The Cullen name is about to show up on the Gophers roster. The sons of Matt Cullen, who won three Stanley Cups over his NHL career, are preparing to join the University of Minnesota men's hockey team this fall, extending a family hockey history that stretches back to their father's own playing days.
Matt Cullen's own path to the pros ran through college hockey in this state, having played two seasons at St. Cloud State University before his lengthy NHL career. Now his sons are set to pick up that thread at Minnesota instead, joining a Gophers program that has long drawn on the state's deep hockey pipeline.
Gophers hockey welcomes the Cullen family this fall
The addition comes during a summer of roster turnover for Minnesota hockey more broadly. On the women's side, the program is sending five players off to the PWHL, even as the men's program adds a new generation of a family with deep ties to the sport. It's the kind of offseason churn every college program deals with, but the arrival of a Stanley Cup champion's sons gives Gophers fans a name to watch for when puck drops this fall.
Details on the brothers' specific roles and how they'll factor into the lineup will come into focus as fall camp approaches, but for a program built on Minnesota hockey bloodlines, landing the sons of a three-time champion is the kind of story that gets the fan base talking before a single puck is dropped.