Men’s hockey: Gophers’ Clark aiming for more versus Tommies in his Xcel return

ST. PAUL – As a Minnesota Wild draft pick, Jimmy Clark could look at a trip to Xcel Energy Center as a visit to the place he aims to make his future office. Or, the red-hot Minnesota Gophers’ sophomore forward could think back a year to one of his first college games, when the “visitors” from Minneapolis rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period and beat St. Thomas in overtime.

But Clark’s roots are in Edina hockey, which seemingly takes up residence at the X for three days every March, and his most prominent memory of playing in the local NHL rink is one he would just as soon forget. In 2022, the Hornets advanced to the state tourney, but they went one-and-done in downtown St. Paul with an opening round 5-2 loss to Maple Grove.

“I just had one game there in high school,” Clark said this week. “Wish I had more.”

At his current pace, Clark could do plenty in just one game. Named one of the Big Ten’s three stars of the week, Clark has notched a team-leading six assists in his first four games as a sophomore, equaling the number he had in 39 games as a Gophers rookie.

Gophers coach Bob Motzko says Clark’s second year jump is a textbook example of a player getting used to the pace of the game and the workload required to excel at the Big Ten level. The coach also praises all of his team for the work they did on campus nearly every day in the summer, which included lifting, skating and building chemistry.

“Textbook, really. You’re all seeing the benefits. You could tell this summer that our group was just different,” Motzko said. “Committed in their work. … They’re being rewarded right now for a commitment they made in the offseason.”

The Gophers are 3-1-0 overall following a sweep at Minnesota Duluth last weekend, which helped them jump to No. 5 in both national polls. They face St. Thomas at 3M Arena at Mariucci on Friday in Minnesota’s home opener, then travel across town to Xcel for the Saturday rematch, in which the Tommies will be the home team. The teams drew more than 11,000 last year in St. Paul and are hoping for an even bigger audience this time around.

Picked to win the CCHA in their final season there before moving up to the powerful NCHC next season, St. Thomas is off to a 1-1-1 start following a home win and tie with Vermont last weekend. And the team is healthy, which is a notable change from the end of last season, when they all but ran out of able-bodied players and bowed out of the conference playoffs in the opening round.

Mason Poolman, a Tommies sophomore defenseman from East Grand Forks, has led the way offensively with three goals in three games, following an injury-marred rookie campaign.

“Everybody’s asking, ‘Where did Poolman come from?’ Well, he was having a really good start to his freshman year last year when he got hurt,” Tommies coach Rico Blasi said. “He came back, scored a couple of big goals, and then he got hurt again. So he was kind of in and out last year and never had an opportunity to be on an upward trend.”

The upward trend can be viewed when one looks at the big picture of the Tommies’ program, which made a humble Division I debut in 2021, and has risen in stature and competitiveness quickly, as many had predicted with a veteran program architect like Blasi leading the way.

“They’ve built their depth two ways: going in the (transfer) portal, and now they’ve got some older guys that have been around,” Motzko said. “Rico’s been around a long time. He knows what he’s doing. They were picked to win their league, so you know they’re a pretty good hockey team. And you know they want a piece of our rear ends.”

Friday’s game is a 5:30 p.m. start at 3M Arena at Mariucci, where the Gophers’ ticket office is offering some seats for as low as $24 in an effort to sell out the home opener for the first time in more than two decades. Saturday’s rematch at Xcel Energy Center faces off at 8 p.m., and seats are for sale on the Ticketmaster website.