Discretionary income only goes so far, Vikings, Wild, Timberwolves, Twins, Gophers Football & Basketball all compete with Gophers Hockey for people's income & attendance. Their fanbase size is mildly overrated
Looks like UMD is back this year & Minnesota, despite the nice showings on night 2 against Boston College and North Dakota, is most certainly underwhelming
Like I've said, Michigan is built much much better than previous' years teams. A lot better balance of high end skill and depth. They're gonna be dangerous, especially if Ivankovic remains great between the pipes
Denver is the obvious school to link him to most, but Michigan & Michigan State make a lot of sense. Boston College too with his Medicine Hat Tigers teammate Noah Davidson going there.
I currently don't think Penn State is great, but they have plenty enough talent to where if McKenna starts driving play & scoring at 5v5 and Jackson Smith is just a good consistent top 4 D, they'll be plenty dangerous.
2025-26 Minnesota looks very similar to 2024-25 Michigan. Some solid talent, but some recruiting misses/half asses recruited classes/recruits not developing like they thought leads them to be a middle of the pack, bubble team.