MINNEAPOLIS — After falling in overtime in the national championship game one year ago, University of Minnesota forward Jimmy Snuggerud allows the heartbreak from Tampa to fuel him and his teammates.
"Yeah, I'd say every day. For every guy in this locker room — and on this team last year — it fuels them every day, too," said Snuggerud. "I think obviously we lost that game to Quinnipiac and we come forward this year, obviously we have a goal in mind to win a national championship and I think we are playing some of our best hockey right now, and we'll keep moving forward with that."
The Gophers, who are the No. 2 seed in the Sioux Falls Regional, set down No. 3 Omaha Thursday night 3-2, advancing to the regional final Saturday night against top-seeded Boston University.
From Tampa for the Frozen Four to a career in the NHL with Buffalo and San Jose, hockey has taken Jimmy, and father Dave Snuggerud around the world, but the journey on ice all started in the backyard.
"It all started in the backyard with him," said Dave. "He was probably around two or three years old, and when the ice went out, he'd put the roller blades on right away and go on the cement as quick as he could and do the skating outside."
"Times you never really forget with my brother and some of my buddies," said Jimmy.
From Chaska and the National Team Development Program to the University of Minnesota, Jimmy was born to follow in the footsteps of both his dad and Grandpa Jim Westby, who both played for the maroon and gold.
"I have so much fun going to the games," said Dave "My wife and I, we put the maroon and gold on beforehand and we are just like little kids, just like we were when we were going to his younger games."
"It's really cool, I think. I lived it as a kid, watching Rau, Mittelstadt, Bjugstad, all of those guys," said Jimmy.
Jimmy has developed into one of the best players in the country. The sophomore is second in the Big Ten in goals, thanks to a lethal shot he developed in that backyard.
"I think it was developed in the backyard rink growing up," said Jimmy. "Shot after shot is where it really comes from. There really wasn't much to it, I think just working on the release part of it and the powerful part of it is what it really came down to."
Jimmy and Thomas Vanek are the only Gophers in the last 25 years to score 20 goals in each of their first two seasons at the U.
"I had to use a three-pound log Titan stick that was made out of wood," said Dave. "If I had his today stick, I still couldn't shoot like him. You know when the puck gets on his stick, good is going to come out of it."
The 2022 first-round pick by St. Louis helped the U.S. earn gold at this winter's World Juniors in Sweden.
"We lost to Sweden at the 2018 Worlds and we take that back from them this year," said Jimmy. "In their home barn and in one of the loudest rinks I've played on. I'd say the loudest rink I've ever played in, honestly. To wear that jersey and to represent it was so cool in the World Juniors and I was really fortunate."
Dave, too, boasts international experience, playing for Team USA in the 1988 Winter Olympics.
"We didn't get the result we wanted to, but the experience was great, and then you look at the world stage, that's really fun to be able to be a part of it, especially the Olympics," said Dave.
As Jimmy's career with the Blues looms in the not-too-distant future, he's focused on creating another memory with family - fittingly, in the backyard - here in the state of hockey.
"To be able to play in the Frozen Four, at home, we were lucky enough to play a game at the beginning of this year against St. Thomas (at the Xcel Energy Center)," said Jimmy. "So to be back at that rink and to possibly be there to win a national championship is so huge for this locker room and this state. I think Minnesota hasn't won at national championship in a really long time, and so hopefully we can bring it right back where it belongs."
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