Kyle Rau

Classroom

Rau is a student in Minnesota’s nationally recognized Carlson School of Management and owns a 3.54 cumulative GPA. As a junior, he was Minnesota’s 2014 John Mayasich Outstanding Student-Athlete Award winner. Rau is a three-time all-conference academic award winner (one in the WCHA, two in the Big Ten). He also represented Minnesota as the Elite 89 Award nominee in 2013-14 at the Frozen Four. Rau is a six-time University of Minnesota Scholar-Athlete.

Character

Rau is the first Gopher in more than a decade to serve two years as team captain (Grant Potulny, 2002-04). He began the season as the recipient of the University of Minnesota Henry Williams Legacy Award in 2014, which is given annually to one student-athlete who excels in competition and in the classroom while representing the values of the athletic department. Rau has only missed three games as a Gopher including two to compete at the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship (all three came during his freshman year). The Eden Prairie, Minn., native has appeared in 123 career games including 95-straight appearances. Previously, Rau has been honored as the 2013 Mike Crupi Most Determined Player of the Year and the 2012 Frank Pond Rookie of the Year. Rau is a three-year letter winner at the University of Minnesota.

Community

Since joining the Gophers, Rau has been one of the program’s most prolific players in the community. He has annually participated in Minnesota’s volunteering events with Minnesota Special Hockey and Minnesota Sled Hockey in a partnership with the Hendrickson Foundation. Rau and the Gophers have also raised thousands of dollars as well as awareness for Defending the Blue Line, a local non-profit aimed at providing hockey opportunities for military families. As a student-athlete at Minnesota, Rau has also participated in the athletic department’s annual Hope Day, which is a yearly event with HopeKids—an organization which gives hope to children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses and their families. Rau has also helped development hockey players at the youth level, working at Minnesota’s Model Camp as well as Potulny Hockey Camps and the annual Skate with the Gophers event.

Competition

As Minnesota’s team captain, Rau was honored as a 2013-14 Second Team All-American, a Second Team All-Big Ten and a 2014 NCAA Frozen Four All-Tournament Team honoree. The forward is just the 49th Gopher to reach the 125 point mark and has tallied at least 40 points in each of his first three years at Minnesota. Minnesota is 67-11-6 all-time when Rau tallies a point and 33-2-0 when he has multiple points. Nineteen of his 48 career goals have been game winners including the overtime goal that give Minnesota the inaugural Big Ten title (3-2 overtime win at Michigan). Previously, Rau was named to the 2011-12 All-WCHA Rookie Team.