Jimmy Snuggerud's Gophers hockey connection goes three generations deep

For the past three years, Dave and Ann Snuggerud have ventured from their Chaska home to the University of Minnesota campus on Friday and Saturday nights to watch their son, Jimmy, play for the Gophers men's hockey team. It's been a festive family affair, with several relatives joining in, including James Westby, Ann's father.

Westby and Dave and Jimmy Snuggerud share a common bond. They all have played hockey for the Gophers and have represented the United States in high-level international play — Westby and Dave in the 1964 and 1988 Olympics, respectively, and Jimmy in the World Junior Championship.

They're also united by something that Jimmy is hopeful he can help change beginning Thursday at the NCAA Fargo Regional. None of the trio has won a national championship with the Gophers, though Dave in 1989 and Jimmy in 2023 came gut-wrenchingly close when Minnesota lost in overtime in the NCAA final both times.

For Jimmy Snuggerud, the team's leading scorer, this figures to be his last go-round with the Gophers. The junior right winger is a 2022 first-round draft pick of the St. Louis Blues, and expectations are he will sign with the NHL team after his Gophers season ends. Minnesota opens NCAA play against Massachusetts at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, with the winner meeting either Western Michigan or Minnesota State Mankato on Saturday for a trip to the Frozen Four.

Is there pressure on Snuggerud? If so, he's not letting on. He's embracing it.

"Pressure makes diamonds," he said. "It's something that you like and you thrive for."

Snuggerud takes family advice when it comes to staying grounded.

"What my dad and my mom and my grandpa all instill in me is, 'Live in the moment and just be where your feet are and enjoy because it won't always be there,'" he said.

Still playing in his upper-80s

Westby isn't your typical 88-year-old. The Minneapolis native still plays hockey on an old-timers team more than six decades after he was a defenseman for the Gophers under legendary coach John Mariucci. He's also known for scoring the winning goal in the 11th overtime for Minneapolis South in a 3-2 win over Thief River Falls in the 1955 state tournament. And in 2016, when he was a young pup of 79, Westby was named the USA Hockey Adult Player of the Year.

Westby had two stints with the Gophers, interrupted by two years in the U.S. Army. He was a mainstay on the 1962 and '63 Gophers teams that didn't reach the NCAA tournament. He then played for Team USA in the 1964 Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, where the Americans finished fifth.

After his Olympic career ended, Westby became an officer in the Minneapolis Police Department, serving for 27 years. He put his investigative skills to work when Ann started dating Dave, a player for the IHL's Minnesota Moose in 1994-95. He sought out the team's trainer, Gary Smith, to get the skinny on Dave.

"He didn't tell me that he was at the rink, talking to our trainer, Gary Smith," Dave said, recalling a practice session. "He was giving [Smith] questions like, 'What do these guys do at night? Where are they going?' Thank goodness Gary was pretty honest. I wasn't a hoodlum.

"… Ann thinks the real reason why we got married wasn't because of her, it was because my future father-in-law was a former Gophers hockey player," Dave joked.

Westby enjoys watching Jimmy play and is impressed with his development.

"I like his intelligence out there and his passion for the game," he said. "He works really hard at it."

He won't take credit for any influence on Jimmy's success, humbly deflecting that "he gets it all from his father."

And Grandpa says he's not responsible for Jimmy's booming slap shot, either. "I don't think he ever saw me play hockey," Westby said. "The first thing he would say is, 'I think I can improve on that.' "

Westby cherishes those Gophers weekends, and his daughter seconds the notion.

"It's turned out to be kind of a family reunion every weekend," Ann Snuggerud said. "… You've got to savor it when you can."

Chasing that elusive national title

As a freshman in 2022-23, Jimmy Snuggerud was on a high-powered line with fellow freshman Logan Cooley and sophomore Matthew Knies, a trio that produced 64 goals and 88 assists. As a junior this season, Snuggerud has taken on more of a leadership role while continuing to pace the Gophers with 22 goals and 27 assists.

Ann Snuggerud has noticed a focused mental approach from her son.

"This year, he's so much more mature — just well-spoken," said Ann, a former swimmer at Wisconsin-River Falls and a competitive triathlete. "He's owning it, owning the team."

Snuggerud has participated in the Blues' developmental camps in the offseason, and he considered signing with the team after his sophomore season. He chose to remain with the Gophers and hone his game.

The goals didn't come easy early this season, with one in the first six games, but he had six assists in that stretch. He heated up in January by scoring 11 goals in an eight-game span. Since Feb. 1, though, he has two goals in 10 games.

The NCAA tournament would be an opportune time for Snuggerud and the Gophers' other top scorers to heat up.

"Our top guys have to feel it," Gophers coach Bob Motzko said. "They have to. And that's what we're going to strive to do, to get our game going."

Two years ago, Minnesota advanced out of the Fargo Regional to the Frozen Four before falling 3-2 only 10 seconds into overtime to Quinnipiac in the national championship game. Taking that one last step is another reason Snuggerud returned to Dinkytown. That loss still fuels him.

"Oh, yeah — big time," he said. "Even last year losing to Boston University [in the Sioux Falls Regional final], I know that's the best fuel for me. You get to learn from that."

Thirty-four years earlier, Dave Snuggerud, the team captain playing his final game, experienced similar heartbreak. His Gophers team lost 4-3 in overtime to Harvard in the NCAA title game at the St. Paul Civic Center. Dave went on to a four-year NHL career with Buffalo, San Jose and Philadelphia before settling back in the Twin Cities. Still, that NCAA loss stung.

"That's a warm and fuzzy answer: 'Well, you learn from your mistakes.' But the intent is still to try to win," Dave said. "And Jim's approach, my approach is, whatever game I was playing, it was always the biggest game because it's about winning.

"… I know they're going to get this opportunity to play for a national championship," he added. "And when that time comes, I know he's going to have full memory of losing to Quinnipiac, because he hears it for me when I ended up losing the national championship. It's not a bitter thing, it's a thing you take advantage of and get better, and hopefully you don't have that feeling again."