On Jan. 20, Mat Robson’s mom Helen, his dad Steven and his older sister Sarah — a Brown hockey alum — were sitting in the stands at Madison Square Garden. They had wanted to visit New York City and had planned the trip regardless of who would serve as Minnesota’s starting goalie.
Several hours before game time they discovered Robson would be starting.
Mat didn’t quite know either, receiving his only hint from Eric Schierhorn’s appearance at Michigan State two nights before. Head coach Don Lucia had said that Schierhorn and Robson would split starts once Robson was eligible, which he had recently become.