BTN.com staff, June 12, 2012
As BTN's Rick Pizzo says, "Hockey! Hockey! Hockey!" For Minnesota, during the 2011-12 athletic year, it was all about the school's success on the ice. The women's team won the national title, its first since 2005, with a victory over rival Wisconsin in the championship game, while the men advanced to the Frozen Four, also its first since 2005, losing to eventual national champ Boston College in the semifinals. The two teams combined to go 62-19-3, with the women carding an impressive 34-5-2 ledger.
Catch Minnesota Day on BTN all day Tuesday. View our programming schedule for the list of shows, games and features to be shown on each Minnesota Day. Future Minnesota Days include: July 4 and July 25.
Other Minnesota highlights from the 2011-12 athletic year:
- Women's hockey goalie Noora Raty was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2012 Frozen Four; Megan Bozek earned CCM first-team All-America honors.
- Wrestling finished second at Big Ten Championships and second at the NCAA Championships, both times behind Penn State; heavyweight Tony Nelson won the NCAA crown and J Robinson was named the 2012 National Coach of the Year.
- Men's basketball advanced to the NIT championship game, where it fell to Stanford at Madison Square Garden.
- Women's basketball rallied past Northern Iowa to win the Women's Basketball Invitational championship; senior Kiara Buford won 2012 WBI Most Valuable Player.
- Women's swimming and diving won the Big Ten crown, behind Maggie Keefer, the Big Ten Diver of the Championships; Haley Spencer and Ashley Steenvoorden earned first-team All-America honors.
- Male senior diver Kristoffer Jorgensen won Co-Diver of the Championships after winning the Gophers' first Big Ten diving crown since 2001.
- Male tennis player Toledo Leandro won Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Shows/games to be featured on Minnesota Day:
Big Ten Icons: Herb Brooks
Big Ten Icons: Dave Winfield
The Big Ten's Greatest Games – Football: Minnesota at Michigan – 2005
The Big Ten's Greatest Games – Football: Wisconsin at Minnesota – 2003
Big Ten Football in 60: Iowa at Minnesota – 10/29/11
The Big Ten's Greatest Games – Basketball: Minnesota at Wisconsin – 1/15/09
Big Ten Basketball Replay: Minnesota vs. Purdue – 1/13/2011
Big Ten Men's Basketball '11-12: Illinois at Minnesota
2010 Big Ten Baseball Championship – Minnesota vs. Iowa
[View our programming schedule for the official list of shows on each Minnesota Day]
