They are members of the Big Ten Conference and compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I ice hockey.

The Golden Gophers are one of the most prominent and storied programs in college hockey, having made 41 NCAA Tournament appearances and 23 trips to the Frozen Four.

This helped high school ice hockey grow in Minnesota, particularly starting with Hall of Famer John Mariucci, who refused to recruit players from Canada.

At this time, a number of fraternity squads existed and other intramural ice hockey competitions were taking place.

For 1921–1922 season the University Athletic Board of Control decided to finally give ice hockey varsity status on January 9, 1922, answering a petition organized by Merle "Frenchy" DeForest, the president of a new booster organization for the sport, which itself grew out of enthusiasm for hockey among the interfraternal league.

Iverson's coaching tenure culminated in Minnesota sharing the National Intercollegiate Athletic Association hockey championship with Yale.

Even while other programs brought in older and bigger Canadian prospects, Mariucci thoroughly believed in growing the game in Minnesota, from the ground up.

Sonmor finished his career with a 78–80–6 record, and coached 3 All Americans: Gary Gambucci (1968), Murray McLachlan (1970), and Wally Olds (1970).

Big Ten Regular Season Championship Trophy: Big Ten Tournament Championship Trophy: MacNaughton Cup 13 times as WCHA regular season champions: Broadmoor Trophy once as WCHA regular season champions (1983) and six times as the WCHA Tournament champions: North Star College Cup, the annual intrastate tournament vs. Minnesota-Duluth, Minnesota State, St.

Cloud State, and Bemidji State: Mariucci Classic Champions 14 times: Ice Breaker Invitational Champions three times: Mariucci-Bessone Coaches Trophy for series vs. Michigan State, started in 1993 (Minnesota leads series 13–5–5): Mariucci-Renfrew Coaches Trophy for series vs. Michigan, started in 1993 (Minnesota leads series: 10–9–2): From 1959 to 1981, an annual Big Ten champion was crowned for the best record in regular season games among active Big Ten members, 10 times: Source:[17] Source:[18] The Gophers have historic rivalries with some of the top men's ice hockey programs in the NCAA, including both in-state as well as out of state rivalries.

The Gophers' rivalry against the Badgers is part of the annual "Border Battle," in which both universities keep a tallied score of all athletic competitions against one another.

The Gophers were engaged in one of the most notorious rivalries in college hockey history with the Boston University Terriers for over 30 years from 1963 to 1995.

The rivalry came to its peak during the 1976 NCAA Championship Semi-Final when a bench-clearing brawl occurred only 70 seconds into the game, delaying it for nearly 30 minutes.

[19] Due to the fact the State of Minnesota has six NCAA Division I hockey programs, the Gophers naturally share a rivalry with four of them: University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, St.

Four of the six programs (excluding Bemidji State and St. Thomas) participated in the inaugural North Star College Cup tournament during the 2013–2014 Ice Hockey Season.

Mayasich, a two-time All-American, played four seasons with the Gophers (1951–1955) and holds team records for goals and points scored both in a game and for a career.

In 2002, Jordan Leopold (1998–2002) became the first University of Minnesota player to win both the Hobey Baker Award and an NCAA Championship in the same season.

Erik Johnson, Phil Kessel, Thomas Vanek, Blake Wheeler, Kyle Okposo, Erik Rasmussen, Douglas Zmolek, Keith Ballard, Michael Ramsey, Tom Chorske, Nick Leddy, Nick Bjugstad, David Fischer, Jordan Schroeder, Kris Chucko, Patrick White, Brady Skjei, James O'Brien, Jeff Taffe, Ryan Johnson, Chaz Lucius, Logan Cooley, Jimmy Snuggerud, Sam Rinzel, Oliver Moore.

John Mariucci took a one-year leave of absence during the 1955–1956 season to serve as head coach of the U.S. men's hockey team that won the silver medal at the 1956 Winter Olympics.

[24] Halfway through the 1971–1972 season, Glen Sonmor left the Gophers to become the general manager and head coach for the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the World Hockey Association.