“I’m proud and honored to announce my commitment to play Division I Hockey at the University of Minnesota,” he posted to his social media accounts in the afternoon of August 1, which is the very first day that skaters in the graduating class of 2027 can announce verbal commitments to play college hockey. “I would like to thank my family, friends, and everyone else who helped me get to this point. Can’t wait to see what the future holds.”

Conboy had an extremely successful freshman and sophomore season for Lakeville North High School over the past two years which put him on the radar as a top prospect in the 2009 birth year. When Division I hockey coaches were originally allowed to start recruiting conversations with him (on Jan. 1, 2025), he said that he had 15 or 16 schools that were interested from the get go, but Minnesota had always been in the back of his mind as the place that he wanted to play.

“I’ve always known I wanted to go to Minnesota and they were the most interested so I just kind of knew I would end up committing there - but back in January I didn’t know it would be on August 1” he told APX reporter Sydney Wolf. “I just always knew I wanted to be a Gopher.”

Some speculated that maybe Conboy would possibly be thinking about going to St. Cloud State, which is where his father, Tim, played two seasons of college hockey before a long professional career in the NHL, AHL and overseas. Gunnar said that although his dad definitely did help guide him throughout the whole recruiting process that he didn’t try to sway him towards one school or another and that he wanted to let him choose his own path at the end of the day. Gunnar said that his advisors (Gopher alums Ben Hankinson (‘91)and Chris McAlpine (‘94)) actually played a large role in helping him navigate the whole recruiting process and making sure it didn’t get too overwhelming.

Growing up with a father who played the sport professionally definitely inspired Gunnar’s love for the game at a young age and it also created a unique childhood for the Conboy’s as they grew up in a few different places before eventually settling down in Minnesota.

“My dad played [hockey] and I just always looked up to him, he’s my hero, and I wanted to be like him, so I just started playing as young as I can remember,” said Gunnar about his early beginnings in the sport.

Gunnar, who just turned 16 this past spring, was actually born in Raleigh, North Carolina, when his father was playing for the Carolina Hurricanes. Tim split time between the Hurricanes and the Albany River Rats of the AHL for a bit of time before also competing for the Portland Pirates and the Binghamton Senators of the AHL, when Gunnar was very young, and he eventually took his professional career to Germany - where Gunnar spent about six years of his life.

Living in Germany from around age three to about age nine is when Conboy’s journey in hockey officially began. He started skating there while also attending a German school. He was fluent in the language at one time but jokes that he definitely wouldn’t remember much now at this point in his life.

After eventually moving back from Europe and settling down in the Lakeville area is when Conboy really started to take off as a hockey prospect and when he started to fall in love with the Golden Gophers program.

“We moved back from Germany when I was in like fourth grade and my dad took me to a Gopher game and I just thought it was the coolest thing ever. I just knew I wanted to play there and it’s like 20/30 minutes from my house and it’s always been my dream school.”

Conboy continued to progress in hockey and eventually made a big splash when he made the varsity roster for Lakeville North High School as just a freshman and proceeded to lead the team in both goals (13) and overall scoring that season (22) in 2023-24.

“I thought it was a really good season, I had a really good year, the big thing was just adjusting to the speed,” he said about making the move up to varsity. “As soon as I adjusted to the speed and the quickness of how you have to make plays then it went really smoothly.”

As just a sophomore, Conboy wore the ‘C’ for the Panthers and helped propel the team to a 14-13-1 record which was much improved on compared to the previous season’s 6-18-2. As just a 15-year-old, Conboy posted incredible numbers on varsity and exploded on offense to lead the team in goals (24), assists (20), and overall scoring (44), including a gritty team-high of 54 penalty minutes.

“If I wouldn’t have had that first year on varsity [as a freshman] I don’t think I would have done as well as I did last year, that’s a big part of why I did so well,” he added. “Obviously, I worked super hard in the offseason too, but I just kind of knew what was coming and how I was going to need to play.”

Coaches and scouts obviously started to notice Conboy’s talent on the ice and he eventually got an invitation to attend the USA National Team Development Program evaluation camp this past spring. He ended up not making the final roster for the NTDP but he kept pursuing other high-level opportunities and decided to sign a USHL tender with the Green Bay Gamblers for the upcoming 2025-26 season.

“I practiced with a couple of USHL teams … Green Bay was the one I liked the most by far, it just felt like home,” he said. “Once I found out I didn’t make the program [the NTDP] I knew that I wanted to sign there and I signed there the next day, I just knew I wanted to.”

Since the high school season ended and Conboy signed his USHL tender, he has had a busy offseason. He is currently competing with Team USA at the Four Nations Tournament in Plymouth, Michigan. He was even given the honor of wearing the ‘C’ for the squad and has already been very impressive, scoring a breakaway goal in the very first official game against Slovakia.

As for next season, Conboy will be skating for the Green Bay Gamblers as just a 16-year-old. Despite being one of the youngest players on the ice, fans can definitely look for him to be an impact player from the very start of the season. He also already has some familiar faces that will be on the Gamblers roster with him this winter as future Gopher teammate Gavin Katz is a part of the Green Bay forward group and he is also good friends with Mace’o Phillips, who will be joining the team for 2025-26 after two seasons with the NTDP and who is also committed to play at the ‘U’ in the future.

Conboy says that he doesn’t have any specific goals for this season besides hopefully seeing success both individually and as a team and to just continue to develop his game as a promising young center.

“I’m a big power forward, kind of similar to a Brady Tkachuk, really physical and super offensive but also I have a 200-foot game and I’m just as responsible in the d-zone as I am in the o-zone,” he said about his style of play and what Gambler and Gopher fans can expect from him in the years to come.

The forward from Lakeville is a proud APX athlete and has been training with the program for about three years now. The coaches and staff are ecstatic to see the success of Conboy but certainly aren’t surprised to see it since they have all known that he is a special skater for many years now.

“The boys love him and all the staff loves him and he’s so easy to root for,” said APX Director of Player Development Wes Jirovec about Conboy. “I’d bet the over on the career trajectory for him with where he’s at right now.”

As for now, Conboy will continue to skate with Team USA this summer until the Four Nations event is over and then will eventually head out to Green Bay for this fall. It will likely be at least a year or two until he gets out to the University of Minnesota since he is currently only 16-years-old but he is excited to be a part of the Golden Gopher culture and community in the future.

In his free time, the rising high school junior says that you can usually find him out on the golf course.