MINNEAPOLIS — The Gopher men's hockey program is known for having young players. In fact, the 2023- 2024 roster sports more sophomores than any other class.
That is not deterring grad student and starting goalie, Justen Close.
"I think it's definitely unique for me," said Close. "I've never had that big of an age gap with teammates before."
Justen is 25, turning 26 in May.
"There are a few older guys in college hockey, but I'm getting up there for sure."
The Saskatchewan native spent three years playing juniors before being recruited. Then his juniors coach at the time let him know the Gophers were interested.
"I didn't know a whole lot about college hockey if I'm being honest," said Close. "He kind of said, 'Hey Minnesota called,' and I go, 'Oh that's fantastic,' and he said, 'If there's one place I would wanna go play college hockey, it'd be there,' so I think I was kind of sold right then."
Playing at the next level was one of his goals, but like most, he didn't know what the future held.
"I knew I was going to get recruited late just kind of the way things were working out, so obviously, with the COVID year put an extra year onto that, so I never really had any expectations for how long I'd be playing college hockey. It's just kind of how it worked out."
It would be two years before he took over as their guy in the goal when Jack LaFontaine headed to the NHL in January of 2022.
"I'd say it's been pretty natural," said Close. "It's been a smooth progression, and the last two, two and a half years went by pretty quick, but you know, it's been good. It's been awesome."
While he's only started for two years, he's spent five years with the program.
"The days are long, but the weeks fly by is kind of what it feels like. You think back to memories from when you were a freshman or a sophomore, and they feel like yesterday, but at the same time, it's like, 'Oh my gosh it's been five years.'"
Justen is all tied up for the program record of career shutouts at 13, and this year is his second as a semifinalist for the Mike Richter Award, but he doesn't take the credit.
"I've played with a lot of good players in the last two years, and we are watching a lot of them succeed at the next level, and I've had a lot of good teammates, and we've had some good teams, so I've been fortunate to play with those guys. I think that's a reflection of that for sure."
Close also said he's not focused on shutouts or awards. Right now, he's locked in on making the most of his final year and getting back to the Frozen Four to finish what they started last year.
Watch more coverage of Minnesota sports:
Watch the latest reports from the KARE 11 sports team in our YouTube playlist:
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+
Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11's newscasts. You'll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
- Add KARE 11+ on Roku here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Roku Channel Store.
- Add KARE 11+ on Fire TV here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Amazon App Store.
- Learn more about the KARE 11+ app for Apple TV in the Apple App Store.
- Learn more about KARE 11+ here.