Matthew Knies spent two seasons playing for the Minnesota Golden Gophers hockey program.
He arrived on campus shortly after being selected 37th overall in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Knies is a product of desert hockey much like his Leafs teammate Auston Matthews. He grew up playing for the Jr. Coyotes AAA program in Scottsdale alongside Josh Doan prior to heading off to the Tri-City Storm of the USHL.
The power forward had two stellar seasons in Minnesota where he finished with 75 points in 73 games before turning pro and making his NHL debut at the tail end of the 2022-2023 NHL season against the Florida Panthers.
These white throwback 100th anniversary gamers were worn in both the 2020-2021 season and in 2021-2022.
Matthew Knies did not enroll at the school until 2021-2022, however, so his is a one season jersey.
Furthermore, Knies missed at least one game due to injury (an exhibition against St. Thomas) and other games due to being part of USA Hockey’s Olympic team at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
My research has led me to Knies wearing this sweater on November 5th, 2021 against Wisconsin in a 4-3 OT loss. He may have worn it in more games, but I haven’t dug in that far yet.
Knies’ sweater has very light signs of wear with a faint mark or two, some loose threading in the GOPHERS crest, and some mild wash wear on the back numbers.
The nameplate was removed by the school when these jerseys were auctioned in November of 2022.
