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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The Mercyhurst University men's hockey team will open the 2013-14 regular season against some stiff competition this weekend as the Lakers travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota for the Ice Breaker Tournament. Mercyhurst will square off with the hosts, the fifth-ranked Golden Gophers on Friday night beginning at 8:10 p.m. EST. Depending on Friday's results, the Lakers will play either Clarkson or 13th-ranked New Hampshire on Saturday.

For Laker fans interested in watching the game, Friday's game against the Golden Gophers will be televised on Fox Sports North. Fans can check their satellite providers for channel and program information.

The Lakers (0-0-0, 0-0-0 AHA) opened the season on Tuesday with a 4-3 exhibition loss against the University of Guelph at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. The Lakers trailed 3-1 entering the third period, was able to tie the game at 3-3, but gave up a late goal to the Gryphons in the contest. Mercyhurst outshot the visitors 45-18 on the night.

In regular season openers during the Division I era, the Lakers are 0-13-1, with the only non-loss coming at Michigan in 2010. The Lakers and Wolverines played to a 4-4 overtime tie, but the Lakers would win the game in a shootout in Ann Arbor. However, the game only counts as a tie in the records. While the Lakers are winless in regular season openers since joining the Division I ranks, Mercyhurst has certainly not shied away from some of the best. Since 1999, the Lakers have played the likes of Wisconsin, Michigan, Ferris State, Ohio State, St. Cloud State, and Nebraska-Omaha in their first games of the season.

Mercyhurst is 1-7-0 lifetime against the teams participating in the Ice Breaker Tournament. The Lakers are 0-1 against Minnesota, losing the only meeting between the two schools in the NCAA West Regionals in Minneapolis on March 28, 2003 by the final of 9-2. Mercyhurst has an identical record against the Wildcats of New Hampshire, suffering a 5-4 setback on October 23, 2004. Meanwhile, the Lakers are 1-5 against the Golden Knights of Clarkson, earning their only win last December in Potsdam, New York. Mercyhurst won that meeting 3-1 thanks to a pair of goals from Kyle Cook and 42 saves from Jordan Tibbett.

The Lakers have plenty of experience returning to a team that was one step away from the Atlantic Hockey Championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament a year ago. Mercyhurst lost only four seniors to graduation after last season and have 18 players in either their junior or senior campaign in 2013-14. Expected to lead the Lakers this season are seniors Daniel O'Donoghue (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y. / Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)) and Nick Jones (Cranberry Township, Pa. / Jersey Hitmen (EJHL)) and juniors Matthew Zay (Glendale, N.Y. / Pembroke Lumber Kings (CCHL)) and Ryan Misiak (Shelby Township, Mich. / Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)). Zay, Misiak, and O'Donoghue finished 1-2-3 in scoring a year ago with 39, 38, and 36 points respectively. Meanwhile, Jones was a First Team All-AHA selection after scoring a career-high 26 points as a blueliner.

Juniors Daniel Bahntge (Westlake, Ohio / Jersey Hitmen (EJHL)), Chris Bodo (St. Thomas, Ontario / Pembroke Lumber Kings (CCHL)), Kyle Just (Arnprior, Ontario / Pembroke Lumber Kings (CCHL)), and Tyler Shiplo (Oakville, Ontario / Georgetown Raiders (OJHL)) also finished with double figures in scoring last season.

In goal, expected to see a majority of the time is junior Jordan Tibbett (Indianapolis, Ind. / Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)). The netminder went 7-7-1 last season with a 2.51 goals against average and a .925 save percentage. He earned four of his victories during the Lakers postseason run.

Mercyhurst was picked to finish in a tie for second in the annual Atlantic Hockey Association preseason coaches' poll. Mercyhurst received the most first-place votes (4) in the poll and finished just four points behind predicted champion Niagara. The Lakers also received votes in the first USCHO.com poll of the season.

Minnesota (0-0-0, 0-0-0 BIG TEN) opened its season with a 5-1 exhibition win over Lethbridge last Saturday at Mariucci Arena behind two-point nights from Hudson Fasching (1g, 1a), Travis Boyd (1g, 1a) and Ben Marshall (2a). Taylor Cammarata and Michael Brodzinski also tallied goals for Minnesota. The Gophers outshot the Pronghorns 46-12 over 60 minutes and went 3-for-6 on the power play. In net, Adam Wilcox stopped all four shots he saw in the first 20 minutes of action while Michael Shibrowski picked up the win, making six saves in just under 35 minutes of work. Ryan Coyne played the final 5:47 of action, making one save.

The Gophers have 14 student-athletes on this year's roster that have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft including four incoming freshmen. Taylor Cammarata was selected in the third round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Islanders (76th overall), Hudson Fasching was selected in the fourth round of this year's draft by the Los Angeles Kings (118th overall and Michael Brodzinski was selected in the fifth round (141st overall) by the San Jose Sharks. Additionally, freshman Jake Bischoff was selected 185th overall in the seventh round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Islanders. Brady Skjei is the highest drafted Gopher on this year's team with the defenseman being taken 28th overall by the New York Rangers in 2012.

The Ice Breaker Tournament uses a true championship format, meaning the losers of Friday's games will play on Saturday at 5 p.m. (EST) while the winners will face off in a championship game at 8 p.m. (EST).