1978 men Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs Minnesota–Duluth Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 6–6 OT 17–4–1 12–4–1 / 7–1 January 13 l no 1978 men Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs Minnesota–Duluth Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 1–6 17–5–1 12–5–1 / 7–1 January 19 w yes 1978 men Wisconsin Badgers Wisconsin Dane County Coliseum Madison, Wisconsin 3–2 18–5–1 13–5–1 / 8–1 January 20 l yes 1978 men Wisconsin Badgers Wisconsin Dane County Coliseum Madison, Wisconsin 3–4 18–6–1 13–6–1 / 8–2 January 26 l yes 1978 men Denver Pioneers Denver DU Arena Denver, Colorado 4–5 18–7–1 13–7–1 / 8–2 January 27 l yes 1978 men Denver Pioneers Denver DU Arena Denver, Colorado 2–4 18–8–1 13–8–1 / 8–2 February 2 w no 1978 men Michigan State Spartans Michigan State Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 7–4 19–8–1 14–8–1 / 9–2 February 3 w no 1978 men Michigan State Spartans Michigan State Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 11–3 20–8–1 15–8–1 / 10–2 February 10 w no 1978 men Colorado College Tigers Colorado College Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 8–5 21–8–1 16–8–1 / 10–2 February 11 w no 1978 men Colorado College Tigers Colorado College Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 9–2 22–8–1 17–8–1 / 10–2 February 16 l yes 1978 men Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame Athletic & Convocation Center Notre Dame, Indiana 2–3 22–9–1 17–9–1 / 10–2 February 17 l yes 1978 men Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame Athletic & Convocation Center Notre Dame, Indiana 7–8 22–10–1 17–10–1 / 10–2 February 23 w no 1978 men Michigan Tech Huskies Michigan Tech Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 6–2 23–10–1 18–10–1 / 10–2 February 24 w no 1978 men Michigan Tech Huskies Michigan Tech Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 7–3 24–10–1 19–10–1 / 10–2 March 2 w no 1978 men North Dakota Fighting Sioux North Dakota Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 5–2 25–10–1 20–10–1 / 10–2 March 3 l no 1978 men North Dakota Fighting Sioux North Dakota Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 2–4 25–11–1 20–11–1 / 10–2 |- !colspan=12 style="color:white; background:#862334; a #FBB93C 2px" | #FFFFFF WCHA tournament March 6 w yes no 1978 men Michigan Tech Huskies Michigan Tech Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota WCHA First Round Game 1 5–3 26–11–1 20–11–1 / 10–2 March 7 w yes no 1978 men Michigan Tech Huskies Michigan Tech Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota WCHA First Round Game 2 6–1 27–11–1 20–11–1 / 10–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" |colspan=12|Minnesota Wins Series 11-4 March 10 w yes yes 1978 men Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs Minnesota–Duluth Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota WCHA Second Round Game 1 2–1 28–11–1 20–11–1 / 10–2 March 11 w yes yes 1978 men Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs Minnesota–Duluth Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota WCHA Second Round Game 2 6–3 29–11–1 20–11–1 / 10–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" |colspan=12|Minnesota Wins Series 8-4 |- !colspan=12 style="color:white; background:#862334; a #FBB93C 2px" | #FFFFFF NCAA tournament March 18 w yes no 1978 men Bowling Green Falcons Bowling Green Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota First Round 6–3 30–11–1 20–11–1 / 10–2 March 22 w yes yes 1978 men New Hampshire Wildcats New Hampshire Olympia Stadium Detroit, Michigan National Semifinal 4–3 31–11–1 20–11–1 / 10–2 March 23 w yes yes 1978 men North Dakota Fighting Sioux North Dakota Olympia Stadium Detroit, Michigan National championship 4–3 32–11–1 20–11–1 / 10–2 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 11 Steve Christoff Junior C Richfield, MN Minnesota 43 38 39 77 50 17 Don Micheletti Junior LW Hibbing, MN Minnesota 41 36 36 72 112 14 Neal Broten Freshman C Roseau, MN Minnesota 40 21 50 71 18 6 Bill Baker Bill Baker (ice hockey, born 1956) Senior D Grand Rapids, MN Minnesota 44 12 42 54 38 9 Tim Harrer Junior RW Bloomington, MN Minnesota 43 28 25 53 38 10 Eric Strobel Junior RW Rochester, MN Minnesota 44 30 22 52 34 7 Rob McClanahan Junior LW Saint Paul, MN Minnesota 43 17 32 49 34 12 Phil Verchota Senior LW Duluth, MN Minnesota 44 18 24 42 52 21 Bart Larson Freshman D / LW Bloomington, MN Minnesota 44 9 33 42 4 18 Steve Ulseth Sophomore LW Roseville, MN Minnesota 37 8 18 26 12 4 Mike Ramsey Mike Ramsey (ice hockey) Freshman D Minneapolis, MN Minnesota 34 7 17 24 38 28 Mike Greeder Sophomore D Mahtomedi, MN Minnesota 40 2 12 14 60 24 Bob Bergloff Sophomore D Bloomington, MN Minnesota 37 1 11 12 48 5 Joe Baker Joe Baker (ice hockey) Senior D White Bear Lake, MN Minnesota 22 0 10 10 40 23 John Meredith John Meredith (ice hockey) Junior RW Minneapolis, MN Minnesota 32 2 7 9 9 3 Steve Pepper Sophomore D Edina, MN Minnesota 34 2 5 7 18 20 Jeff Teal Freshman LW Rochester, MN Minnesota 39 2 4 6 12 15 Dave Terwilliger Sophomore D Edina, MN Minnesota 37 1 4 5 18 19 Kevin Hartzell Freshman F Saint Paul, MN Minnesota 20 2 2 4 0 22 Bradley Doshan Sophomore D Hastings, MN Minnesota 25 0 4 4 12 29 Jay Larson Jay Larson (ice hockey) Freshman D Minneapolis, MN Minnesota 10 1 2 3 4 2 Peter Hayek Junior D / LW Robbinsdale, MN Minnesota 7 0 3 3 4 25 Brian Zins Brian Zins (ice hockey) Freshman D Hoyt Lakes, MN Minnesota 5 1 0 1 2 26 Wayne Larson Sophomore C Minneapolis, MN Minnesota 9 1 0 1 2 30 Jim Jetland Freshman G Grand Rapids, MN Minnesota 4 - - - - 1 Steve Janaszak Senior G Saint Paul, MN Minnesota 40 - - - - Total Minnesota Golden Gophers 1978-79 Skater Stats https://www.eliteprospects.com/team/776/univ.-of-minnesota/1978-1979?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 1 Steve Janaszak 41 2428 29 10 1 131 1116 1 .895 3.23 35 Jim Jetland 4 230 3 1 0 14 111 0 .888 3.68 Total 44 32 11 1 145 1 1979 championship game (W1) North Dakota vs. (W2) Minnesota North Dakota Minnesota Olympia Stadium March 242008-09 Media Guide http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/minn/sports/m-hockey/auto_pdf/2008-9/misc_non_event/m-hockey-guide-0809.pdf Minnesota Golden Gophers 2018-06-07 2015-09-06 https://web.archive.org/web/20150906203609/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/minn/sports/m-hockey/auto_pdf/2008-9/misc_non_event/m-hockey-guide-0809.pdf dead 3 – 4 2 Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st MINSteve ChristoffVerchota 4:11 1–0 MIN MINJohn MeredithStrobel and Ulseth 8:05 2–0 MIN UNDBill Himmelright – PPTaylor and Maxwell 17:10 2–1 MIN MINJoe BakerMicheletti and Broten 19:22 3–1 MIN 2nd UNDKevin MaxwellEades and Taylor 38:02 3–2 MIN 3rd MINNeal Broten – GWChristoff and Larson 42:48 4–2 MIN UNDMarc ChorneyBurggraf and Taylor 49:56 4–3 MIN Shots by period Team 1 2 3 T Minnesota 16 8 11 35 North Dakota 9 11 8 28 Goaltenders Team Name Saves Goals against Time on ice MIN Steve Janaszak 25 3 UND Bill Stankoven 13 3 UND Bob Iwabuchi 17 1 Players drafted into the NHL 1979 NHL entry 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 1 11 Mike Ramsey Buffalo Sabres 3 42 Neal Broten Minnesota North Stars References 50em Category:Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey seasons Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota