Sioux Sports Talk

#5/#5 North Dakota (17-5-0) hosts #9/#10 Denver (12-9-2) in a key NCHC series at Ralph Engelstad Arena this weekend.

Last weekend, UND took four of six league points at Colorado College (2-3 OT loss, 5-2 win), while Denver was swept at home at the hands of the Western Michigan Broncos (1-4, 2-6).

With twelve games remaining in the NCHC regular season, North Dakota is in first place in the conference standings, five points ahead of Denver and six points clear of WMU. Minnesota Duluth is currently in fourth place, eight points behind the Green and White.

The Fighting Hawks are not scheduled to make a return trip to Magness Arena this season. UND will travel to face UMD on February 6th and 7th and make a road trip to Kalamazoo to face Western Michigan on the last weekend of the regular season (February 27th and 28th). Aside from those two road series, North Dakota will also travel to face Arizona State next weekend and host Miami and St. Cloud State on consecutive weekends in February (13th/14th and 20th/21st).

Before we dig into this weekend’s matchup, let’s take a quick look back at the past few games between the two teams…

Last season, the teams met four times, with DU sweeping the November series in Grand Forks by final scores of 5-2 and 3-2. The Pios’ Zeev Buium scored a hat trick on Friday night, and DU survived Saturday’s finale by blocking eighteen North Dakota shot attempts. In mid-February, Denver blanked North Dakota at home on night one, but UND turned the tables in the rematch, scoring on the power play late in period two and shorthanded early in period three to turn a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 road victory.

Two seasons ago, UND swept the Pios at Ralph Engelstad Arena on January 26th and 27th, 2024. Eight different Fighting Hawks lit the lamp in the two victories (by final scores of 5-2 and 4-2), and North Dakota went 4-for-6 on the power play while holding DU powerless on four man-advantage situations. The final shot counter for the weekend showed 62-43 in favor of the home team.

On December 1st and 2nd, 2023, North Dakota traveled to Denver for a pair of NCHC contests. In Friday’s opener, UND’s Dylan James got the visitors on the board less than two minutes into the action. The Pioneers would storm back with four first-period goals of their own, and it looked like the rout was on. The Fighting Hawks pulled within one in the middle frame, but a late DU goal from Tristan Broz had the Pios up by two with just twenty minutes remaining. The third period was all Green and White, as Jackson Blake, Louis Jamernik V, Riese Gaber, and Cameron Berg all potted goals en route to a 7-5 North Dakota victory.

In Saturday’s finale, UND never trailed in regulation but also never extended a lead past a single goal. DU tied things up at two goals apiece with nine minutes remaining and scored the game-winner during 3-on-3 action to take the extra league point.

Given how things started out on Friday night, grabbing four out of six points in the conference standings was a good result for the Fighting Hawks.

UND looked overmatched against the visiting Pios back in November 2022, as David Carle’s squad managed a 3-2, 6-3 road sweep over a Fighting Hawks team that had taken five of six points at Omaha the week before. Friday’s opener ended up as a one-goal DU victory, but that was only because North Dakota held the Pioneers scoreless on six man-advantage opportunities.

And in the rematch at altitude in February 2023, it was more of the same. Denver scored five goals each night and held the Fighting Hawks to five total goals on the weekend in securing the rare four-game season sweep. In Friday’s opener, UND played well enough to win but were undone by poor goaltending, as Drew DeRidder allowed four goals on the eleven shots he faced before giving way to Jacob Hellsten just five minutes into the second period. The last two goals that DeRidder allowed came just fourteen seconds apart.

In the 2021 NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinals (held at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks), North Dakota needed overtime to outlast a gutsy performance by a Pios squad that had been decimated by COVID-19. DU dressed only nine forwards for the contest but led 1-0 with under 90 seconds remaining. With the goalie pulled, the Fighting Hawks’ Shane Pinto blasted a shot on net that hit Jasper Weatherby on the way in to send the game to overtime. It took over eight minutes of extra time before Gavin Hain sent the home crowd into a frenzy with a blast of his own that advanced the Green and White into the championship game; Denver had just killed Antti Tuomisto’s boarding minor but could not clear the zone. UND outshot the weary Pioneers 20-4 in the third period and overtime.

With the playoff victory, North Dakota moved to 20-5-1 on the season; David Carle’s squad saw its season end at 10-13-1, the first time DU failed to advance to the NCAA tournament since 2007. The 2020-2021 season was the first losing campaign for DU since the 1999-2000 team went 16-23-2. UND won five of the seven meetings between the teams three years ago, outscoring the Pios 22-14. North Dakota allowed ten goals in the first three meetings with a record of 1-2; since their loss in game one at Denver on January 17th, the Fighting Hawks notched four consecutive victories over DU (15 goals for, 4 goals against). That mid-January defeat was definitely a wakeup call for Brady Berry’s squad; from that point until the end of the season, the Green and White went 13-3, outscoring opponents 69-28.

Denver definitely rebounded four seasons ago, going 31-9-1 and defeating Minnesota State 5-1 for the program’s ninth national title. That championship game was tied 1-1 until the 7:33 mark of the third period. The Pios would add two empty-net goals for the misleading final score.

Since Denver ended North Dakota’s season in 2019, UND has gone 12-10-1 against the Pios.

In the NCHC, it is clear that Denver/North Dakota is at the top of the league rivalries, with the two programs combining for nine NCHC regular season titles and averaging a top-three finish in the league standings each year (UND 2.6, DU 2.8).

The teams have played 53 times during the first twelve seasons of the new conference (with seven ties and each side winning 23 games), but the feud goes all the way back to Geoff Paukovitch’ illegal check on Sioux forward Robbie Bina during the 2005 WCHA Final Five.

Since that 2005 Final Five contest (a Denver victory), the two teams have met thirteen times in tournament play. Denver won the 2005 NCAA title with a victory over North Dakota and claimed a 2008 WCHA Final Five win as well. UND has earned six victories and a tie in the last ten playoff games between the schools, including three consecutive victories in the WCHA Final Five (2010-2012), the 2011 NCAA Midwest Regional final which sent the Fighting Sioux to the Frozen Four, 2016’s thrilling Frozen Four semifinal (a 4-2 UND victory) in Tampa, Florida, and the 2017 NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinal in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Denver turned the tables by dispatching North Dakota in the first round of the league playoffs at Magness Arena to end the Fighting Hawks’ 2018-2019 campaign.

(It is impossible to bring up the Paukovitch/Bina incident without also writing that Brad Malone‘s check on Denver’s Jesse Martin during an October 2010 contest at Ralph Engelstad Arena fractured three of Martin’s vertebrae and ended the hockey career of the Atlanta Thrashers’ draft pick.)

The rivalry intensified five seasons ago, with the teams combining for 187 penalty minutes in six regular season games (the NCHC semifinal game featured just four minor penalties). The last contest between the squads in Denver saw a DU goaltender run over with nine minutes remaining, which ignited tempers further. That spilled over to the series in Grand Forks in February, with the Pioneers “winning” the penalty minute battle 54-29. North Dakota won the specialty teams battle, scoring two goals on ten man-advantage opportunities and blanking DU on its ten power play chances.

In Saturday’s series finale, North Dakota led on the scoreboard 5-2 thanks to two goals by Jasper Weatherby and 18 saves from Peter Thome, who started in place of injured netminder Adam Scheel. And how was Scheel injured, you might ask? Denver’s Kohen Olischefski ran Scheel from behind late in Friday’s 3-0 UND victory. Olischefski was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for goaltender interference and was issued an additional one-game suspension by the league office.

And in the only series played between the teams four years ago, the two sides combined for 78 penalty minutes and ten power play opportunities. UND swept the series 3-1 and 4-1, thanks in no small part to a 1-for-5 effort on the power play and a perfect penalty kill.

Turning our attention to this season..

A half-point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and David Carle’s squad has nine players who meet that threshold: junior forward Sam Harris (9-9-18), freshman forward Clarke Caswell (3-15-18), senior forward Rieger Lorenz (7-10-17), sophomore forward James Reeder (5-11-16), freshman forward Kyle Chyzowski (5-9-14), senior forward Samu Salminen (5-9-14), junior defenseman Eric Pohlkamp (13-11-24), junior defenseman Boston Buckberger (7-13-20), and freshman defenseman Eric Jamieson (6-7-13)

North Dakota boasts even more impressive scoring depth, with eleven players expected in the lineup this weekend scoring a half-point per game or better, including THREE – freshman forward Cole Reschny (3-17-20), senior forward Ellis Rickwood (4-13-17), and senior forward Ben Strinden (13-9-22) – averaging a full point per game or better. Other key offensive contributors include freshman forward Will Zellers (10-7-17), senior forward Dylan James (12-5-17), sophomore forward Mac Swanson (4-11-15), freshman forward Ollie Josephson (3-8-11), sophomore forward Cade Littler (4-6-10), junior defenseman Jake Livanavage (3-17-20), freshman defenseman Keaton Verhoeff (4-8-12), and junior defenseman Abram Wiebe (3-11-14).

Freshman forward Josh Zakreski had a fine start to his season, with one goal and two assists in his first six collegiate games, but he was injured in practice in October and has not returned to the lineup.

Offensively, UND narrowly outpaces Denver. To this point of the season, North Dakota has scored 83 goals in 22 games (3.77 goals per game, 6th in the country), while DU has managed 83 in its 23 games (3.61, 12th).

The Fighting Hawks have a narrow edge over the Pioneers in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi: UND 56.8% (5th), DU 56.4% (7th)
Fenwick: UND 56.8% (5th), DU 56.8% (5th)

Corsi measures the share of shot attempts for each team at even strength, while Fenwick measure the share of unblocked shot attempts for each team at even strength.

Amazingly, Denver is putting more shots on goal per game than North Dakota (37.1 – 31.7). DU ranks first in the nation in that category; UND, 19th.

So how is it that North Dakota has scored at a higher rate than the Pios?

It’s quite simple. UND is scoring on 11.9% of its shots on goal (6th in the country), while Denver scores on just 9.7% (39th). Or, seen another way, opposing netminders have a save percentage of just .881 against North Dakota, while goaltenders facing DU have a save percentage of .903.

The Fighting Hawks also boast the nation’s third-best power play, clipping along at 31.3 percent. Denver is scoring on just 20.7 percent of man advantage opportunities (29th in the country).

UND’s penalty kill has been capable but not outstanding, negating opponent power plays at a clip of 82.9% (20th). The Fighting Hawks have scored and allowed four shorthanded goals this season.

On the penalty kill, Denver has been slightly worse, with a success rate of just 82.3% (27th). This season, the Pioneers have scored three shorthanded goals while allowing one.

Overall, UND is plus-13 on specialty teams, while DU is plus-8.

Defensively, North Dakota is only allowing 23.3 shots on goal per game (3rd in the country); Denver is allowing 28.4 (25th). Through the first 22 games, UND has allowed a total of 47 goals (2.14, 5th in the country) while DU has let in 55 in its 23 games (2.39, 15th).

As always, a key area to watch this weekend is the face-off circle. The Fighting Hawks are the nation’s 16th-best team on draws (52.6%), while the Pios are right behind at #20 (51.3%).

For UND, senior transfer Ellis Rickwood has been a huge addition up the middle, winning 187 of 307 (60.9%). Three freshmen – Cole Reschny (157 of 286, 54.9%), Ollie Josephson (157 of 297, 52.9%), and Jack Kernan (66 of 114, 57.9%) have performed admirably as well.

For the Pioneers, three centermen have exceeded 100 faceoff wins this season:

Senior Samu Salminen : 217 of 400 (54.3%)
Junior Kieran Cebrian: 204 of 382 (53.4%)
Freshman Clarke Caswell: 144 of 295 (48.8%)

Both North Dakota and Denver feature freshman netminders who have found success early in their collegiate careers.

For DU, Quentin Miller has appeared in 21 games, with a record of 11-8-2, a goals-against average of 2.27, a save percentage of .919, and three shutouts. In his eight losses, Miller has allowed a total of 29 goals while Denver has managed to score just eighteen.

Miller has not won a game since December 12th at St. Cloud State; since that time, he has allowed eighteen goals in his five starts and has a record of 0-4-1. Last Saturday night against Western Michigan, he was pulled from the contest midway through the second period after allowing five goals on just sixteen shots.

Fighting Hawks’ graduate netminder Gibson Homer (6-4-0, 2.43 goals-against average, .895 save percentage) started each of the first four games of the season and then split the next four weekends with freshman Jan Spunar (11-1-0, 1.67 GAA, .929 SV%, one shutout) before giving way to Spunar entirely over the next two weekends (home-and-home with Bemidji State and at St. Cloud State). Both goaltenders earned starts in the last two home series (vs. Omaha and Mercyhurst) before the freshman started both nights at Colorado College; I would expect Spunar to get the nod in tonight’s opener.

North Dakota finished up its non-conference schedule with two home victories over Mercyhurst a couple of weeks ago (2-0, 6-1). The Fighting Hawks went a combined 8-2 vs. St. Thomas (sweep), Minnesota (split), Clarkson (split), Bemidji State (sweep), and Mercyhurst (sweep). Those results – combined with a record of 9-1-0-2 in conference play – have North Dakota sitting at #2 (behind only Michigan) in the NCAA Percentage Index (NPI) rankings used to seed the NCAA tournament.

Western Michigan did the entire league a favor by defeating both #13 Boston College and #2 Wisconsin at the Holiday Faceoff three weeks ago. Those results added to the league’s already-impressive results against the other five conferences in college hockey.

So far this season, the NCHC has won nearly seventy percent of its non-conference games (62-29-2, .677) and has four teams (#3 Western Michigan, #5 North Dakota, #6 Minnesota Duluth, and #9 Denver) positioned in the top ten in the latest rankings.

The NCHC has been the premier hockey conference since its inception, and particularly over the past twelve seasons. The nine teams in the league have gone 602-310-81 (.647) in non-conference action since the start of the 2014-15 season and sent fifteen teams to the Frozen Four (UND and Omaha in 2015, UND and Denver in 2016, Denver and Duluth in 2017, Duluth in 2018, Denver and Duluth in 2019, Duluth and St. Cloud State in 2021, Denver in 2022 and 2024, and Denver and Western Michigan in 2025 over that nine-year stretch (there was no national tournament in 2020). Conference members North Dakota (2016), Denver (2017, 2022, 2024), Minnesota Duluth (2018, 2019), and Western Michigan (2025) have won seven of the last nine national titles.

Denver Team Profile

Head Coach: David Carle (8th season at DU, 191-83-19, .684)

National Rankings: #9/#10
NPI Ranking: 11th
KRACH: 206.8 (11th)

This Season: 12-9-2 overall, 7-3-1-1 NCHC (2nd of 9 teams)
Last Season: 31-12-1 overall (NCAA National Semifinalist), 13-7-2-2 NCHC (3rd)

2025-2026 Team Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.61 goals scored/game – 12th of 63 teams
Team Defense: 2.39 goals allowed/game – 15th of 63 teams

Power Play: 20.7% (17 of 82) – 29th of 63 teams
Penalty Kill: 82.3% (51 of 62) – 27th of 63 teams

Key players: Junior F Sam Harris (9-9-18), Freshman F Clarke Caswell (3-15-18), Senior F Rieger Lorenz (7-10-17), Sophomore F James Reeder (5-11-16), Freshman F Kyle Chyzowski (5-9-14), Senior F Samu Salminen (5-9-14), Junior D Eric Pohlkamp (13-11-24), Junior D Boston Buckberger (7-13-20), Freshman D Eric Jamieson (6-7-13), Freshman G Quentin Miller (11-8-2, 2.27 GAA, .919 SV%, 3 SO)

North Dakota Team Profile

Head Coach: Dane Jackson (1st season at North Dakota, 17-5-0, .773)

National Rankings: #5/#5
NPI Ranking: 2nd
KRACH Rating: 512.2 (2nd)

This Season: 17-4-0 overall, 9-1-0-2 NCHC (1st)
Last Season: 21-15-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 11-8-4-1 NCHC (5th)

2025-26 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.77 goals scored/game – 6th of 63 teams
Team Defense: 2.14 goals allowed/game – 5th of 63 teams

Power Play: 31.3% (25 of 80) – 3rd of 63 teams
Penalty Kill: 82.9% (58 of 70) – 20th of 63 teams

Key Players: Freshman F Cole Reschny (3-17-20), Senior F Ben Strinden (13-9-22), Freshman F Will Zellers (10-7-17), Senior F Dylan James (12-5-17), Sophomore F Mac Swanson (4-11-15), Freshman F Ollie Josephson (3-8-11), Senior F Ellis Rickwood (4-13-17), Junior D Jake Livanavage (3-17-20), Junior D Abram Wiebe (3-11-14), Freshman D Keaton Verhoeff (4-8-12), Freshman G Jan Spunar (11-1-0, 1.67 GAA, .929 SV%, 2 SO)

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: February 15, 2025 (Denver, CO). UND scored on the power play late in period two and added a shorthanded tally early in period three to turn a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 road victory. One night earlier, Denver blanked North Dakota 4-0.

Last Meeting in Grand Forks: November 16, 2024. DU hung on for a 3-2 victory and a series sweep by blocking eighteen North Dakota shot attempts. One night earlier, the Pios’ Zeev Buium scored a hat trick in a 5-2 Denver win.

A Recent Memory: April 7, 2016 (Tampa, Florida). In the semifinals of the NCAA Frozen Four, the two league rivals squared off in a tightly-contested matchup. Senior forward Drake Caggiula scored twice early in the middle frame to stake UND to a 2-0 lead, but the Pioneers battled back with a pair of third-period goals. The CBS line came through when it mattered most, with Nick Schmaltz scoring the game winner off of a faceoff win with 57 seconds remaining in the hockey game. North Dakota blocked 27 Denver shot attempts and goaltender Cam Johnson made 21 saves for the Fighting Hawks, who won the program’s eighth national title on the same sheet of ice two nights later.

Most Important Meeting: It’s hard to pick just one game, as the two teams have played four times for the national title. Denver defeated UND for the national championship in 1958, 1968, and 2005, while the Sioux downed the Pioneers in 1963. But the game that stands out in recent memory as “the one that got away” was DU’s 1-0 victory over the Fighting Sioux in the 2004 NCAA West Regional final (Colorado Springs, CO). That North Dakota team went 30-8-4 on the season (Dean Blais’ last behind the UND bench) and featured one of the deepest rosters in the past twenty years: Brandon Bochenski, Zach Parise, Brady Murray, Colby Genoway, Drew Stafford and David Lundbohm up front; Nick Fuher, Matt Jones, Matt Greene, and Ryan Hale on defense; and a couple of goaltending stalwarts in Jordan Parise and Jake Brandt.

Last Ten Games: DU has won six of the last ten games between the teams, with a 35-30 edge in goals scored over that stretch. Only four of the past ten games in the series were played in Grand Forks.

All-time Series: UND leads the all-time series, 160-138-16 (.535), including a sparkling record of 94-48-10 (.651) in games played in Grand Forks. The teams first met in 1950, with North Dakota prevailing 18-3 in Denver. The 314 games played between the schools is the most among all of UND’s opponents.

Game News and Notes

Since Denver ended North Dakota’s season in 2019, UND has gone 13-9-1 against the Pios. Thirteen of Denver head coach David Carle’s 70 head coaching losses have come against UND. Two seasons ago, the Fighting Hawks won the Penrose Cup as NCHC regular season champions for the sixth time in the eleven-year history of the league; the Pioneers have captured the Penrose only three times (2016-2017 and back-to-back in 2021-2022 and 2022-2023). Three Pios players hail from the state of Colorado, while two Fighting Hawks are from North Dakota. Since seven of Michigan’s nine titles were earned by 1964, I consider Denver (ten titles) and UND (eight titles) to be the top two men’s college hockey programs of all time.

The Prediction

It’s the age-old question: Is Denver reeling after going 0-4-1 over their last five games, or will they re-focus and put forth their best effort against the high-flying Hawks? I would imagine that fans will see a little bit of everything this weekend as each side attempts to match the speed and intensity of the other. I am very curious to see how much Pios blueliners Boston Buckberger and Eric Pohlkamp will be able to contribute offensively while still defending UND’s stacked group of forwards. I give the edge each night to UND – playing at home and employing last line change against David Carle’s top line of Harris-Salminen-Reeder. To be fair, the Fighting Hawks just need a split or better this weekend to put themselves in the driver’s seat for the Penrose Cup. It won’t be easy, but I’ve got them earning four out of the six points in this series. UND 4-2, DU 4-3 (OT).

A Special Note

Saturday’s rematch has been designated as a WHITE OUT GAME. All UND fans are encouraged to break out their white jerseys, hoodies, and hats to be a part of the ice-cold atmosphere!

Broadcast Information

Both games this weekend will be broadcast live on Midco Sports Network and will also be available online at NCHC.tv. All UND men’s hockey games can be heard on stations across the Fighting Hawks Radio Network as well as through the iHeart Radio app. Puck drop is set for 7:07 p.m. Central Time on Friday night and 6:07 p.m. Central Time on Saturday night.

Social Media

Keep up with the action live during all UND hockey games by following @UNDmhockey and @UNDInsider on Twitter. Fans can also read the action via Brad Schlossman’s live chat on the Grand Forks Herald website.

As always, thank you for reading. I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions.

#4/#4 North Dakota (16-4-0) travels to face unranked Colorado College (8-9-3) at Robson Arena this weekend in a pivotal matchup to open up the second half of the conference season. After opening the 2025-2026 campaign with a record of 5-1-0, the Tigers have just three wins since October 18th (3-8-3), including two road losses at Augustana last weekend.

UND (8-1-0-1 in league play) currently sits in first place in the NCHC, one point ahead of second-place Denver (7-1-1-1). Amazingly, Colorado College has picked up just one regulation win in ten conference games (1-4-2-3), which has the Tigers in seventh place, one point ahead of Omaha (3-7-0-0) and two points clear of last-place Miami (1-6-2-1).

Two seasons ago, Colorado College secured home ice for the first round of the conference playoffs for the first time in league history, but last year, CC found themselves in the bottom half of the table yet again. In the NCHC, Colorado College has finished 7th, 8th, 8th, 8th, 7th, 6th, 8th, 7th, 7th, 7th, 4th, and 6th for the worst average finish (6.92) among all nine league teams. North Dakota leads the conference with an average finish of 2.67 (2nd, 1st, 1st, 4th, 4th, 5th, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 5th, 1st, and 5th).

Before we take a deep dive into how these two programs stack up this weekend, let’s have a look back at the past few matchups between North Dakota and Colorado College…

In 2024-2025, UND won the program’s fifth Penrose Cup by earning points in every league game up until they went to Colorado Springs to face the Tigers on February 16th and 17th, 2024. CC embarrassed the Green and White with a weekend sweep (7-1, 6-2).

Back on December 8th and 9th, 2023, unranked Colorado College shocked the college hockey world by not only taking then-#1 North Dakota to overtime in back-to-back games but also finishing the job each night during the five-minute 3-on-3 session.

On Friday night, UND outshot the Tigers 34-23 but were undone by sloppy specialty teams play. The Fighting Hawks went 0-for-1 on the power play and gave up a late second-period power play goal that tied the game at two goals apiece. North Dakota led 2-0 midway through the middle frame but could not extend or hold that lead.

Saturday night was a more even affair, with the teams trading chances and putting an identical 24 shots on goal apiece. CC shined in the faceoff circle, however, winning 42 of 64 draws (65.6%).

Three seasons ago, the teams only played two games, and, in a strange February series in the Springs, North Dakota earned a 2-1 overtime victory on Friday before the two teams skated to a 0-0 tie in the rematch, just the third scoreless game in UND hockey history.

North Dakota went 6-0 against CC four seasons ago, outscoring the Tigers 20-7. The two first-round playoff games in Grand Forks were tight affairs, with UND advancing to St. Paul by virtue of a pair of 2-1 victories. In that series, all six goals were scored in the second period.

When the teams squared off at brand-new Robson Arena for a December 2021 series in Colorado Springs, the Fighting Hawks secured the road sweep with 5-2 and 4-1 victories. Those games dropped the Tigers to 3-10-3 on the season.

UND held the advantage in all phases, outshooting the Tigers 62-54 and winning 72 of 119 faceoffs (60.5%). North Dakota scored three power play goals on nine attempts and held Colorado College to just a single power play goal in ten man-advantage opportunities.

After that weekend, the Tigers went 4-4-0 against Arizona State, Miami, Denver, and Omaha to close out January, much more respectable results for first-year head coach Kris Mayotte. Mayotte replaced Mike Haviland, who went just 74-177-28 (.315) in his seven seasons behind the Tiger bench, with no regular season or postseason titles and zero NCAA tournament appearances. Haviland had something brewing from 2017-2019, with his teams going 32-37-9 (.468). Things fell off over his last two seasons, however (15-37-5, .307), and it was time for a change.

February and March of 2022 were not kind to Mayotte’s squad, however, as the Tigers won just twice in their last twelve games. Both of those victories came in overtime against Miami (4-3, 3-2). In the other eight, CC was outscored 30-11.

Two of those losses came on February 11th and 12th at UND. Colorado College put up a good showing in Friday night’s 3-2 defeat, nearly overcoming a 3-0 first-period deficit and outshooting North Dakota 26-21 for the game. The Fighting Hawks turned the tables in Saturday’s 4-0 triumph, sweeping the regular season series between the two teams by a combined score of 16-5.

Prior to the last series in Grand Forks, North Dakota had only trailed for a total of eleven minutes and fifty seconds over the previous eight games.

Colorado College also traveled to Grand Forks to face UND in the first round of the playoffs in 2014, 2015, and 2016. As I’ve written about before, it is difficult to end a team’s season, and tight Saturday night elimination games are to be expected, even after relatively comfortable Friday night victories. In fact, UND’s 2016 sweep (7-1, 5-1) is one of only two playoff series in recent memory that did not feature at least one close contest.

Here are the results from the past four first-round playoff series between North Dakota and Colorado College:

2014: UND 4-2, CC 3-2 (OT), UND 4-3
2015: UND 5-1, UND 3-2
2016: UND 7-1, UND 5-1
2022: UND 2-1, UND 2-1

CC was also scheduled to face the Fighting Hawks in 2020 before the college hockey season was canceled due to COVID-19. And three seasons ago, the Tigers dressed just eleven forwards, five defensemen, and one goalie for their opening-round game against St. Cloud State at Ralph Engelstad Arena. Despite losing a blueliner to a major penalty in the second period, Colorado College took SCSU to the wire, surrendering the game-winning goal with less than four minutes remaining in the contest.

Turning our attention to this season..

A half-point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and Kris Mayotte’s squad has just six players who meet that threshold: sophomore forward Owen Beckner (6-10-16), sophomore forward Gavin Lindberg (6-8-14), junior forward Bret Link (5-8-13), junior forward Klavs Veinbergs (6-5-11), freshman forward Brandon Lisowsky (4-7-11), and freshman forward Wilson Bjorck (5-3-8 in fifteen games).

On the back end, the Tigers have just ONE upperclassman on their roster: junior defenseman Max Burkholder, who was injured in the third game of the season and is not expected to return to the lineup. Colorado College replaced Burkholder with Mats Lindgren over Christmas break; Lindgren – a fourth-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft who played for the Wheeling Nailers (ECHL) and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) last season – picked up an assist and registered five shots on goal last weekend at Augustana. Prior to last year, Lindgren played in 220 games over five seasons in the WHL.

North Dakota boasts impressive scoring depth, with twelve players expected in the lineup this weekend scoring a half-point per game or better, including THREE – freshman forward Cole Reschny (2-16-18), senior forward Ellis Rickwood (3-13-16), and senior forward Ben Strinden (12-8-20) – averaging a full point per game or better. Other key offensive contributors include freshman forward Will Zellers (10-6-16), senior forward Dylan James (11-4-15), sophomore forward Mac Swanson (4-10-14), freshman forward Ollie Josephson (3-8-11), freshman forward Jack Kernan (5-4-9), sophomore forward Cade Littler (4-5-9), junior defenseman Jake Livanavage (3-15-18), freshman defenseman Keaton Verhoeff (4-7-11), and junior defenseman Abram Wiebe (2-11-13).

Freshman forward Josh Zakreski had a fine start to his season, with one goal and two assists in his first six collegiate games, but he was injured in practice in October and has not returned to the lineup.

Offensively, UND far outpaces Colorado College. To this point of the season, North Dakota has scored 76 goals (3.80 goals per game, 7th in the country), while CC has managed just 55 (2.75, 38th).

The Fighting Hawks have a narrow edge over the Tigers in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi: UND 56.6% (6th), CC 56.1% (8th)
Fenwick: UND 56.4% (8th), CC 54.8% (12th)

Corsi measures the share of shot attempts for each team at even strength, while Fenwick measure the share of unblocked shot attempts for each team at even strength.

Amazingly, Colorado College is putting more shots on goal per game than North Dakota (34.8 – 31.4). CC ranks 10th in the nation in that category; UND, 20th.

So how is it that North Dakota has scored more than one goal per game more than the Tigers through the first twenty games of the season?

It’s quite simple. UND is scoring on 12.1% of its shots on goal (6th in the country), while Colorado College scores on just 7.9% (57th). Or, seen another way, opposing netminders have a save percentage of just .879 against North Dakota, while goaltenders facing CC have a save percentage of .921.

The Fighting Hawks also boast the nation’s best power play, clipping along at 32.4 percent. Colorado College is scoring on just 15.5 percent of man advantage opportunities (48th in the country).

UND’s penalty kill has been capable but not outstanding, negating opponent power plays at a clip of 81.8% (29th). The Fighting Hawks have scored and allowed four shorthanded goals this season.

On the penalty kill, Colorado College has been less than stellar, with a success rate of just 75.4% (51st). The Tigers have also allowed two shorthanded tallies while scoring zero.

Overall, UND is plus-12 on specialty teams, while CC is minus-8.

Defensively, North Dakota is only allowing 23.3 shots on goal per game (3rd in the country); Colorado College is allowing 28.3 (24th). Through the first twenty games, UND has allowed a total of 42 goals (2.10, 7th in the country) while CC has let in 54 (2.70, 25th).

As always, a key area to watch this weekend is the face-off circle. The Tigers are the nation’s 3rd-best team on draws (54.8%), while the Fighting Hawks clock in at #9 (53.5%).

For UND, senior transfer Ellis Rickwood has been a huge addition up the middle, winning 164 of 262 (62.6%). Three freshmen – Cole Reschny (145 of 262, 55.3%), Ollie Josephson (155 of 292, 53.1%), and Jack Kernan (53 of 88, 60.2%) have performed admirably as well.

For the Tigers, three centermen have exceeded 100 faceoff wins this season:

Junior Klavs Veinbergs: 245 of 410 (59.9%)
Freshman Brayden Schuurman: 156 of 277 (56.3%)
Sophomore Owen Beckner: 116 of 228 (50.9%)

CC has been without Owen Beckner since November 29th; head coach Kris Mayotte lists him as between questionable and doubtful for this weekend. Had he been healthy, Beckner would have suited up for the U.S. Collegiate Selects at the Spengler Cup last month.

Colorado College senior netminder Kaidan Mbereko has not been quite as effective as he was two seasons ago for the Tigers, but he is still affecting games and keeping CC competitive:

2023-24: 21-13-3, 2.40 goals-against average, .915 save percentage
2024-25: 15-15-1, 2.65 goals-against average, .905 save percentage
2025-26: 8-8-3, 2.50 goals-against average, .910 save percentage

The difference in the won-loss record for Mbereko? Puck support.

Two seasons ago, Colorado College outscored opponents 111-93 in 37 games.

Last year, CC was outscored 113-106 in 37 games.

And this season, the Tigers have played opponents nearly even (55-54 in 20 games).

Fighting Hawks’ graduate netminder Gibson Homer (6-4-0, 2.43 goals-against average, .895 save percentage) started each of the first four games of the season and then split the next four weekends with freshman Jan Spunar (10-0-0, 1.50 GAA, .936 SV%, one shutout) before giving way to Spunar entirely over the next two weekends (home-and-home with Bemidji State and at St. Cloud State). Both goaltenders earned starts in the last two home series (vs. Omaha and Mercyhurst); I would expect Spunar to get the nod in tonight’s opener.

North Dakota finished up its non-conference schedule with two home victories over Mercyhurst last weekend (2-0, 6-1). The Fighting Hawks went a combined 8-2 vs. St. Thomas (sweep), Minnesota (split), Clarkson (split), Bemidji State (sweep), and Mercyhurst (sweep). Those results – combined with a record of 8-1-0-1 in conference play – have North Dakota sitting at #2 (behind only Michigan) in the NCAA Percentage Index (NPI) rankings used to seed the NCAA tournament.

After this weekend, North Dakota will play three home conference series (vs. Denver, Miami, and St. Cloud State) and three road conference series (at Arizona State, Minnesota Duluth, and Western Michigan) over the next eight weeks before the NCHC postseason begins on March 6th.

Minnesota Duluth is ranked #5 in the latest USCHO poll, while Western Michigan is at #6 and Denver sits at #7. No other league teams are ranked in the top twenty.

UND (25 points; 8-1-0-1 in NCHC play) leads Denver (24 points; 7-1-1-1) by one point in the league standings with fourteen conference games remaining for each team. The two teams will square off in Grand Forks next weekend in the only scheduled series between the perennial powerhouses this season. Minnesota Duluth (21 points; 5-3-2-2) and Western Michigan (17 points; 5-4-1-0) are within striking distance, although it is worth noting that the Bulldogs have played two more league games than anyone else in the NCHC.

Western Michigan did the entire league a favor by defeating both #13 Boston College and #2 Wisconsin at the Holiday Faceoff two weeks ago. Those results added to the league’s already-impressive results against the other five conferences in college hockey.

So far this season, the NCHC has won nearly seventy percent of its non-conference games (60-29-2, .670) and has four teams (#4 North Dakota, #5 Minnesota Duluth, #6 Western Michigan, and #7 Denver positioned in the top ten in the latest rankings.

The NCHC has been the premier hockey conference since its inception, and particularly over the past twelve seasons. The nine teams in the league have gone 600-310-81 (.646) in non-conference action since the start of the 2014-15 season and sent fifteen teams to the Frozen Four (UND and Omaha in 2015, UND and Denver in 2016, Denver and Duluth in 2017, Duluth in 2018, Denver and Duluth in 2019, Duluth and St. Cloud State in 2021, Denver in 2022 and 2024, and Denver and Western Michigan in 2025 over that nine-year stretch (there was no national tournament in 2020). Conference members North Dakota (2016), Denver (2017, 2022, 2024), Minnesota Duluth (2018, 2019), and Western Michigan (2025) have won seven of the last nine national titles.

Colorado College Tigers

Head Coach: Kris Mayotte (5th season at CC, 69-86-12, .449)

National Rankings: NR/NR
NPI Ranking: 34th
KRACH Rating: 111.5 (30th)

This Season: 8-9-3 overall, 1-4-2-3 NCHC (7th of 9 teams)
Last Season: 18-18-1 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 7-11-5-1 NCHC (6th)

2025-26 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 2.75 goals scored/game – 38th of 63 teams
Team Defense: 2.70 goals allowed/game – 25th of 63 teams

Power Play: 15.5% (11 of 71) – 48th of 63 teams
Penalty Kill: 75.4% (52 of 69) – 51st of 63 teams

Key players: Sophomore F Owen Beckner (6-10-16), Sophomore F Gavin Lindberg (6-8-14), Junior F Bret Link (5-8-13), Junior F Klavs Veinbergs (6-5-11), Freshman F Brandon Lisowsky (4-7-11), Freshman F Wilson Bjorck (5-3-8 in fifteen games), Sophomore D Ryan Koering (1-4-5), Freshman D Colton Roberts (2-6-8), Sophomore D Fisher Scott (1-5-6), Senior G Kaidan Mbereko (8-8-3, 2.50 GAA, .910 SV%)

North Dakota Team Profile

Head Coach: Dane Jackson (1st season at North Dakota, 16-4-0, .800)

National Rankings: #4/#4
NPI Ranking: 2nd
KRACH Rating: 529.8 (2nd)

This Season: 16-4-0 overall, 8-1-0-1 NCHC (1st)
Last Season: 21-15-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 11-8-4-1 NCHC (5th)

2025-26 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.80 goals scored/game – 7th of 63 teams
Team Defense: 2.10 goals allowed/game – 7th of 63 teams

Power Play: 32.4% (24 of 74) – 1st of 63 teams
Penalty Kill: 81.8% (54 of 66) – 29th of 63 teams

Key Players: Freshman F Cole Reschny (2-16-18), Senior F Ben Strinden (12-8-20), Freshman F Will Zellers (10-6-16), Senior F Dylan James (11-4-15), Sophomore F Mac Swanson (4-10-14), Freshman F Ollie Josephson (3-8-11), Senior F Ellis Rickwood (3-13-16), Junior D Jake Livanavage (3-15-18), Junior D Abram Wiebe (2-11-13), Freshman D Keaton Verhoeff (4-7-11), Freshman G Jan Spunar (10-0-0, 1.50 GAA, .936 SV%, 2 SO)

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: February 8, 2025 (Grand Forks, ND). North Dakota built a 2-0 lead over the first 41 minutes of the hockey game and survived a furious push from the Tigers in the final frame. CC drew within one on a goal from Grand Forks native Drew Montgomery but could not get the equalizer. Carter Wilkie iced things with an empty netter at the 18:37 mark, and the teams combined for 56 penalty minutes in the final 59 seconds of the hockey game. Colorado College won 30 of 52 faceoffs (57.7%) but went 0-for-4 with the man advantage. One night earlier, the Tigers won 6-4 in a wild contest marked by two extra attacker goals, two power play goals (both by CC), an empty-net goal, and four points from UND’s Dylan James. The ten combined goals were scored on just 47 shots on goal.

Last Meeting in Colorado Springs: February 17, 2024. North Dakota’s Cameron Berg put the visitors up 2-1 on a brilliant power play goal with just nine seconds remaining in the first period. It was all Tigers after that, however, as the home team scored once in the middle frame and four more times in the third. At the end of it all, CC led 6-2 on the scoreboard even though UND outshot Colorado College 45-32. One night earlier, it was even worse for the Hawks, as the Tigers went 4-for-5 on the power play in a 7-1 victory.

Most Important Meeting: March 27, 1997. UND defeated Colorado College, 6-2, in the Frozen Four Semifinals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Two nights later, North Dakota downed Boston University, 6-4, to claim its sixth NCAA Championship. North Dakota and Colorado College also met in the 2001 East Regional (Worcester, Mass.), with UND prevailing, 4-1.

All-time Series: UND leads the all-time series, 174-89-12 (.655), although Colorado College has a slight edge (62-61-5, .504) in games played in Colorado Springs. The teams first met in 1948; North Dakota’s 174 wins over the Tigers are the most against any single opponent in program history.

Last Ten: North Dakota is just 4-5-1 (.450) against the Tigers in the last ten meetings between the teams, with three wins and a tie from March 2022 through February 2023 followed by five consecutive losses (four of those during the 2023-2024 season). Over those ten games, UND scored a total of just 20 goals and allowed 29.

Game News and Notes

CC has won two national titles (1950, 1957). Since 1957, the Tigers have appeared in the NCAA tournament thirteen times (most recently in 2011) and advanced to three Frozen Fours (1996, 1997, 2005). Head coaches Scott Owens (1999-2014) and Don Lucia (1993-1999) combined to lead CC to six regular-season titles, twelve NCAA tournament appearances, three Frozen Fours, and one national championship game appearance (1996). UND’s 174 wins over CC are the most over a single opponent in the history of the program.

The Prediction

Colorado College has won just three games since October 18th after starting the season 5-1, while North Dakota has lost just once since Halloween (12-1-0). Despite UND’s advantages up and down the roster, strange things can and do happen at altitude. Head coach Dane Jackson will need to rely on depth and spread out the minutes among his impressive defensive corps in order to avoid overextending certain players. I’ve got the Fighting Hawks in the opener, with an overtime tilt on Saturday night. UND 5-2, CC 3-2 (OT).

Broadcast Information

Both games this weekend will be available online at NCHC.tv. Friday’s opener will also be broadcast live on Midco Sports Network. All UND men’s hockey games can be heard on stations across the Fighting Hawks Radio Network as well as through the iHeart Radio app. Puck drop is set for 8:00 p.m. Central Time on Friday night and 7:00 p.m. Central Time on Saturday night.

Social Media

Keep up with the action live during all UND hockey games by following @UNDmhockey and @UNDInsider on Twitter. Fans can also read the action via Brad Schlossman’s live chat on the Grand Forks Herald website.

As always, thank you for reading. I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions.

#4/#4 North Dakota (14-4-0) hosts unranked Mercyhurst (0-15-1) at Ralph Engelstad Arena this weekend to open up the second half of the season.

This will be UND’s final non-conference opponent in the regular season. Over the first half, the Fighting Hawks went a combined 6-2 vs. St. Thomas (sweep), Minnesota (split), Clarkson (split), and Bemidji State (sweep). Those results – combined with a record of 8-1-0-1 in conference play – have North Dakota sitting at #2 (behind only Michigan) in the NCAA Percentage Index (NPI) rankings used to seed the NCAA tournament.

After this weekend, North Dakota will play three home conference series (vs. Denver, Miami, and St. Cloud State) and four road conference series (at Colorado College, Arizona State, Minnesota Duluth, and Western Michigan) over the next nine weeks before the NCHC postseason begins on March 6th.

Minnesota Duluth is ranked #5 in the latest USCHO poll, while Denver sits at #6 and Western Michigan is at #7. No other league teams are ranked in the top twenty.

UND (25 points; 8-1-0-1 in NCHC play) leads Denver (24 points; 7-1-1-1) by one point in the league standings with fourteen conference games remaining for each team. The two teams will square off in Grand Forks two weeks from now in the only scheduled series between the perennial powerhouses this season. Minnesota Duluth (21 points; 5-3-2-2) and Western Michigan (17 points; 5-4-1-0) are within striking distance, although it is worth noting that the Bulldogs have played two more league games than anyone else in the NCHC.

Western Michigan did the entire league a favor by defeating both #13 Boston College and #2 Wisconsin at the Holiday Faceoff last weekend. Those results added to the league’s already-impressive results against the other five conferences in college hockey.

So far this season, the NCHC has won nearly seventy percent of its non-conference games (52-24-1, .682) and has four teams (#4 North Dakota, #5 Minnesota Duluth, #6 Denver, and #7 Western Michigan) positioned in the top ten in the latest rankings.

The NCHC has been the premier hockey conference since its inception, and particularly over the past twelve seasons. The nine teams in the league have gone 592-305-80 (.647) in non-conference action since the start of the 2014-15 season and sent fifteen teams to the Frozen Four (UND and Omaha in 2015, UND and Denver in 2016, Denver and Duluth in 2017, Duluth in 2018, Denver and Duluth in 2019, Duluth and St. Cloud State in 2021, Denver in 2022 and 2024, and Denver and Western Michigan in 2025 over that nine-year stretch (there was no national tournament in 2020). Conference members North Dakota (2016), Denver (2017, 2022, 2024), Minnesota Duluth (2018, 2019), and Western Michigan (2025) have won seven of the last nine national titles.

Longtime Mercyhurst head coach Rick Gotkin has announced that this will be his 38th and final season behind the bench. The Lakers were hoping to send him off in fine fashion, but it has not gone their way to this point in the season. After suffering a one-sided road sweep at the hands of top-ranked Michigan (11-1, 7-0) to open the season, Mercyhurst has managed just one tie despite playing the 56th-ranked schedule of opponents (according to KRACH).

To be fair, the Lakers have been besieged by injuries. During their last game of the first half (December 6th at Holy Cross, a 4-1 loss), Gotkin was without the services of twelve players; seven of those players are expected to miss this series as well.

On the North Dakota side, head coach Dane Jackson will be without four key players who are competing at the World Junior Championships in St. Paul, Minnesota today. Freshman forward Cole Reschny and freshman defenseman Keaton Verhoeff are playing for Canada, while freshman forward Will Zellers and sophomore defenseman EJ Emery are suiting up for the United States. Depending on those teams’ quarterfinal results, they may be available for the series finale tomorrow night.

With all of the lineup shuffling, what can we expect when these two teams take the ice for the first time ever? Simply put, Mercyhurst does not appear to have the talent or the depth to compete with the Fighting Hawks this weekend.

The Lakers are allowing 4.63 goals per game this season (63rd in the nation), while North Dakota is allowing just 2.28 (11th). On the offensive side, UND is scoring 3.78 goals per game (7th), while Mercyhurst has managed just 1.38 goals per game (63rd).

Sometimes it is difficult to dissect numbers like those above, so here it is in plain terms: in eighteen games, UND has outscored opponents 68-41. In its sixteen games, Mercyhurst has been outscored 74-22.

The offensive chances have been there for the Lakers, but they are only scoring on 6.1 percent of their shots on goal, 3rd-worst in the country. By comparison, North Dakota is scoring on 12.6 percent (4th-best).

Fighting Hawks’ graduate netminder Gibson Homer (5-4-0, 2.58 goals-against average, .894 save percentage) started each of the first four games of the season and then split the next four weekends with freshman Jan Spunar (9-0-0, 1.67 GAA, .934 SV%, one shutout) before giving way to Spunar entirely over the next two weekends (home-and-home with Bemidji State and at St. Cloud State). Both goaltenders earned a home start three weeks ago against Omaha; I would expect Spunar to get the nod in tonight’s opener.

Mercyhurst Team Profile

Head Coach: Rick Gotkin (38th season at Mercyhurst, 611-566-112, .517)

National Rankings: NR/NR
NPI Ranking: 63rd
KRACH: 1.8 (63rd)

This Season: 0-15-1 overall, 0-9-0-1 Atlantic Hockey (10th of 10 teams)
Last Season: 4-27-4 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 3-19-3-1 Atlantic Hockey (11th)

Team Offense: 1.38 goals scored/game – 63rd of 63 teams
Team Defense: 4.63 goals allowed/game – 63rd of 63 teams

Power Play: 7.8% (4 of 51) – 63rd of 63 teams
Penalty Kill: 63.3% (31 of 49)– 63rd of 63 teams

Key Players: Freshman F Will Schumacher (5-0-5 in nine games), Sophomore F Christian Kocsis (2-2-4), Sophomore F Dominik Bartecko (2-3-5), Senior F Ryan Coughlin (0-2-2), Freshman F Andrew LeBlanc (0-4-4 in six games), Junior D Trent Sambrook (0-3-3), Junior D Tyler DesRochers (2-2-4), Freshman D Jacob Lablanc (0-6-6), Senior D John Larkin (1-2-3), Freshman G Charles-Edward Gravel (0-12-1, 3.89 GAA, .884 SV%)

North Dakota Team Profile

Head Coach: Dane Jackson (1st season at North Dakota, 14-4-0, .778)

National Rankings: #4/#4
NPI Ranking: 2nd
KRACH: 549.5 (3rd)

This Season: 14-4-0 overall, 8-1-0-1 NCHC (1st)
Last Season: 21-15-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 11-8-4-1 NCHC (5th)

2025-26 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.78 goals scored/game – 7th of 63 teams
Team Defense: 2.28 goals allowed/game – 11th of 63 teams

Power Play: 29.9% (20 of 67) – 4th of 63 teams
Penalty Kill: 81.3% (52 of 64) – 29th of 63 teams

Key Players: Senior F Ben Strinden (11-8-19), Senior F Dylan James (8-4-12), Sophomore F Mac Swanson (4-9-13), Freshman F Ollie Josephson (3-7-10), Senior F Ellis Rickwood (2-9-11), Junior D Jake Livanavage (3-12-15), Junior D Abram Wiebe (2-9-11), G Jan Spunar (9-0-0, 1.67 GAA, .934 SV%, 1 SO)

Key World Junior Players: Freshman F Cole Reschny (2-16-18), Freshman F Will Zellers (10-5-15), Freshman D Keaton Verhoeff (4-7-11), Sophomore D EJ Emery (2-2-4)

Game News and Notes

This weekend will mark the first-ever games between these two opponents. Over the past four games, Mercyhurst has scored exactly one goal in each game while allowing a total of thirteen. Aside from freshman forward Will Schumacher (five goals in nine games played), no other Laker player has scored more than twice this season. Over the first half of the season, North Dakota scored first in twelve of its eighteen games, with a record of 10-2-0 (.833); Mercyhurst scored first in just two of its sixteen games, going 0-1-1 (.250) in those two contests. The Lakers play their home games at Mercyhurst Ice Center, which has a capacity of 1500 fans. So far this season, an average of just 525 fans have shown up each night. Mercyhurst head coach Rick Gotkin has not had a winning season since 2017-2018 (21-12-4) and has not reached the NCAA tournament in over twenty years (2005). He also led Mercyhurst to the national tourney in 2001 and 2003.

The Prediction

The underlying metrics all seem to favor North Dakota. If UND was at full strength, these would be fairly easy picks to make. As it is, though, there will be some adjustments on Friday night, with new players in the lineup filling new and expanded roles. This will be problematic for the Fighting Hawks, and goaltending will need to be excellent until some of the other areas come into focus. Mercyhurst doesn’t bring enough offensive firepower to truly test the Green and White on a consistent basis, and although I think one game will be close, this series should go into the books as a sweep. UND 4-2, 5-1.

Broadcast Information

Both games this weekend will be broadcast live on Midco Sports and will also be available online at NCHC.tv. All UND men’s hockey games can be heard on stations across the Fighting Hawks Radio Network as well as through the iHeart Radio app. Puck drop is set for 7:07 p.m. Central Time on Friday night and 6:07 p.m. Central Time on Saturday night.

Social Media

Keep up with the action live during all UND hockey games by following @UNDmhockey and @UNDInsider on Twitter. Fans can also read the action via Brad Schlossman’s live chat on the Grand Forks Herald website.

As always, thank you for reading. I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions.

#4/#6 North Dakota (12-4-0) hosts unranked Omaha (6-8-0) at Ralph Engelstad Arena this weekend to close out the first half of the season.

Just five weeks ago, the Fighting Hawks traveled down I-29 to square off with the Mavericks and pulled off a road sweep by final scores of 7-2 and 4-1.

It might not be that easy this time around.

UND will be without the services of two stellar freshmen – forward Cole Reschny (2-16-18) and defenseman Keaton Verhoeff (4-7-11). The pair – teammates with the Victoria Royals of the WHL for each of the past two seasons – flew out to Ontario this morning to join Hockey Canada’s World Junior Championship camp.

In the sweep at Omaha in early November, Reschny scored Saturday night’s game-winning goal and added four assists on the weekend; he was named the NCHC Forward of the Week. Verhoeff also notched an assist and registered three shots on goal while logging nearly nineteen minutes of ice time in the opener and over twenty minutes in the rematch; Verhoeff finished with a plus-3 rating.

Reschny was a first-round draft pick (#18 overall) of the Calgary Flames in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft; Verhoeff is widely expected to go in the top five in next year’s draft (June 26th and 27th, 2026).

After an up-and-down October (4-3-0), North Dakota lost only once during the month of November, a 4-2 home setback at the hands of the Arizona State Sun Devils. UND’s surge can be traced back to a Halloween night comeback at home against #5 Minnesota Duluth, which featured an extra-attacker goal with just 71 seconds remaining in the hockey game. Despite losing on a fluky goal during the 3-on-3 overtime session, the Fighting Hawks surged into November, outscoring opponents 30-14 while posting a record of 6-1-0.

The Green and White followed that up with an impressive road sweep at St. Cloud State (4-3, 4-2) to open December and – at 5th in the NCAA Percentage Index (NPI) – have a chance to all-but-lock up a national tourney bid with good results this weekend.

UND is nine years removed from its eighth national championship but has made the national tournament in just four of the past eight seasons. That track record – and some early playoff exits – led to a coaching change, and Dane Jackson is now leading the charge.

In the NCHC preseason poll, UND was picked to finish in third place (behind Western Michigan and Denver), while the Mavericks were tabbed to end up in seventh (ahead of only St. Cloud State and Miami). With the addition of St. Thomas to the NCHC (and a new schedule format) beginning in 2026-2027, the Fighting Hawks and Mavericks will no longer be guaranteed four regular-season games each year.

Omaha head coach Mike Gabinet is now in his ninth season behind the bench, and he has only led the Mavericks to two NCAA tournament appearances – once in the COVID-shortened 2020-2021 season and once two years ago. Both of those playoff bids came to an abrupt end at the hands of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who dispatched Omaha 7-2 in the 2021 West Regional semifinal (Loveland, Colorado) and edged the Mavericks 3-2 in the 2024 Midwest Regional semifinal (Sioux Falls, South Dakota).

Last season, Omaha finished in the top half of the NCHC but was done in by a less-than-stellar non-conference record of 4-6-0, including home losses to Augustana (twice), Lindenwood, and UMass-Lowell and a road sweep at the hands of Minnesota State.

The NCHC has been the premier hockey conference since its inception, and particularly over the past twelve seasons. The nine teams in the league have gone 587-302-80 (.647) in non-conference action since the start of the 2014-15 season and sent fifteen teams to the Frozen Four (UND and Omaha in 2015, UND and Denver in 2016, Denver and Duluth in 2017, Duluth in 2018, Denver and Duluth in 2019, Duluth and St. Cloud State in 2021, Denver in 2022 and 2024, and Denver and Western Michigan in 2025 over that nine-year stretch (there was no national tournament in 2020). Conference members North Dakota (2016), Denver (2017, 2022, 2024), Minnesota Duluth (2018, 2019), and Western Michigan (2025) have won seven of the last nine national titles.

So far this season, the NCHC has won nearly seventy percent of its non-conference games (47-21-1) and has four teams (#4 North Dakota, #5 Minnesota Duluth, #6 Denver, and #7 Western Michigan) positioned in the top ten in the latest rankings, with #19 Colorado College also appearing in the poll.

Miami, Arizona State, and St. Cloud State are receiving votes; Omaha is not.

With similar success in the second half of the season, the league could easily send four or even five teams to this year’s NCAA tournament in March. UND is 6-2 in non-conference action in the 2025-26 season, with an early January home series vs. Mercyhurst (0-15-1, 63rd of 63 teams in the NPI) the only interleague games remaining on the regular season schedule.

Last season, the Fighting Hawks and Mavericks ended the regular season by splitting a pair of games at Ralph Engelstad Arena. The following weekend – with the season on the line for both teams – UND swept a pair of games at Omaha by identical 3-2 scores. North Dakota’s season would end six days later at the hands of eventual national champion Western Michigan at the last-ever NCHC Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minnesota, a 4-2 defeat that would cost former head coach Brad Berry his job.

On the final weekend of the 2022-2023 regular season, North Dakota swept Omaha (5-4 OT, 2-1). The Fighting Hawks dropped Game One of the playoff series in Omaha by a final score of 2-1 before winning two straight (3-1, 5-2) and advancing to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minnesota.

On January 12th and 13th, 2024, UND took four of six league points in a home series against Omaha, falling 5-4 in overtime on Friday night before rebounding for a 3-1 regulation win in Saturday’s rematch. The disappointing thing about the series opener is that North Dakota led 3-1 after the first period. The Mavericks won the middle frame decisively, however, outscoring the homestanding Hawks 3-1. Both teams scored twice with the man advantage. Omaha scored just 34 seconds into the 3-on-3 overtime session to grab the extra league point.

Saturday’s finale was a bit more of a defensive struggle, with Omaha tying the game at one goal apiece just 49 seconds into the third period. UND’s Dylan James scored the game-winner three minutes later, and former Maverick Cameron Berg iced the game with an empty-net goal in the final thirty seconds. North Dakota outshot Omaha 30-23 on Saturday night and 69-47 on the weekend.

Turning our attention to this weekend…

A half-point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and Mike Gabinet’s squad has just seven lineup regulars who meet that threshold: sophomore forward Maxime Pellerin (6-3-9), freshman forward Luke Woodworth (3-7-10), freshman forward Marcus Nguyen (3-5-8), sophomore forward Sean Tschigerl (3-6-9), sophomore forward Brett Hyland (2-5-7), senior defenseman Griffin Ludtke (0-9-9), and junior defenseman Aidan de la Gorgendiere (2-5-7).

Freshman forward Jeremy Loranger has notched three assists in his first six collegiate games, but he has not played since November 1st against Colorado College.

As mentioned above, North Dakota will be without two key offensive producers – Cole Reschny and Keaton Verhoeff – this weekend, but Dane Jackson is certain to have eight players in the lineup this weekend who have met same offensive threshold: senior forward Ben Strinden (9-8-17), freshman forward Will Zellers (10-5-15), sophomore forward Mac Swanson (4-9-13), senior forward Dylan James (8-3-11), freshman forward Ollie Josephson (3-7-10), sophomore forward Cade Littler (4-4-8), junior defenseman Abram Wiebe (2-9-11), and junior defenseman Jake Livanavage (3-10-13).

Livanavage scored a key shorthanded goal last Saturday night at St. Cloud State to break a 2-2 tie with 7:04 remaining in the third period and added an empty-netter exactly seven minutes later to ice the victory.

North Dakota senior forward Ben Strinden was white hot heading into the UND/SCSU series, with eight goals and five assists over the past eight games. Strinden was held off the scoresheet at the Herb Brooks Center.

Two other UND forwards – senior Ellis Rickwood (1-7-8 in 11 games) and Josh Zakreski (1-2-3 in six games played) have been dealing with injury; Rickwood has participated in practice this week and is probable to return to the lineup this weekend; Zakreski was having a promising start to his rookie campaign but suffered a lower body injury early last month in practice, had surgery, and is expected to be out long-term.
One key area to watch this weekend is the face-off circle. Through sixteen games, the Fighting Hawks have won 51.8% of faceoffs, good for 17th in the country. Through their fourteen games, the Mavericks are 54thin the nation (46.9%).

UND will certainly miss Cole Reschny this weekend; the freshman phenom has won 145 of his262 draws this season (55.3%). If portal transfer Ellis Rickwood (who played the past three years at Clarkson) can return to the lineup against the Mavericks, that would be a tremendous help. Rickwood has won 119 of 190 (62.6%). North Dakota freshman Ollie Josephson (115 of 230, 50%) has been steady.

For the Mavericks, no one has been all that effective, with freshman Luke Woodworth (64 of 126, 50.8%), sophomore Sean Tschigerl (71 of 160, 44.4%), and senior Tyler Rollwagen (78 of 169, 46.2%) sharing the load.

Not only will North Dakota start with the puck more often than not in this series, they will also hold on to it. In the early part of the 2025-2025 campaign, the Fighting Hawks have far outpaced the Mavericks in two key puck possession statistics:

North Dakota: 14th in both Corsi (54.0%) and Fenwick (53.9%)

Omaha: 48th in both Corsi (46.6%) Fenwick (46.3%)

Corsi measures the share of shot attempts for each team at even strength, while Fenwick measures the share of unblocked shot attempts for each team at even strength.

To this point in the season, the Green and White have had far the better of the specialty teams play. North Dakota is a combined +7, with eighteen power play goals scored (18 for 60, 30.0%, 4th) and eleven power play goals allowed (45 of 56, 80.4%, 32nd). UND has both scored and allowed four shorthanded goals through the first fourteen games of the season.

Mike Gabinet’s squad is at a minus-4, with ten power play goals scored (10 for 45, 22.2%, 22nd in the country) and fifteen power play goals allowed (38 of 53, 71.7%, 60th). Omaha has also scored one shorthanded goal while not allowing one to opponents.

On Friday, November 7th in Omaha, the Fighting Hawks went 4-for-8 with the man advantage and held the Mavericks to just one power play goal on four chances.

One night later, the Mavs held the advantage by going 1-for-3 on the power play and holding North Dakota scoreless on two opportunities.

Through sixteen games, the Green and White have blocked 200 shots (12.5 per game), led by Bennett Zmolek with 23 and Jake Livanavage with 22. Zmolek has been out of the lineup each of the past two weekends; Zmolek’s 23 blocks have come in just twelve games.

Omaha has blocked 135 shots in its fourteen games (9.6/game), with Jacob Guevin (20), Marc Ljoie (16), and Marcus Broberg (12) leading the charge.

North Dakota’s defensive corps has provided plenty of production from the back end, already notching eleven goals and adding 34 assists in 111 combined games (0.41 points per game). On this front, Dane Jackson will certainly miss Keaton Verhoeff, the freshman leads all UND blueliners with four goals, and his eleven points are tied for second.

In his absence, the Fighting Hawks will rely on two juniors – Jake Livanavage (3-10-13) and Abram Wiebe (2-9-11).

Verhoeff is widely expected to go in the top three of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, while Livanavage (4-24-28) and Wiebe (4-20-24) were two of UND’s top four point-getters a season ago.

Sophomore defenseman EJ Emery – a first round pick of the New York Rangers in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft – notched the first two goals of his collegiate career in a 5-2 win against Minnesota back in October.

Not to be outdone, Omaha’s blueliners have scored ten goals and 23 assists in 94 combined games (0.52 points/game), led by senior Griffin Ludtke (0-9-9), junior Aidan de la Gorgendiere (2-5-7), and sophomore Marc Lajoie (4-2-6).

Not only have North Dakota’s defensemen been producing offensively, first-year head coach Dane Jackson has also put together an impressive mix of defenders he can trust in any situation. As a unit, UND’s defensemen have allowed a total of just 386 shots on goal this season in fourteen games (24.1/game, 3rd-best in the country), while Omaha has allowed 474 (33.9, 55th).

The Mavericks are allowing 3.50 goals per game this season (51st in the nation), while North Dakota is allowing just 2.44 (13th). On the offensive side, UND is scoring 3.81 goals per game (5th), while Omaha has managed just 2.79 goals per game (38th).

Sometimes it is difficult to dissect numbers like those above, so here it is in plain terms: in sixteen games, UND has outscored opponents 61-39. In its fourteen games, Omaha has been outscored 39-49.

Fighting Hawks’ graduate netminder Gibson Homer (4-4-0, 2.78 goals-against average, .882 save percentage) started each of the first four games of the season and then split the next four weekends with freshman Jan Spunar (8-0-0, 1.75 GAA, .929 SV%, one shutout) before giving way to Spunar entirely over the past two weekends (home-and-home with Bemidji State and at St. Cloud State). I would expect Spunar to get the start in Friday’s opener against Omaha.

After this weekend, UND will be off until January 2nd and 3rd vs. Mercyhurst. North Dakota will resume NCHC play at Colorado College the following weekend.

Omaha will travel to face Augustana next weekend and Cornell in early January before hosting St. Cloud State on January 9th and 10th.

In the second half of the season, both teams have fourteen conference games remaining. Through eight league games, North Dakota (6-1-0-1, 19 points) sits in second place in the NCHC, two points behind Denver. At 3-5-0-0 and with nine points, Omaha is in sixth place.

Omaha Team Profile

Head Coach: Mike Gabinet (9th season at UNO, 141-139-19, .503)

National Rankings: #NR/NR
NPI Ranking: 32nd
KRACH: 148.5 (21st)

This Season: 6-8-0 overall, 3-5-0-0 NCHC (6th)
Last Season: 18-17-1 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 13-8-2-1 NCHC (4th)

Team Offense: 2.79 goals scored/game – 38th of 63 teams
Team Defense: 3.50 goals allowed/game – 51st of 63 teams

Power Play: 22.2% (10 of 45)– 38th of 63 teams
Penalty Kill: 71.7% (38 of 53)– 60th of 63 teams

Key Players: Sophomore F Maxime Pellerin (6-3-9), Freshman F Luke Woodworth (3-7-10), Freshman F Marcus Nguyen (3-5-8), Sophomore F Sean Tschigerl (3-6-9), Senior F Tyler Rollwagen (3-2-5), Senior D Griffin Ludtke (0-9-9), Junior D Aidan de la Gorgendiere (2-5-7), Sophomore D Marc Lajoie (4-2-6), Senior D Jacob Guevin (2-2-4), Senior G Simon Latkoczy (4-7-0, 3.57 GAA, .894 SV%)

North Dakota Team Profile

Head Coach: Dane Jackson (1st season at North Dakota, 12-4-0, .750)

National Rankings: #4/#6
NPI Ranking: 5th
KRACH: 454.8 (5th)

This Season: 12-4-0 overall, 6-1-0-1 NCHC (2nd)
Last Season: 21-15-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 11-8-4-1 NCHC (5th)

2025-26 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.81 goals scored/game – 5th of 63 teams
Team Defense: 2.44 goals allowed/game – 13th of 63 teams

Power Play: 30.0% (18 of 60) – 4th of 63 teams
Penalty Kill: 80.4% (45 of 56) – 32nd of 63 teams

Key Players: Senior F Ben Strinden (9-8-17), Freshman F Will Zellers (10-5-15), Senior F Dylan James (8-3-11), Sophomore F Mac Swanson (4-9-13), Freshman F Ollie Josephson (3-7-10), Junior D Jake Livanavage (3-10-13), Junior D Abram Wiebe (2-9-11), G Jan Spunar (8-0-0, 1.75 GAA, .929 SV%, 1 SO)

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: November 8, 2025 (Omaha, NE). One night after putting on a power play clinic (four goals on eight attempts) and winning 7-2, it was a much closer affair, with the hosts trailing just 2-1 after two periods of play. Despite outshooting UND 11-5 in the final frame, the Mavericks could not find the equalizer and instead gave up two goals just ninety seconds apart over the final five minutes of the hockey game. Gibson Homer stopped 34 of 35 shots for his best performance of the season.

Last Meeting in Grand Forks: March 8, 2025. It was an odd game to close the home portion of the North Dakota hockey season, as two late goals (19:25 of the first period and 19:40 of the second period) were too much for UND to overcome. As is so often the case in this rivalry, the Fighting Hawks outshot the visitors 37-26 and led in expected goals (3.1-2.8) but fell behind 4-0 and could not recover. Wisconsin transfer Sam Stange had two goals, two assists, and two penalty minutes for Omaha.

Most Memorable Meeting: The game that UND fans will long remember is the outdoor game played at TD Ameritrade Park (Omaha, Nebraska) on February 9th, 2013. One day after winning a tight 2-1 contest indoors, North Dakota throttled UNO 5-2 on a sunny, melty afternoon. Mavericks netminder John Faulkner was pulled after allowing three goals on five shots in just ten minutes of game action. In my opinion, this hockey weekend solidified the notion that for UND hockey, it’s always a home game.

Last Ten: North Dakota has won six of the past ten tilts between the teams, including three of the four games played last season and a road sweep at Omaha last month. UND has outscored the Mavericks 32-29 over the past ten games.

All-Time: UND leads the all-time series 41-23-2 (.636), including a record of 20-11-1 (.641) in Grand Forks. The teams first met on November 19, 2010.

Game News and Notes

Over the past four weekends of game action, Omaha is just 2-6-0 while scoring just fifteen goals and allowing thirty; the Mavericks have scored more than two goals exactly once in that stretch. Eleven seasons ago, both North Dakota and Omaha advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four but neither team made the championship game. UND fell to Boston University 5-3, while the Mavericks were upended 4-1 by eventual national champion Providence. In team history, the Mavericks have made the national tournament five times (2006, 2011, 2015, 2021, 2024), with a Frozen Four appearance under head coach Dean Blais in 2015. In 32 of the past 39 contests in this series, the winning team is the one which scores the first goal. This season, North Dakota is 9-2-0 (.818) when scoring first; Omaha, 4-4-0 (.500). UND’s Dylan James has nine goals and twelve points in his eighteen career games against the Mavericks.

On A Personal Note

Ralph Engelstad Arena is hosting “Hockey Fights Cancer” weekend during this series, and this is especially meaningful to me as an 1177-day cancer survivor. No one fights alone.

The Prediction

The underlying metrics all seem to favor North Dakota. If UND was at full strength (injury-free and with the services of Cole Reschny and Keaton Verhoeff), these would be fairly easy picks to make. As it is, though, there will be some adjustments on Friday night, with new players in the lineup filling new and expanded roles. This will be problematic for the Fighting Hawks, and goaltending will need to be excellent until some of the other areas come into focus. It has been an excellent first half, but I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that North Dakota will drop the opener in this one before rebounding for a series split and an overall record of 13-5-0 heading into the holiday break. Omaha 3-2, UND 5-1.

Broadcast Information

Both games this weekend will be broadcast live on Midco Sports and will also be available online at NCHC.tv. All UND men’s hockey games can be heard on stations across the Fighting Hawks Radio Network as well as through the iHeart Radio app. Puck drop is set for 7:07 p.m. Central Time on Friday night and 6:07 p.m. Central Time on Saturday night.

Social Media

Keep up with the action live during all UND hockey games by following @UNDmhockey and @UNDInsider on Twitter. Fans can also read the action via Brad Schlossman’s live chat on the Grand Forks Herald website.

As always, thank you for reading. I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions.

#5 North Dakota (10-4-0) travels to Central Minnesota to face a familiar foe this weekend – the unranked Huskies (7-7-0) of St. Cloud State. SCSU has played well to this point in the season but has been done in by a 1-5 record in one-goal games and an 0-3 record in overtime.

UND will play only four games in December – this series and a pair of home games against Omaha (6-8-0) on December 12th and 13th. Omaha, which lost a pair of home games to North Dakota in early November, is off this weekend.

Before we take a look at what fans can expect from the Huskies and Hawks this weekend, let’s take a trip down memory lane..

Three seasons ago, St. Cloud State got the better of the Fighting Hawks, winning four of five games and ending UND’s season in the semifinals of the 2023 NCHC Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul.

During the 2022-23 regular season, SCSU embarrassed North Dakota in St. Cloud, winning both games on the wide sheet by comfortable margins (7-2, 6-3). On Friday night, a disastrous second period saw the Huskies score every which way: at even strength, shorthanded, with the extra attacker on a delayed penalty, and on the ensuing power play. Saturday’s game at the Herb Brooks Center was a different kind of disturbing for fans of the Green and White, as the visitors led 3-0 early in the second period. The Huskies would get on the board just 23 seconds after UND’s third tally, and then it was the Zach Okabe show, as the senior forward scored a natural hat trick in under nine minutes of game action (from the 18:12 mark of the middle frame through the 7:05 mark of the third period). SCSU would add two late goals – including an empty-netter – to make the score look lopsided.

In the rematch in Grand Forks, both games went to overtime, with UND scoring during 3-on-3 play on Friday night before losing in a shootout in Saturday’s finale.

In the 2023-24 campaign, the two teams tangled only twice, and North Dakota took four of six points on the road, winning Friday’s opener 5-3 before tying the homestanding Huskies 3-3 and losing in a shootout.

Last season was even better for the Green and White, with North Dakota taking ten of twelve points from the Huskies, beginning with a 2-0 regulation win and a 4-3 overtime win on home ice in mid-December.

In St. Cloud, UND managed a shootout win and a 6-2 regulation win. In the series finale, SCSU probably deserved a better fate but were undone by goaltending, as the Fighting Hawks scored five goals on netminder James Gray, who made just eighteen saves. The Huskies scored an extra attacker goal with over six minutes remaining in the hockey game but gave up an empty netter just 29 seconds later.

Twelve full seasons have come and gone since the college hockey landscape changed forever. With Minnesota and Wisconsin departing the Western Collegiate Hockey Association for the Big Ten after the 2012-13 season, several other conference schools and two members of the former Central Collegiate Hockey Association created the National Collegiate Hockey Conference and left Alaska Anchorage, Bemidji State, Michigan Tech, and Minnesota State behind in a watered-down WCHA.

And now, the WCHA is no more, and Bemidji State, Michigan Tech, and Minnesota State find themselves as three of nine programs in the latest version of the CCHA along with Bowling Green, Ferris State, Lake Superior State, Northern Michigan, St. Thomas (fifth season at the Division I level), and Augustana (third season at the Division I level).

Next season, St. Thomas will leave the CCHA to become the tenth member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC).

The NCHC has been the premier hockey conference since its inception, and particularly over the past ten seasons. The nine teams in the league have gone 571-293-86 (.644) in non-conference action since the start of the 2014-15 season and sent fifteen teams to the Frozen Four (UND and Omaha in 2015, UND and Denver in 2016, Denver and Duluth in 2017, Duluth in 2018, Denver and Duluth in 2019, Duluth and St. Cloud State in 2021, Denver in 2022 and 2024, and Denver and Western Michigan in 2025 over that nine-year stretch (there was no national tournament in 2020). Conference members North Dakota (2016), Denver (2017, 2022, 2024), Minnesota Duluth (2018, 2019), and Western Michigan (2025) have won seven of the last nine national titles.

So far this season, the NCHC has won nearly seventy percent of its non-conference games (47-21-1) and has four teams (#4 Minnesota Duluth, #5 North Dakota, #6 Denver, and #7 Western Michigan) positioned in the top ten in the latest rankings, with #19 Miami and #20 Colorado College also appearing in the poll.

Arizona State and St. Cloud State are receiving votes; Omaha is not.

With similar success in the second half of the season, the league could easily send four or even five teams to this year’s NCAA tournament in March.

So far this season, UND and SCSU have faced two common opponents, St. Thomas and Minnesota Duluth:

St. Cloud lost two games vs. St. Thomas (3-4 at home, 1-3 on the road) and lost two games at Duluth (0-4, 2-3 OT).

North Dakota took both games of a home-and-home series with St. Thomas back in October and performed well (3-4 OT, 5-1) against #4 Minnesota Duluth at home over Halloween weekend; those results are buoying its current NCAA Percentage Index ranking (7th). Fans may remember that the NPI has replaced the PairWise as the system used to determine the 16-team field for the national tournament.

Turning our attention to this weekend’s matchup…

A half-point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and Brett Larson’s squad has seven lineup regulars who have achieved that level of success, including three – junior forward Tyler Gross (6-12-18), sophomore forward Austin Burnevik (11-6-17), and junior forward Barrett Hall (6-10-16) averaging over a point per game. Other solid offensive contributors include senior forward Adam Ingram (0-8-8), freshman forward Nolan Roed (2-6-8), freshman forward Noah Urness (3-4-7), and senior defenseman Cooper Wylie (1-7-8).

North Dakota is certain to have nine players in the lineup this weekend who have met same offensive threshold: senior forward Ben Strinden (9-8-17), freshman forward Will Zellers (9-4-13), sophomore forward Mac Swanson (4-7-11), freshman forward Cole Reschny (2-13-15), senior forward Dylan James (7-3-10), freshman forward Ollie Josephson (3-6-9), junior defenseman Abram Wiebe (2-8-10), freshman defenseman Keaton Verhoeff (4-6-10), and junior defenseman Jake Livanavage (1-9-10).

North Dakota senior forward Ben Strinden has been white hot over the past eight games, with eight goals and five assists.

Two other UND forwards – senior Ellis Rickwood (1-7-8 in 11 games) and Josh Zakreski (1-2-3 in six games played) have been dealing with injury; Rickwood skated during pregame warmups last Saturday but is unlikely to return to the lineup this weekend; Zakreski was having a promising start to his rookie campaign but suffered a lower body injury early last month in practice, had surgery, and is expected to be out long-term.

Offensively, UND outpaces SCSU by a slim margin. To this point of the season, North Dakota has scored 53 goals in fourteen games (3.79 goals per game, 8th in the country), while St. Cloud State has managed 47 in the same number of games (3.36, 17th).

The Fighting Hawks are fifth in the nation in shooting percentage at 12.3%. SCSU clocks in at 10.5%, good for 22nd in the country. Both teams do an adequate job of getting the puck to the net, with UND averaging 30.8 shots on goal per game (23rd) and the Huskiese even better at 32.0 shots on goal per contest (15th).

The difference is on the defensive side.

Through fourteen games, the Green and White have blocked 179 shots (12.8 per game), led by Bennett Zmolek with 23 and Jake Livanavage with 19. Zmolek was out of the lineup last weekend against Bemidji State. Zmolek’s 23 blocks have come in just twelve games; the graduate defenseman missed last weekend’s action against Bemidji State and is not expected back for this series.

St. Cloud State has blocked 154 shots in its fourteen games (11.0/game), with seniors Mason Reiners (25) and Hudson Smolinski (18) leading the way.

North Dakota’s defensive corps has provided plenty of production from the back end, already notching nine goals and adding 31 assists in 98 combined games (0.41 points per game).

The nine St. Cloud State State blueliners to play this season have scored nine goals and added 25 assists in 98 conbined games (0.35 points/game). Aside from senior Cooper Wylie (1-7-8) and graduate Josh Zinger (1-5-6), no SCSU defenseman has collected more than five points.

Zinger spent his first two seasons at Northern Michigan, posting a combined line of 6-30-36 in 72 NCAA games. Since joining Brett Larson’s squad in the fall of 2024, he has five goals and nine assists in 47 games played.

For the Fighting Hawks, it’s been two juniors – Jake Livanavage (1-9-10) and Abram Wiebe (2-8-10) – and a freshman (Keaton Verhoeff, with four goals and six assists).

Verhoeff is widely expected to go in the top three of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, while Livanavage (4-24-28) and Wiebe (4-20-24) were two of UND’s top four point-getters a season ago.

Sophomore defenseman EJ Emery – a first round pick of the New York Rangers in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft – notched the first two goals of his collegiate career in a 5-2 win against Minnesota back in October.

Not only have North Dakota’s defensemen been producing offensively, first-year head coach Dane Jackson has also put together an impressive mix of defenders he can trust in any situation. As a unit, UND’s defensemen have allowed a total of just 326 shots on goal this season in fourteen games (23.3/game, 3rd-best in the country), while St. Cloud State has allowed 420 (30.0, 32nd).

St. Cloud State is allowing 2.71 goals per game this season (24th in the nation), while North Dakota is allowing just 2.43 (12th).

The Fighting Hawks would be ill-advised to get into a specialty teams battle with the Huskies, as SCSU is already a +9 to this point in the season, with TWENTY power play goals scored (20 of 64, 31.3%, 2nd in the country), thirteen power play goals allowed (37 of 50, 74.0%, 54th), two shorthanded goals scored, and zero shorthanded goals allowed.

North Dakota is a respectable +6, with sixteen power play goals scored (16 of 56, 28.6%, 5th), ten power play goals allowed (38 of 48, 79.2%, 35th), and a net zero in shorthanded goals (three scored, three alllowed).

On the goaltending side of things, St. Cloud State has seen two goaltenders split time roughly evenly, with sophomore Patriks Berzins playing much better than freshman Yan Shostak over the first half of the season:

Berzins: 4-2-0, 2.04 goals-against average, .939 save percentage

Shostak: 3-5-0, 3.12 goals-against average, .888 save percentage

Shostak does have the only shutout for the Huskies this season, a 21-save performance against Vermont back on October 18th.

Berzins played for the Maine Black Bears last season, appearing in two games and earning one victory before transferring to St. Cloud.

For North Dakota, it’s been the younger netminder with the better of the results. Freshman Jan Spunar was splitting time with graduate transfer Gibson Homer to start this season, but Spunar earned both starts – and both two victories – last weekend in a home-and-home series with Bemidji State. Here’s how the two stack up over the first two months of the season:

Spunar: 6-0-0, 1.50 goals-against average, .934 save percentage, one shutout

Homer: 4-4-0, 2.78 goals-against average, .882 save percentage

On the team side of things, I’m looking at a few other important areas in this matchup…

UND far outpaces St. Cloud State in two key puck possession statistics:

North Dakota: 11th in Corsi (55.5%) and 11th in Fenwick (55.4%)
St. Cloud State: 27th in Corsi (50.5%) and 29th in Fenwick (50.2%)

Corsi measures the share of shot attempts for each team at even strength, while Fenwick measure the share of unblocked shot attempts for each team at even strength.

After this weekend, UND will host Omaha to close out the first half of the season, and St. Cloud State will host Denver. Both teams will open 2026 with non-conference games; North Dakota will play a non-conference series against winless Mercyhurst (0-14-1) at Ralph Engelstad Arena, while SCSU will participate in the Cactus Cup in Palm Springs, California. The Huskies will battle the Yale Bulldogs on January 2nd before facing either the Minnesota State Mavericks or the UMass Lowell RiverHawks the following day.

St. Cloud State Team Profile

Head Coach: Brett Larson (7th season at SCSU, 144-104-22, .574)

National Rankings: NR/NR
NPI Ranking: 14th
KRACH Rating: 188.4 (14th)

This Season: 11-13-0 overall, 2-2-0-2 NCHC (5th of 9 teams)
Last Season: 14-21-1 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 5-13-2-4 overall NCHC (8th)

2025-26 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.36 goals scored/game – 17th of 63 teams
Team Defense: 2.71 goals allowed/game – 24th of 63 teams

Power Play: 31.3% (20 of 64) – 2nd of 63 teams
Penalty Kill: 74.0% (37 of 50) – 54th of 63 teams

Key players: Junior F Tyler Gross (6-12-18), Sophomore F Austin Burnevik (11-6-17), Junior F Barrett Hall (6-10-16), Senior F Adam Ingram (0-8-8), Freshman F Nolan Roed (2-6-8), Freshman F Noah Urness (3-4-7), Senior D Cooper Wylie (1-7-8), Senior D Max Smolinski (2-3-5), Graduate D Mason Reiners (2-3-5), Sophomore G Patrik Berzins (4-2-0, 2.04 GAA, .939 SV%)

North Dakota Team Profile

Head Coach: Dane Jackson (1st season at North Dakota, 10-4-0, .714)

National Rankings: #5/#6
NPI Ranking: 7th
KRACH: 344.3 (6th)

This Season: 10-4-0 overall, 4-1-0-1 NCHC (2nd)
Last Season: 21-15-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 11-8-4-1 NCHC (5th)

2025-26 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.79 goals scored/game – 8th of 63 teams
Team Defense: 2.43 goals allowed/game – 12th of 63 teams

Power Play: 28.6% (16 of 56) – 5th of 63 teams
Penalty Kill: 79.2% (38 of 48) – 35th of 63 teams

Key Players: Senior F Ben Strinden (9-8-17), Freshman F Cole Reschny (2-13-15), Freshman F Will Zellers (9-4-13), Senior F Dylan James (7-3-10), Sophomore F Mac Swanson (4-7-11), Freshman F Ollie Josephson (3-6-9), Junior D Jake Livanavage (1-9-10), Junior D Abram Wiebe (2-8-10), Freshman D Keaton Verhoeff (4-6-10), Freshman G Jan Spunar (6-0-0, 1.50 GAA, .934 SV%, 1 SO)

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: February 1, 2025 (St. Cloud, MN). North Dakota took the series finale by a final score of 6-2. SCSU probably deserved a better fate but were undone by goaltending, as the Fighting Hawks scored five goals on netminder James Gray, who made just eighteen saves. The Huskies scored an extra attacker goal with over six minutes remaining in the hockey game but gave up an empty netter just 29 seconds later. In Friday’s opener, UND won in a shootout after the two teams skated to a 3-3 tie.

A Recent Memory: March 16, 2021 (Grand Forks, ND). One night before St. Patrick’s Day, North Dakota enjoyed playing for the NCHC playoff title in front of a whole bunch of green. St. Cloud State led 2-1 after two periods, but the Fighting Hawks stormed back with four third-period goals – including three in the span of 122 seconds early in the final frame and an empty-netter to seal the 5-3 victory and the program’s first Frozen Faceoff championship. UND senior Jordan Kawaguchi and freshman Riese Gaber each had two goals and an assist.

Most Important Meeting: NCAA West Regional Final in Fargo, ND (March 28, 2015). North Dakota scored three unassisted goals over the final two periods of the hockey game to defeat St. Cloud State 4-1 in the West Regional Final and advance to the NCAA Frozen Four. Jimmy Murray got the Huskies on the board less than 90 seconds in to the hockey game, but that did nothing to quiet the partisan crowd of 5,307 at SCHEELS Arena. Four different players scored for UND, while Zane McIntyre made 19 stops to earn his 29th and final victory of the season.

All-Time Series: North Dakota leads the all-time series, 83-49-19 (.613), including a slim edge (32-26-10,.544) in games played in St. Cloud. The teams have been squaring off regularly since the 1989-90 season but have only met once in the NCAA tournament (2015).

Last Ten: UND holds a 5-2-3 (.650) edge in the last ten games between the schools, with a scoring advantage of 34-28 in those contests. North Dakota has only lost once in the last nine games in this series, a 3-2 overtime defeat in the 2023 NCHC Frozen Faceoff (St. Paul, Minnesota). The Fighting Hawks have gone 2-0-2 in the last four games in St. Cloud, with two regulation victories (5-3 and 6-2), a shootout win, and a shootout loss.

Game News and Notes

St. Cloud State is a perfect 7-0 this season when leading after twenty minutes and 0-7 when trailing or tied. Following this season, the National Hockey Center will undergo extensive renovations, with the width of the ice surface reduced from 100 feet (Olympic ice) to just 94 feet (hybrid ice). Nearly all NCAA Division I teams – including North Dakota – now compete on NHL ice surfaces (85 feet wide). Since SCSU began competing in the WCHA in 1990, the Huskies have made the national tournament sixteen times, with Frozen Four appearances in 2013 and 2021 (zero titles). Over that same stretch, North Dakota has appeared in the NCAA tourney 24 times, with eleven Frozen Fours and three national championships (1997, 2000, 2016). North Dakota (2015, 2016, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2024) and St. Cloud State (2014, 2018, and 2019) have combined to win the regular season title in nine of the twelve seasons of the NCHC. The Huskies also won the last WCHA conference title in 2013.

The Prediction

There are four keys for North Dakota in this series: adjust to the wide sheet of ice, take an early lead, avoid needless penalties, and take advantage of roster depth. The first ten minutes of Friday’s opener will be critical for both sides, and the more this series can be played at even strength, the better for the Fighting Hawks. As has been the case recently, I expect at least one of these games to go to overtime, with the Green getting the better of the Red just three weeks before Christmas. 3-3 tie, UND 4-3.

Broadcast Information

Both games this weekend will be available via webcast at NCHC.tv. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Central Time on Friday, with a 6:00 p.m. start time on Saturday night. All UND men’s hockey games can be heard on stations across the UND Fighting Hawks Radio Network as well as through the iHeart Radio app.

Social Media

Keep up with the action live during all UND hockey games by following @UNDmhockey and @UNDInsider on X-Twitter. Fans can also read the action via Brad Schlossman’s live chat on the Grand Forks Herald website.

As always, thank you for reading. I welcome your questions, comments, and suggestions. Follow me on X-Twitter (@DBergerHockey) for more information and insight. Here’s to hockey!

#6 North Dakota (8-4-0, 4-1-0-1 NCHC) and unranked Bemidji State (9-5-2, 4-0-5-1 CCHA) will play a home-and-home series this weekend, with Friday’s opener at the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minnesota and the rematch at Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks on Saturday night.

Last season, North Dakota was ranked 14th in the country headed into a similar post-Thanksgiving weekend series with the Beavers. The Fighting Hawks dropped the first game by a final score of 2-1 before settling for a 3-3 tie on home ice. Those non-conference results ultimately doomed UND, which missed the playoffs for the second time in three seasons and moved on from ten-year head coach Brad Berry.

Bemidji State has played the 49th-toughest schedule in the country, with North Dakota’s early-season slate of games ranked as the 15th-toughest in the nation.

UND performed well (3-4 OT, 5-1) against #5 Minnesota Duluth four weeks ago, and those results are buoying its current NCAA Percentage Index ranking (10th). Fans may remember that the NPI has replaced the PairWise as the system used to determine the 16-team field for the national tournament.

By comarison, Bemidji State lost both games of a home-and-home series with the Bulldogs by final scores of 7-3 and 5-1.

Twelve full seasons have come and gone since the college hockey landscape changed forever. With Minnesota and Wisconsin departing the Western Collegiate Hockey Association for the Big Ten after the 2012-13 season, several other conference schools and two members of the former Central Collegiate Hockey Association created the National Collegiate Hockey Conference and left Alaska Anchorage, Bemidji State, Michigan Tech, and Minnesota State behind in a watered-down WCHA.

And now, the WCHA is no more, and Bemidji State, Michigan Tech, and Minnesota State find themselves as three of nine programs in the latest version of the CCHA along with Bowling Green, Ferris State, Lake Superior State, Northern Michigan, St. Thomas (fifth season at the Division I level), and Augustana (third season at the Division I level).

Next season, St. Thomas will leave the CCHA to become the tenth member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC).

The NCHC has been the premier hockey conference since its inception, and particularly over the past ten seasons. The nine teams in the league have gone 571-293-86 (.644) in non-conference action since the start of the 2014-15 season and sent fifteen teams to the Frozen Four (UND and Omaha in 2015, UND and Denver in 2016, Denver and Duluth in 2017, Duluth in 2018, Denver and Duluth in 2019, Duluth and St. Cloud State in 2021, Denver in 2022 and 2024, and Denver and Western Michigan in 2025 over that nine-year stretch (there was no national tournament in 2020). Conference members North Dakota (2016), Denver (2017, 2022, 2024), Minnesota Duluth (2018, 2019), and Western Michigan (2025) have won seven of the last nine national titles.

So far this season, the NCHC has won nearly seventy percent of its non-conference games (39-18-1) and has four teams (#4 Denver, #5 Minnesota Duluth, #6 North Dakota, and #7 Western Michigan) positioned in the top ten in the latest rankings and the other five teams in the conference all receiving votes. With similar success in the second half of the season, the league could easily send four or even five teams to this year’s NCAA tournament in March.

Bemidji State had a very successful 2020-2021 season, going 16-5-3 overall, making the NCAA tourney, and shocking #4-overall Wisconsin 6-3 before being blanked 4-0 by eventual national champion Massachusetts. UMass also shut out St. Cloud State 5-0 in the title game and outscored their opponents 17-3 in their four tournament games.

The Beavers went 22-10-5 in 2020 and would have made the NCAA tournament. Tom Serratore’s head coaching mark of 38-20-8 (.636) from 2019-2021 was by far the best two-year for BSU since they made the jump from the CHA in 2010.

Since then, however, it has not been smooth sailing. The Beavers have basically played .500 hockey (77-76-14) since their most recent tournament run, with a third-place league finish in 2022 and a fifth-place finish a year later. Two seasons ago, BSU won the regular season title but lost to Michigan Tech in the CCHA tournament championship and failed to make the NCAA tournament. Last year, Tom Serratore’s squad sputtered to an overall record of 15-18-5, the fourth-worst season of his 25-year coaching career behind the Beaver bench.

UND is nine years removed from its eighth national championship but has made the national tournament in just four of the past eight seasons. That track record – and some early playoff exits – led to a coaching change, and Dane Jackson is now leading the charge.

As I mentioned earlier, North Dakota is in a good position to make the NCAA tournament but cannot afford a setback this weekend or against winless Mercyhurst (0-13-0) on January 2nd and 3rd, 2026.

Turning our attention to this weekend’s action…

A half point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and BSU head coach Tom Serratore will have eight players in the lineup who meet that mark: senior forward Adam Flammang (6-14-20), junior forward Oliver Peer (10-9-19), junior forward Kasper Magnussen (6-10-16), freshman forward Max Namestikov (4-7-11), graduate forward Relly Funk (5-5-10), junior forward Connor McClennon (7-2-9), senior forward Kirklan Irey (0-8-8), and freshman defenseman Hudson Thornton (2-8-10).

North Dakota will have TWELVE players in the lineup this weekend who have met same offensive threshold: senior forward Ben Strinden (7-8-15), freshman forward Will Zellers (7-4-11), senior forward Ellis Rickwood (1-7-8), sophomore forward Mac Swanson (4-6-10), freshman forward Cole Reschny (2-9-11), senior forward Dylan James (6-3-9), freshman forward Ollie Josephson (2-4-6), sophomore forward Cody Croal (3-3-6), senior forward Tyler Young (1-1-2 in four games played), junior defenseman Abram Wiebe (2-7-9), freshman defenseman Keaton Verhoeff (4-4-8), and junior defenseman Jake Livanavage (1-8-9).

UND freshman forward Josh Zakreski (1-2-3 in six games played) was having a promising start to his rookie campaign, but he suffered a lower body injury three weeks ago in practice, had surgery, and is expected to be out long-term.

One key area to watch this weekend is the face-off circle. Through twelve games, the Fighting Hawks have won 52.8% of faceoffs, good for 12th in the country. Through their sixteen games, the Beavers are 38th in the nation (49.2%).

UND freshman phenom Cole Reschny has won 100 of his 174 draws (57.5%), while portal transfer Ellis Rickwood (who played the past three years at Clarkson) has won 62.6 percent (119 of 190). Arizona State will counter with junior Oliver Peer (135 of 257, 52.5%) and graduate Reilly Funk (161 of 331, 48.6%).

In the early part of the 2025-2025 campaign, the Fighting Hawks narrowly outpace the Beavers in two key puck possession statistics:

North Dakota: 11th in both Corsi (55.8%) and Fenwick (56.2%)

Bemidji State: 14th in both Corsi (53.2%) and Fenwick (54.3%)

Corsi measures the share of shot attempts for each team at even strength, while Fenwick measures the share of unblocked shot attempts for each team at even strength.

To this point in the season, the Green and White have had slightly the better of the specialty teams play. North Dakota is a combined +2, with thirteen power play goals scored (13 for 50, 26.0%, 7th) and ten power play goals allowed (32 of 42, 76.2%, 46th). UND has scored two but allowed three shorthanded goals through the first twelve games of the season.

Tom Serratore’s squad is at a +1, with fourteen power play goals scored (14 for 60, 23.3%, 18th in the country) and thirteen power play goals allowed (50 of 63, 79.4%, 35th). BSU has both scored and allowed two shorthanded goals this season.

Through twelve games, the Green and White have blocked 149 shots (12.4 per game), led by Bennett Zmolek with 23 and Jake Livanavage with 15. Bemidji State has blocked 185 shots in its sixteen games (11.6/game), with senior Mitch Wolfe and freshman Hudson Thornton blocking 24 each.

North Dakota’s defensive corps has provided plenty of production from the back end, already notching nine goals and adding 27 assists in 85 combined games (0.42 points per game).

The nine Bemidji State blueliners to play this season have scored ten goals and added twenty assists in 111 conbined games (0.27 points/game). Aside from freshman Hudson Thornton (2-8-10 in sixteen games played), no Beaver defenseman has collected more than four points.

Senior Maxon Vig – son of Mitch Vig (UND 1994-98) has two goals and one assist in his first sixteen games this season.

For the Fighting Hawks, it’s been two juniors – Jake Livanavage (1-8-9) and Abram Wiebe (2-7-9) – and a freshman (Keaton Verhoeff, with four goals and four assists).

Verhoeff is widely expected to go in the top three of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, while Livanavage (4-24-28) and Wiebe (4-20-24) were two of UND’s top four point-getters a season ago.

Sophomore defenseman EJ Emery – a first round pick of the New York Rangers in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft – notched the first two goals of his collegiate career last month in a 5-2 win against Minnesota.

Not only have North Dakota’s defensemen been producing offensively, first-year head coach Dane Jackson has also put together an impressive mix of defenders he can trust in any situation. As a unit, UND’s defensemen have allowed just 22.7 shots on goal per game (3rd in the country).

Fighting Hawks’ graduate netminder Gibson Homer (4-4-0, 2.78 goals-against average, .882 save percentage) started each of the first four games of the season but has split each of the past four weekends with freshman Jan Spunar (4-0-0, 1.26 GAA, .939 SV%, one shutout). I would expect Spunar to get the start in Friday’s opener, and, depending on results, the freshman may earn back-to-back starts for the first time in his collegiate career.

Bemidji State Team Profile

Head Coach: Tom Serratore (25th season at BSU, 412-383-106, .516)

National Rankings: NR/NR
NPI Ranking: 24th
KRACH Rating: 102.0 (36th)

This Season: 9-5-2 overall, 4-0-5-1 CCHA (1st)
Last Season: 15-18-5 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 7-11-7-1 CCHA (t-6th)

Team Offense: 3.50 goals scored/game – 16th of 63 teams
Team Defense: 2.56 goals allowed/game – 19th of 63 teams

Power Play: 23.3% (14 of 60) – 18th of 63 teams
Penalty Kill: 79.4% (50 of 63) – 35th of 63 teams

Key Players: : Senior F Adam Flammang (6-14-20), Junior F Oliver Peer (10-9-19), Junior F Kasper Magnussen (6-10-16), Freshman F Max Namestikov (4-7-11), Graduate F Relly Funk (5-5-10), Junior F Connor McClennon (7-2-9), Senior F Kirklan Irey (0-8-8), Freshman D Hudson Thornton (2-8-10), Senior D Mitch Wolfe (2-2-4), Junior G Raythan Robbins (5-1-2, 2.08 GAA, .909 SV%, 1 SO)

North Dakota Team Profile

Head Coach: Dane Jackson (1st season at North Dakota, 8-4-0, .667)

National Rankings: #6/#6
NPI Ranking: 10th
KRACH: 306.9 (9th)

This Season: 8-4-0 overall, 4-1-0-1 NCHC (2nd)
Last Season: 21-15-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 11-8-4-1 NCHC (5th)

2025-26 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.83 goals scored/game – 8th of 63 teams

Team Defense: 2.50 goals allowed/game – 15th of 63 teams

Power Play: 26.0% (13 of 50) – 7th of 63 teams

Penalty Kill: 76.2% (32 of 42) – 46th of 63 teams

Key Players: Senior F Ben Strinden (7-8-15), Freshman F Cole Reschny (2-9-11), Freshman F Will Zellers (7-4-11), Senior F Dylan James (6-3-9), Sophomore F Mac Swanson (4-6-10), Freshman F Ollie Josephson (2-4-6), Senior F Ellis Rickwood (1-7-8), Junior D Jake Livanavage (1-8-9), Junior D Abram Wiebe (2-7-9), Freshman D Keaton Verhoeff (4-4-8), Freshman G Jan Spunar (4-0-0, 1.26 GAA, .929 SV%, 1 SO)

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: November 30, 2024 (Grand Forks, ND). Hobie Hedquist allowed three goals on eight shots in just over one period of play before giving way to T.J. Semptimphelter. North Dakota tied the game at 3-3 early in the second period, but neither team could light the lamp after that point.

Last Meeting in Bemidji: November 29. 2024. BSU scored late in period two and added a second tally nearly halfway through the final frame. North Dakota’s Sacha Boisvert netted an extra attacker goal at 16:27 but could not draw even despite putting seventeen shots on goal in the third period. For the game, UND outshot the Beavers 35-22.

Most Important Meeting: October 15, 2010 (Bemidji, MN). In the first game played at the BREC, North Dakota spotted BSU the opening goal less than two minutes into the contest and then steamrolled the Beavers 5-2. The Fighting Sioux outshot their fellow Green-and-Whiters 38-14.

Last Ten: North Dakota is 6-2-2 (.700) in the last ten meetings between the teams, outscoring the Beavers 32-21 over that stretch of games. Seven of the last ten tilts have been decided by a goal or less, with UND having slightly the better of it in the close games (3-2-2).

All-time Series: UND leads the all-time series, 37-6-8 (.804), including a record of 26-3-5 (.838) in games played in Grand Forks. Four of BSU’s six wins over North Dakota have come in the past eleven years (October 2014, October 2018, October 2021, and Novembr 2024). Bemidji’s other victories over UND came in 1970 and 2011.

Game News and Notes

BSU has competed at the Division I level since the 1999-00 season and has made the NCAA tournament five times (2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2021), with a Frozen Four appearance in 2009. Sixteen of the past 22 games between these two teams have been decided by one goal or less.

Broadcast Information

Friday’s opener will be available via webcast at CCHA.TV. Saturday’s rematch will be broadcast live on Midco Sports Network and also available via webcast at NCHC.tv. Puck drop is set for 7:37 p.m. Central Time on Friday and 6:07 p.m. Central Time on Saturday. All UND men’s hockey games can be heard on stations across the UND Sports Home of Economy Radio Network as well as through the iHeart Radio app.

On A Personal Note

I have participated in Movember for the past thirteen years and have proudly raised over $43,000 to help change the face of men’s health. Will you join me and support the cause? Please visit my Movember fundraising page to learn more and to donate. Thank you!

The Prediction

Despite series history, this year’s North Dakota squad is built differently, with scoring depth, excellent goaltending, and a defensive corps capable of taking over games. Friday’s road test will be the tougher of the two, but I’ve got the Fighting Hawks earning two victories this weekend. UND 4-2, 5-1.

Social Media

Keep up with the action live during all UND hockey games by following @UNDmhockey and @UNDInsider on Twitter. Fans can also read the action via Brad Schlossman’s live chat on the Grand Forks Herald website.

As always, thank you for reading. I welcome your questions, comments, and suggestions. Follow me on Twitter (@DBergerHockey) for more information and insight. Here’s to hockey!

#6 North Dakota (7-3-0 overall, 3-0-0-1 NCHC) hosts unranked Arizona State (3-6-1 overall, 1-2-1-0 NCHC) at Ralph Engelstad Arena this weekend. This key league series will mark just the fourth and fifth times that the two teams have ever met on the ice.

Here is a look back at the other three game in series history…

The Fighting Hawks traveled to Tempe in January 2025 for a weekend series and dropped the opener by a final score of 4-1. Saturday’s rematch was a back-and-forth affair highlighted by specialty teams goals, including a shorthanded goal and three power play markers. North Dakota got the better of it by scoring an extra attacker goal with just 28 seconds remaining in regulation and a 3-on-3 tally midway through overtime. UND outshot the Sun Devils 64-55 in the two games.

On October 29th, 2022, UND and ASU battled at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the Sun Devils coming back from a 2-0 deficit and prevailing by a final score of 3-2. Former UND netminder T.J. Semptimphelter was the winning goaltender for Arizona State in that contest; he only had to make thirteen saves to secure the victory.

That loss was the second straight destination-game defeat for the Green and White, as they also lost 6-4 to Penn State at Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, Tennessee) on October 30th, 2021.

Prior to those two losses, North Dakota had won four straight showcase events:

2012: Bell MTS Place (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
North Dakota 3, Clarkson 1

2013: T.D. Ameritrade Park (Omaha, Nebraska)
North Dakota 5, Omaha 2

2016: Madison Square Garden (New York City)
North Dakota 4, Boston College 3

2018: Orleans Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)
North Dakota 3, Minnesota 1

UND’s next destination game has been scheduled for Saturday, October 31st, 2026 in Austin, Texas; the opponent for the 2026 Hall Of Fame Game will be Michigan State.

North Dakota has righted the ship after an up-and-down to start the season:

St. Thomas (home and away): 6-2 win, 5-2 win

Minnesota (home): 5-2 win, 1-5 loss

Clarkson (away): 2-5 loss, 1-0 win

#3 Minnesota Duluth (home): 3-4 (OT) loss, 5-1 win

Omaha (away): 7-2 win, 4-1 win

Arizona State opened the season by dropping two home games to Penn State (3-5, 2-4). After hosting the Ice Breaker and winning two games (against Notre Dame and Alaska), the Sun Devils have gone just 1-4-1 over the past three weekends (at Augustana, at Miami, and vs. Colorado College).

Prior to last season, the Sun Devils competed at the Division I level in men’s ice hockey as an independent for nine seasons, with mixed results:

2015-2018 (three seasons): 21-62-8 (.275)

2018-2020 (two seasons): 43-24-4 (.634) and two NCAA tournament bids

2020-2023 (three seasons): 42-54-4 (.440)

2023-2024 (one season): 24-8-6 (.711)

In the fall of 2022, ASU moved from Oceanside Ice Arena to Mullett Arena, a beautiful 5,000 seat rink on the Arizona State University Campus. Mullett, also known as “The Party Barn”, served as a temporary home for the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes before that team’s hockey assets (players, staff, and draft picks) were transferred to the Utah Hockey Club, an expansion franchise based in Salt Lake City.

Last season – Arizona State’s first in the NCHC – the Sun Devils went 21-14 2 overall with a league mark of 12-4-3-5, good for second place. After dispatching the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs in the first round of the conference playoffs, ASU met up with Denver in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinals (St. Paul, Minnesota). The Pioneers would defeat the Sun Devils 4-2 to put an end to an otherwise successful season.

UND is nine years removed from its eighth national championship but has made the national tournament in just four of the past eight seasons. That track record – and some early playoff exits – led to a coaching change, and Dane Jackson is now leading the charge.

In the NCHC preseason poll, UND was picked to finish in third place (behind Western Michigan and Denver), while the Sun Devils were tabbed to end up in fourth.

The NCHC has been the premier hockey conference since its inception, and particularly over the past ten seasons. The nine teams in the league have gone 571-293-86 (.644) in non-conference action since the start of the 2014-15 season and sent fifteen teams to the Frozen Four (UND and Omaha in 2015, UND and Denver in 2016, Denver and Duluth in 2017, Duluth in 2018, Denver and Duluth in 2019, Duluth and St. Cloud State in 2021, Denver in 2022 and 2024, and Denver and Western Michigan in 2025 over that nine-year stretch (there was no national tournament in 2020). Conference members North Dakota (2016), Denver (2017, 2022, 2024), Minnesota Duluth (2018, 2019), and Western Michigan (2025) have won seven of the last nine national titles.

So far this season, the NCHC has won nearly seventy percent of its non-conference games (39-18-1) and has four teams (#3 Minnesota Duluth, #4 Denver, #6 North Dakota, and #9 Western Michigan) positioned in the top ten in the latest rankings, with Colorado College at #17 and the other four teams in the conference all receiving votes. With similar success in the second half of the season, the league could easily send four or even five teams to this year’s NCAA tournament in March.

North Dakota has four non-conference games remaining on the schedule:

November 28-29: at/vs. Bemidji State (CCHA)

January 2-3: vs. Mercyhurst (Atlantic Hockey)

The Fighting Hawks will also play a second exhibition game – against the U.S. Under-18 Team – next Friday, November 21st. UND opened the season with a 7-0 exhibition victory over the University of Manitoba Bisons.

Turning our attention to this weekend’s action…

A half point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and ASU head coach Greg Powers boasts just six players who have contributed at that level: junior forward Bennett Schimek (4-9-13), freshman forward Jack Beck (3-2-5 in four games), senior forward Cruz Lucius (8-4-12), sophomore forward Cullen Potter (1-5-6), junior forward Sean McGurn (2-4-6), and junior forward Kyle Smolen (1-4-5).

Bennett Schimek (Mendota Heights, Minnesota) played his first two seasons at Providence before transferring to Tempe prior to the 2024-2025 campaign. He put up a line of 15-22-37 in 35 games with the Sun Devils last year.

Cruz Lucius (Grant, Minnesota) scored 68 points in 70 games over two seasons with the Badgers (2022-2024) before making the jump to the NCHC. Lucius missed the first half of last year with a torn labrum but has scored ten goals and 22 points in his 29 games with the Sun Devils.

North Dakota will have ELEVEN players in the lineup this weekend who have met same offensive threshold: senior forward Ben Strinden (4-8-12), freshman forward Will Zellers (5-4-9), senior forward Ellis Rickwood (1-5-6), sophomore forward Mac Swanson (4-6-10), freshman forward Cole Reschny (2-8-10), senior forward Dylan James (6-2-8), freshman forward Ollie Josephson (2-4-6), sophomore forward Cody Croal (2-3-5), junior defenseman Abram Wiebe (2-6-8), freshman defenseman Keaton Verhoeff (4-2-6), and junior defenseman Jake Livanavage (1-7-8).

UND freshman forward Josh Zakreski (1-2-3 in six games played) was having a promising start to his rookie campaign, but he suffered a lower body injury two weeks ago in practice, had surgery, and is expected to be out long-term.

One key area to watch this weekend is the face-off circle. Through ten games, the Fighting Hawks have won 52.4% of faceoffs, good for 19th in the country. Through their ten games, the Sun Devils are 12th in the nation (53.5%).

UND freshman phenom Cole Reschny has won 81 of his 136 draws (59.6%), while portal transfer Ellis Rickwood (who played the past three years at Clarkson) has won 61.1 percent (107 of 175). Arizona State will counter with juniors Sean McGurn (94 of 152, 61.8%) and Logan Morrell (93 of 163, 57.1%).

In the early part of the 2025-2025 campaign, the Fighting Hawks have far outpaced the Sun Devils in two key puck possession statistics:

North Dakota: 13th in Corsi (54.2%) and 14th in Fenwick (53.8%)

Arizona State: 38th in Corsi (48.1%) and 37th in Fenwick (48.4%)

Corsi measures the share of shot attempts for each team at even strength, while Fenwick measures the share of unblocked shot attempts for each team at even strength.

To this point in the season, the Green and White have had the better of the specialty teams play. North Dakota is a combined +4, with twelve power play goals scored (12 for 44, 27.3%, 11th) and eight power play goals allowed (31 of 39, 79.5%, 33rd). UND has both scored and allowed two shorthanded goals through the first ten games of the season.

Greg Powers’ squad is at a net zero, with twelve power play goals scored (12 for 56, 21.4%, 20th in the country) and eight power play goals allowed (34 of 42, 81.0%, 30th). ASU has not scored a shorthanded goal but has already given up FOUR to opponents.

Through ten games, the Green and White have blocked 120 shots, led by Bennett Zmolek with 20 and Jake Livanavage with 13. Arizona State has blocked an astounding 152 shots in its ten games, with Joel Kjellberg (23), Sam Court (20), and Justin Kipkie (18) leading the charge.

North Dakota’s defensive corps has provided plenty of production from the back end, already notching nine goals and adding 22 assists in 57 combined games (0.44 points per game).

Amazingly, the nine Arizona State blueliners to play this season have yet to score a goal in 66 combined games played, and they have collected just fifteen assists (0.23 points per game). Junior Anthony Dowd leads the way with four helpers, followed by freshman Justin Kipkie and sophomores Joel Kjellberg and Sam Court, who have three apiece.

For the Fighting Hawks, it’s been two juniors – Jake Livanavage (1-7-8) and Abram Wiebe (2-6-8) – and a freshman (Keaton Verhoeff, with four goals and two assists).

Verhoeff is widely expected to go in the top three of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, while Livanavage (4-24-28) and Wiebe (4-20-24) were two of UND’s top four point-getters a season ago.

Sophomore defenseman EJ Emery – a first round pick of the New York Rangers in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft – notched the first two goals of his collegiate career last month in a 5-2 win against Minnesota.

Not only have North Dakota’s defensemen been producing offensively, first-year head coach Dane Jackson has also put together an impressive mix of defenders he can trust in any situation. As a unit, UND’s defensemen have allowed just 23.6 shots on goal per game (6th in the country).

Fighting Hawks’ graduate netminder Gibson Homer (4-3-0, 2.74 goals-against average, .890 save percentage) – who played his first three seasons at Arizona State – started each of the first four games of the season but has split each of the past three weekends with freshman Jan Spunar (3-0-0, 1.01 GAA, .951 SV%, one shutout). With 34 saves and only one goal allowed last Saturday night at Omaha, Gibson Homer delivered his finest performance of the season. I would expect each goaltender to start a game this weekend.

Here is a quick peek at how North Dakota and Arizona State stack up in various categories:

Goals per game: ASU 2.90 (34th of 63 teams); UND 3.90 (5th)

Goals allowed per game: ASU 3.60 (46th); UND 2.40 (17th)

Shooting percentage: ASU 8.9% (42nd); UND 14.2% (4th)

Save percentage: ASU .899 (34th); UND .898 (38th)

Shots on goal/game: ASU 32.7 (16th); UND 27.5 (45th)

Shots on goal allowed/game: ASU 35.5 (58th); UND 23.6 (6th)

The Sun Devils will host North Dakota on January 23rd and 24th, 2026.

Arizona State Team Profile

Head Coach: Greg Powers (11th season at ASU, 154-168-25, .480)

National Ranking: NR/NR
NPI Ranking: 44th
KRACH: 72.1 (42nd)

This Season: 3-6-1 overall, 1-2-1-0 NCHC (6th of 9 teams)
Last Season: 21-14-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament); 12-4-3-5 NCHC (2nd)

2025-26 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 2.90 goals scored/game – 34th of 63 teams

Team Defense: 3.60 goals allowed/game – 46th of 64 teams

Power Play: 21.4% (12 of 56) – 20th of 63 teams

Penalty Kill: 81.0% (34 of 42) – 30th of 63 teams

Key Players: Junior F Bennett Schimek (4-9-13), Senior F Cruz Lucius (8-4-12), Sophomore F Cullen Potter (1-5-6), Junior F Sean McGurn (2-4-6), Freshman F Jack Beck (3-2-5 in four games), Junior F Kyle Smolen (1-4-5), Sophomore D Joel Kjellberg (0-3-3), Junior D Anthony Dowd (0-4-4), Senior G Connor Hasley (2-4-0, 3.09 GAA, .910 SV%)

North Dakota Team Profile

Head Coach: Dane Jackson (1st season at North Dakota, 7-3-0, .700)

National Rankings: #6/#6
NPI Ranking: 5th
KRACH: 513.5 (5th)

This Season: 7-3-0 overall, 3-0-0-1 NCHC (1st)
Last Season: 21-15-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 11-8-4-1 NCHC (5th)

2025-26 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.90 goals scored/game – 5th of 63 teams

Team Defense: 2.40 goals allowed/game – 17th of 63 teams

Power Play: 27.3% (12 of 44) – 11th of 63 teams

Penalty Kill: 79.5% (31 of 39) – 33rd of 63 teams

Key Players: Senior F Ben Strinden (4-8-12), Freshman F Cole Reschny (2-8-10), Freshman F Will Zellers (5-4-9), Senior F Dylan James (6-2-8), Sophomore F Mac Swanson (4-6-10), Freshman F Ollie Josephson (2-4-6), Senior F Ellis Rickwood (1-5-6), Junior D Jake Livanavage (1-7-8), Junior D Abram Wiebe (2-6-8), Freshman D Keaton Verhoeff (4-2-6), Freshman G Jan Spunar (3-0-0, 1.01 GAA, .951 SV%, 1 SO)

Game News and Notes

Arizona State has been outscored 16-7 in third periods this season, while North Dakota has outscored opponents 16-8 in final frames. In 2023-24, Arizona State played its last season as an independent. Despite a record of 24-8-6, the Sun Devils finished in 20th in the Pairwise and missed the NCAA tournament. Greg Powers has been the only head coach in Arizona State Division I men’s hockey history. Powers, a former goaltender from the Sun Devils’ club level (WCHL/ACHA) days, graduated from ASU in 1999 and is a member of the Arizona State Athletic Hall of Fame.

Media Coverage

Both games will be broadcast live on Midco Sports Network and will also be available via webcast at NCHC.tv. Friday’s opener will also be on TSN5 in Canada. All UND men’s hockey games, home and away, can be heard on stations across the Fighting Hawks Radio Network as well as through the iHeart Radio app. Puck drop is set for 7:07 p.m. Central Time on Friday night and 6:07 p.m. Central Time on Saturday night.

Social Media

Keep up with the action live during all UND hockey games by following @UNDmhockey and @UNDInsider on Twitter. Fans can also read the action via Brad Schlossman’s live chat on the Grand Forks Herald website.

The Prediction

Fans should expect Arizona State’s best effort as the Sun Devils visit the Ralph for the first time. ASU has some speed and top and skill not unlike what the Bulldogs put on display at REA two weeks ago. I forsee plenty of scoring opportunities for both sides this weekend, with North Dakota’s forward depth and experience on the blue line playing a major factor in securing two victories. UND 3-2, 5-2.

As always, thank you for reading. I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions.

#8 North Dakota (5-3-0 overall) travels down I-29 this weekend to face Omaha (4-2-0). This series will mark UND’s first conference road test and the league home opener for the Mavericks.

UND has been up-and-down to start the season, with a home-and-home sweep of St. Thomas (6-2, 5-2), a home split with unranked Minnesota (5-2, 1-5), a road split at Clarkson (2-5, 1-0), and a four-point home weekend against #7 Minnesota Duluth (3-4 OT, 5-1).

Omaha has won three straight games, including a pair of NCHC victories at #20 Colorado College last weekend. The Mavericks completed the road sweep at altitude by final scores of 3-2 and 5-4 despite being outshot 91-50 in the series.

UND is nine years removed from its eighth national championship but has made the national tournament in just four of the past eight seasons. That track record – and some early playoff exits – led to a coaching change, and Dane Jackson is now leading the charge.

In the NCHC preseason poll, UND was picked to finish in third place (behind Western Michigan and Denver), while the Mavericks were tabbed to end up in seventh (ahead of only St. Cloud State and Miami). With the addition of St. Thomas to the NCHC (and a new schedule format) beginning in 2026-2027, the Fighting Hawks and Mavericks will no longer be guaranteed four regular-season games each year.

Omaha head coach Mike Gabinet is now in his ninth season behind the bench, and he has only led the Mavericks to two NCAA tournament appearances – once in the COVID-shortened 2020-2021 season and once two years ago. Both of those playoff bids came to an abrupt end at the hands of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who dispatched Omaha 7-2 in the 2021 West Regional semifinal (Loveland, Colorado) and edged the Mavericks 3-2 in the 2024 Midwest Regional semifinal (Sioux Falls, South Dakota).

Last season, Omaha finished in the top half of the NCHC but was done in by a less-than-stellar non-conference record of 4-6-0, including home losses to Augustana (twice), Lindenwood, and UMass-Lowell and a road sweep at the hands of Minnesota State.

The NCHC has been the premier hockey conference since its inception, and particularly over the past ten seasons. The nine teams in the league have gone 571-292-86 (.647) in non-conference action since the start of the 2014-15 season and sent fifteen teams to the Frozen Four (UND and Omaha in 2015, UND and Denver in 2016, Denver and Duluth in 2017, Duluth in 2018, Denver and Duluth in 2019, Duluth and St. Cloud State in 2021, Denver in 2022 and 2024, and Denver and Western Michigan in 2025 over that nine-year stretch (there was no national tournament in 2020). Conference members North Dakota (2016), Denver (2017, 2022, 2024), Minnesota Duluth (2018, 2019), and Western Michigan (2025) have won seven of the last nine national titles.

So far this season, the NCHC has won nearly seventy percent of its non-conference games (39-17-1) and has four teams (#4 Western Michigan, #7 Minnesota Duluth, #8 North Dakota, and #9 Denver) positioned in the top ten in the latest rankings, with the other five teams in the conference all receiving votes. With similar success in the second half of the season, the league could easily send four or even five teams to this year’s NCAA tournament in March.

North Dakota has four non-conference games remaining on the schedule:

November 28-29: at/vs. Bemidji State (CCHA)

January 2-3: vs. Mercyhurst (Atlantic Hockey)

The Fighting Hawks will also play a second exhibition game – against the U.S. Under-18 Team – on November 21st. UND opened the season with a 7-0 exhibition victory over the University of Manitoba Bisons.

Last season, the Fighting Hawks and Mavericks ended the regular season by splitting a pair of games at Ralph Engelstad Arena. The following weekend – with the season on the line for both teams – UND swept a pair of games at Omaha by identical 3-2 scores. North Dakota’s season would end six days later at the hands of eventual national champion Western Michigan at the last-ever NCHC Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minnesota, a 4-2 defeat that would cost former head coach Brad Berry his job.

On the final weekend of the 2022-2023 regular season, North Dakota swept Omaha (5-4 OT, 2-1). The Fighting Hawks dropped Game One of the playoff series in Omaha by a final score of 2-1 before winning two straight (3-1, 5-2) and advancing to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minnesota.

On January 12th and 13th, 2024, UND took four of six league points in a home series against Omaha, falling 5-4 in overtime on Friday night before rebounding for a 3-1 regulation win in Saturday’s rematch. The disappointing thing about the series opener is that North Dakota led 3-1 after the first period. The Mavericks won the middle frame decisively, however, outscoring the homestanding Hawks 3-1. Both teams scored twice with the man advantage. Omaha scored just 34 seconds into the 3-on-3 overtime session to grab the extra league point.

Saturday’s finale was a bit more of a defensive struggle, with Omaha tying the game at one goal apiece just 49 seconds into the third period. UND’s Dylan James scored the game-winner three minutes later, and former Maverick Cameron Berg iced the game with an empty-net goal in the final thirty seconds. North Dakota outshot Omaha 30-23 on Saturday night and 69-47 on the weekend.

Turning our attention to this weekend…

A half-point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and Mike Gabinet’s squad has eleven players who meet that threshold: sophomore forward Maxime Pellerin (5-3-8), freshman forward Luke Woodworth (3-4-7), freshman forward Marcus Nguyen (3-3-6), sophomore forward Sean Tschigerl (2-3-5), sophomore forward Brett Hyland (1-2-3), sophomore forward Trevor Wong (0-3-3), senior forward Tyler Rollwagen (3-0-3), freshman forward Jeremy Loranger (0-3-3), sophomore forward Chase LaPinta (0-1-1 in two games), senior defenseman Griffin Ludtke (0-7-7), and junior defenseman Aidan de la Gorgendiere (2-4-6).

North Dakota will also have eleven players in the lineup this weekend who have met that threshold: senior forward Ben Strinden (2-7-9), freshman forward Will Zellers (3-3-6), senior forward Ellis Rickwood (1-5-6), sophomore forward Mac Swanson (3-3-6), freshman forward Cole Reschny (1-4-5), senior forward Dylan James (3-2-5), freshman forward Ollie Josephson (2-3-5), sophomore forward Cade Littler (1-2-3), junior defenseman Abram Wiebe (2-4-6), freshman defenseman Keaton Verhoeff (4-1-5), and junior defenseman Jake Livanavage (1-3-4).

Ben Strinden was awarded the NCHC Forward of the Week after scoring the game-tying goal with 71 seconds remaining last Friday night and notching four assists in Saturday’s 5-1 victory.

Ollie Josephson was awarded the NCHC Rookie of the Week after tallying a goal and an assist each night in last weekend’s home series against Duluth.

UND freshman forward Josh Zakreski (1-2-3 in six games played) was having a promising start to his rookie campaign, but he suffered a lower body injury last week in practice, had surgery, and is expected to be out long-term.

One key area to watch this weekend is the face-off circle. Through eight games, the Fighting Hawks have won 53.3% of faceoffs, good for 13th in the country. Through their six games, the Mavericks are 52nd in the nation (46.6%).

UND freshman phenom Cole Reschny has won 64 of his 105 draws (61.0%), while portal transfer Ellis Rickwood (who played the past three years at Clarkson) has won 62.6 percent (92 of 147). For the Mavericks, no one has been all that effective, with freshman Luke Woodworth (39 of 80, 48.8%), sophomore Sean Tschigerl (37 of 78, 47.4%), and senior Tyler Rollwagen (32 of 64, 50.0%) sharing the load.

Not only will North Dakota start with the puck more often than not in this series, they will also hold on to it. In the early part of the 2025-2025 campaign, the Fighting Hawks have far outpaced the Mavericks in two key puck possession statistics:

North Dakota: 11th in both Corsi (56.7%) and Fenwick (56.1%)

Omaha: 58th in Corsi (42.8%) and 54th in Fenwick (43.1%)

Corsi measures the share of shot attempts for each team at even strength, while Fenwick measures the share of unblocked shot attempts for each team at even strength.

To this point in the season, the Green and White have had the better of the specialty teams play. North Dakota is a combined +2, with eight power play goals scored (8 for 34, 23.5%, 21st) and six power play goals allowed (26 of 32, 81.3%, 26th). UND has scored and allowed two shorthanded goals through the first eight games of the season.

Mike Gabinet’s squad is at a net zero, with six power play goals scored (6 for 22, 27.3%, 13th in the country) and seven power play goals allowed (18 of 25, 72.0%, 51st). Omaha has also scored one shorthanded goal while not allowing one to opponents.

Through eight games, the Green and White have blocked 101 shots (12.6 per game), led by Bennett Zmolek with 18. Omaha has blocked 65 shots in its six games (10.8/game), with Marc Ljoie (9), Jacob Guevin (8), and Marcus Broberg (8) leading the charge.

North Dakota’s defensive corps has provided plenty of production from the back end, already notching nine goals and adding fourteen assists in 57 combined games (0.40 points per game).

Not to be outdone, Omaha’s blueliners have scored five goals and fifteen assists in 39 combined games (0.51 points/game), led by senior Griffin Ludtke (0-7-7) and junior Aidan de la Gorgendiere (2-4-6). No other Maverick blueliner has more than two points this season.

For the Fighting Hawks, it’s been two juniors – Jake Livanavage (1-3-4) and Abram Wiebe (2-4-6) – and a freshman (Keaton Verhoeff, with four goals and an assist).

Verhoeff is widely expected to go in the top three of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, while Livanavage (4-24-28) and Wiebe (4-20-24) were two of UND’s top four point-getters a season ago.

Sophomore defenseman EJ Emery – a first round pick of the New York Rangers in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft – notched the first two goals of his collegiate career three weeks ago in a 5-2 win against Minnesota.

Not only have North Dakota’s defensemen been producing offensively, first-year head coach Dane Jackson has also put together an impressive mix of defenders he can trust in any situation. As a unit, UND’s defensemen have allowed just 22.1 shots on goal per game (4th in the country).

Fighting Hawks’ graduate netminder Gibson Homer (3-3-0, 3.03 goals-against average, .870 save percentage) started each of the first four games of the season but has split each of the past two weekends with freshman Jan Spunar (2-0-0, 0.50 GAA, .973 SV%, one shutout). I would expect Spunar to get the start in Friday’s opener against Omaha.

After this weekend, UND will host the unranked Arizona State Sun Devils (3-5-0) at Ralph Engelstad Arena on November 14th and 15th.

Here is a quick peek at how North Dakota and Omaha stack up in various categories:

Goals per game: Omaha 4.00 (7th of 63 teams); UND 3.50 (17th)

Goals allowed per game: Omaha 3.17 (41st); UND 2.63 (21st)

Shooting percentage: Omaha 14.7% (3rd); UND 12.5% (12th)

Save percentage: Omaha .916 (19th); UND .881 (51st)

Shots on goal/game: Omaha 27.2 (46th); UND 28.0 (38th)

Shots on goal allowed/game: Omaha 37.8 (59th); UND 22.1 (4th)

Power play efficiency: Omaha 27.3% (13th); UND 23.5% (21st)

Penalty kill efficiency: Omaha 72.0% (51st); UND 81.3% (26th)

Faceoff win percentage: Omaha 46.6% (52nd); UND 53.3% (13th)

Corsi: Omaha 42.8% (58th); UND 56.7% (11th)

Fenwick: Omaha 43.1% (54th); UND 56.1% (11th)

Omaha Team Profile

Head Coach: Mike Gabinet (9th season at UNO, 139-133-19, .510)

National Rankings: #NR/NR

This Season: 4-2-0 overall, 2-0-0-0 NCHC (1st)
Last Season: 18-17-1 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 13-8-2-1 NCHC (4th)

Team Offense: 4.00 goals scored/game – 7th of 63 teams
Team Defense: 3.17 goals allowed/game – 41st of 63 teams

Power Play: 27.3% (6 of 22)– 13th of 63 teams
Penalty Kill: 72.0% (18 of 25)– 51st of 63 teams

Key Players: Sophomore F Maxime Pellerin (5-3-8), Freshman F Luke Woodworth (3-4-7), Freshman F Marcus Nguyen (3-3-6), Sophomore F Sean Tschigerl (2-3-5), Senior F Tyler Rollwagen (3-0-3), Senior D Griffin Ludtke (0-7-7), Junior D Aidan de la Gorgendiere (2-4-6), Senior G Simon Latkoczy (3-2-0, 2.82 GAA, .925 SV%)

North Dakota Team Profile

Head Coach: Dane Jackson (1st season at North Dakota, 5-3-0, .625)

National Rankings: #8/#8

This Season: 5-3-0 overall, 1-0-0-1 NCHC (2nd)
Last Season: 21-15-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 11-8-4-1 NCHC (5th)

2025-26 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.50 goals scored/game – 17th of 63 teams

Team Defense: 2.63 goals allowed/game – 21st of 63 teams

Power Play: 23.5% (8 of 34) – 21st of 63 teams

Penalty Kill: 81.3% (26 of 32) – 26th of 63 teams

Key Players: Senior F Dylan James (3-2-5), Senior F Ellis Rickwood (1-5-6), Sophomore F Mac Swanson (3-3-6), Senior F Ben Strinden (2-7-9), Freshman F Ollie Josephson (2-3-5), Freshman F Cole Reschny (1-4-5), Freshman F Will Zellers (3-3-6), Junior D Jake Livanavage (1-3-4), Junior D Abram Wiebe (2-4-6), Freshman D Keaton Verhoeff (4-1-5), Freshman G Jan Spunar (2-0-0, 0.50 GAA, .973 SV%, 1 SO)

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: March 15th, 2025 (Omaha, Nebraska). For the second night in a row, the visiting Hawks narrowly edged their hosts by a final score of 3-2. On this night, it was a furious third-period comeback after Omaha had built a 2-0 lead. North Dakota defenseman Jayden Jubenvill netted the game-winner with just 96 seconds remaining in the hockey game to propel the Green and White to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff. UND scored its three goals on just five shots in the final frame.

Most Memorable Meeting: The game that UND fans will long remember is the outdoor game played at TD Ameritrade Park (Omaha, Nebraska) on February 9th, 2013. One day after winning a tight 2-1 contest indoors, North Dakota throttled UNO 5-2 on a sunny, melty afternoon. Mavericks netminder John Faulkner was pulled after allowing three goals on five shots in just ten minutes of game action. In my opinion, this hockey weekend solidified the notion that for UND hockey, it’s always a home game.

Last Ten: Each side has won five of the last ten contests, with North Dakota winning three of the four games played last season. Omaha has outscored North Dakota 33-30 over the past ten games.

All-Time: UND leads the all-time series 39-23-2 (.625), including a record of 20-11-1 (.641) in Omaha. The teams first met on November 19, 2010.

Game News and Notes

Eleven seasons ago, both North Dakota and Omaha advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four but neither team made the championship game. UND fell to Boston University 5-3, while the Mavericks were upended 4-1 by eventual national champion Providence. In team history, the Mavericks have made the national tournament five times (2006, 2011, 2015, 2021, 2024), with a Frozen Four appearance under head coach Dean Blais in 2015. North Dakota’s Brad Berry is 28-17-1 (.620) in his head coaching career against Omaha. In 30 of the past 37 contests in this series, the winning team is the one which scores the first goal. This season, North Dakota is 3-1-0 (.750) when scoring first; Omaha, 2-1-0 (.667). UND’s Dylan James has six goals and nine points in his sixteen career games against the Mavericks.

The Prediction

Despite Omaha’s sweep at Colorado College last weekend, the underlying metrics seem to favor North Dakota. UND’s third-period comeback against Duluth last Friday night – coupled with a workmanlike 5-1 victory in the rematch – has Dane Jackson’s squad trending in the right direction. The Fighting Hawks are deeper on the blueline and more talented up front, and that bodes well for the Green and White. Expect one close contest in this one, but I’ve got North Dakota emerging from the weekend with two league wins. UND 3-2, 5-3.

Broadcast Information

Both games this weekend will be available online at NCHC.tv. All UND men’s hockey games can be heard on stations across the Fighting Hawks Radio Network as well as through the iHeart Radio app. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. Central Time each night.

Social Media

Keep up with the action live during all UND hockey games by following @UNDmhockey and @UNDInsider on Twitter. Fans can also read the action via Brad Schlossman’s live chat on the Grand Forks Herald website.

As always, thank you for reading. I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions.

In just seven days, UND has moved from facing a bitter rival to squaring off against an unfamiliar opponent.

In the spirit of last week’s trip down memory lane, here’s a glance at all seven hockey games played between UND and the Clarkson Golden Knights…

March 19th and 20th, 1982 (Grand Forks, ND): North Dakota hosts the Golden Knights in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. At that time, matchups were two games, total goals. UND beat Clarkson by five goals (5-1, 2-1) to advance to the Frozen Four. With victories over Northeastern (6-2) and Wisconsin (5-2), the Fighting Sioux earned the fourth national championship in program history.

November 6th and 7th, 1998 (Grand Forks, ND): The Green and White swept Clarkson by final scores of 6-2 and 5-1. This edition of North Dakota hockey (32-6-2 overall) was a favorite to win the national championship but fell one game short of the Frozen Four, losing 3-1 to Boston College.

October 29th and 30th, 1999 (Potsdam, NY): In the only two games ever played between the teams in New York, North Dakota won 4-1 and 6-5. At one point in the rematch, the Fighting Sioux led 5-2. This UND team would go on to win the program’s seventh national title just four months later.

January 7th, 2012 (Winnipeg, MAN): In its first-ever destination game, North Dakota came back to defeat Clarkson 3-1 behind two goals from Carter Rowney. UND’s original opponent – the Dean Blais-led Omaha Mavericks – had to cancel due to a scheduling challenge.

Thus far this season, unranked Clarkson (1-3-0) has lost at Canisius by a score of 3-1, split at #5 Penn State (6-4, 2-5), and dropped a road game at RIT (6-2).

#8 North Dakota is off to a promising start, with a home-and-home sweep of St. Thomas (6-2, 5-2) and a home split with #12 Minnesota (5-2, 1-5). UND is nine years removed from its eighth national championship but has made the national tournament in just four of the past eight seasons. That track record – and some early playoff exits – led to a coaching change, and Dane Jackson is now leading the charge.

Clarkson has been competing at the Division I level for over a century, but two head coaches (and their corresponding periods of success) stand out:

The Len Ceglarski era (1958-1972): Four NCAA tournament appearances, four Frozen Four berths, and three national runner-up finishes (1962, 1966, and 1970). In those three most successful seasons, Ceglarski had a combined head coaching record of 70-14-1 (.829).

The Mark Morris era (1988-2002): Nine NCAA tournament appearances in ten seasons and a Frozen Four berth in 1991. Morris was let go after missing three consecutive national tourneys (2000-02) and starting off the 2002-03 season with three straight defeats.

Since 1999, the Golden Knights have only advanced to the NCAA tourney five times, with a 1-4 record in those games.

Their lone national tournament victory in the past 25 seasons came over St. Cloud State in the 2008 East Regional semifinal. The 2020 tournament was cancelled.

North Dakota has been relevant in every decade, with head coaches Bob May, Barry Thorndycraft, John “Gino” Gasparini, Dean Blais, and Brad Berry all lifting college hockey’s most coveted trophy.

Non-conference games are critical in determining the sixteen teams for the NCAA tournament, and this weekend is North Dakota’s next opportunity to bolster their resume. After these two games against Clarkson (a member of the ECAC), UND will have four non-conference games remaining on the schedule:

November 28-29: at/vs. Bemidji State (CCHA)
January 2-3: vs. Mercyhurst (Atlantic Hockey)

The Fighting Hawks will also play a second exhibition game – against the U.S. Under-18 Team – on November 21st. UND opened the season with a 7-0 exhibition victory over the University of Manitoba Bisons.

In interconference games so far this season, the Big Ten (24-8-3, .729) and the NCHC (28-13-1, .679) have been leading the charge, with the ECAC (11-15-3, .431) lagging behind. The only NCHC/ECAC matchup so far this season has been RPI vs. Miami, with the RedHawks of the NCHC sweeping their ECAC hosts (5-3, 5-0).

One key area to watch this weekend is the face-off circle. Through four games, the Fighting Hawks have won 51.5% of faceoffs, good for 20th in the country. Clarkson has won just 48.6% (36th). UND freshman phenom Cole Reschny has won 35 of his 54 draws (64.8%), while portal transfer Ellis Rickwood (who played the past three years at Clarkson) has won 60 percent (42 of 70). For the Golden Knights, freshman Connyr Hellyer (25 of 46, 54.3%) has been the most effective, although fellow rookie Mael St-denis (22 of 47, 46.8%) and graduate student Ryan Bottrill (19 of 49, 38.8%) have seen more action in the dot.

To this point in the season, North Dakota has had the better of the specialty teams play. The Green and White have been a combined +2, with five power play goals scored (5 for 17, 29.4%, 4th in the country) and three power play goals allowed (15 of 18, 83.3%, 22nd). Clarkson is a minus-four, with ZERO power play goals scored on fourteen man-advantage opportunities (0.0%, 52nd in the country), and four power play goals allowed (16 for 20, 80.0%, 29th). Both teams have scored and allowed one shorthanded goal through the first four games of the season.

North Dakota’s defensive corps has provided plenty of production from the back end, already notching six goals and adding eight assists in 29 combined games (0.48 points per game).

Clarkson’s blueliners have scored two goals and added five assists in 26 combined games (0.27 points/game), led by senior Tristan Sarsland and freshman Bryce Sookro, who each have two assists in four games played.

For the Fighting Hawks, it’s been two juniors – Jake Livanavage (1-2-3) and Abram Wiebe (1-2-3) – and a freshman (Keaton Verhoeff, with two goals and an assist).

Verhoeff is widely expected to go in the top three of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, while Livanavage (4-24-28) and Wiebe (4-20-24) were two of UND’s top four point-getters a season ago.

Sophomore defenseman EJ Emery – a first round pick of the New York Rangers in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft – notched the first two goals of his collegiate career last Friday night in a 5-2 win against Minnesota.

Not only have North Dakota’s defensemen been producing offensively, first-year head coach Dane Jackson has also put together an impressive mix of defenders he can trust in any situation.

Last season, Clarkson advanced to the ECAC playoff championship game but could not secure an NCAA tournament bid, falling to Cornell by a final score of 3-1 despite outshooting the Big Red 31-24.

Clarkson Team Profile

Head Coach: J.F. Houle (2nd season at Clarkson, 25-13-3, .616)
National Rankings: NR/NR

This Season: 1-3-0 overall, 0-0-0-0 ECAC
Last Season: 24-12-3 overall, 13-5-2-2 ECAC (2nd of 12 teams)

2025-26 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 2.75 goals scored/game – 35th of 57 teams
Team Defense: 4.50 goals allowed/game – 51st of 57 teams

Power Play: 0.0% (0 of 14) – 52nd of 57 teams
Penalty Kill: 80.0% (16 of 20) – 29th of 57 teams

Key Players: Graduate F Ryan Bottrill (0-4-4), Freshman F Adrian Misaljevic (2-1-3), Senior F Erik Bargholtz (2-1-3), Junior F Talon Sigurdson (1-1-2), Freshman D Bryce Sookro (0-2-2), Senior D Tristan Sarsland (0-2-2), Sophomore G Shane Soderwall (1-2-0, 3.73 GAA, .892 SV%)

North Dakota Team Profile

Head Coach: Dane Jackson (1st season at North Dakota)
National Rankings: #8/#8

This Season: 3-1-0 overall, 0-0-0-0 NCHC
Last Season: 21-15-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 11-8-4-1 NCHC (5th)

2025-26 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 4.25 goals scored/game – 4th of 57 teams
Team Defense: 2.75 goals allowed/game – 24th of 57 teams

Power Play: 29.4% (5 of 17) – 7th of 57 teams
Penalty Kill: 83.3% (15 of 18) – 22nd of 57 teams

Key Players: Senior F Dylan James (3-2-5), Senior F Ellis Rickwood (1-5-6), Sophomore F Mac Swanson (2-1-3), Senior F Ben Strinden (0-3-3), Sophomore F Cade Littler (1-2-3), Freshman F Cole Reschny (1-2-3), Freshman F Will Zellers (1-2-3), Freshman F Josh Zakreski (1-2-3), Junior D Jake Livanavage (1-2-3), Junior D Abram Wiebe (1-2-3), Freshman D Keaton Verhoeff (2-1-3), Senior G Gibson Homer (3-1-0, 2.52 GAA, .885 SV%)

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: January 7th, 2012 (Winnipeg, MAN). In the first-ever “destination game”, North Dakota rallied back from a 1-0 first-period deficit thanks to a pair of goals by Carter Rowney in the middle frame. UND would add a Mark Macmillan insurance goal with 62 seconds remaining before the Golden Knights could pull netminder Paul Karpowich for an extra attacker. Fans of the Green and White may remember this team – led by Brock Nelson, Danny Kristo, Corban Knight, Ben Blood, Dillon Simpson, Aaron Dell, and captain Mario Lamoureux – as the group that pulled off a furious comeback against the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the WCHA Final Five “Timeout Game” at Xcel Energy Center two months later.

Last Meeting in Potsdam: October 30th, 1999. North Dakota built a 5-2 lead and held on for a 6-5 victory. One night earlier, UND defeated Clarkson 4-1. This UND team would go on to win the program’s seventh national title just four months later.

Most Important Meeting: March 19th and 20th, 1982 (Grand Forks, ND). North Dakota hosted the Golden Knights in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. At that time, matchups were two games, total goals. UND beat Clarkson by five goals (5-1, 2-1) to advance to the Frozen Four. With victories over Northeastern (6-2) and Wisconsin (5-2), the Fighting Sioux earned the program’s fourth national championship.

All-Time Series: North Dakota is a perfect 7-0-0 against Clarkson in program history. The teams first met in 1982.

Game News and Notes

Through the first four games of the season, twelve different UND players have scored a goal. North Dakota senior forward Tyler Young, who has yet to suit up in an official game for the Fighting Hawks, notched an assist in two games against Clarkson while playing for Merrimack. Young spent his first three seasons with the Warriors before transferring to UND. Fellow senior Ellis Rickwood (1-5-6 in four games with North Dakota) spent his first three seasons at Clarkson, putting up a line of 10-25-35 in 39 games with the Golden Knights last year. Cheel Arena (Potsdam, NY) has an official seating capacity of 3000 with room for up to 800 more if fans choose to stand. Clarkson will make a return trip to Grand Forks for a two-game series during the 2026-2027 season.

Broadcast Information

Both games will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and also available in Canada on TSN+. All UND men’s hockey games (home and away) can be heard on 96.1 FM and on stations across the UND Sports Network (as well as through the iHeart Radio app). Puck drop is set for 6:00 p.m. Central Time each night.

Social Media

Keep up with the action live during all UND hockey games by following @UNDmhockey and @UNDInsider on Twitter. Fans can also read the action via Brad Schlossman’s live chat on the Grand Forks Herald website.

The Prediction

UND should come out of this series with two victories, but it won’t be easy. I expect a much closer game on Saturday night after the Green and White fill the net with pucks in Friday’s opener. Even on the road, North Dakota has too many advantages to drop a game here. UND 6-1, 4-2.

As always, thank you for reading. I welcome your questions, comments, and suggestions. Follow me on X-Twitter (@DBergerHockey) for more information and insight. Here’s to hockey!