Will the Gophers have the leading scorer in the World Junior Championship available for this weekend's home-and-home series against No. 1 St. Cloud State?
It's possible, according to men's hockey coach Don Lucia.
Freshman forward Casey Mittelstadt led all scorers in the world juniors with 10 points on four goals and six assists although the United States lost Thursday afternoon's semifinal to Sweden 4-2 in the under-20 tournament in Buffalo, N.Y.
Mittelstadt and Gophers defenseman Ryan Lindgren will play for the bronze medal on Friday, then fly back to Minnesota on Saturday morning.
"I texted both [Wednesday] to get what they're thinking, and they both said they want to play [Saturday],'' Lucia said. "We'll see what their flight times are and when they get home on Saturday.''
Mittelstadt and Lindgren are scheduled to arrive at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport around noon Saturday, Lucia said, and that would give both time to travel to St. Cloud for Saturday's 6:30 p.m. series opener at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. If they play Saturday and in Sunday's 6 p.m. game at 3M Arena at Mariucci, they'll have appeared in games in four consecutive days and five in six days.
"It's obviously the fatigue factor,'' Lucia said. "They'll be running on adrenaline this weekend.''
St. Cloud State faces a similar situation, with forward Ryan Poehling playing and coach Bob Motzko serving as the U.S. head coach.
Lucia also said Mittelstadt and Lindgren haven't been with the Gophers since early December, so that will be a factor in the decision, too.
"It's going to be a little unique because guys are getting parachuted back on Saturday,'' he said. "… If those two guys do play, they haven't practiced with our group since Ohio State.''
Mittelstadt, the No. 8 overall pick by the Buffalo Sabres in last year's NHL draft, had been the talk of the tournament. The former Eden Prairie High School standout opened the tournament with two goals against Denmark, scored one against Slovakia, assisted on all three regulation goals in the outdoor shootout victory over Canada, had a goal and two assists against Finland and had an assist in the quarterfinal win over Russia. He centered the top American line with winger Brady Tkachuk, son of former NHL standout Keith Tkachuk, and team captain Joey Anderson, one of five Minnesota Duluth players on the team.
"He's putting on a show for the world,'' Gophers goalie Eric Schierhorn said. "I can't imagine what his phone looks like, but I'm getting texts saying, 'This Mittelstadt kid is crazy.' ''
A speedy return to the Gophers by Mittelstadt could help an offensive attack that has struggled this season. Minnesota is averaging 2.73 goals per game, which ranks an uncharacteristically low 40th nationally. Mittelstadt is the Gophers' third-leading scorer, with five goals and 12 assists in 19 games.
Lucia sees Mittelstadt, 19, gaining confidence at the world juniors.
"One of the nice things about the World Juniors is they get back with their own age group,'' he said. "Casey jumps to college hockey, and he's playing against 22-, 23-, 24-year-olds. And now he's back playing against 18- and 19-year-olds — his own age group. It shows the type of player he is and the competitiveness. I got a few texts from the coaches, and that's the thing that has been reinforced when they've been around him in this tournament, how competitive he is. I didn't realize how competitive he was until I was around him this fall.''
Now, it's a matter of when Mittelstadt and Lindgren return to face St. Cloud State. Lucia jokingly wondered if Motzko, his former assistant, might have some shenanigans in store with the flight itinerary for the two Gophers.
"I'm a little worried about that,'' Lucia said. "He and his guy Poehling get back, and somehow our guys get routed through Florida to get back.''
