The Golden Gophers, one of the sport s bluest blue bloods, are lined up as a favorite to win their first NCAA men s hockey title since 2003. Can they pull it off?
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Odeen Tufto spent a good portion of his youth in 3M Arena at Mariucci, taking advantage of his family s season tickets to Gophers men s hockey games. He also attended Minnesota s model camps for three years and has quite the collection of maroon-and-gold hockey sweaters. Until I was 14, I was the biggest Gophers fan ever, he said. I have signed jerseys from Danny Irmen, Ryan Potulny, Gino Guyer. It was my dream to play for the U, but obviously dreams change.
The change of dreams, it turns out, is working out well for Tufto, a senior forward at Quinnipiac whose 27 points and 23 assists lead Division I men s hockey. The senior captain is riding a 12-game point streak and has helped the Bobcats compile a 10-4-1 record and earn the No. 10 ranking in the U.S. College Hockey Online poll.