#8 North Dakota (4-2-0 overall) hosts #10 Minnesota Duluth (7-1-0) this weekend at Ralph Engelstad Arena. This series will mark the NCHC opener for both teams.
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 #19 Minnesota (5-2, 1-5), and a road split at Clarkson (2-5, 1-0). St. Thomas and Clarkson are both receiving votes in the latest USCHO college hockey poll.
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 Bulldogs were tabbed to end up in sixth (ahead of Omaha, 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 Bulldogs will meet for four regular-season games each year.
After an impressive run of eight straight NCAA tournament appearances from 2015 to 2022 (including two national titles), UMD missed the NCAAs in each of the last three seasons and sputtered to a combined record of just 41-60-9 (.414). After 25 seasons behind the Bulldog bench, some were asking whether head coach Scott Sandelin was on the hot seat.
To this point of the season, those questions have been answered. At 7-1-0, Duluth is off to an impressive start and fresh off a road sweep of the Golden Gophers. UMD also boasts one of the top two forward lines in the country, a trio of second-year players:
Sophomore Max Plante: 7-7-14 in eight games played
Sophomore Zam Plante: 5-7-12 in eight games played
Sophomore Jayson Shaugabay: 4-10-14 in eight games played
These three forwards (jersey numbers 10, 17, and 27) have scored sixteen of UMD’s 32 goals and collected nearly half of the team’s points (40 of 81) through eight games. Aside from senior Scout Truman (four goals scored), no other Duluth player has lit the lamp more than twice this season.
Shaugabay’s line has only been blanked once this season, and it resulted in UMD’s only loss – a 4-0 home defeat at the hands of the Augustana Vikings back on Saturday, October 11th.
Of the three forwards, Max is the largest at 5-11 and 180 pounds. A key for North Dakota will be to win faceoffs in their own end, play a hard, physical game, and watch line matchups closely – not just the defensive pair but all five skaters on the ice.
UND head coach Dane Jackson would have likely countered with Cody Croal, Cade Littler, and Josh Zakreski up front, but Zakreski sustained a lower-body injury in practice yesterday and will be out long-term.
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 570-291-86 (.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 seventy percent of its non-conference games (38-16-1) and has five teams (#3 Western Michigan, #6 Denver, #8 North Dakota, #10 Minnesota Duluth, and #15 Colorado College) positioned in the top fifteen in the latest rankings, with 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 – on November 21st. UND opened the season with a 7-0 exhibition victory over the University of Manitoba Bisons.
The Bulldogs played ten games at the Division I level in the early 1930s but didn’t really get started until after World War II. Its first nineteen seasons after the war were played as an independent before joining the WCHA in 1965. It would take eighteen seasons – and a head coach named Mike Sertich – before UMD would make the NCAA tournament, and Sertich would take them there in three consecutive seasons:
1982-1983: National Quarterfinalist
1983-1984: 2nd Place (National Runner-Up)
1984-1985: 3rd Place (Consolation Champion)
In 1984, Duluth was tantalizingly close to winning its first title. The Bulldogs defeated North Dakota 2-1 in overtime (behind a goal by Bill Watson) to advance to the championship game, where they would face Bowling Green in the longest NCAA final in Division I men’s hockey history. Gino Cavallini scored for the Falcons in the fourth overtime session, ending a game that took over 97 minutes of game action to complete.
And, perhaps, fittingly, UMD would find themselves locked in overtime contests in 1985 as well. The Bulldogs took RPI to three overtimes in the national semis before falling 6-5. Back in those days, there was still a third-place game, and so Duluth faced Boston College (which had also played three overtimes in its semifinal) for no reason at all. Of course, that game also went to overtime, with UMD defeating the Eagles 7-6.
After that three-year splash on the national scene, Mike Sertich would manage just one more tournament appearance (1993) over the final fifteen years of his head coaching career before giving way to Scott Sandelin, who has guided the Bulldogs to the NCAAs eleven times in his 24 completed seasons behind the Bulldog bench. It is worth noting, however, that Duluth has had two consecutive losing seasons (28-40-6) overall and has missed the last two NCAA tourneys.
Even though UMD has been a more frequent participant over the past two decades than at any other point in team history, Duluth and North Dakota have only met twice in the national tournament (1984 and 2021). UND had a chance to meet the Bulldogs in the 2011 title game but fell to the Wolverines in the semifinals 2-0 (with an empty-net goal) despite outshooting Michigan 40-20.
Before the Wolverines were forced to withdraw from the 2021 tournament, UMD and Michigan were set to square off in the national tournament for the first time since that overtime thriller in St. Paul.
North Dakota was down 2-0 to Minnesota Duluth with just 101 seconds remaining in the third period of the 2021 NCAA Midwest Regional final at Scheels Arena in Fargo, North Dakota. The Bulldogs had built their lead with two goals just 80 seconds apart early in the final frame on a pair of fluky plays. A partially blocked shot off the stick of Jackson Cates fluttered past Fighting Hawks’ netminder Adam Scheel, and a broken stick at the blue line sent Cole Koepke in alone on a breakaway. UND scored two extra-attacker goals in the final two minutes of regulation to send the game long into the night. Minnesota Duluth outlasted North Dakota 3-2 in five overtimes to advance to the NCAA Frozen Four. The three goaltenders involved in the contest combined to make 114 saves.
With three national titles in a nine-year stretch, the Bulldogs could certainly be considered the best team of the 2010s; North Dakota’s eight national titles have been spread out across the decades: 1959, 1963, 1980, 1982, 1987, 1997, 2000, and 2016.
The Wolverines have won nine NCAA titles but only two since 1964, those coming in 1996 and 1998. For that reason, I consider North Dakota (eight titles) and Denver (ten titles) the two best programs in NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey history.
Last season, North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth squared off four times…
On November 8th and 9th, 2024, UND traveled to Duluth and swept the homestanding Bulldogs 7-3 and 4-1. North Dakota chased highly-touted netminder Adam Gajan on two consecutive nights after scoring five goals on twenty shots in 34:18 of game action in the opener and besting that with two goals on eight shots in 5:38 on night two.
The Bulldogs made the return trip to Grand Forks on February 21st and 22nd, 2025. In Friday’s opener, North Dakota scored an empty-netter to escape with a 4-2 victory after UMD drew within one with two goals in the middle frame. Adam Gajan and UND’s T.J. Semptimphelter each made thirty saves.
In Saturday’s rematch, UND went 4-for-6 with the man advantage, including three second-period goals during the same five-minute power play after UMD’s Jack Smith was penalized and given a game misconduct for checking from behind. Gajan (nine saves, one goal allowed) and Klayton Knapp (thirteen saves, five goals allowed) each played in the rematch.
Gajan, a sophomore who competed in the 2023 and 2024 World Junior U-20 Championships for his native Slovakia, was a second-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2023 NHL Draft. He played in 21 games last season, with a 7-12-1 record, a goals-against average of 3.33, a save percentage of .885, and one shutout.
Fellow first-year goalie Klayton Knapp – from Sylvania, Ohio – split time with Gajan a season ago, appearing in sixteen contests, with a record of 6-6-2, a 2.67 GAA, a .907 SV%, and one shutout.
After last season, Gajan transferred to Lindenwood, and Gajan has played every minute in net for Scott Sandelin’s squad, with a goals-against average of 1.25, a save percentage of .938, and one shutout. It is worth mentioning that Duluth’s four opponents so far this season have been unranked Alaska (2-6-0), unranked Augustana (3-3-0) unranked Bemidji State (4-4-0), and soon-to-be-unranked Minnesota (2-6-1).
One key area to watch this weekend is the face-off circle. Through six games, the Fighting Hawks have won 52.2% of faceoffs, good for 18th in the country. Through their eight games, the Bulldogs are ninth in the nation (54.2%).
UND freshman phenom Cole Reschny has won 51 of his 82 draws (62.2%), while portal transfer Ellis Rickwood (who played the past three years at Clarkson) has won 61.1 percent (66 of 108). For the Bulldogs, graduate student Kyle Gaffney (68 of 108, 63.0%) has been the most effective, although sophomore center Zam Plante (97 of 183, 53.0%) has seen more action in the dot.
To this point in the season, the Bulldogs have had the better of the specialty teams play. Scott Sandelin’s squad has been a combined +8, with ten power play goals scored (10 for 31, 32.3%, fifth-best in the country) and three power play goals allowed (25 of 28, 89.3%, 11th), UMD has also scored a shorthanded goal while not allowing one to opponents.
The Green and White have been a combined +2, with seven power play goals scored (7 for 28, 25.0%, 14th) and five power play goals allowed (21 of 26, 80.8%, 26th). UND has scored and allowed one shorthanded goal through the first six games of the season.
Duluth also leads North Dakota in several offensive and defensive categories, including goals scored per game (4.0 to 3.3), goals allowed per game (1.5 to 2.7), shots on goal per game (30.0 to 26.3), and shots on goal allowed per game (20.4 to 22.3).
Through six games, the Green and White have blocked 71 shots (11.8 per game), led by Bennett Zmolek with 15. Duluth has blocked 78 shots in its eight games (9.8/game), with Joey Pierce leading the charge. Forward Zam Plante has blocked ten shots for the Bulldogs.
North Dakota’s defensive corps has provided plenty of production from the back end, already notching seven goals and adding eleven assists in 43 combined games (0.42 points per game).
Duluth’s blueliners have scored four goals and added eight assists in 56 combined games (0.21 points/game), led by sophomore Ty Hanson, who has two goals and six assists in his eight games played. Hanson had a line of 4-10-14 in 36 games last season; no other UMD defenseman has collected more than two points this year.
For the Fighting Hawks, it’s been two juniors – Jake Livanavage (1-3-4) and Abram Wiebe (1-3-4) – and a freshman (Keaton Verhoeff, with three 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 two 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.
After this weekend, UND will head on the road to face league foe Omaha (2-2-0) before hosting the Arizona State Sun Devils (2-4-0)at Ralph Engelstad Arena on November 14th and 15th. Both of those opponents are currently unranked but receiving votes.
Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs
Head Coach: Scott Sandelin (26th season at UMD, 476-409-103, .534)
National Rankings: #10/#11
This Season: 7-1-0 overall, 0-0-0-0 NCHC
Last Season: 13-20-3 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 7-11-3-3 NCHC (7th of 9 teams)
2025-2026 Season Statistics:
Team Offense: 4.00 goals scored/game – 4th of 57 teams
Team Defense: 1.50 goals allowed/game – 1st of 57 teams
Power Play: 32.3% (10 of 31) – 5th of 57 teams
Penalty Kill: 89.3% (25 of 28) – 11th of 57 teams
Key players: Sophomore F Max Plante (7-7-14), Sophomore F Jayson Shaugabay (4-10-14), Sophomore F Zam Plante (5-7-12), Freshman F Ryan Zaremba (1-5-6), Sophomore D Ty Hanson (2-6-8), Freshman D Grayden Siepmann (1-1-2), Sophomore G Adam Gajan (7-1-0, 1.25 GAA, .938 SV%, 1 SO)
North Dakota Team Profile
Head Coach: Dane Jackson (1st season at North Dakota, 4-2-0, .667)
National Rankings: #8/#8
This Season: 4-2-0 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: 3.33 goals scored/game – 21st of 57 teams
Team Defense: 2.67 goals allowed/game – 24th of 57 teams
Power Play: 25.0% (7 of 28) – 14th of 57 teams
Penalty Kill: 80.8% (21 of 26) – 26th of 57 teams
Key Players: Senior F Dylan James (3-2-5), Senior F Ellis Rickwood (1-5-6), Sophomore F Mac Swanson (2-2-4), Senior F Ben Strinden (1-3-4), Sophomore F Cade Littler (1-2-3), Freshman F Cole Reschny (1-3-4), Freshman F Will Zellers (2-2-4), Junior D Jake Livanavage (1-3-4), Junior D Abram Wiebe (1-3-4), Freshman D Keaton Verhoeff (3-1-4), Senior G Gibson Homer (3-2-0, 2.84 GAA, .878 SV%)
By The Numbers
Last Meeting: February 22, 2025 (Grand Forks, ND). UND went 4-for-6 with the man advantage, including three second-period goals during the same five-minute power play after UMD’s Jack Smith was penalized and given a game misconduct for checking from behind. Owen McLaughlin notched five points for the Green and White in the sweep-securing victory.
One night earlier, North Dakota scored an empty-netter to escape with a 4-2 victory after UMD drew within one with two goals in the middle frame. Duluth’s Adam Gajan and UND’s T.J. Semptimphelter each made thirty saves.
Most Important Meeting: March 27, 2021 (Fargo, ND). North Dakota was down 2-0 to Minnesota Duluth with just 101 seconds remaining in the third period of the 2021 NCAA Midwest Regional final at Scheels Arena in Fargo, North Dakota. The Bulldogs had built their lead with two goals just 80 seconds apart early in the final frame on a pair of fluky plays. A partially blocked shot off the stick of Jackson Cates fluttered past Fighting Hawks’ netminder Adam Scheel, and a broken stick at the blue line sent Cole Koepke in alone on a breakaway. UND scored two extra-attacker goals in the final two minutes of regulation to send the game long into the night. Minnesota Duluth outlasted North Dakota 3-2 in five overtimes to advance to the NCAA Frozen Four. The three goaltenders involved in the contest combined to make 114 saves.
The Meeting That Never Was: Both teams advanced to the 2011 NCAA Frozen Four at Xcel Energy Center (St. Paul, Minnesota). UND could not get past Michigan, falling 2-0 despite outshooting the Wolverines 40-20. In the other national semifinal, Minnesota-Duluth defeated Notre Dame 4-3 and rode that momentum to the title game. The Bulldogs took the Wolverines to overtime before senior forward Kyle Schmidt scored the game winner and earned UMD their first national championship. North Dakota won two of the three games against Duluth that season, outscoring Scott Sandelin’s team 11-5.
All-time Series: UND leads the all-time series, 161-89-11 (.638), including an 88-39-3 (.688) advantage in games played in Grand Forks. The teams first met in 1954, with North Dakota winning the first ten games between the schools by a combined score of 72-16. UMD’s first win over the Fighting Sioux (a 3-2 road victory on December 18th, 1959) did not sit well with the defending national champions. UND defeated Duluth 13-2 the following night.
Last Ten: North Dakota is 9-1-0 (.900) in the last ten games between the teams, including eight victories in a row. The combined score of the last ten contests is 42-15 in favor of the Fighting Hawks. Minnesota Duluth’s last win over UND was a 2-1 contest at REA on January 21st, 2023. Six of the last ten games in this series were played in Grand Forks.
Game News and Notes
Through the first six games of the season, thirteen different UND players have scored a goal. Both head coaches this weekend are alumni of the University of North Dakota; Brad Berry (1983-86) and Scott Sandelin (1982-86) both played for UND under John “Gino” Gasparini. At 7-1-0, Minnesota Duluth is off to their best start in 36 years. North Dakota junior forward Anthony Menghini played his first two seasons at Duluth, scoring twenty goals and adding nine assists in 72 games. UND’s 161 victories over the Bulldogs are the second-most against any opponent in program history.
The Prediction
I expect a fast, physical weekend of hockey out of this matchup, with plenty of talent on display. An early lead would be beneficial for UND, as they seem to play with much more purpose and poise when they aren’t chasing the game. Of course, goaltending and specialty teams are always a factor, and the Fighting Hawks do not want to get into a power play contest with this Bulldogs squad. It will be interesting to see whether Dane Jackson starts Jan Spunar in net for the second-consecutive game; Spunar posted a 17-save shutout last Saturday night in his first collegiate start. North Dakota has two advantages in this one: a deeper, more talented defensive corps and the last line change. That will be enough to earn a home split. UMD 5-2, UND 4-3.
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.
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.