For the first time in 46 years, Minnesota will open the 2010-11 men's hockey season with six straight home games.

In fact, it marks the first time since 2005-06 that the Gophers will play their first game of the season at Mariucci Arena. They began the 2009-10 season at North Dakota and the 2008-09 campaign at St. Cloud State after opening at the Xcel Energy Center the previous two seasons. It is the first time since 1964-65 that Minnesota has had six straight home games to begin the season.

An inaugural visitor to Mariucci Arena opens the home schedule as the Gophers host Massachusetts on Oct. 8-9. The teams played one previous time with Minnesota taking a 1-0 victory in Anchorage, Alaska on Oct. 15, 2004.

The 2010-11 schedule also marks the start of the expanded 12-team Western Collegiate Hockey Association with the addition of Nebraska Omaha and Bemidji State. Nebraska Omaha will play its initial WCHA games at Mariucci Arena as the Mavericks visit on Oct. 15-16. Minnesota will travel to Bemidji State for the first time since 2000 to play in the brand new Bemdiji Regional Events Center on the final weekend of the regular season March 4-5.

It will be one of two new arenas in which the Gophers will play as Minnesota will also take part in one of the first series at Duluth's new Amsoil Arena on Feb. 4-5. The arena, which replaces the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center, officially opens on Dec. 30. It will be the second of two series between the in-state rivals as Minnesota Duluth visits Mariucci Arena on Dec. 10-11.

The Bulldogs are one of three WCHA teams that Minnesota will face four times during 2010-11. The Gophers will also play Michigan Tech and Wisconsin four times, while playing each of the other eight schools twice to account for the 28-game league schedule.

The four games with last year's national runner-up, Wisconsin, are among 11 games against teams that qualified for the 2010 NCAA tournament with seven of those games at Mariucci Arena. Minnesota will host St. Cloud State in the final games of the six-game season-opening homestand on Oct. 22-23 (or 24, depending on Gopher football vs. Penn State on Oct. 23). The Gophers host Wisconsin on Nov. 5-6, Michigan on Nov. 28 and defending WCHA regular season champion Denver on Feb. 11-12.

The Michigan game is part of the 18th annual College Hockey Showcase, which will have games played at Mariucci Arena for the seventh time. The Gophers host Michigan State on Fri., Nov. 26 and then take a day off before facing Michigan to avoid conflict with a home Gopher football game.

The Dodge Holiday Classic returns for the 20th consecutive year and will be played with pre-determined matchups instead of a tournament format for the first time. The change is to avoid a potential matchup with Bemidji State, which was invited to participate in the event several years before gaining admission to the WCHA. The Gophers play Union on New Year's Eve and face Ferris State on New Year's Day. All three participating teams spent several weeks in the national rankings during 2009-10.

Other highlights to the schedule include two games at in-state rival Minnesota State on Dec. 3-4 in the Gophers' first two-game regular season series in Mankato since Jan. 16-17, 2004 after playing home-and-home series in recent years. Minnesota returns to North Dakota on Jan. 14-15 for a rematch of last year's WCHA first round playoff series and plays at border rival Wisconsin on Feb. 18-19.

In addition to its 20 regular season home contests, the Gophers will host a pair of exhibition games. Minnesota opens the season against the University of British Columbia on Sun., Oct. 3 for the third straight year and plays the U.S. Under-18 team on Jan. 7 for the first time since the 2007-08 season.

Minnesota will host the NCAA Frozen Four at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on April 7 and 9. It is the first time Minnesota has hosted the finals since winning the title in the same building in 2002. It will mark the third straight year that Minnesota is hosting NCAA tournament games after the West Regional was held at Mariucci Arena in 2009 and at the Xcel Energy Center in 2010.