#3 North Dakota (21-7-0 overall, 13-2-0-3 NCHC) hosts the #20 Miami RedHawks (17-9-2 overall, 5-8-4-1 NCHC) for a pair of NCHC games at Ralph Engelstad Arena this weekend. UND is in the driver’s seat for another league title and could clinch the Penrose Cup with perfect results tonight and tomorrow night.
It has come down to a three-team race for the Penrose Cup; the Fighting Hawks could secure the program’s sixth NCHC title with a sweep over Miami and two regulation losses each by Denver and Western Michigan.
North Dakota: 13-2-0-3 (42 league points) in 18 games played
Denver: 11-5-3-1 (40 league points) in 20 games played
Western Michigan: 10-5-2-1 (35 league points) in 18 games played
Here are the schedules for the top three NCHC teams over the final weeks of the regular season:
UND: vs. Miami, vs. St. Cloud State, at Western Michigan
Denver: at Omaha, OFF, vs. Arizona State
WMU: vs. Arizona State, at Colorado College, vs. UND
After last Saturday night’s victory over Minnesota Duluth, UND can finish no lower than third place in the NCHC standings.
Astoundingly, it has been more than ten years since the Miami RedHawks men’s hockey team put together a winning season. From the start of the 2015-16 season through last year, MU posted an abysmal combined record of 85-225-38 for a winning percentage of just .299. Miami had suffered twenty or more losses in each of its last eight full seasons (the RedHawks went 5-18-2 in the COVID-shortened 2020-2021 campaign).
Somehow, second-year head coach Anthony Noreen has turned things around in Oxford. The RedHawks find themselves ranked #20 nationally, and, at 17th in the NPI, with a realistic chance of making the NCAA tournament. After zero conference victories a year ago, MU already has five in regulation and four others in overtime this season.
What is the biggest difference with this year’s Miami squad? In a word, everything.
The RedHawks coaching staff completely rebuilt the roster, with only two defensemen (graduate student Nick Donato and sophomore Michael Quinn) and five forwards (sophomores John Emmons, David Grosek, and Casper Nassen and seniors Blake Messenburg and Brayden Morrison) returning. The other 21 players (twelve freshmen and nine transfers – from Alaska Anchorage, Boston University, Canisius, Harvard, Michigan State, Quinnipiac, and St. Thomas) are new to the program this year.
To be fair, there is a clear divide in Miami’s results this season:
Non-conference: 9-1-0 vs. Ferris State (NPI 57; three games), RPI (NPI 56; two), Lindenwood (NPI 36; two), RIT (NPI 34; one), Union (NPI 30; one), and Michigan Tech (NPI 18; one)
vs. Denver (NPI 11) and Western Michigan (NPI 4): 0-5-1-0
vs. ASU (NPI 35), CC (NPI 31), Omaha (NPI 39), and SCSU (NPI 19): 5-3-3-1
To this point in the season, Miami has not squared off against North Dakota (NPI 3) or Minnesota Duluth (NPI 10).
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. Jackson and his staff have North Dakota positioned well for the Penrose Cup chase, the league playoffs, and a deep run in the NCAA tournament.
In the NCHC preseason poll, UND was picked to finish in third place (behind Western Michigan and Denver), while Miami was tabbed to finish last, where they finished each of the past five seasons.
When the National Collegiate Hockey Conference was formed, Miami appeared positioned to be a dominant program. Prior to the 2013-14 season (their inaugural campaign in the NCHC), the RedHawks had made eight consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, with consecutive Frozen Four bids in 2009 (2nd) and 2010 (3rd). Since joining the NCHC, Miami has just one NCAA tournament appearance (2015), and that ended quickly with a first-round loss to eventual national champion Providence.
Long-tenured head coach Enrico Blasi was fired after posting a fourth consecutive losing season in 2018-2019. Over that stretch of time, the RedHawks were 47-81-19 (.384). There was reason for optimism in Oxford when Chris Bergeron was hired; Bergeron took over the program after leading Bowling Green to six consecutive winning seasons, five consecutive years with twenty or more victories, and an NCAA tournament appearance in 2018-2019.
Bergeron was fired two seasons ago; he compiled a record of 35-116-16 (.257) in his five years at Miami and never won more than eight games in a season.
Even though UND has played a tougher schedule to this point in the season, the Fighting Hawks still far outpace the RedHawks in two key puck possession statistics:
Miami: 44th in Corsi (47.9%) and 41st in Fenwick (48.0%)
North Dakota: 3rd in Corsi (57.3%) and 4th in Fenwick (56.9%)
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.
To this point in the season, Miami has allowed 30.3 shots on goal per game (36th); North Dakota (23.6) is fourth in the nation in that category. The RedHawks put 28.3 shots on goal per game (43rd), while UND clocks in at 32.1 (17th). Not only that, but the Fighting Hawks are scoring 3.86 goals per game (3rd) and allowing just 2.18 (6th) ; MU has scored 3.18 per game (22nd) and allowed 2.79 (27th)
Another way to look at those numbers is that in the same number of games (28), UND has outscored opponents 108-61, while Miami’s scoring margin sits at 89-78.
As always, a key area to watch this weekend is the face-off circle. The Fighting Hawks are the nation’s 8th-best team on draws (53.7%), while the RedHawks clock in at just 46.0% (57th). It remains to be seen whether UND freshman center Cole Reschny (204 of 371 , 55.0%) will return to the lineup after suffering an injury last Saturday night at Duluth.
Last year, UND and MU only played two games, with North Dakota earning a December road sweep of the RedHawks (5-4 and 4-2). Friday’s opener was a wild affair which featured a three-goal third period comeback by the visitors. UND outshot Miami 14-3 in the final frame and 38-17 overall. In Saturday’s rematch, the teams were knotted 2-2 after two before Jackson Kunz and Jayden Perron scored just over five minutes apart to break the tie.
Two seasons ago, these two teams met six times, including a March NCHC playoff series in Grand Forks. North Dakota won all six games, with only one close contest among them (a 5-4 overtime victory at Miami in February). The other five scores: 6-4, 5-1, 4-1, 5-1, and 7-1.
Remarkably, when North Dakota traveled to face to RedHawks back in January of 2023 (three seasons ago), the two teams were both at the bottom of the league standings. Two years ago, UND and Miami were at opposite ends of the spectrum: the Fighting Hawks were Penrose Cup champions, while the RedHawks won just ONE conference game all year (a 4-3 home victory over Western Michigan on January 13th, their last win of the season). Let me say that again: over the past seven weekends of hockey (one series each against every league foe), MU did not win a game (0-13-1, with a shootout loss at Denver the only bright spot). Over those fourteen games, Miami was outscored 58-26, an average margin of defeat of 4.14 – 1.86.
At the risk of repeating myself, Miami has already earned 24 league points this season (5-8-4-1) in eighteen NCHC contests; over the past three seasons, the RedHawks earned just 25 points in 72 games (4-55-0-13).
Over the first twelve completed regular seasons of the NCHC, Miami has averaged a seventh-place finish among the nine (formerly eight) conference teams (8th, 2nd, 5th, 7th, 8th, 8th, 7th, 8th, 8th, 8th, 8th, and 9th), with a combined league record of 63-192-33 (.276).
By comparison, North Dakota has finished 2nd, 1st, 1st, 4th, 4th, 5th, 1st, 1st, 1st, 5th, 1st, and 5th, for an average finish just under second place, with a combined league record of 169-90-29 (.637). No other league has collected as many conference wins as UND.
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 North Dakota, #4 Western Michigan, #8 Denver, and #10 Minnesota Duluth) 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.
After this weekend, North Dakota (3rd in the NPI used to seed the NCAA tournament) will host St. Cloud State (19th) before traveling to Kalamazoo to face the Western Michigan Broncos (4th) on the last weekend of the regular season. Miami will host Minnesota Duluth (10th) before traveling to Omaha (39th).
Miami Team Profile
Head Coach: Anthony Noreen (2nd season at Miami, 20-37-5, .363)
National Rankings: #20/#20
NPI Ranking: 20th
KRACH Rating: 143.5 (17th)
This Season: 17-9-2 overall; 5-8-4-1 NCHC (5th)
Last Season: 3-28-3 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 0-20-0-4 NCHC (9th)
2025-26 Season Statistics:
Team Offense: 3.18 goals scored/game – 22nd of 63 teams
Team Defense: 2.79 goals allowed/game – 27th of 63 teams
Power Play: 13.5% (15 of 111) – 56th of 63 teams
Penalty Kill: 81.1% (86 of 106) – 28th of 63 teams
Key players: Freshman F Kocha Delic (9-11-20), Freshman F David Deputy (14-5-19), Freshman F Ilia Morozov (7-9-16), Graduate F Maximillion Helgeson (10-9-19), Junior F Matteo Giampa (9-11-20), Junior F Doug Grimes (7-8-15), Sophomore F Ryan Smith (8-8-16), Sophomore D Vladislav Lukashevich (questionable for this weekend’s series; 2-16-18), Sophomore D Michael Quinn (4-13-17), Sophomore G Matteo Drobac (16-9-2, 2.58 GAA, .913 SV%, 3 SO)
North Dakota Team Profile
Head Coach: Dane Jackson (1st season at North Dakota, 21-7-0, .750)
National Rankings: #3/#3
NPI Ranking: 3rd
KRACH Rating: 477.2 (3rd)
This Season: 21-7-0 overall, 13-2-0-3 NCHC (1st)
Last Season: 21-15-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 11-8-4-1 NCHC (5th)
2025-26 Season Statistics:
Team Offense: 3.86 goals scored/game – 3rd of 63 teams
Team Defense: 2.18 goals allowed/game – 6th of 63 teams
Power Play: 28.3% (30 of 106) – 6th of 63 teams
Penalty Kill: 81.1% (77 of 95) – 28th of 63 teams
Key Players: Freshman F Cole Reschny (questionable for this weekend’s series; 4-21-25), Senior F Ben Strinden (14-14-28), Freshman F Will Zellers (14-9-23), Senior F Dylan James (17-7-24), Sophomore F Mac Swanson (5-15-20), Senior F Ellis Rickwood (7-18-25), Junior D Jake Livanavage (4-19-23), Junior D Abram Wiebe (3-16-19), Freshman D Keaton Verhoeff (6-11-17), Freshman G Jan Spunar (14-3-0, 1.76 GAA, .924 SV%, 3 SO)
By The Numbers
Last Meeting: December 7, 2024 (Oxford, Ohio). North Dakota scored two goals in the third period to turn a 2-2 tie into a 4-2 road victory and a sweep of the homestanding RedHawks. Friday’s opener was a wild affair which featured a three-goal third period comeback by the visitors. UND outshot Miami 14-3 in the final frame and 38-17 overall.
Last Meeting in Grand Forks: March 16, 2024. Normally it is difficult to end a team’s season in the first round of the NCHC playoffs, but UND made quick work of Miami, besting the RedHawks 5-1 and 7-1. MU put plenty of pucks on net (56 in the two-game series), but North Dakota netminder Hobie Hedquist was up to the challenge, allowing only a single goal each night. UND’s Jackson Blake and Riese Gaber both scored on back-to-back nights.
Most Important Meeting: March 6, 2015 (Oxford, OH). North Dakota claimed the Penrose Cup with a 2-1 road victory over Miami. UND fell flat the following night, losing 6-3 in the final game of the regular season.
Last Ten: UND has won each of the past ten contests between the teams, outscoring Miami 53-19 over that stretch of games.
All-time Series: North Dakota leads the all-time series 33-8-4 (.778), including a sparkling 15-3-2 (.800) record in games played in Grand Forks. The teams first played in 1999 (Badger Showdown, Milwaukee, WI).
Game News and Notes
MU has not made the national tournament since 2015, their second season in the NCHC. Miami head coach Anthony Noreen played his collegiate hockey at UW-Stevens Point. North Dakota has outscored opponents 47-16 in third periods this season, including a scoring margin of 35-9 against conference foes. On nine occasions this season, UND has scored at least three goals in the final frame. Miami is 7-5-0 on the road this season; North Dakota is 10-4-0 at home. UND has done well on Friday the 13th in recent memory, with a record of 7-2 in its past ten games scheduled on Jason Voorhees Day (the tenth scheduled game was to be the league playoff opener against Colorado College on Friday, March 13th, 2020; that game – and the remainder of the season – was cancelled due to COVID-19). One of those two spooky scary losses was a 6-3 home defeat at the hands of Miami on Friday, January 13th, 2017. Green Hawks are preferable to RedHawks.
Highlights
Friday night is “Kids Takeover Night” at the Ralph; it is my honor and privilege to help some of Phoenix Elementary School’s finest students lead our fans in the singing of the Star Spangled Banner.
On Saturday night, UND legend Zach Parise (49-67-116 in 76 collegiate games from 2002-04) will skate “One More Shift”. The first 2500 fans will receive a special commemorative player card; those in attendance should also note a special Zach Parise collection on display in the main lobby.
The Prediction
The Fighting Hawks are deeper, more talented, and more experiened than the visitors. Specialty teams can sometimes be the great equalizer, but Miami’s power play has not been clicking (fifteen power play goals all season). MU is 7-1-0 in one-goal games this season, and they have exhibited a different level of compete and a frustrating, tight-checking brand of hockey. I expect the opener to be close, with the home team running away with the rematch. UND 3-2, 5-2.
Broadcast Information
Both games this weekend will be broadcast on Midco Sports and also 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 and 6:07 p.m. Central on Saturday.
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!