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UND Game Preview: NCHC Pod Game #2 vs. Denver

In the NCHC, it is clear that Denver/North Dakota is at the top of the league rivalries. The teams have played 32 times during the first seven seasons of the new conference, 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 twelve 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.)

Seven 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 now-defunct 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.

It is abundantly clear that the NCHC has been the premier hockey conference since its inception, and particularly over the past six seasons. The eight teams in the league have gone 326-158-63 (.654) in non-conference action since the start of the 2014-15 season and sent nine teams to the Frozen Four (UND and Omaha in 2015, UND and Denver in 2016, Denver and Duluth in 2017, Duluth in 2018, and Denver and Duluth in 2019) over that five-year stretch (there was no national tournament last season). Conference members North Dakota (2016), Denver (2017), and Minnesota Duluth (2018, 2019) have won the last four national titles.

In the 2019 NCAA tournament, league members Denver and St. Cloud State were both placed in the West Regional (Fargo, North Dakota) and were on track to face off in the regional final. The Pioneers (#6 in the country) held up their end of the bargain with a 2-0 victory over #9 Ohio State, but #19 American International shocked the college hockey world and dispatched the #1-ranked Huskies by a final score of 2-1. One night later, Denver blanked AIC 3-0 to advance to their third Frozen Four in four seasons. The Pios would eventually fall to #4 Massachusetts in overtime in the national semifinal.

In 2019-20, North Dakota’s Shane Pinto and Denver’s Bobby Brink were the two frontrunners for Rookie of the Year in the NCHC, with Pinto earning the honor at the end of the season and Brink nabbing a unanimous NCHC All-Rookie Team selection. Here’s how the two stat lines compared:

Bobby Brink (right wing): 11 goals and 13 assists in 24 games played (0.86 points/game)

Shane Pinto (center): 16 goals and 12 assists in 33 games played (0.85 points/game)

In the November series at altitude in Denver (1-1 tie, 4-1 UND victory), neither freshman figured in on the scoresheet. When the teams took the ice in Grand Forks for a pair of NCHC games in February of this year (a North Dakota sweep), Shane Pinto scored the first goal of the weekend and Bobby Brink notched a “natural answer” by potting the very next goal by either team. Pinto broke the head-to-head tie with an assist on Matt Kiersted’s opening-period goal in Saturday’s rematch.

Denver netminder Magnus Chrona (16-6-4, 2.15 goals-against average, a save percentage of .920, and two shutouts) was also named to the All-Rookie team and was a finalist for the league’s Goalie of the Year award (which was won by Duluth senior Hunter Shepard).

The Fighting Hawks came in at number one in this season’s NCHC media preseason poll, with Denver, Minnesota Duluth, and St. Cloud State rounding out the top four.

After sputtering to records of 17-13-10 (.550) and 18-17-2 (.514) and missing the NCAA tournament in consecutive seasons, UND head coach Brad Berry got his team on the right track last year, winning the program’s third Penrose Cup as NCHC champions and collecting an overall record of 26-5-4 (.800).

Although North Dakota will miss (among others) forwards Westin Michaud (16-12-28), Cole Smith (11-7-18), and Dixon Bowen (6-4-10) and defenseman Colton Poolman (4-13-17) from last year’s squad, the team returns 68 percent of its goal scoring (92 of 135 goals) from a year ago. Offensively, forwards Jordan Kawaguchi (15-30-45, Hobey Hat Trick finalist), Shane Pinto (16-12-28), Collin Adams (12-16-28), Grant Mismash (8-12-20), Jasper Weatherby (10-8-18), Judd Caulfield (4-8-12), Harrison Blaisdell (2-10-12), Mark Senden (5-6-11), and Gavin Hain (2-8-10) will lead the way along with defensemen Matt Kiersted (6-23-29), Jacob Bernard-Docker (7-18-25), Gabe Bast (2-3-5), and Ethan Frisch (1-4-5).

By comparison, Denver returns 63 percent of its point production from last season, led by Junior F Cole Guttman (14-14-28), Sophomore F Bobby Brink (11-13-24 in 28 games played), Junior F Brett Stapley (5-25-30), Senior F Kohen Olischefski (9-11-20), Junior F Tyler Ward (10-9-19), Senior D Griffin Mendel (3-6-9), and Junior D Slava Demin (2-7-9). Additionally, grad transfers Steven Jandric (26-54-80 in 107 games over three seasons playing forward at Alaska Fairbanks) and Bo Hanson (11-36-47 in 102 games over three seasons playing defense at St. Lawrence) should chip in offensively.

The only thing that I see separating these teams right now is that North Dakota mostly avoided the early departure bug while Denver lost forward Emilio Pettersen (13-22-35, left two years early), defenseman Ian Mitchell (10-22-32, left one year early), and goaltender Devin Cooley (4-3-2, 2.08 GAA, .908 SV%, left one year early). Of particular concern for the Pios is that Mitchell’s absence means that they return only seven goals and 24 total points on their blue line.

By comparison, North Dakota’s five returning defensemen (Gabe Bast, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Ethan Frisch, Matt Kiersted, and Josh Rieger scored 17 goals and added 48 assists for a total of 65 points last season.

I say UND mostly avoided the early-departure bug because while head coach Brad Berry did not see anyone leave his program early for the pro ranks, junior defenseman Jonny Tychonick transferred to Omaha. Tychonick, who put together a line of 4-7-11 in 24 games played last season, was looking for more playing time, and Maverick bench boss Mike Gabinet has certainly used the nimble blueliner in plenty of situations in UNO’s first two pod games against Minnesota Duluth (3-5 loss) and Western Michigan (10-2 win). The 2018 second-round pick of the Ottawa Senators notched his first point of the season with an assist on the Mavericks’ first goal against the Broncos.

After today’s matchup, UND freshman defenseman Jake Sanderson and Denver’s Bobby Brink will be headed to Plymouth, Michigan for the 2021 U.S. National Junior Team training camp. Sanderson and Brink are two of 29 players invited to the camp, which will run from December 6th until the final roster of 25 players is announced on December 13th. On that date, the team will depart for Edmonton, Alberta for the World Junior Championships, which will be played from December 25th, 2020 through January 5th, 2021.

North Dakota and DU will face off for the second time in the NCHC Pod on Tuesday, December 8th at 3:35 p.m. Central Time. UND is also scheduled to travel to Denver for a weekend series on January 15th and 16th and host the Pios at Ralph Engelstad Arena on February 5th and 6th.

Here is the complete NCHC Pod schedule and results for North Dakota:

Pod Game #1: 2-0 win vs. Miami

Pod Game #2: Denver
(Friday, December 4th at 7:35 p.m.)
Pod Game #3: Western Michigan
(Sunday, December 6th at 12:05 p.m.)
Pod Game #4: Denver
(Tuesday, December 8th at 3:35 p.m.)
Pod Game #5: Minnesota Duluth
(Thursday, December 10th at 7:35 p.m.)
Pod Game #6: St. Cloud State
(Saturday, December 12th at 4:05 p.m.)
Pod Game #7: Western Michigan
(Sunday, December 13th at 4:05 p.m.)
Pod Game #8: St. Cloud State
(Wednesday, December 16th at 7:35 p.m.)
Pod Game #9: Minnesota Duluth
(Saturday, December 19th at 12:05 p.m.)
Pod Game #10: Miami
(Sunday, December 20th at 8:05 p.m.)

After its pod games are complete, the Fighting Hawks are not scheduled to face Miami, Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud State, or Western Michigan during the remainder of the regular season. In addition to four second-half games against Denver, UND will face Omaha six times and Colorado College six times.

For a complete NCHC pod preview and information about all eight league teams, please click this link.

Denver Pioneers

Head Coach: David Carle (3rd season at DU, 45-22-11, .647)

2019-20 Season Results: 21-9-6 overall, 11-8-5-4 NCHC (3rd)

2019-20 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.28 goals scored/game
(11th in the nation)

Team Defense: 2.25 goals allowed/game
(11th in the nation)

Power Play: 23.1% (36 of 156)
(12th in the nation)

Penalty Kill: 84.2% (112 of 133)
(16th in the nation)

Key graduation losses: F Liam Finlay (5-23-28), F Tyson McLellan (5-6-11), D Michael Davies (1-4-5)

Departures: F Emilio Pettersen (13-22-35, left two years early), D Ian Mitchell (10-22-32, left one year early), G Devin Cooley (4-3-2, 2.08 GAA, .908 SV%, left one year early)

Key returning players: Junior F Brett Stapley (5-25-30), Junior F Cole Guttman (14-14-28), Sophomore F Bobby Brink (11-13-24 in 28 games played), Senior F Kohen Olischefski (9-11-20), Junior F Tyler Ward (10-9-19), Senior D Griffin Mendel (3-6-9), Junior D Slava Demin (2-7-9), Sophomore G Magnus Chrona (16-6-4, 2.15 GAA, .920 SV%, 2 SO)

Additions: Senior F Steven Jandric (26-54-80 in 107 games over three seasons at Alaska Fairbanks), Senior D Bo Hanson (11-36-47 in 102 games over three seasons at St. Lawrence), Senior G Corbin Kaczperski (29-22-4, 2.53 GAA, .911 SV%, 3 SO over three seasons at Yale)

Potential impact freshmen: F Antti Tuomisto, F Carter Savoie, D Mike Benning, D Reid Irwin

North Dakota Fighting Hawks

Head Coach: Brad Berry (6th season at UND, 116-57-23, .651)

2019-20 Season Results: 26-5-4 overall, 17-4-3-2 NCHC (1st)

2019-20 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.86 goals scored/game
(4th in the nation)

Team Defense: 1.94 goals allowed/game
(4th in the nation)

Power Play: 21.2% (29 of 137)
(17th in the nation)

Penalty Kill: 88.0% (103 of 117)
(5th in the nation)

Key graduation losses: F Westin Michaud (16-12-28), F Cole Smith (11-7-18), F Dixon Bowen (6-4-10), D Colton Poolman (4-13-17), D Andrew Peski (1-9-10)

Departures: Junior D Jonny Tychonick (4-7-11, transferred to Omaha)

Key returning players: Senior F Jordan Kawaguchi (15-30-45), Sophomore F Shane Pinto (16-12-28), Senior F Collin Adams (12-16-28), Senior F Grant Mismash (8-12-20), Junior F Jasper Weatherby (10-8-18), Senior D Matt Kiersted (6-23-29), Junior D Jacob Bernard-Docker (7-18-25), Junior G Adam Scheel (19-4-2, 2.07 GAA, .904 SV%, 2 SO)

Additions: Sophomore F Brendan Budy (19-30-49 in 50 games with the Langley Rivermen [BCHL]. In 2018-19, Budy split time between Denver [scoreless in six games] and the USHL’s Tri-City Storm [11-21-31 in 31 games]. In two previous seasons with the Rivermen, the hometown hero from Langley, British Columbia put up a line of 37-64-101 in 105 games.)

Potential impact freshmen: F Griffin Ness, F Riese Gaber, D Jake Sanderson, D Tyler Kleven

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: Saturday, February 15th (Grand Forks, ND). #1 North Dakota built a 2-0 lead after two periods before #6 Denver’s Brett Edwards cut the lead in half midway through the third period. A furious Pioneers rally fell short as UND’s Jasper Weatherby potted an empty-net goal with 12 seconds remaining. In Friday’s opener, the Fighting Hawks downed the Pios 4-1 behind power play goals from Westin Michaud and Jacob Bernard-Docker. Peter Thome made 51 saves for the Green and White in the weekend sweep.

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: With a tie and three victories last season, North Dakota is now even with Denver over their last ten meetings (4-4-2). UND scored a total of eleven goals in the last three games after scoring only ten combined goals in the seven games before that. On a positive note, the Pioneers have only scored sixteen goals in the past ten. Three of the last ten meetings have gone into overtime.

All-time Series: UND leads the all-time series, 149-128-16 (.536), although the Pioneers hold a slight 8-6-1 (.567) edge in games played at neutral sites. The teams first met in 1950, with North Dakota prevailing 18-3 in Denver.

Game News and Notes

Denver’s leading scorer against North Dakota is senior forward Ryan Barrow, who has one goal and four assists in twelve career games against the Fighting Hawks. Four North Dakota players have scored multiple career goals against DU: Matt Kiersted (3), Colin Adams (2), Jacob Bernard-Docker (2), and Jasper Weatherby. Incredibly, senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi has never scored against the Pioneers in fifteen career games, although he has collected nine assists. Since seven of Michigan’s nine titles were earned by 1964, I consider Denver (eight titles) and North Dakota (eight titles) to be the top two men’s college hockey programs of all time.

The Prediction

Both teams are still putting the pieces together, and this one could truly go either way. I’ve got a hunch that DU’s loss against Duluth has them more prepared and focused to face the Fighting Hawks than does UND’s win over Miami. It will be interesting to watch how intense the compete level is for both of these squads and how little time and space is available. The first team to score three goals will win this one, and I give a slight edge to the Pios. Denver 3, North Dakota 2.

Broadcast Information

Friday evening’s contest 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 UND Sports Home of Economy 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 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!

UND Game Preview: NCHC Pod Game #1 vs. Miami

Over the first seven seasons of the NCHC, Miami has averaged worse than a sixth-place finish (8th, 2nd, 5th, 7th, 8th, 8th, 7th), with a combined league record of 50-100-18 (.351).

By comparison, North Dakota has finished 2nd, 1st, 1st, 4th, 4th, 5th, and 1st, for an average finish somewhere between 2nd and 3rd place and a combined league record of 98-56-14 (.625). The only other league member to collect as many conference wins as UND is St. Cloud State (98).

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 is reason for optimism in Oxford, however, with new bench boss Chris Bergeron (8-21-5 last season in Miami) taking 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.

The Fighting Hawks came in at number one in this season’s NCHC media preseason poll, with Denver, Minnesota Duluth, and St. Cloud State rounding out the top four. Miami was picked to finish last in the eight-team league this year.

It is hard to believe that seven 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 now-defunct 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.

Miami also returns 68 percent of its goal scoring (63 of 92 goals) from last season, but the problem for the RedHawks is that they didn’t score a lot in 2019-20 (2.71 goals per game, 32nd in the nation). To make matters worse for Chris Bergeron’s team, the fourth-worst defensive team in the country a year ago (3.74 goals allowed per game) now has to compete without goaltender Ryan Larkin (7-12-2, 3.47 GAA, .901 SV%, 3 shutouts last season; 37-62-16, 3.07 GAA, .901 SV%, and 8 shutouts in his collegiate career).

These two teams are also scheduled to face each other in the NCHC Pod on Sunday, December 20th, the last pod game for either team. In the unbalanced conference schedule designed to limit travel and exposure, UND and Miami will not meet in the second half of the season.

For a complete NCHC pod preview and information about all eight league teams, please click this link.

Miami RedHawks

Head Coach: Chris Bergeron (2nd season at Miami, 8-21-5, .309)

2019-20 Season Results: 8-21-5 overall, 5-16-3-2 NCHC (7th)

2019-20 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 2.71 goals scored/game
(32nd in the nation)

Team Defense: 3.74 goals allowed/game
(57th in the nation)

Power Play: 23.9% (28 of 117)
(10th in the nation)

Penalty Kill: 75.4% (101 of 134)
(54th in the nation)

Key graduation losses: F Gordie Green (14-22-36), F Karch Bachman (10-21-31), D Grant Frederic (2-2-4), G Ryan Larkin (7-12-2, 3.47 GAA, .901 SV%, 3 SO)

Key returning players: Senior F Casey Gilling (9-22-31), Junior F Matt Barry (3-8-11 in 17 games), Sophomore F Ryan Savage (7-7-14), Sophomore F Chase Pletzke (6-8-14), Sophomore F John Sladic (7-6-13), Junior D Monte Graham (5-8-13), Senior D Phil Knies, Junior D Derek Daschke (10-13-23), Sophomore D Jack Clement (4-5-9), Junior D Bray Crowder (1-7-8), Sophomore G Ben Kraws (1-7-2, 4.12 GAA, .871 SV%)

Additions: Freshman F Joe Cassetti (0-2-2 in 14 games at Merrimack last season; he also put up 11-8-19 in 22 games last season with Waterloo [USHL]. In two previous seasons at Waterloo, Cassetti put together a line of 28-27-55 over 106 games. Prior to his USHL career, the left wing from Pleasanton, California was a member of the U.S. Under-17 and Under-18 teams.)

Potential impact freshmen: F Matthew Barbolini, D Hampus Rydqvist, D Robby Drazner, G Ludvig Persson

North Dakota Fighting Hawks

Head Coach: Brad Berry (6th season at UND, 116-57-23, .651)

2019-20 Season Results: 26-5-4 overall, 17-4-3-2 NCHC (1st)

2019-20 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.86 goals scored/game
(4th in the nation)

Team Defense: 1.94 goals allowed/game
(4th in the nation)

Power Play: 21.2% (29 of 137)
(17th in the nation)

Penalty Kill: 88.0% (103 of 117)
(5th in the nation)

Key graduation losses: F Westin Michaud (16-12-28), F Cole Smith (11-7-18), F Dixon Bowen (6-4-10), D Colton Poolman (4-13-17), D Andrew Peski (1-9-10)

Departures: Junior D Jonny Tychonick (4-7-11, transferred to Omaha)

Potential impact freshmen: F Griffin Ness, F Riese Gaber, D Jake Sanderson, D Tyler Kleven

By The Numbers:

Last Meeting: January 18, 2020 (Oxford, Ohio). Miami led 2-0 midway through the first period before UND’s Judd Caulfield got the visitors on the board. The teams traded goals in the middle frame, and North Dakota’s Jordan Kawaguchi tied things up nearly five minutes into the third. Cole Smith put the Fighting Hawks ahead with just 64 seconds remaining, and Westin Michaud added an empty-netter 37 seconds later for a 5-3 win. One night earlier, the two teams skated to a 4-4 tie, with UND earning the extra league point with a shootout victory.

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 picked up five wins and three ties in the past ten contests between the teams, outscoring Miami 38-26 over that stretch of games.

All-time Series: North Dakota leads the all-time series 17-7-4 (.679), including a 3-0-1 record last season and a 2-1 record at neutral sites. The teams first played in 1999 (Badger Showdown, Milwaukee, WI).

Game News and Notes

In their careers against Miami, Jordan Kawaguchi has five goals and ten assists in ten games and Matt Kiersted has one goal and ten assists in eight games. With a victory to open up their time in the NCHC Pod, North Dakota would collect its 99th league win, tying St. Cloud State for the most among conference members. Green Hawks are preferable to RedHawks.

The Prediction

Without preseason or non-conference play, all we have to go on are last season’s results and this year’s rosters. All signs point to a North Dakota rout, but both teams should have their scoring chances in this one. The biggest question mark for Miami is between the pipes, and until that is solidified, the RedHawks will take their lumps. UND 6-2.

Broadcast Information

Wednesday afternoon’s contest 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 UND Sports Home of Economy Radio Network as well as through the iHeart Radio app.

Social Media

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!

2020-2021 NCHC Pod Preview

Eight teams. 20 days. 40 games.

If it all goes according to plan.

The National Collegiate Hockey Conference “Pod” opens up on Tuesday, December 1st at Baxter Arena in Omaha, Nebraska. The eight teams which make up the NCHC are playing an unbalanced schedule, both in Omaha and during the second half of the season. Because of this fact, my season-long predictions will not necessarily line up with my predictions for the pod.

For example, my top four teams in the race for this season’s Penrose Cup are:

1. North Dakota
2. Denver
3. Minnesota Duluth
4. Western Michigan

Coming out of the pod, however, I expect Omaha to have collected more wins than Western Michigan, because the WMU Broncos are schedule to play two games each against North Dakota (December 6th and 13th) and Denver (December 15th and 19th), while the homestanding Mavericks avoid those two teams until after the break.

Omaha will host the Fighting Hawks on December 31st and January 1st and travel to Grand Forks on January 8th and 9th. There are also single games scheduled in Omaha on February 26th and at Ralph Engelstad Arena on March 5th.

Without any preseason or non-conference action, I expect goal scoring to be up as defensive systems develop. Therefore, I have weighted my predictions toward teams with experienced defensemen and proven goaltending. Depth will also be tested, with teams playing so many games in a short span. For this stretch of hockey, I have also downgraded the two wide-sheet teams (Colorado College and St. Cloud State) a bit in my rankings.

I am expecting (hoping?) that there will be a bit more consistency in officiating, as all of the referees will have the opportunity to see every other game and witness how they are called. It will be interesting to see how the rulebook will be enforced in Omaha, particularly the obstruction penalties (interference, holding, and hooking).

Here is my predicted order of finish for the pod:

1. North Dakota
2. Denver
3. Minnesota Duluth
4. Omaha
5. Western Michigan
6. St. Cloud State
7. Colorado College
8. Miami

And here’s how I have the teams in the season-long race for the Penrose Cup:

1. North Dakota
2. Denver
3. Minnesota Duluth
4. Western Michigan
5. St. Cloud State
6. Omaha
7. Miami
8. Colorado College

Full team capsules are below (in alphabetical order):

Colorado College Tigers

Head Coach: Mike Haviland (7th season at CC, 63-136-20, .333)

2019-20 Season Results: 11-20-3 overall, 4-17-3-1 NCHC (8th)

2019-20 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 2.53 goals scored/game
(40th in the nation)

Team Defense: 3.62 goals allowed/game
(53rd in the nation)

Power Play: 14.5% (20 of 138)
(49th in the nation)

Penalty Kill: 70.7% (82 of 116)
(60th in the nation)

Key graduation losses: F Chris Wilkie (23-8-31), F Nick Halloran (12-18-30), F Alex Berardinelli (4-13-17), D Kristian Blumenschein (1-4-5), G Ryan Ruck (3-4-0, 3.48 GAA, .902 SV%)

Key returning players: Junior F Ben Copeland (4-14-18), Junior F Grant Cruikshank (11-6-17), Sophomore F Josiah Slavin (5-8-13), Junior F Bailey Conger (4-7-11), Senior F Troy Conzo (3-6-9), Junior D Bryan Yoon (1-16-17), Sophomore D Connor Mayer (4-8-12), Senior D Zach Berzolla (2-5-7), Sophomore G Matt Vernon (8-16-3, 3.43 GAA, .901 SV%)

Additions: Junior F Brian Hawkinson (3-15-18 in 60 games over two seasons at Miami), Junior D Hugo Blixt (0-2-2 in 47 games over two seasons at Boston University)

Potential impact freshmen: F Hunter McKown, F Jackson Jutting, F Mark Pasemko, D Jack Millar, D Nicklas Andrews

Denver Pioneers

Head Coach: David Carle (3rd season at DU, 45-21-11, .656)

2019-20 Season Results: 21-9-6 overall, 11-8-5-4 NCHC (3rd)

2019-20 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.28 goals scored/game
(11th in the nation)

Team Defense: 2.25 goals allowed/game
(11th in the nation)

Power Play: 23.1% (36 of 156)
(12th in the nation)

Penalty Kill: 84.2% (112 of 133)
(16th in the nation)

Key graduation losses: F Liam Finlay (5-23-28), F Tyson McLellan (5-6-11), D Michael Davies (1-4-5)

Departures: F Emilio Pettersen (13-22-35, left two years early), D Ian Mitchell (10-22-32, left one year early), G Devin Cooley (4-3-2, 2.08 GAA, .908 SV%, left one year early)

Potential impact freshmen: F Antti Tuomisto, F Carter Savoie, D Mike Benning, D Reid Irwin

Miami RedHawks

Head Coach: Chris Bergeron (2nd season at Miami, 8-21-5, .309)

2019-20 Season Results: 8-21-5 overall, 5-16-3-2 NCHC (7th)

2019-20 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 2.71 goals scored/game
(32nd in the nation)

Team Defense: 3.74 goals allowed/game
(57th in the nation)

Power Play: 23.9% (28 of 117)
(10th in the nation)

Penalty Kill: 75.4% (101 of 134)
(54th in the nation)

Key graduation losses: F Gordie Green (14-22-36), F Karch Bachman (10-21-31), D Grant Frederic (2-2-4), G Ryan Larkin (7-12-2, 3.47 GAA, .901 SV%, 3 SO)

Potential impact freshmen: F Matthew Barbolini, D Hampus Rydqvist, D Robby Drazner, G Ludvig Persson

Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs

Head Coach: Scott Sandelin (21st season at UMD, 391-321-89, .544)

2019-20 Season Results: 22-10-2 overall, 17-5-2-0 NCHC (2nd)

2019-20 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.35 goals scored/game
(10th in the nation)

Team Defense: 2.26 goals allowed/game
(12th in the nation)

Power Play: 25.4% (34 of 134)
(9th in the nation)

Penalty Kill: 81.9% (104 of 127)
(27th in the nation)

Key graduation losses: F Jade Miller (2-7-9), D Nick Wolff (0-10-10), G Hunter Shepard (22-10-2, 2.18 GAA, .918 SV%, 2 SO)

Departures: D Scott Perunovich (6-34-30, left one year early), F Justin Richards (14-11-25, left one year early), D Dylan Samberg (1-20-21, left one year early)

Key returning players: Junior F Cole Koepke (16-17-33), Junior F Noah Cates (14-19-33), Senior F Nick Swaney (12-14-26), Junior F Jackson Cates (8-15-23), Senior F Kobe Roth (13-8-21), Junior F Tanner Laderoute (8-8-16), Senior D Louie Roehl (2-3-5)

Additions: Senior D Matt Cairns (3-3-6 in 61 games over three seasons at Cornell)

Potential impact freshmen: F Blake Biondi, F Luke Mylymok, D Connor Kelley, D Darian Gotz, D Wyatt Kaiser, G Zach Stejskal

North Dakota Fighting Hawks

Head Coach: Brad Berry (6th season at UND, 116-57-23, .651)

2019-20 Season Results: 26-5-4 overall, 17-4-3-2 NCHC (1st)

2019-20 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.86 goals scored/game
(4th in the nation)

Team Defense: 1.94 goals allowed/game
(4th in the nation)

Power Play: 21.2% (29 of 137)
(17th in the nation)

Penalty Kill: 88.0% (103 of 117)
(5th in the nation)

Key graduation losses: F Westin Michaud (16-12-28), F Cole Smith (11-7-18), F Dixon Bowen (6-4-10), D Colton Poolman (4-13-17), D Andrew Peski (1-9-10)

Departures: Junior D Jonny Tychonick (4-7-11, transferred to Omaha)

Potential impact freshmen: F Griffin Ness, F Riese Gaber, D Jake Sanderson, D Tyler Kleven

Omaha Mavericks

Head Coach: Mike Gabinet (4th season at UNO, 40-58-10, .417)

2019-20 Season Results: 14-17-5 overall, 8-13-3-0 NCHC (6th)

2019-20 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.00 goals scored/game
(20th in the nation)

Team Defense: 2.97 goals allowed/game
(42nd in the nation)

Power Play: 17.5% (26 of 149)
(35th in the nation)

Penalty Kill: 81.3% (126 of 155)
(30th in the nation)

Key graduation losses: F Teemu Pulkkinen (7-11-18), F Zach Jordan (12-4-16), F Tristan Keck (6-9-15), D Dean Stewart (2-10-12), D Ryan Jones (2-9-11),

Key returning players: Junior F Taylor Ward (16-11-27), Senior F Kevin Conley (12-15-27), Junior F Tyler Weiss (4-18-22), Junior F Chase Primeau (8-12-20), Sophomore F Joey Abate (9-9-18), Sophomore F Ryan Brushett (2-16-18), Sophomore F Nolan Sullivan (7-10-17), Sophomore D Brandon Scanlin (3-11-14), Sophomore G Isaiah Saville (10-11-4, 2.85 GAA, .907 SV%, 1 SO)

Additions: Sophomore F Jack Randl (12-37-49 in 50 games with the Omaha Lancers [USHL]. In 2018-19, Randl played in 22 games for the Michigan Wolverines, notching one assist. In two previous seasons with the Lancers, the left wing from Carpentersville, Illinois put together a stat line of 29-22-51 in 108 games), Junior D Jonny Tychonick (4-11-15 in 52 games over two seasons at North Dakota)

Potential impact freshmen: F Brock Bremer, F Kaden Bohlsen, D Nolan Krenen, D Jake Harrison

St. Cloud State Huskies

Head Coach: Brett Larson (3rd season at SCSU, 43-21-9, .651)

2019-20 Season Results: 13-15-6 overall, 10-12-2-1 NCHC (5th)

2019-20 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 2.76 goals scored/game
(29th in the nation)

Team Defense: 3.18 goals allowed/game
(48th in the nation)

Power Play: 18.1% (21 of 116)
(34th in the nation)

Penalty Kill: 79.1% (91 of 115)
(43rd in the nation)

Key graduation losses: F Nick Poehling (8-18-26), F Jack Poehling (9-11-20), F Jake Wahlin (4-8-12), D Jack Ahcan (7-18-25)

Key returning players: Senior F Easton Brodzinski (12-15-27), Junior F Sam Hentges (7-17-24), Junior F Micah Miller (7-11-18), Sophomore F Jami Krannila (5-9-14), Senior F Kevin Fitzgerald (5-7-12), Junior F Nolan Walker (2-10-12), Junior D Nick Perbix (4-11-15), Junior D Spencer Meier (4-6-10), Senior G David Hrenak (12-11-6, 2.76 GAA, .906 SV%, 2 SO)

Additions: Senior F Jared Cockrell (23-29-52 in 112 games over four seasons at Colgate, including an injury-shortened seven-game season in 2018-19), Senior D Seamus Donohue (7-48-55 in 117 games over three seasons at Michigan Tech)

Potential impact freshmen: F Veeti Miettinen, F Joe Molenaar, D Brady Ziemer

Western Michigan Broncos

Head Coach: Andy Murray (10th season at WMU, 157-144-40, .519)

2019-20 Season Results: 18-13-5 overall, 12-9-3-2 NCHC (4th)

2019-20 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.47 goals scored/game
(8th in the nation)

Team Defense: 2.81 goals allowed/game
(32nd in the nation)

Power Play: 19.8% (25 of 126)
(24th in the nation)

Penalty Kill: 76.8% (116 of 151)
(52nd in the nation)

Key graduation losses: F Hugh McGing (13-22-35), F Dawson DiPietro (12-17-29), F Wade Allison (10-13-23), F Lawton Courtnall (5-5-10), D Cam Lee (3-18-21), D Luke Bafia (1-10-11), D Kale Bennett (3-5-8)

Departures: F Austin Rueschhoff (12-14-26, left one year early), D Mattias Samuelsson (2-12-14, left two years early)

Key returning players: Senior F Paul Washe (12-9-21), Senior F Ethen Frank (9-11-20), Junior F Cole Gallant (4-16-20), Junior F Rhett Kingston (9-8-17), Junior F Drew Worrad (6-11-17), Senior F Josh Passolt (5-11-16), Junior D Michael Joyaux (2-15-17), Sophomore D Ronnie Attard (6-8-14), Sophomore G Brandon Bussi (18-12-4, 2.65 GAA, .910 SV%)

Potential impact freshmen: F Chad Hillebrand, F Luke Grainger, F Hugh Larkin, D Daniel Hilsendager, D Aidan Fulp

Please feel free to leave your predictions in the comments below. 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!

Weekend Preview: North Dakota at Omaha

After a trip to the Frozen Four in 2015, Dean Blais could only manage a mark of 35-34-6 over his final two seasons behind the Omaha bench. He was replaced by Mike Gabinet (Omaha ’04), and Gabinet finished up his rookie campaign with an eerily similar record of 17-17-2.

Maverick fans were certainly hopeful that improvement was coming last season, but Omaha struggled out of the gate with a record of 0-6-1. Things leveled off a bit after that, with a record of 6-4-1 to close out 2018. Once the calendar year turned, however, Gabinet was only able to lead his team to three more wins (the last coming on February 8th) and a season record of 9-24-3.

UNO fans have been a bit more pleased with this season’s results, as the 2019-20 version of the Mavs has already amassed thirteen victories (13-16-5).

The last two seasons have been far from milestone campaigns for Brad Berry’s squad, as his teams sputtered to records of 17-13-10 (.550) and 18-17-2 (.514). To put that in perspective, those two teams combined for 35 victories over two seasons, just one more than the 2015-16 team (34-6-4) collected in one season on their way to the program’s eighth national title. Prior to the 2017-2018 season, North Dakota had made fifteen consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, the second-longest streak of all time (Michigan appeared in 22 straight NCAA tourneys from 1991 to 2012). Denver now boasts the nation’s longest active streak with twelve consecutive tourney bids (2008-2019).

Last season’s losses at Canisius College in early January were certainly instrumental in keeping North Dakota out of the national tournament, but other inter-conference losses and ties last year didn’t help, either. UND went just 6-4-1 in out-of-conference games in 2018-19 and missed the NCAAs for the second consecutive season after appearing in fifteen consecutive tourneys (2003-2017). This year’s stellar record outside of NCHC play has UND sitting 1st in the Pairwise and in great shape to return to the national tournament.

Here’s a look at the non-conference records under fifth-year head coach Brad Berry:

2015-2016: 9-1-2 (.833) ~ National Champions
2016-2017: 7-2-2 (.727) ~ NCAA West Regional Semifinalist
2017-2018: 6-2-4 (.677) ~ missed NCAA tournament
2018-2019: 6-4-1 (.591) ~ missed NCAA tournament
2019-2020: 9-1-1 (.864) ~

Despite being picked to finish fourth in the NCHC standings this season (Minnesota Duluth was tabbed for 1st place while Denver was picked to finish 2nd), UND has fared remarkably well in conference play, with a record of 16-3-3-2 coming into the final weekend of the regular season:

November 8-9 vs. Miami: 7-1 win, 5-4 win
November 15-16 at #2 Denver: 1-1 tie (3×3 win), 4-1 win
November 22-23 vs. St. Cloud State: 4-2 win, 2-1 win (OT)
December 6-7 at #17 Western Michigan: 1-0 win (OT), 8-2 win
January 10-11 vs. Omaha: 3-6 loss, 4-1 win
January 17-18 at Miami: 4-4 tie (shootout win), 5-3 win
January 24-25 at #11 Minnesota Duluth: 4-7 loss, 3-2 win
Jan. 31 – Feb. 1 vs. Colorado College: 1-0 win, 8-1 win
February 14-15 vs. #5 Denver: 4-1 win, 3-1 win
February 21-22 at St. Cloud State: 3-3 tie (shootout loss), 1-2 loss
February 28-29 vs. #14 Western Michigan: 3-1 win, 2-1 win (OT)

The Fighting Hawks clinched at least a share of the program’s third Penrose Cup and eighteenth regular season championship overall; UND would claim the NCHC regular season title outright with at least one conference point this weekend (or at least one conference point for St. Cloud State, which is at Duluth for a pair of games against the 2nd-place Bulldogs).

Omaha (13-16-5 overall, 7-12-3-0 NCHC, 24 points) is currently in sixth place in the eight-team NCHC and cannot catch fifth-place St. Cloud State (13-13-6 overall, 10-10-2-1 NCHC, 33 points). Miami (8-19-5 overall, 5-14-3 NCHC, 20 points) could overtake the Mavericks with a good weekend at Western Michigan (16-13-5 overall, 10-9-3-2 NCHC, 35 points) and some help.

Colorado College (11-9-2 overall, 4-16-2-1 NCHC, 15 points) is playing a home-and-home series against Denver this weekend and will almost certainly end up in eighth place in the league. That result would most likely earn them a first-round league playoff series at North Dakota.

According to KRACH, the most likely results for next weekend’s NCHC quarterfinal action would be:

Colorado College at North Dakota
Miami at Minnesota Duluth
Omaha at Denver
St. Cloud State at Western Michigan

#2-ranked UND has returned to national prominence after a two-year absence from the national tournament. Optimism and upside have turned into results for North Dakota, with plenty of new faces (Shane Pinto, Westin Michaud, Harrison Blaisdell, and Ethan Frisch) adding to an already-impressive lineup.

So far this season, several of North Dakota’s returning players have seen a noticeable uptick in their production and in their overall play on the ice, most notably junior forward Collin Adams (12-16-28), senior forward Cole Smith (10-6-16), sophomore forward Jasper Weatherby (10-8-18), and junior defenseman Matt Kiersted (6-23-29). Those four players have combined for 91 points in 129 games played (0.71 points/game) after amassing 79 points in 262 games played (0.30 points/game) prior to this year.

Adams, Smith, and Weatherby are three of six North Dakota players with ten or more goals, joining junior forward Jordan Kawaguchi (15-30-45), freshman Shane Pinto (16-11-27), and senior transfer Westin Michaud (15-12-27). Junior forward Grant Mismash (8-11-19) looks to be the next UND player to hit the double-digit mark in goals.

On the injury front, UNO is dealing with the loss of sophomore forward Taylor Ward, who suffered a season-ending injury two weekends ago in the opening minutes of a home game against Colorado College. Ward, who was leading the Mavericks in scoring with 16 goals and 27 points this season, was third on the team in scoring as a freshman a year ago (9-18-27).

The two active Mavericks with at least ten goals this season are junior forward Kevin Conley and senior forward Zach Jordan. Conley (12-15-27) was a freshman on Denver’s 2017 national title team before sitting out a year and transferring to Omaha. Jordan (11-4-15) is a load at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds and has already picked up 29 minutes in penalties this season. When picturing Zach Jordan, UND fans could come up with a good comparison by imagining Cole Smith with a harder shot and more straight-away speed (but with the same amount of grit).

Last season, Kawaguchi led all UND scorers with ten goals, while UNO had two players (seniors Mason Morelli and Fredrick Olofsson) hit that milestone.

North Dakota looks to be as healthy as they have been all season long, with Gavin Hain (lower body injury) eyeing a return to the lineup this weekend and a reunification with shutdown linemates Mark Senden and Cole Smith. Omaha is still bothered by nagging injuries to freshmen forwards Joey Abate (five games missed) and Nolan Sullivan (three games missed). Both Abate and Sullivan played both games last weekend at Miami but did not figure in the scoring.

It is abundantly clear that North Dakota will have the puck as we enter into postseason play, and the numbers bear that out. After last weekend’s series vs. Western Michigan, the Fighting Hawks are still first in the nation in shots on goal allowed/game (21.7) and in the top five in the country in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi (% of shots taken vs. opponent): 57.7% (5th)
Fenwick (% of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent): 58.2% (4th)

By comparison, the Mavericks are 35th in Corsi (48.6%) and 39th in Fenwick (47.6%), averaging 28.2 shots on goal per game (North Dakota is averaging 30.0/game) while allowing 30.7 shots on goal against/contest.

Last season, UND trailed only national champion Duluth in both puck possession categories across all Division I teams but could not finish enough of their chances. This year, fans of the Green and White should have already noticed that more shots are going in the net. North Dakota is scoring on a staggering 13.0 percent of their shots on goal, good for the best mark in the country. Last season, UND lit the lamp on only 7.8 percent of their shots on goal (52nd in the nation). Omaha boasts a shooting percentage of 10.8 percent (11th of 60 teams).

Here’s another way to highlight North Dakota’s scoring prowess: UND has scored five or more goals in ten of its 33 games this season; in 2018-19, the Fighting Hawks had five such games all year. In eight other games this year, Brad Berry’s crew has scored four goals, which means that the team has scored four or more goals in well over half (54.5%) of its games this season.

After sputtering on the power play to open the season with just two power play goals on their first 25 attempts (8.0 percent), UND has scored 25 power play goals over its past 26 games (25 for 100, 25.0 percent) and now goes up against an Omaha penalty kill that ranks 30th in the country at 81.1 percent. For the season, the Fighting Hawks’ power play checks in at 21.6 percent, good for 16th-best in the country.

On the other side of the specialty teams ledger, UND had only allowed six power play goals all season long (64 of 70, 90.8%) before road weekends at Miami and Duluth brought them crashing down to earth. The RedHawks scored four power play goals on ten opportunities in their series, and the Bulldogs scored two goals in eight man advantage situations to drop North Dakota’s season-long penalty kill percentage down to 86.4% (8th best in the country). The Fighting Hawks have rebounded in their last four series, holding Colorado College scoreless on eight power plays, allowing only a Bobby Brink goal in five Denver chances, giving up one SCSU power play goal on six opportunities, and blanking Western Michigan on two attempts last weekend. UND’s season-long penalty kill percentage now sits at 87.2%, sixth-best in the nation.

UNO has been whistled for 13.38 penalty minutes per game this season, while North Dakota has been charged with just 10.24 penalty minutes per game. That has led to the following disparity in specialty teams play:

Omaha: 141 power plays (26 goals scored) vs. 143 penalty kill situations (27 goals allowed)
UND: 109 power plays (27 goals scored) vs. 109 penalty kill situations (14 goals allowed)

North Dakota is 3rd in the country in scoring offense (3.91 goals scored/game) and 5th in the country in scoring defense (1.94 goals allowed/game), and that leads to the country’s second-best goal differential (+65). Minnesota State (29-5-2) has put up a +88 through their first 36 games, but the Mavericks are now dealing with the loss of junior center Jared Spooner, who is out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury.

To put that scoring margin in perspective: In 2018-2019, North Dakota outscored opponents 93-90 over 37 games (18-17-2). This season, UND (25-4-4) has throttled the opposition by a margin of 129-64 over the first 33 games of the campaign. By comparison, the Mavericks have outscored opponents 104-101 this season for a goal differential of plus-3.

The other result of such a lopsided scoring margin is that nine of the top ten NCHC players in plus-minus hail from North Dakota, led by Collin Adams with a plus-27. The only other team listed among the league leaders is Western Michigan, with strong>Ronnie Attard clocking in at plus-21. The highest ranking Omaha player on the list is Martin Sundberg, who ranks 31st on the list with a plus-8.

According to KRACH, North Dakota has put up this season’s stellar results while facing the 3rd-toughest schedule in the country; Omaha’s slate of games ranks as the 15th-most difficult out of sixty men’s Division I hockey programs.

Omaha has turned to two first-year goaltenders to man the crease this season, with Isaiah Saville handling roughly three-quarters of the minutes. Fellow freshman Austin Roden started four games for the Mavericks while Saville spent time on USA’s World Junior team but has played only twice since then; I would expect Saville to get the start on Friday night against the Fighting Hawks.

Austin Roden: 3-5-1, 2.75 goals-against average, .910 save percentage, 1 shutout
Isaiah Saville: 10-11-4, 2.88 goals-against average, .905 save percentage, 1 shutout

Roden previously played for the Merritt Centennials (BCHL), while Saville backstopped the Tri-City Storm (Kearney, Nebraska) of the USHL.

The difference in talent and production between the rosters is most evident when looking at the defensemen for each team. Omaha’s six most likely starters on defense have combined for just 11 goals and 44 assists in 191 games this season (0.29 points/game), with only three blueliners (freshman Brandon Scanlin [3-11-14], senior Ryan Jones [2-9-11], and senior Dean Stewart [2-8-10] reaching double digits in points this season.

By comparison, North Dakota generates plenty of offense from the back end, with five defensemen (junior Matt Kiersted [6-23-29], sophomore Jacob Bernard-Docker [5-17-22], senior Colton Poolman [2-13-15], sophomore Jonny Tychonick [4-7-11], and senior Andrew Peski [1-9-10]) reaching double-digit point totals already this season. UND’s top six have scored 19 goals and added 73 assists in 176 games (0.52 points/game)

The Fighting Hawks’ d-corps has put up those numbers while also allowing just 1.94 goals per contest (5th in the country). By comparison, Omaha is allowing 2.97 goals per game (41st).

UND did not have a question mark in net during the first half of the season, as sophomore Adam Scheel played every minute between the pipes on his way to a record of 14-1-2 with eye-popping goaltending statistics: a goals-against average of 1.56, a save percentage of .927, and two shutouts.

The holiday break was not kind to North Dakota’s #1 netminder.

After giving up four goals on 28 shots faced in two January home starts against Alabama Huntsville, Scheel had three awful games in his last next four starts:

January 10th vs. Omaha: 4 goals allowed on 8 shots (pulled after 32:43)
January 17th at Miami: 3 goals allowed on 8 shots (pulled after 20:00)
January 24th at Minnesota Duluth: 7 goals allowed on 38 shots (finished the game)

Those results caused Adam Scheel’s GAA to balloon to 2.08 and his save percentage to plummet .903. Thankfully for fans of the Green and White, junior goaltender Peter Thome answered the bell, relieving Scheel twice and earning eight starts, going 6-1-2 with a 1.52 GAA, a save percentage of .930, and one shutout. Even more remarkably, he has only allowed a total of seven even-strength goals in his eight starts this year. Thome’s current GAA (2nd) and SV% (3rd) would rank among the best single-season marks in program history.

Scheel did start both games last weekend in a home sweep of Western Michigan, allowing just a single goal each night while making 41 saves in the two-game series.

UND has fared far better than Omaha in tight games this season:

One-goal games: UND 8-2, Omaha 3-7
Overtime games: UND 4-0-4, Omaha 1-0-5

One key area to watch this weekend is the face-off circle. The Fighting Hawks are now sitting at 53.6 percent on the season (7th) after leading the nation at 57.1 percent a year ago. Omaha has won 50.7 percent of its faceoffs this season (26th in the country).

Leading the way in the faceoff circle for North Dakota have been Shane Pinto (59.0%, 281 wins), Jasper Weatherby (58.7%, 269 wins), and Collin Adams (52.6%, 201 wins). This weekend, Omaha will counter with Nolan Sullivan (60.5%, 274 wins), Teemu Pulkkinen (50.3%, 166 wins), and Joey Abate (47.9%, 186 wins).

Omaha Team Profile

Head Coach: Mike Gabinet (3rd season at UNO, 39-57-10, .415)

Pairwise Ranking: 35th of 60 teams
National Rankings: NR/NR

This Season: 13-16-5 (.456) overall, 7-12-3-0 NCHC (6th)
Last Season: 9-24-3 (.292) overall (missed NCAA tournament), 5-17-2-1 NCHC (t-7th)

Team Offense: 3.06 goals scored/game – 21st of 60 teams
Team Defense: 2.97 goals allowed/game – 41st of 60 teams
Power Play: 18.4% (26 of 141) – 32nd of 60 teams
Penalty Kill: 81.1% (116 of 143) – 30th of 60 teams

Key Players: Junior F Kevin Conley (12-15-27), Sophomore F Tyler Weiss (4-18-22), Sophomore F Chase Primeau (8-12-20), Senior F Teemu Pulkkinen (7-11-18), Freshman F Ryan Brushett (1-15-16), Senior F Zach Jordan (11-4-15), Freshman D Brandon Scanlin (3-11-14), Senior D Ryan Jones (2-9-11), Senior D Dean Stewart (2-8-10), Freshman G Isaiah Saville (10-11-4, 2.88 GAA, .905 SV%, 1 SO), Freshman G Austin Roden (3-5-1, 2.75 GAA, .910 SV%, 1 SO)

North Dakota Team Profile

Head Coach: Brad Berry (North Dakota ’02, 5th season at UND; 115-56-23, .652)

Pairwise Ranking: 1st of 60 teams
National Rankings: #2/#2

This Season: 25-4-4 (.818) overall, 16-3-3-2 NCHC (1st)
Last Season: 18-17-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 12-11-1-0 NCHC (5th)

2019-2020 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.91 goals scored/game – 3rd of 60 teams
Team Defense: 1.94 goals allowed/game – 5th of 60 teams
Power Play: 21.6% (27 of 125) – 16th of 60 teams
Penalty Kill: 87.2% (95 of 109) – 6th of 60 teams

Key Players: Junior F Jordan “#HobeyGuchi” Kawaguchi (15-30-45), Senior F Westin Michaud (15-12-27), Junior F Collin Adams (12-16-28), Sophomore F Jasper Weatherby (10-8-18), Freshman F Shane Pinto (16-11-27), Junior F Grant Mismash (8-11-19), Senior F Cole Smith (10-6-16), Sophomore D Jacob Bernard-Docker (5-17-22), Senior D Colton Poolman (2-13-15), Junior D Matt Kiersted (6-23-29), Sophomore D Jonny Tychonick (4-7-11 in 23 games played), Sophomore G Adam Scheel (19-3-2, 1.99 GAA, .907 SV%, 2 SO), Junior G Peter Thome (6-1-2, 1.52 GAA, .930 SV%, 1 SO)

By The Numbers:

Last meeting: January 11, 2020 (Grand Forks, ND). One night after the Mavericks handed North Dakota its only home loss of the season by scoring six goals on thirteen shots and chasing Adam Scheel (four goals allowed, four saves), the Fighting Hawks scored three first-period goals (Casey Johnson, Collin Adams, and Mark Senden) in a 4-1 victory. Omaha’s Taylor Ward scored the lone goal for the visiting side, while UND’s Shane Pinto earned himself a one-game suspension for a third period cross-check across the back of Joey Abate. North Dakota outshot Omaha 56-32 in the two-game series.

Last meeting in Omaha: January 19, 2019. The Mavericks scored three unanswered goals over the final 27 minutes of the hockey game to come from behind for a 4-3 win. Eleven different players figured in on the scoring for UNO, who got 31 saves from senior netminder Evan Weninger. One night earlier, UND’s Jackson Keane scored the game-winner with less than two minutes remaining for a 4-3 road victory. North Dakota outshot Omaha 71-44 on the weekend.

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 seven of the last ten contests between the schools, outscoring the Mavericks 35-28 over that stretch.

All-time: UND leads the all-time series 23-12-1 (.653), including an 11-5-0 (.688) record in games played in Omaha. North Dakota owns a record of 18-9-1 (.661) against the Mavericks since both teams joined the NCHC. The teams first met on November 19, 2010.

Game News and Notes

In 2015, both North Dakota and Omaha advanced to the 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. Since joining the WCHA in 2011 (and later the NCHC), the Mavs have never reached the Twin Cities for the second weekend of the conference tournament despite having home ice in three of those eight years. Hawks’ senior defenseman (and captain) Colton Poolman has two goals and fourteen points in sixteen career games against Omaha. The Mavericks have not made the national tournament since their run to the Frozen Four in 2015. North Dakota is 13-1-1 when leading after one period and 18-0-1 when leading after two periods this season. By comparison, Omaha is 7-1-2 when leading after one period and 9-0-3 when leading after two periods. UND junior forward Jordan Kawaguchi is second in the country with 45 points and sixth in the country with 30 assists. For more information on #HobeyGuchi, please visit fightinghawks.com/kawahobey

Broadcast Information

Both games of this weekend’s series will be broadcast live on Midco Sports Network and also streamed on NCHC.tv. 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). The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. Central Time each night; Omaha’s five seniors will be honored before Saturday’s tilt.

Social Media

Must-follow Twitter accounts for this weekend:
@OmahaHKY (official men’s hockey team account), @omavs (official Athletic Department feed), @RedArmyOmaha (Omaha fan organization), @unocowbell (UNO alum), @SusannahDunn (Omaha hockey fan)

Mav Hockey hashtags: #EveryoneForOmaha, #OmahaHKY

The Prediction

If the faceoff percentages and fancy stats (Corsi, Fenwick) are any indication, the Fighting Hawks will have the puck most of this weekend. If North Dakota wins the opener and clinches the Penne Rosa outright on Friday night, I wonder how much motivation will be left for the rematch. Even though North Dakota will have the better of the play throughout the series, strange things happen when these two teams meet. I’ve got a sense that Saturday’s game will end up in overtime, where the Green and White have shined all season long. UND 5-2, 3-2 (OT).

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!

Weekend Preview: North Dakota vs. Western Michigan

North Dakota has only lost four times in twelve home games vs. Western Michigan in the short history of the series, but two of those losses came in the Broncos’ last trip to Grand Forks (November 2018). That sweep at the hands of WMU was the only time that UND has been swept in its last thirty home series.

Despite the narrative that Lawson Ice Arena is the most difficult place to play in the NCHC, the Broncos have gone just 22-13-1 (.625) at home since the beginning of the 2018-2019 season. Over that same stretch of time, the Fighting Hawks have put together a record of 28-7-1 (.792) at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

For Western Michigan, all four NHL draft picks on the roster have missed time this season due to injury, led by senior forward Wade Allison (PHI 2nd round pick; ten games missed). Sophomore defenseman Mattias Samuelsson (BUF 2nd) and freshman defenseman Ronnie Attard (PHI 4th) have missed six games each, and senior forward Hugh McGing (STL 5th) has missed one. Key forward contributors Josh Passolt, Drew Worrad, and Cole Gallant have each missed five contests, while senior defenseman Cam Lee has missed ten games. Thankfully for Andy Murray, his Broncos appear to be getting healthier at the right time of the season.

On the North Dakota side, junior forward Jordan Kawaguchi is expected to play this weekend after missing last Saturday’s game at SCSU with an undisclosed injury. Sophomore forward Gavin Hain is questionable with a lower-body injury suffered on February 1st against Colorado College. Hain, a key cog in the GMC line (along with Mark Senden and Cole Smith), has been practicing with the team.

The last two seasons have been far from milestone campaigns for Brad Berry’s squad, as his teams sputtered to records of 17-13-10 (.550) and 18-17-2 (.514). To put that in perspective, those two teams combined for 35 victories over two seasons, just one more than the 2015-16 team collected in one season on their way to the program’s eighth national title. Prior to the 2017-2018 season, North Dakota had made fifteen consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, the second-longest streak of all time (Michigan appeared in 22 straight NCAA tourneys from 1991 to 2012). Denver now boasts the nation’s longest active streak with twelve consecutive tourney bids (2008-2019).

Here’s a look at the non-conference records under fifth-year head coach Brad Berry:

November 8-9 vs. Miami: 7-1 win, 5-4 win
November 15-16 at #2 Denver: 1-1 tie (3×3 win), 4-1 win
November 22-23 vs. St. Cloud State: 4-2 win, 2-1 win (OT)
December 6-7 at #17 Western Michigan: 1-0 win (OT), 8-2 win
January 10-11 vs. Omaha: 3-6 loss, 4-1 win
January 17-18 at Miami: 4-4 tie (shootout win), 5-3 win
January 24-25 at #11 Minnesota Duluth: 4-7 loss, 3-2 win
Jan. 31 – Feb. 1 vs. Colorado College: 1-0 win, 8-1 win
February 14-15 vs. Denver: 4-1 win, 3-1 win
February 21-22 at St. Cloud State: 3-3 tie (shootout loss), 1-2 loss

The Fighting Hawks have the following conference schedule remaining over the last two weeks of the regular season as they attempt to secure the program’s third Penrose Cup and eighteenth regular season championship overall:

February 28-29: vs. #16 Western Michigan (15th in the Pairwise)
March 6-7: at Nebraska Omaha (26th in the Pairwise)

North Dakota leads Duluth by six points in the league standings and would clinch the Penrose outright by finishing the weekend with a lead of seven or more points. Duluth’s remaining schedule is as follows:

February 28-29: at Colorado College (41st in the Pairwise)
March 6-7: vs. St. Cloud State (22nd in the Pairwise)

#3-ranked UND has returned to national prominence after a two-year absence from the national tournament. Optimism and upside have turned into results for North Dakota, with plenty of new faces (Shane Pinto, Westin Michaud, Harrison Blaisdell, and Ethan Frisch) adding to an already-impressive lineup.

So far this season, several of North Dakota’s returning players have seen a noticeable uptick in their production and in their overall play on the ice, most notably junior forward Collin Adams (11-16-27), senior forward Cole Smith (10-6-16), sophomore forward Jasper Weatherby (10-7-17), and junior defenseman Matt Kiersted (5-21-26). Those four players have combined for 86 points in 122 games played (0.70 points/game) after amassing 79 points in 262 games played (0.30 points/game) prior to this year.

Adams, Smith, and Weatherby are three of six North Dakota players with ten or more goals, joining junior forward Jordan Kawaguchi (15-30-45), freshman Shane Pinto (15-11-26), and senior transfer Westin Michaud (14-12-26).

The Broncos boast three double-digit goal scorers: senior forward Dawson DiPietro (11-14-25), junior forward Austin Rueschhoff (10-13-23), and junior forward Paul Washe (10-9-19). Two other WMU forwards (senior Hugh McGing and sophomore Rhett Kingston) have nine goals while two others (senior Wade Allison and junior Ethen Frank) have eight.

Last season, Kawaguchi led all UND scorers with ten goals, while WMU had five players hit that milestone.

It is abundantly clear that North Dakota will have the puck a lot this season, and the numbers bear that out. After last weekend’s series at St. Cloud State, the Fighting Hawks are still first in the nation in shots on goal allowed/game (21.7) but are now fourth in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi (% of shots taken vs. opponent): 58.3%
Fenwick (% of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent): 58.6%

By comparison, the Broncos are 19th in Corsi (51.9%) and 17th in Fenwick (53.0%), averaging 34.8 shots on goal per game (North Dakota is averaging 30.7/game) while allowing 30.2 shots on goal against/contest.

Last season, UND trailed only national champion Duluth in both puck possession categories across all Division I teams but could not finish enough of their chances. This year, fans of the Green and White should have already noticed that more shots are going in the net. North Dakota is scoring on a staggering 13.0 percent of their shots on goal, good for the best mark in the country. Last season, UND lit the lamp on only 7.8 percent of their shots on goal (52nd in the nation). Western Michigan boasts a shooting percentage of 9.9 percent (19th of 60 teams).

Here’s another way to highlight North Dakota’s scoring prowess: UND has scored five or more goals in ten of its 31 games this season; in 2018-19, the Fighting Hawks had five such games all year. In eight other games this year, Brad Berry’s crew has scored four goals, which means that the team has scored four or more goals in well over half (58.1%) of its games this season.

After sputtering on the power play to open the season with just two power play goals on their first 25 attempts (8.0 percent), UND has scored 24 power play goals over its past 24 games (24 for 93, 25.8 percent) and now goes up against a Western Michigan penalty kill that ranks 47th in the country at 78.1 percent. For the season, the Fighting Hawks’ power play checks in at 21.8 percent, good for sixteenth-best in the country.

On the other side of the specialty teams ledger, UND had only allowed six power play goals all season long (64 of 70, 90.8%) before road weekends at Miami and Duluth brought them crashing down to earth. The RedHawks scored four power play goals on ten opportunities in their series, and the Bulldogs scored two goals in eight man advantage situations to drop North Dakota’s season-long penalty kill percentage down to 86.4% (8th best in the country). The Fighting Hawks have rebounded in their last three series, holding Colorado College scoreless on eight power plays, allowing only a Bobby Brink goal in five Denver chances, and giving up one SCSU power play goal on six opportunities last weekend. UND’s season-long penalty kill percentage now sits at 86.9%, sixth-best in the nation.

North Dakota is 2nd in the country in scoring offense (4.00 goals scored/game) and 6th in the country in scoring defense (2.00 goals allowed/game), and that leads to the country’s second-best goal differential (+62). Minnesota State (28-4-2) has put up a +87 through their first 34 games, but the Mavericks are now dealing with the loss of junior center Jared Spooner, who is out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury.

To put that scoring margin in perspective: In 2018-2019, North Dakota outscored opponents 93-90 over 37 games (18-17-2). This season, UND (23-4-4) has throttled the opposition by a margin of 124-62 over the first 31 games of the campaign. By comparison, the Broncos have outscored opponents 110-90 this season for a goal differential of plus-20.

The other result of such a lopsided scoring margin is that nine of the top eleven NCHC players in plus-minus hail from North Dakota, led by Collin Adams with a plus-26. The other two league leaders in that statistic are Broncos: Ronnie Attard (+20) and Mattias Samuelsson (+17).

According to KRACH, North Dakota has put up this season’s stellar results while facing the fourth-toughest schedule in the country; WMU’s slate of games ranks as the tenth-most difficult out of sixty men’s Division I hockey programs.

The holiday break was not kind to North Dakota’s #1 netminder.

After giving up four goals on 28 shots faced in two January home starts against Alabama Huntsville, Scheel had three awful games in his last four starts:

Adam Scheel’s GAA has ballooned to 2.08, while his save percentage has plummeted to .903.

Thankfully for fans of the Green and White, junior goaltender Peter Thome answered the bell, relieving Scheel twice and earning eight starts, going 6-1-2 with a 1.52 GAA, a save percentage of .930, and one shutout. Even more remarkably, he has only allowed a total of seven even-strength goals in his eight starts this year. Thome’s current GAA (2nd) and SV% (3rd) would rank among the best single-season marks in program history.

Western Michigan has received adequate but not exceptional goaltending from freshman Brandon Bussi, who has played over 90% of the minutes in net for the Broncos. Bussi has a season record of 16-11-4 with a goals-against average of 2.63 and a save percentage of .911.

One key area to watch this weekend is the face-off circle. The Fighting Hawks have improved on draws over the past five weekends and are now sitting at 54.1 percent on the season (6th) after leading the nation at 57.1 percent a year ago. Western Michigan has won 55.0 percent of its faceoffs this season (3rd in the country).

Leading the way in the faceoff circle for North Dakota have been Jasper Weatherby (59.2%), Shane Pinto (58.8%), and Collin Adams (54.2%). This weekend, Western Michigan will counter with Paul Washe (64.6%), Austin Rueschhoff (51.9%), and Drew Worrad (55.0%).

Western Michigan Team Profile

Head Coach: Andy Murray (9th season at WMU, 155-142-40, .519)

Pairwise Ranking: 15th of 60 teams
National Rankings: #16/#14

This Season: 16-11-5 (.578) overall, 10-7-3-2 NCHC (3rd of 8 teams)
Last Season: 21-15-1 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 13-10-1-1 NCHC (3rd)

2019-2020 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.44 goals scored/game – 8th of 60 teams
Team Defense: 2.81 goals allowed/game –30th of 60 teams
Power Play: 19.8% (23 of 116) – 23rd of 60 teams
Penalty Kill: 78.1% (107 of 137) – 47th of 60 teams

Key Players: Junior F Paul Washe (10-9-19), Junior F Ethan Frank (8-9-17), Senior F Hugh McGing (9-21-30), Sophomore F Drew Worrad (6-11-17), Senior F Dawson DiPietro (11-14-25), Junior F Josh Passolt (5-11-16), Senior F Wade Allison (8-10-18 in 22 games played), Junior F Austin Rueschhoff (10-13-23), Sophomore D Michael Joyaux (2-15-17), Senior D Luke Bafia (1-9-10), Freshman D Ronnie Attard (6-6-12), Sophomore D Mattias Samuelsson (2-11-13), Freshman G Brandon Bussi (16-11-4, 2.63 GAA, .911 SV%)

North Dakota Team Profile

Head Coach: Brad Berry (North Dakota ’02, 5th season at UND; 113-56-23, .648)

Pairwise Ranking: 1st of 60 teams
National Rankings: #3/#1

This Season: 23-4-4 (.806) overall, 14-3-3-2 NCHC (1st)
Last Season: 18-17-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 12-11-1-0 NCHC (5th)

2019-2020 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 4.00 goals scored/game – 2nd of 60 teams
Team Defense: 2.00 goals allowed/game – 6th of 60 teams
Power Play: 22.0% (26 of 118) – 16th of 60 teams
Penalty Kill: 86.9% (93 of 107) – 6th of 60 teams

Key Players: Junior F Jordan “#HobeyGuchi” Kawaguchi (15-30-45), Senior F Westin Michaud (14-12-26), Junior F Collin Adams (11-16-27), Sophomore F Jasper Weatherby (10-7-17), Freshman F Shane Pinto (15-11-26), Junior F Grant Mismash (8-11-19), Senior F Cole Smith (10-6-16), Sophomore D Jacob Bernard-Docker (5-16-21), Senior D Colton Poolman (2-11-13), Junior D Matt Kiersted (5-21-26), Sophomore D Jonny Tychonick (4-7-11 in 23 games played), Sophomore G Adam Scheel (17-3-2, 2.08 GAA, .903 SV%, 2 SO), Junior G Peter Thome (6-1-2, 1.52 GAA, .930 SV%, 1 SO)

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: December 7, 2019 (Kalamazoo, MI). One night after a 1-0 overtime victory thanks to Gavin Hain’s overtime winner, the Fighting Hawks dominated the Broncos 8-2. Judd Caulfield and Shane Pinto each scored twice for the visitors, who received 68 saves on the weekend from Adam Scheel.

Last Meeting in Grand Forks: November 17, 2018. North Dakota starting netminder Adam Scheel allowed four goals on eighteen shots (including three second-period goals in the span of under six minutes) before giving way to Peter Thome. Colt Conrad (one goal, four assists) figured in on five of Western Michigan’s six goals as the Broncos completed the sweep with a 6-2 road win after a 2-0 victory in Friday’s opener. The Fighting Hawks managed just two goals all weekend despite outshooting WMU 64-45.

Most Important Meeting: March 24, 2012 (St. Paul, MN). North Dakota upended Western Michigan 3-1 in the NCAA West Regional semifinal. Brock Nelson had two points, including an empty net goal with 25 seconds remaining that sent UND to the regional finals against Minnesota. Aaron Dell made 24 saves for the Green and White. The Broncos, who have played at the Division I level since 1975-76, have six NCAA tournament appearances.

A Trip Down Memory Lane: Saturday, March 22, 2014 (Minneapolis, MN). North Dakota faced a must-win situation in the 3rd place game at the inaugural NCHC Frozen Faceoff, and did not disappoint the partisan crowd. The Green and White rolled to a 5-0 victory behind two first-period goals from Conner Gaarder. UND netminder Zane Gothberg made 25 saves for the shutout, and Dave Hakstol’s crew played the waiting game for several more hours before discovering that they had indeed made the NCAA tournament for the twelfth consecutive season.

All-Time Series: In the short history between the schools, UND has won 21 of the 28 games (including eight of the twelve games played in Grand Forks). Before the 2016-17 season in which Western Michigan won three of the four meetings, WMU’s lone victory over North Dakota was a 2-1 road win on March 8th, 2014. The teams first met in 1997.

Last Ten: Each team has won five of the last ten games between the schools, with six of those ten games played in Kalamazoo. Over that stretch, UND has outscored the Broncos 30-26, thanks in large part to the 8-2 shellacking mentioned above.

Game News and Notes

Western Michigan moved up to the Division I ranks beginning with the 1975-76 season and has advanced to the NCAA tournament six times. The Broncos have made the NCAA tourney once (2017) in their first six seasons in the NCHC after advancing to the national tournament twice (2011, 2012) in the last three seasons in the now-defunct CCHA. WMU head coach Andy Murray’s son Brady Murray played two seasons at North Dakota (2003-05) and finished with a scoring line of 27-39-66 in 63 career games. Brady spent most of his professional hockey career in the Swiss-A league (Rapperswil-Jona and Lugano, among other teams) but did appear in four NHL games with the Los Angeles Kings in 2007-08, scoring one goal. In the 2019-2020 National Collegiate Hockey Conference Preseason Media Poll, Western Michigan was picked to finish in third place behind Minnesota Duluth and Denver, while UND was tabbed for fourth place. North Dakota junior forward Jordan Kawaguchi is second in the country with 45 points and third in the country with 30 assists. #HobeyGuchi

Broadcast Information

This weekend’s series will be broadcast live on Midco Sports Network, with both games also available online at NCHC.tv. All UND men’s hockey games, home and away, can be heard on stations across the UND Sports Home of Economy Radio Network as well as through the iHeart Radio app.

Social Media

The Prediction

For the first time in a long time, Western Michigan is healthier than North Dakota. These are meaningful games for both squads, as UND could wrap up the Penrose Cup this weekend and the Broncos are looking to secure home ice for the first round of the NCHC playoffs. After the way last weekend ended, I like the Fighting Hawks on Friday night, with Saturday’s game coming down to the wire. UND 4-2, WMU 4-3 (OT).

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!

Weekend Preview: North Dakota at St. Cloud State

St. Cloud State entered the 2019 NCAA tournament as the #1 overall seed and with an overall record of 30-5-3. The Huskies quickly ran into a buzzkill – literally – as the swarming Yellow Jackets of #19 American International shocked the college hockey world and dispatched SCSU by a final score of 2-1. That defeat would be just the sixth loss for Brett Larson’s crew in his first season behind the St. Cloud State bench.

Fast forward eleven months, and the Huskies have already suffered twelve defeats this season (11-12-5).

SCSU suffered key graduation losses (forwards Patrick Newell, Robby Jackson, and Jacob Benson; defensemen Jimmy Schuldt and Jon Lizotte) along with two forwards who left early for the pro ranks (Blake Lizotte and Ryan Poehling). Those seven players accounted for 77 goals and 201 points last season, and the Huskies lost five of their top six scorers during the offseason. Remarkably, St. Cloud State still returned 79 goals and 228 points from last year’s roster, so the cupboard was definitely not bare.

Senior defenseman Jack Ahcan (6-28-34 last season) was the top returning scorer for Brett Larson’s squad, and he has put together a line of 6-16-22 in 28 games played. The forward duo of sophomore Sam Hentges (7-16-23) and junior Easton Brodzinski (12-12-24) have led the charge up front for SCSU. Hentges amassed a scoring line of 10-10-20 during his freshman campaign, while Brodzinski went for 14-10-24 as a freshman and 16-13-29 last season.

The Huskies have not been good defensively this season, ranking in the bottom fifteen in the country in goals allowed per game (3.14, 46th of 60 teams) and penalty kill success (76.1 percent, 54th). The shorthanded statistic is abysmal, and that starts with goaltending. Junior Dávid Hrenák has regressed this season after two stellar campaigns between the pipes:

2017-2018: 13-7-2, 2.03 goals-against average, .922 save percentage, three shutouts
2018-2019: 23-5-2, 2.18 goals-against average, .906 save percentage, four shutouts
2019-2020: 10-8-5, 2.73 goals-against average, .903 save percentage, two shutouts

To be fair, Hrenák has been better lately, making 90 saves on 96 (.938) shots over his past four starts.

After winning the Penrose Cup in the inaugural season of the new league (2013-14) with an overall record of 22-11-5 (.645), St. Cloud State made the NCAA tournament again in 2014-15 with a relatively pedestrian mark of 20-19-1 (.512). At the end of that season, SCSU had the unfortunate circumstance of facing and falling to North Dakota in the West Regional final (Fargo, ND), a virtual home game for the Green and White.

SCSU captured the NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship and another NCAA tourney bid in 2015-16 with a sparkling record of 31-9-1 (.768) but unfortunately suffered an overtime loss in the opening round of the national tournament. St. Cloud State, the top seed in the NCAA West Regional (Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN), rallied to tie #18 Ferris State in the third period, but the Bulldogs scored just 18 seconds into the extra session to knock off the Huskies (who were ranked #2 in the country heading into the NCAAs) by a final of 5-4.

North Dakota ended St. Cloud State’s 2016-17 campaign with a home sweep in the first round of the NCHC playoffs. UND cruised 5-2 in the opener before besting the Huskies in a 6-5 overtime thriller. As I have said before, we have come to expect close matchups in NCHC playoff games played on Saturdays (and often Sundays), as the visiting team is almost always playing to extend their season.

The 2017-2018 campaign brought more playoff agony for the Huskies, as head coach Bob Motzko brought the NCHC regular-season champions (24-9-6) into the NCAA West Regional (Sioux Falls, SD) to face Air Force (22-14-5) in the opening round. Blake Lizotte got St. Cloud State within one with 2:51 remaining in the contest, but two empty-net goals sealed the deal for the Falcons, who got 39 saves from netminder Billy Christopoulos. It was only the second time since the tournament expanded to sixteen teams that the top overall seed lost their first game.

And unfortunately for St. Cloud State, they duplicated that feat in the 2019 NCAA tournament by dropping their opening game to #19 American International as the #1 overall seed, bringing an abrupt end to a fantastic season. Head coach Brett Larson compiled a sparkling record of 30-6-3 in his first campaign.

Both North Dakota and St. Cloud State posted historically good records in 2015-16. Thirty-win seasons are extremely rare in today’s college hockey landscape, with more parity and more ties taking away the opportunity to rack up victories. Since I started traveling to St. Cloud for the UND/SCSU games back in 1998, the Fighting Sioux/Hawks and the Huskies have both reached the 30-victory plateau on multiple occasions. Remarkably, St. Cloud State posted identical marks of 31-9-1 (.768) in milestone seasons (2001 and 2016).

1997-98 North Dakota (30-8-1)
1998-99 North Dakota (32-6-2)
1999-00 North Dakota (31-8-5)
2000-01 St. Cloud State (31-9-1)
2003-04 North Dakota (30-8-3)
2010-11 North Dakota (32-9-3)
2015-16 North Dakota (34-6-4)
2015-16 St. Cloud State (31-9-1)
2018-19 St. Cloud State (30-6-3)

For more on the rarity and importance of a thirty-win season, follow this link.

Incidentally, the 2019-2020 North Dakota Fighting Hawks (23-3-3) are ahead of the pace set by the 2015-2016 team, which suffered its fourth loss of the season in its 29th game to move to 22-4-3 on the season. This year’s team will play between eight and eleven games before the NCAA tournament begins, so UND fans could definitely see another 30-win season from the Green and White.

The last two seasons have been far from milestone campaigns for Brad Berry’s squad, as his teams sputtered to records of 17-13-10 (.550) and 18-17-2 (.514). To put that in perspective, those two teams combined for 35 victories over two seasons, just one more than the 2015-16 team collected in one season on their way to the program’s eighth national title. Prior to the 2017-2018 season, North Dakota had made fifteen consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, the second-longest streak of all time (Michigan appeared in 22 straight NCAA tourneys from 1991 to 2012). Denver now boasts the nation’s longest active streak with twelve consecutive tourney bids (2008-2019).

Here’s a look at the non-conference records under fifth-year head coach Brad Berry:

The Fighting Hawks have the following conference schedule remaining over the last three weeks of the regular season as they attempt to secure the program’s third Penrose Cup and eighteenth regular season championship overall:

February 21-22: at St. Cloud State (t-26th in the Pairwise)
February 28-29: vs. #19 Western Michigan (t-15th in the Pairwise)
March 6-7: at Nebraska Omaha (25th in the Pairwise)

North Dakota leads Duluth by eight points in the league standings and would clinch the Penrose by finishing the weekend with a lead of thirteen or more points.

#1-ranked UND has returned to national prominence after a two-year absence from the national tournament. Optimism and upside have turned into results for North Dakota, with plenty of new faces (Shane Pinto, Westin Michaud, Harrison Blaisdell, and Ethan Frisch) adding to an already-impressive lineup.

So far this season, several of North Dakota’s returning players have seen a noticeable uptick in their production and in their overall play on the ice, most notably junior forward Collin Adams (10-16-26), senior forward Cole Smith (10-6-16), sophomore forward Jasper Weatherby (10-7-17), and junior defenseman Matt Kiersted (5-20-25). Those four players have combined for 84 points in 114 games played (0.74 points/game) after amassing 79 points in 262 games played (0.30 points/game) prior to this year.

Adams, Smith, and Weatherby are three of six North Dakota players with ten or more goals, joining junior forward Jordan Kawaguchi (15-29-44), freshman Shane Pinto (14-10-24), and senior transfer Westin Michaud (13-11-24).

St. Cloud State’s aforementioned Easton Brodzinski (12-12-24) is the only double-digit goal scorer for the Huskies.

Last season, Kawaguchi led all UND scorers with ten goals, while SCSU had seven players hit that milestone.

It is abundantly clear that North Dakota will have the puck a lot this season, and the numbers bear that out. After last weekend’s series against Denver (another puck possession stalwart), the Fighting Hawks are still first in the nation in shots on goal allowed/game (21.6) but are now third in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi (% of shots taken vs. opponent): 58.2%
Fenwick (% of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent): 58.7%

By comparison, the Huskies are 35th in Corsi (48.7%) and 24th in Fenwick (50.6%), averaging 27.9 shots on goal per game (North Dakota is averaging 30.6/game) while allowing 28.6 shots on goal against/contest.

Last season, UND trailed only national champion Duluth in both puck possession categories across all Division I teams but could not finish enough of their chances. This year, fans of the Green and White should have already noticed that more shots are going in the net. North Dakota is scoring on a staggering 13.5 percent of their shots on goal, good for the best mark in the country. Last season, UND lit the lamp on only 7.8 percent of their shots on goal (52nd in the nation). St. Cloud State boasts a shooting percentage of 10.2 percent (17th of 60 teams).

Here’s another way to highlight North Dakota’s scoring prowess: UND has scored five or more goals in ten of its 29 games this season; in 2018-19, the Fighting Hawks had five such games all year. In eight other games this year, Brad Berry’s crew has scored four goals, which means that the team has scored four or more goals in nearly two-thirds (62.1%) of its games this season.

After sputtering on the power play to open the season with just two power play goals on their first 25 attempts (8.0 percent), UND has scored 23 power play goals over its past 22 games (23 for 85, 27.1 percent) and now goes up against a St. Cloud State penalty kill that ranks 55th in the country at 76.1 percent. For the season, the Fighting Hawks’ power play checks in at 22.7 percent, good for sixteenth-best in the country.

On the other side of the specialty teams ledger, UND had only allowed six power play goals all season long (64 of 70, 90.8%) before road weekends at Miami and Duluth brought them crashing down to earth. The RedHawks scored four power play goals on ten opportunities in their series, and the Bulldogs scored two goals in eight man advantage situations to drop North Dakota’s season-long penalty kill percentage down to 86.4% (8th best in the country). The Fighting Hawks have rebounded in their last two series, holding Colorado College scoreless on eight power plays and allowing only a Bobby Brink goal in five Denver chances last weekend. UND’s season-long penalty kill percentage now sits at 87.1%, fifth-best in the nation.

North Dakota is 1st in the country in scoring offense (4.14 goals scored/game) and 6th in the country in scoring defense (1.97 goals allowed/game), and that leads to the country’s second-best goal differential (+63). Minnesota State (26-4-2) has put up a +69 through their first 32 games.

To put that in perspective: In 2018-2019, North Dakota outscored opponents 93-90 over 37 games (18-17-2). This season, UND (23-3-3) has throttled the opposition by a margin of 120-57 over the first 29 games of the campaign. By comparison, the Huskies have been outscored 88-80 this season for a goal differential of minus-8.

The other result of such a lopsided scoring margin is that nine of the top ten NCHC players in plus-minus hail from North Dakota, led by Collin Adams with a plus-26.

According to KRACH, North Dakota has put up this season’s stellar results while facing the third-toughest schedule in the country; SCSU’s slate of games ranks as the seventh-most difficult out of sixty men’s Division I hockey programs.

The holiday break was not kind to North Dakota’s #1 netminder.

After giving up four goals on 28 shots faced in two January home starts against Alabama Huntsville, Scheel had three awful games in his last four starts:

Adam Scheel’s GAA has ballooned to 2.08, while his save percentage has plummeted to .903.

Thankfully for fans of the Green and White, junior goaltender Peter Thome answered the bell, relieving Scheel twice and earning six starts, going 6-0-1 with a 1.26 GAA, a save percentage of .940, and one shutout. Even more remarkably, he has only allowed a total of three even-strength goals in his six starts this year. Thome will need to play in two more games this season to qualify for UND’s goaltending records, and his current GAA and SV% would be the lowest single-season marks in program history.

My hunch is that Thome will get the start again on Friday night in St. Cloud, although Adam Scheel is 3-1-0 with a 1.49 GAA and a .933 SV% in four career starts against the Huskies.

One key area to watch this weekend is the face-off circle. The Fighting Hawks have improved on draws over the past four weekends and are now sitting at 54.3 percent on the season (5th) after leading the nation at 57.1 percent a year ago. St. Cloud State has won 48.2 percent of its faceoffs this season (47th in the country).

Leading the way in the faceoff circle for North Dakota have been Jasper Weatherby (60.0%), Shane Pinto (59.1%), and Collin Adams (53.4%). This weekend, St. Cloud State will counter with Nick Poehling (56.0%), Sam Hentges (51.1%), and Kevin Fitzgerald (50.7%).

St. Cloud State Team Profile

Head Coach: Brett Larson (2nd season at SCSU, 41-18-8, .672)

Pairwise Ranking: t-26th of 60 teams
National Rankings: NR/NR
This Season: 11-12-5 (.482) overall, 8-9-1-0 NCHC (5th)
Last Season: 30-6-3 overall (NCAA West Regional Semifinalist), 19-2-3-2 NCHC (1st)

2019-2020 Season Statistics:
Team Offense: 2.86 goals scored/game – 28th of 60 teams
Team Defense: 3.14 goals allowed/game – 46th of 60 teams
Power Play: 18.1% (17 of 94) – 36th of 60 teams
Penalty Kill: 76.1% (70 of 92) – 54th of 60 teams

Key Players: Sophomore F Sam Hentges (7-16-23), Junior F Easton Brodzinski (12-12-24), Senior F Jack Poehling (6-9-15), Senior F Nick Poehling (7-13-20), Freshman F Chase Brand (5-6-11), Freshman F Jami Krannila (3-7-10), Senior D Jack Ahcan (6-16-22), Sophomore D Nick Perbix (4-8-12), Sophomore D Spencer Meier (3-5-8), Junior G Dávid Hrenák (10-8-5, 2.73 GAA, .903 SV%, 2 SO)

North Dakota Team Profile

Head Coach: Brad Berry (North Dakota ’02, 5th season at UND; 113-55-22, .653)

Pairwise Ranking: 1st of 60 teams
National Rankings: #1/#1

This Season: 23-3-3 (.845) overall, 14-2-2-2 NCHC (1st)
Last Season: 18-17-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 12-11-1-0 NCHC (5th)

2019-2020 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 4.14 goals scored/game – 1st of 60 teams
Team Defense: 1.97 goals allowed/game – 6th of 60 teams
Power Play: 22.7% (25 of 110) – 16th of 60 teams
Penalty Kill: 87.1% (88 of 101) – 5th of 60 teams

Key Players: Junior F Jordan “#HobeyGuchi” Kawaguchi (15-29-44), Senior F Westin Michaud (13-11-24), Junior F Collin Adams (10-16-26), Sophomore F Jasper Weatherby (10-7-17), Freshman F Shane Pinto (14-10-24), Junior F Grant Mismash (8-11-19), Senior F Cole Smith (10-6-16), Sophomore D Jacob Bernard-Docker (4-16-20), Senior D Colton Poolman (2-11-13), Junior D Matt Kiersted (5-20-25), Sophomore D Jonny Tychonick (4-7-11 in 22 games played), Sophomore G Adam Scheel (17-3-2, 2.08 GAA, .903 SV%, 2 SO), Junior G Peter Thome (6-0-1, 1.26 GAA, .940 SV%, 1 SO)

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: November 23, 2019 (Grand Forks, ND). One night after handling St. Cloud State by a final score of 4-2, North Dakota needed overtime to dispatch the visiting Huskies. Jordan Kawaguchi, who picked up two assists in Friday’s win, was the hero on Saturday night, scoring 3:41 into the extra session after assisting on the game-tying goal. For the weekend, North Dakota outshot SCSU 54-31 and scored a power play goal each night.

Last Meeting in St. Cloud: December 9, 2017. One night after UND grabbed the extra league point with a 2-2 tie and a shootout win, the Huskies scored three goals on six shots in the second period to take a 3-1 home victory. North Dakota outshot SCSU 35-18 in Saturday’s rematch but went scoreless on the power play (0-for-3) while allowing Mikey Eyssimont’s power play tally (his second in one minute of game action) in the middle frame. Huskies netminder Dávid Hrenák made 34 saves.

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, 74-44-14 (.614), including a 29-22-7 (.560) record in games played in St. Cloud. Aside from their 2015 and 2018 NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinal victories, the Huskies also defeated North Dakota in the 2001 WCHA Final Five championship game. The teams have been squaring off regularly since the 1989-90 season, but have only met once in the NCAA tournament (2015).

Last Ten: The two teams have each won four of the last ten games, with the other two ending in ties. North Dakota has outscored the Huskies 28-26 over that stretch of games. Six of the last ten meetings have gone to overtime.

Game News and Notes

St. Cloud State has won the regular season league title four times over the past seven seasons (WCHA 2012-13; NCHC 2013-14, 2017-18, & 2018-19). North Dakota has appeared in six overtime games this season, going 3-0-3 in those games. SCSU has made the national tournament 13 times in the past twenty seasons, with one Frozen Four appearance (2013).

On A Personal Note

I will be performing a short acoustic set (10:30-11:15 p.m.) in the Red Carpet Band Room (11 5th Avenue South) after Friday night’s game. Please join me!

Broadcast Information

Friday’s game will be available on Fox9+ (Twin Cities) and on Midco Sports Network. Saturday’s rematch will be broadcast on FOX Sports North. Both games will be available online at NCHC.tv. All UND men’s hockey games, home and away, can be heard on stations across the UND Sports Home of Economy Radio Network as well as through the iHeart Radio app.

Social Media

The Prediction

Let’s get this out of the way first: North Dakota has proven itself to be the better, more complete team to this point of the season. However, strange things can and often do happen on the wide sheet of ice in St. Cloud, and SCSU is 7-2-1 in the last ten games at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Normally, it’s the Huskies’ power play that can do damage early and often, but this year’s version of the Cardinal and Red has only scored 17 power play goals in 28 games, ranking in the bottom half in the nation. After a hard and heavy rivalry series against DU, North Dakota could be due for a letdown. I can’t see the Fighting Hawks earning less than three points this weekend, but it will get interesting. 2-2 tie, UND 5-3.

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!

Weekend Preview: North Dakota vs. Denver

In the NCHC, it is clear that Denver/North Dakota is at the top of the league rivalries. The teams have played 28 times during the first six seasons of the new conference, but the feud goes all the way back to Geoff Paukovitch’ illegal check on Sioux forward Robbie Bina during the 2005 WCHA Final Five.

Six 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 now-defunct 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.

It is abundantly clear that the NCHC has been the premier hockey conference since its inception, and particularly over the past five seasons. The eight teams in the league have gone 284-137-52 (.655) in non-conference action since the start of the 2014-15 season and sent nine teams to the Frozen Four (UND and Omaha in 2015, UND and Denver in 2016, Denver and Duluth in 2017, Duluth in 2018, and Denver and Duluth in 2019) over that five-year stretch. Conference members North Dakota (2016), Denver (2017), and Minnesota Duluth (2018, 2019) have won the last four national titles.

In last season’s NCAA tournament, league members Denver and St. Cloud State were both placed in the West Regional (Fargo, North Dakota) and were on track to face off in the regional final. The Pioneers (#6 in the country) held up their end of the bargain with a 2-0 victory over #9 Ohio State, but #19 American International shocked the college hockey world and dispatched the #1-ranked Huskies by a final score of 2-1. One night later, Denver blanked AIC 3-0 to advance to their third Frozen Four in four seasons. The Pios would eventually fall to #4 Massachusetts in overtime in the national semifinal.

November 8-9 vs. Miami: 7-1 win, 5-4 win
November 15-16 at #2 Denver: 1-1 tie (3×3 win), 4-1 win
November 22-23 vs. St. Cloud State: 4-2 win, 2-1 win (OT)
December 6-7 at #17 Western Michigan: 1-0 win (OT), 8-2 win
January 10-11 vs. Omaha: 3-6 loss, 4-1 win
January 17-18: at Miami: 4-4 tie (shootout win), 5-3 win
January 24-25: at #11 Minnesota Duluth: 4-7 loss, 3-2 win
Jan. 31 – Feb. 1: vs. Colorado College: 1-0 win, 8-1 win

After this weekend’s series against #6 Denver, the Fighting Hawks will not face a currently-ranked opponent during the rest of the regular season:

February 21-22: at St. Cloud State (28th in the Pairwise)
February 28-29: vs. Western Michigan (18th in the Pairwise)
March 6-7: at Nebraska Omaha (25th in the Pairwise)

Here’s a look at the non-conference records under fifth-year head coach Brad Berry:

For UND, the goal is simple: return to national prominence after a two-year absence from the national tournament. Optimism and upside have turned into results for North Dakota, with plenty of new faces (Shane Pinto, Westin Michaud, Harrison Blaisdell, and Ethan Frisch) adding to an already-impressive lineup.

North Dakota’s Shane Pinto and Denver’s Bobby Brink are the two frontrunners for Rookie of the Year in the NCHC. Here’s how the numbers break down:

Bobby Brink (right wing): 10 goals and 13 assists in 27 games played (0.85 points/game)
Shane Pinto (center): 13 goals and 9 assists in 25 games played (0.88 points/game)

The next four freshman scoring leaders all hail from Omaha (Nolan Sullivan 16 points, Joey Abate 15, Ryan Brushett 14, Brandon Scanlin 13).

In the November series at altitude in Denver (1-1 tie, 4-1 UND victory), neither Brink nor Pinto figured in on the scoresheet. With eight conference games remaining, Brink (5-10-15 in NCHC play) leads Pinto (8-5-13) in the rookie scoring race.

So far this season, several of North Dakota’s returning players have seen a noticeable uptick in their production and in their overall play on the ice, most notably junior forward Collin Adams (8-15-23), senior forward Cole Smith (10-6-16), senior forward Dixon Bowen (6-2-8), and junior defenseman Matt Kiersted (4-19-23). Those four players have combined for 70 points in 104 games played (0.67 points/game) after amassing 95 points in 324 games played (0.29 points/game) prior to this year.

It is abundantly clear that North Dakota will have the puck a lot this season, and the numbers bear that out. Through 27 games, the Fighting Hawks lead the nation in shots on goal allowed/game (21.2) and are first in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi (% of shots taken vs. opponent): 59.4%
Fenwick (% of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent): 59.8%

By comparison, the Pioneers are 3rd in Corsi (58.6%) and 2nd in Fenwick (58.9%), averaging 35.1 shots on goal per game (North Dakota is averaging 31.1/game) while allowing 25.8 shots on goal against/contest.

Last season, UND trailed only national champion Duluth in both puck possession categories across all Division I teams but could not finish enough of their chances. This year, fans of the Green and White should have already noticed that more shots are going in the net. North Dakota is scoring on a staggering 13.5 percent of their shots on goal, good for the best mark in the country. Last season, UND lit the lamp on only 7.8 percent of their shots on goal (52nd in the nation). Denver boasts a shooting percentage of 9.1 percent (32nd of 60 teams).

Here’s another way to highlight North Dakota’s scoring prowess: UND has scored five or more goals in ten of its 27 games this season; in 2018-19, the Fighting Hawks had five such games all year. In seven other games this year, Brad Berry’s crew has scored four goals, which means that the team has scored four or more goals in nearly two-thirds (63.0%) of its games this season.

After sputtering on the power play to open the season with just two power play goals on their first 25 attempts (8.0 percent), UND has scored twenty power play goals over its past twenty games (20 for 79, 25.3 percent) but now goes up against a Pioneer penalty kill that ranks 7th in the country at 86.4 percent.

On the other side of the specialty teams ledger, UND had only allowed six power play goals all season long (64 of 70, 90.8%) before road weekends at Miami and Duluth brought them crashing down to earth. The RedHawks scored four power play goals on ten opportunities in their series, and the Bulldogs scored two goals in eight man advantage situations to drop North Dakota’s season-long penalty kill percentage down to 86.4% (8th best in the country). The Fighting Hawks rebounded in their last series, holding Colorado College scoreless on eight power plays. UND’s season-long penalty kill percentage now sits at 87.5%, fourth-best in the nation.

North Dakota is 1st in the country in scoring offense (4.19 goals scored/game) and 6th in the country in scoring defense (2.04 goals allowed/game), and that leads to the country’s second-best goal differential (+58). Minnesota State (26-4-2) has put up a +69 through their first 32 games.

To put that in perspective: In 2018-2019, North Dakota outscored opponents 93-90 over 37 games (18-17-2). This season, UND (21-3-3) has throttled the opposition by a margin of 113-55 over the first 27 games of the campaign. By comparison, Denver has outscored opponents 89-61 for a goal differential of plus-28.

The other result of such a lopsided scoring margin is that nine of the top ten NCHC players in plus-minus hail from North Dakota, led by Collin Adams with a plus-24.

According to KRACH, North Dakota has put up this season’s stellar results while facing the fourth-toughest schedule in the country; DU’s slate of games ranks as the third-most difficult out of sixty men’s Division I hockey programs.

Denver has received excellent goaltending from freshman Magnus Chrona (13-5-3, 2.23 GAA, .918 SV%, SO), and, as a defensive unit, the Pioneers have only allowed 2.18 goals per game (7th best in the country). Aside from junior blueliner Ian Mitchell (6-16-22 in 28 games), however, the other five most likely starters on defense have combined for just five goals and 18 assists in 120 games played this season.

By comparison, North Dakota generates plenty of offense from the back end, with five blueliners (Matt Kiersted, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Colton Poolman, Jonny Tychonick, and Andrew Peski) reaching double-digit point totals already this season. UND’s top six have scored 15 goals and added 61 assists in 145 games.

Therefore, the comparison regarding offense from the top six defensemen for each squad (in terms of games played) looks like this:

Denver: 11 goals and 34 assists for 45 points in 148 games played (0.30 points/game)
North Dakota: 15 goals and 61 assists for 76 points in 145 games played (0.52 points/game)

After giving up four goals on 28 shots faced in two January home starts against Alabama Huntsville, Scheel has had three awful games in his last four outings:

Adam Scheel’s GAA has ballooned to 2.08, while his save percentage has plummeted to .903.

Thankfully for fans of the Green and White, junior goaltender Peter Thome has answered the bell, relieving Scheel twice and earning four starts, going 4-0-1 with a 1.35 GAA, a save percentage of .928, and one shutout. My hunch is that Thome gets the start on Friday night, but with the extra week of practice and preparation, who knows which of them has risen to the top.

One key area to watch this weekend is the face-off circle. The Fighting Hawks have improved on draws over the past three weekends and are now sitting at 53.4 percent on the young season (8th) after leading the nation at 57.1 percent a year ago. Denver has won 51.4 percent of its faceoffs this season (18th in the country).

Denver Team Profile

Head Coach: David Carle (Denver ’12, 2nd season at DU, 41-18-10, .667)

Pairwise Ranking: 5th of 60 teams
National Rankings: #6/#5

This Season: 17-6-5 (.696) overall, 7-5-4-3 NCHC (t-3rd)
Last Season: 24-12-5 overall (NCAA Frozen Four Semifinalist), 11-10-3-3 NCHC (4th)

2019-20 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.18 goals scored/game – 18th of 60 teams
Team Defense: 2.18 goals allowed/game – 7th of 60 teams
Power Play: 22.0% (27 of 123) – 16th of 60 teams
Penalty Kill: 86.4% (89 of 103) – 6th of 60 teams

Key Players: Senior F Liam Finlay (4-16-20), Sophomore F Brett Stapley (4-17-21), Sophomore F Emilio Pettersen (8-17-25), Senior F Tyson McLellan (5-5-10), Freshman F Bobby Brink (10-13-23), Sophomore F Cole Guttman (10-10-20), Junior F Kohen Olischefski (8-9-17), Junior D Ian Mitchell (6-16-22), Junior D Griffin Mendel (2-5-7), Senior D Michael Davies (0-3-3), Sophomore D Slava Demin (2-7-9), Freshman G Magnus Chrona (13-5-3, 2.23 GAA, .918 SV%, 2 SO)

North Dakota Team Profile

Head Coach: Brad Berry (North Dakota ’02, 5th season at UND; 111-55-22, .649)

Pairwise Ranking: 1st of 60 teams
National Rankings: #1/#1

This Season: 21-3-3 (.833) overall, 12-2-2-2 NCHC (1st)
Last Season: 18-17-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 12-11-1-0 NCHC (5th)

2019-2020 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 4.19 goals scored/game – 1st of 60 teams
Team Defense: 2.04 goals allowed/game – 6th of 60 teams
Power Play: 21.2% (22 of 104) – 21st of 60 teams
Penalty Kill: 87.5% (84 of 96) – 4th of 60 teams

Key Players: Junior F Jordan “#HobeyGuchi” Kawaguchi (15-26-41), Senior F Westin Michaud (12-11-23), Junior F Collin Adams (8-15-23), Sophomore F Jasper Weatherby (9-6-15), Freshman F Shane Pinto (13-9-22), Junior F Grant Mismash (8-10-18), Senior F Cole Smith (10-6-16), Sophomore D Jacob Bernard-Docker (3-14-17), Senior D Colton Poolman (2-10-12), Junior D Matt Kiersted (4-19-23), Sophomore D Jonny Tychonick (4-7-11 in 20 games played), Sophomore G Adam Scheel (17-3-2, 2.08 GAA, .903 SV%, 2 SO), Junior G Peter Thome (4-0-1, 1.35 GAA, .928 SV%, 1 SO)

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: November 16th, 2019 (Denver, CO). One night after skating to a 1-1 tie and earning the extra point on Colton Poolman’s 3-on-3 goal, visiting North Dakota took care of business with a 4-1 road victory. Senior Cole Smith notched two goals against the Pios, giving him four in fourteen career meetings. UND’s Westin Michaud added an empty-net goal with 24 seconds remaining, his fifth career tally against DU. North Dakota outshot Denver by the narrowest of margins on the weekend (60-59) and killed all ten Pioneer power play opportunities.

Last Meeting in Grand Forks: December 8, 2018. Denver’s Jared Lukosevicius scored the overtime winner with just 21 seconds remaining in the extra frame as DU prevailed 2-1. North Dakota won Friday’s opener 4-1 behind 21 saves and an assist from Adam Scheel.

Last Season: March 16, 2019 (Denver, CO). North Dakota’s season came to an end despite peppering DU netminder Filip Larsson with 42 shots on goal. Denver scored twice in the middle frame (Colin Staub, Jarid Lukosevicius) and added an empty netter for the 4-2 final score. Senior forward Nick Jones scored both goals for UND, and Fighting Hawks goaltender Peter Thome made 14 saves in the losing effort. One night earlier, the Pioneers blanked UND 2-0 despite being outshot 32-17, a common theme for the Green and White last season.

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 contest. 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.

Last Ten Games: UND has two victories and four ties over the past ten games, with both teams scoring 18 goals over that stretch. Five of the last ten meetings have gone into overtime.

All-time Series: UND leads the all-time series, 147-128-16 (.533), including a record of 85-44-10 (.652) in games played in Grand Forks. The teams first met in 1950, with North Dakota prevailing 18-3 in Denver.

Game News and Notes

North Dakota is 14-1-0 at home this season. Brad Berry is 7-8-6 (.476) in his coaching career vs. the Pioneers. UND graduate transfer Westin Michaud has already played eighteen games against Denver in his collegiate career, scoring five goals and adding two assists. Aside from Michaud, three other North Dakota players have scored multiple career goals against DU (Cole Smith 4, Matt Kiersted 2, Colton Poolman 2). Since seven of Michigan’s nine titles were earned by 1964, I consider Denver (eight titles) and North Dakota (eight titles) to be the top two men’s college hockey programs of all time.

The Prediction

Get ready for some bonus hockey this weekend. At least one of these games will go to overtime, with last line change proving quite important for the home squad. As always, goaltending and special teams play may very well decide the series. Given North Dakota’s earlier results in Denver (five of six league points) and UND’s remaining schedule, a split would be just fine. Both teams have had an extra week to rest and prepare, so expect the best that each side can offer. I’ve got Denver winning in overtime on Friday night, with North Dakota pulling away in Saturday’s finale. DU 3-2 (OT), UND 4-2 (ENG).

Broadcast Information

CBS Sports Network will have the exclusive telecast of Friday’s opener, with Saturday’s rematch available live on Midco Sports Network, TSN2 (Canada), and online at NCHC.tv. All UND men’s hockey games, home and away, can be heard on stations across the UND Sports Home of Economy Radio Network as well as through the iHeart Radio app.

Social Media

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!

Weekend Preview: North Dakota vs. Colorado College

After winning just twenty total games over his first three seasons behind the CC bench, head coach Mike Haviland won fifteen games (15-17-5) during the 2017-18 campaign and took Denver to three games in the first round of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference playoffs (2-0 W, 2-3 L, 1-6 L).

Last season, Colorado College registered its most wins under Mike Haviland (17) and most since joining the NCHC. CC went 9-12-3-0 and finished 6th in the league.

The feeling among the Tiger faithful has always been that new blood behind the bench would eventually translate into new life on the ice, and CC fans are finally being rewarded for their patience. Colorado College is averaging well over three goals per game since the beginning of the 2017-18 season after averaging just a shade over two goals per contest (215 goals in 107 games) in Haviland’s first three campaigns.

It is abundantly clear that the NCHC has been the premier hockey conference since its inception, and particularly over the past five seasons. The eight teams in the league have gone 280-136-51 (.654) in non-conference action since the start of the 2014-15 season and sent nine teams to the Frozen Four (UND and Omaha in 2015, UND and Denver in 2016, Denver and Duluth in 2017, Duluth in 2018, and Denver and Duluth in 2019) over that five-year stretch. Conference members North Dakota (2016), Denver (2017), and Minnesota Duluth (2018, 2019) have won the last four national titles.

Despite being picked to finish fourth in the NCHC standings this season, UND has fared remarkably well in conference play, with a record of 10-2-2-2 over its first fourteen league games:

The Fighting Hawks will only face one currently-ranked opponent during the rest of the regular season:

Jan. 31-Feb. 1: vs. Colorado College (39th in the Pairwise)
February 7-8: No games scheduled
February 14-15: vs. #4 Denver (4th in the Pairwise)
February 21-22: at St. Cloud State (35th in the Pairwise)
February 28-29: vs. Western Michigan (22nd in the Pairwise)
March 6-7: at Nebraska Omaha (24th in the Pairwise)

Here’s a look at the non-conference records under fifth-year head coach Brad Berry:

Michaud is not a new face to college hockey or to UND fans. The graduate student transferred to North Dakota after playing three undergraduate seasons in Colorado Springs.

So far this season, several returning players have seen a noticeable uptick in their production and in their overall play on the ice, most notably junior forward Collin Adams (7-14-21), senior forward Cole Smith (9-6-15), senior forward Dixon Bowen (6-2-8), and junior defenseman Matt Kiersted (4-19-23). Those four players have combined for 67 points in 98 games played (0.68 points/game) after amassing 95 points in 324 games played (0.29 points/game) prior to this year.

It is abundantly clear that North Dakota will have the puck a lot this season, and the numbers bear that out. Through 25 games, the Fighting Hawks lead the nation in shots on goal allowed/game (21.3) and are first in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi (% of shots taken vs. opponent): 59.6%
Fenwick (% of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent): 59.6%

By comparison, the Tigers are 41st in Corsi (47.4%) and 47th in Fenwick (54.9%), averaging 31.0 shots on goal per game (North Dakota is also averaging 31.0/game) while allowing 35.7 shots on goal against/contest.

Last season, UND trailed only national champion Duluth in both puck possession categories across all Division I teams but could not finish enough of their chances. This year, fans of the Green and White should have already noticed that more shots are going in the net. North Dakota is scoring on a staggering 13.4 percent of their shots on goal, good for the best mark in the country. Last season, UND lit the lamp on only 7.8 percent of their shots on goal (52nd in the nation). Colorado College boasts a shooting percentage of 9.1 percent (32nd of 60 teams).

Here’s another way to highlight North Dakota’s scoring prowess: UND has scored five or more goals in nine of its 25 games this season; in 2018-19, the Fighting Hawks had five such games all year.

One key area to watch this weekend is the face-off circle. The Fighting Hawks are now sitting at 52.9 percent on the season (10th) after leading the nation at 57.1 percent a year ago. The Tigers are dead last in the country with a faceoff win rate of just 41.0 percent.

After sputtering on the power play to open the season with just two power play goals on their first 25 attempts (8.0 percent), UND has scored eighteen power play goals over its past eighteen games (18 for 75, 24.0 percent) and now faces a Tiger penalty kill that has allowed sixteen power play goals this season and is 60th of 60 teams with a penalty kill success rate of just 67.9 percent.

On the other side of the specialty teams ledger, UND had only allowed six power play goals all season long (64 of 70, 90.8%) before the past two road weekends against Miami and Duluth brought them crashing down to earth. The RedHawks scored four power play goals on ten opportunities in their series, and the Bulldogs scored two goals in eight man advantage situations to drop North Dakota’s season-long penalty kill percentage down to 86.4% (8th best in the country).

North Dakota is 1st in the country in scoring offense (4.16 goals scored/game) and 9th in the country in scoring defense (2.16 goals allowed/game), and that leads to the country’s second-best goal differential (+50). Minnesota State (22-3-1) has put up a +58 through their first 28 games.

To put that in perspective: In 2018-2019, North Dakota outscored opponents 93-90 over 37 games (18-17-2). This season, UND (19-3-3) has throttled the opposition by a margin of 104-54 over the first 25 games of the campaign. By comparison, Colorado College has been outscored 62-81 this season for a goal differential of minus-19.

According to KRACH, North Dakota has put up this season’s stellar results while facing the fourth-toughest schedule in the country; CC’s slate of games ranks as the 18th-most difficult out of sixty men’s Division I hockey programs.

This weekend’s series will feature the heaviest team in the country (UND, an average of 194.1 pounds) and the lightest (CC, 177.5 pounds).

Colorado College Team Profile

Head Coach: Mike Haviland (6th season at CC, 60-129-18, .333)

Pairwise Ranking: 39th of 60 teams
National Rankings: NR/NR

This Season: 8-13-1 overall (.386), 3-10-1-0 NCHC (8th)
Last Season: 17-20-4 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 9-12-3-0 NCHC (6th of 8 teams)

2019-2020 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 2.82 goals scored/game – 27th of 60 teams
Team Defense: 3.68 goals allowed/game – 57th of 60 teams
Power Play: 15.3% (15 of 98) – 47th of 60 teams
Penalty Kill: 67.9% (53 of 78) – 60th of 60 teams

Key players: Senior F Chris Wilkie (17-8-25), Senior F Chris Halloran (8-14-22), Junior F Bailey Conger (4-7-11), Sophomore F Ben Copeland (3-8-11), Senior F Alex Berardinelli (3-8-11), Sophomore F Grant Cruikshank (7-3-10), Sophomore D Bryan Yoon (0-12-12), Freshman D Connor Mayer (1-6-7), Junior D Zach Berzolla (1-5-6), Senior D Kristian Blumenschein (1-4-5), Freshman G Matt Vernon (5-9-1, 3.56 GAA, .901 SV%), Senior G Ryan Ruck (3-4-0, 3.52 GAA, .900 SV%)

North Dakota Team Profile

Head Coach: Brad Berry (North Dakota ’02, 5th season at UND; 109-55-22, .645)

Pairwise Ranking: 1st of 60 teams
National Rankings: #2/#2

This Season: 19-3-3 (.820) overall, 10-2-2-2 NCHC (1st)
Last Season: 18-17-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 12-11-1-0 NCHC (5th)

2019-2020 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 4.16 goals scored/game – 1st of 60 teams
Team Defense: 2.16 goals allowed/game – 9th of 60 teams
Power Play: 20.0% (20 of 100) – 25th of 60 teams
Penalty Kill: 86.4% (76 of 88) – 8th of 60 teams

Key Players: Junior F Jordan “#HobeyGuchi” Kawaguchi (13-24-37), Senior F Westin Michaud (12-10-22), Junior F Collin Adams (7-14-21), Sophomore F Jasper Weatherby (8-5-13), Freshman F Shane Pinto (11-9-20), Junior F Grant Mismash (7-9-16), Senior F Cole Smith (9-6-15), Sophomore D Jacob Bernard-Docker (3-13-16), Senior D Colton Poolman (2-9-11), Junior D Matt Kiersted (4-19-23), Sophomore D Jonny Tychonick (4-6-10 in 18 games played), Sophomore G Adam Scheel (17-3-2, 2.08 GAA, .903 SV%, 2 SO), Junior G Peter Thome (2-0-1, 1.89 GAA, .895 SV%)

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: March 2, 2019 (Colorado Springs, CO). North Dakota built a 2-0 lead in the first period (Cole Smith, Matt Kiersted) and made it hold up in a 2-1 road victory. The Fighting Hawks outshot the Tigers 36-25. CC won Friday’s opener 3-1, with Westin Michaud assisting on the game winner. All four Friday goals were scored in the third period.

Last Meeting in Grand Forks: January 12, 2019. North Dakota squandered a two-goal lead before sophomore forward Jordan Kawaguchi netted the game-winner in the opening minute of overtime for a 3-2 victory and a sweep of the weekend series. UND also needed overtime on Friday night, with Ludvig Hoff scoring late in the extra session for a 4-3 win.

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, 160-84-11 (.649), with a remarkable record of 103-22-7 (.807) in games played in Grand Forks. The teams first met in 1948.

Last Ten: North Dakota has six wins in the last ten meetings between the teams, outscoring CC 29-26 over that span. UND had gone unbeaten in 14 straight (13-0-1) against the Tigers until four of the last five series between the schools ended in splits. The only Fighting Hawks sweep in the last ten was the aforementioned January 2019 series at the Ralph which required two overtime winners to accomplish.

Game News and Notes

These two coaching staffs coached against each other at the AHL and NHL levels prior to the NCHC. 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). UND graduate transfer Westin Michaud collected 29 goals and 62 points in his three seasons at Colorado College. CC senior forward Chris Wilkie is the nation’s second-best goal scorer with 17 goals in 22 games. The Tigers have been outscored 32-17 in third periods this season.

Media Coverage

This weekend’s games will be broadcast live on Midco Sports Network. All UND men’s hockey games (home and away) can be heard on stations across the UND Sports Network (as well as through the iHeart Radio app). The flagship station for the network is 96.1 FM (The Fox). Follow @UNDMHockey for real-time Twitter updates, or follow the action via live chat at UNDsports.com.

The Prediction

North Dakota needs two victories this weekend to stay at #1 in the Pairwise, and that should be the goal moving forward, as the Fighting Hawks have much greater success when they have last line change and can put the Hain-Senden-Smith line against the opponent’s best forwards. Mike Haviland has split up Chris Wilkie and Chris Halloran to balance out the scoring, but it won’t matter enough in this series. Look for Peter Thome to start Friday night, with Adam Scheel on Saturday in an effort to get him untracked. Saturday’s game will be closer, but North Dakota will do enough to get the sweep. UND 5-2, 4-3 (OT).

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!

Weekend Preview: UND at Minnesota Duluth

March 17th, 2018. Xcel Energy Center. St. Paul, Minnesota. North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth square off in the third-place game of the NCHC Frozen Faceoff with NCAA tournament hopes hanging in the balance. UND defeats the Bulldogs 4-1, and both teams are left to play the waiting game.

According to twincities.com:

After losing to the Fighting Hawks, UMD needed a win by either Clarkson or Providence to clinch an NCAA tournament berth. Both teams lost, leaving just one obscure scenario remaining for Duluth to continue playing.

Notre Dame’s overtime goal against Ohio State just before 10:00 p.m. (on St. Patrick’s Day) was the exclamation point on that scenario, forcing a tie between the Bulldogs and Minnesota for 12th in the Pairwise rankings — the formula used to select at-large teams and seed the 16-team field.

Notre Dame’s win gave the Bulldogs the tiebreaker for 12th in the Pairwise as UMD’s Ratings Percentage Index — a part of the Pairwise formula — was one ten-thousandth of a point (.0001) higher than the Gophers.

Typically, finishing 13th or 14th in the Pairwise gets a team into the tournament, but not that season, as No. 13 Minnesota and No. 14 North Dakota learned. Because four teams — Air Force (Atlantic Hockey), Michigan Tech (WCHA), Boston University (Hockey East) and Princeton (ECAC) — instead of the usual one or two from outside the bubble won their conference tournament for an automatic bid, that meant No. 12 was the cutoff for at-large teams.

With that unfortunate news, North Dakota saw its streak of fifteen consecutive NCAA tournament appearances come to an end, while Duluth took advantage of its program-record fourth straight tourney bid, winning four consecutive one-goal games to claim the program’s second national title:

Minnesota Duluth 3, Minnesota State 2 (OT)
Minnesota Duluth 2, Air Force 1
Minnesota Duluth 2, Ohio State 1
Minnesota Duluth 2, Notre Dame 1

Before UND’s victory at the 2018 NCHC Frozen Faceoff, Scott Sandelin’s crew had won eight consecutive games against the Green and White. That losing streak for North Dakota was the longest against one team since Wisconsin won nine in a row from 1987-89.

It is abundantly clear that the NCHC has been the premier hockey conference since its inception, and particularly over the past five seasons. The eight teams in the league have gone 280-136-51 (.654) in non-conference action since the start of the 2014-15 season and sent nine teams to the Frozen Four (UND and Omaha in 2015, UND and Denver in 2016, Denver and Duluth in 2017, Duluth in 2018, and Denver and Duluth in 2019) over that five-year stretch. Conference members North Dakota (2016), Denver (2017), and Minnesota Duluth (2018, 2019) have won the last four national titles.

After winning its second consecutive national title (and third in team history) in 2019, the Bulldogs were picked to finish first in the NCHC and capture the program’s first-ever Penrose Cup this year. Things looked to be on schedule for UMD, as they took a 7-1-2 record into St. Cloud last weekend. The Huskies earned a home sweep over Duluth (2-1, 2-0) to send the Bulldogs home reeling. North Dakota, which held a three-point lead over Scott Sandelin’s crew before last week’s games, took five of six points at Miami to extend its lead to eight points over Duluth and nine points over Denver (which tied Omaha twice last weekend, picking up four of six league points).

Despite being picked to finish fourth in the NCHC standings this season, UND has fared remarkably well in conference play, with a record of 9-1-2-2 over its first twelve league games:

After this weekend’s action, the Fighting Hawks will only face one currently-ranked opponent the rest of the regular season:

January 24-25: at #11 Minnesota-Duluth (12th in the Pairwise)
Jan. 31-Feb. 1: vs. Colorado College (37th in the Pairwise)
February 7-8: No games scheduled
February 14-15: vs. #5 Denver (t-4th in the Pairwise)
February 21-22: at St. Cloud State (34th in the Pairwise)
February 28-29: vs. Western Michigan (26th in the Pairwise)
March 6-7: at Nebraska Omaha (28th in the Pairwise)

Here’s a look at the non-conference records under fifth-year head coach Brad Berry:

So far this season, several returning players have seen a noticeable uptick in their production and in their overall play on the ice, most notably junior forward Collin Adams (7-14-21), senior forward Cole Smith (9-5-14), senior forward Dixon Bowen (6-2-8), and junior defenseman Matt Kiersted (2-17-19). Those four players have combined for 62 points in 91 games played (0.68 points/game) after amassing 95 points in 324 games played (0.29 points/game) prior to this year.

It is abundantly clear that North Dakota will have the puck a lot this season, and the numbers bear that out. Through 23 games, the Fighting Hawks lead the nation in shots on goal allowed/game (20.4) and are first in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi (% of shots taken vs. opponent): 60.6%
Fenwick (% of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent): 60.8%

By comparison, the Bulldogs are 9th in both Corsi (55.2%) and Fenwick (54.9%), averaging 32.7 shots on goal per game (North Dakota is averaging 31.2/game) while allowing 25.7 shots on goal against/contest.

Last season, UND trailed only national champion Duluth in both puck possession categories across all Division I teams but could not finish enough of their chances. This year, fans of the Green and White should have already noticed that more shots are going in the net. North Dakota is scoring on a staggering 13.5 percent of their shots on goal, good for the best mark in the country. Last season, UND lit the lamp on only 7.8 percent of their shots on goal (52nd in the nation). Minnesota Duluth’s shooting percentage is 9.2 percent (28th of 60 teams).

Here’s another way to highlight North Dakota’s scoring prowess: UND has scored five or more goals in nine of its 23 games this season; in 2018-19, the Fighting Hawks had five such games all year.

One key area to watch this weekend is the face-off circle. The Fighting Hawks are now sitting at 53.4 percent on the season (6th) after leading the nation at 57.1 percent a year ago. The Bulldogs are 4th in the country with a faceoff win rate of 54.9 percent.

After sputtering on the power play to open the season with just two power play goals on their first 25 attempts (8.0 percent), UND has scored sixteen power play goals over its past sixteen games (16 for 66, 24.2 percent) and now faces a Bulldog penalty kill that has allowed sixteen power play goals this season (71 of 87, 81.6%). UMD has already scored four shorthanded goals this season, two off of the national lead.

On the other side of the specialty teams ledger, UND had only allowed six power play goals all season long (64 of 70, 90.8%) before heading to Miami last weekend. The RedHawks scored four power play goals on ten opportunities in the series to drop North Dakota’s season-long penalty kill percentage down to 87.5% (8th best in the country).

Two Duluth players are one game misconduct away from an automatic suspension – junior defenseman Scott Perunovich (3-22-25, 60 penalty minutes) and sophomore forward Tanner Laderoute (5-4-9, 38 penalty minutes). Two other Bulldogs – sophomore forward Jesse Jacques (0-1-1, 17 penalty minutes) and sophomore defenseman Hunter Lellig (0-1-1, 17 penalty minutes in four games played) – and two North Dakota players – Cole Smith (9-5-14, 27 penalty minutes) and Shane Pinto (11-7-18, 25 penalty minutes) – have one misconduct each. Head coach Scott Sandelin has been without Hunter Lellig since October.

UMD has been penalized an average of 13.2 minutes per game. North Dakota clocks in at 9.3 penalty minutes per game. Duluth has had 89 power plays and 87 penalty kills this season; UND has had 91 power plays and 80 penalty kills. Last season’s series in Duluth resulted in 119 penalty minutes.

North Dakota is 1st in the country in scoring offense (4.22 goals scored/game) and 4th in the country in scoring defense (1.96 goals allowed/game), and that leads to the country’s second-best goal differential (+52). Minnesota State (22-3-1) has put up a +59 through their first 26 games.

To put that in perspective: In 2018-2019, North Dakota outscored opponents 93-90 over 37 games (18-17-2). This season, UND (18-2-3) has throttled the opposition by a margin of 97-45 over the first 23 games of the campaign. By comparison, Minnesota Duluth has outscored opponents 66-53 this season for a goal differential of plus-13.

According to KRACH, North Dakota has put up this season’s stellar results while facing the fourth-toughest schedule in the country; Duluth’s slate of games ranks as the eighth-most difficult out of sixty men’s Division I hockey programs.

Despite only three losses in NCHC play, Minnesota Duluth is in a precarious Pairwise position (currently 12th) due to a 5-5-2 mark in non-conference play. More than anything else, two October losses at Wisconsin are weighing the Bulldogs down. Wisconsin was ranked #17 at the time but has since gone into freefall, going 6-11-1 since that series (including 4-9-1-1 in the Big Ten) and dropping to 32nd in the Pairwise rankings. Despite the rivalry, UMD fans should be cheering for the Badgers the rest of the way.

Minnesota Duluth Team Profile

Head Coach: Scott Sandelin (20th season at UMD, 381-319-89, .539)

Pairwise Ranking: 12th of 60 teams
National Rankings: #11/#11

This Season: 12-8-2 (.591) overall, 7-3-2-0 NCHC (2nd)
Last Season: 29-11-2 (.714) overall (NCAA national champions), 14-9-1-0 NCHC (2nd)

2019-2020 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.00 goals scored/game – 19th of 60 teams
Team Defense: 2.41 goals allowed/game – 17th of 60 teams
Power Play: 27.0% (24 of 89) – 5th of 60 teams
Penalty Kill: 81.6% (71 of 87) – 29th of 60 teams

Key Players: Sophomore F Noah Cates (11-10-21), Sophomore F Cole Koepke (8-11-19), Sophomore F Jackson Cates (7-11-18), Junior F Nick Swaney (7-10-17), Junior F Kobe Roth (9-5-14), Junior F Justin Richards (7-6-13), Junior D Scott Perunovich (3-22-25), Junior D Dylan Samberg (0-13-13), Senior D Nick Wolff (0-5-5), Senior G Hunter Shepard (12-8-2, 2.28 GAA, .911 SV%, 2 SO)

North Dakota Team Profile

Head Coach: Brad Berry (North Dakota ’02, 5th season at UND; 108-54-22, .647)

Pairwise Ranking: 1st of 60 teams
National Rankings: #2/#2

This Season: 18-2-3 (.848) overall, 9-1-2-2 NCHC (1st)
Last Season: 18-17-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 12-11-1-0 NCHC (5th)

2019-2020 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 4.22 goals scored/game – 1st of 60 teams
Team Defense: 1.96 goals allowed/game – 4th of 60 teams
Power Play: 19.8% (18 of 91) – 22nd of 60 teams
Penalty Kill: 87.5% (70 of 80) – 8th of 60 teams

Key Players: Junior F Jordan “#HobeyGuchi” Kawaguchi (12-23-35), Senior F Westin Michaud (10-9-19), Junior F Collin Adams (7-14-21), Sophomore F Jasper Weatherby (7-3-10), Freshman F Shane Pinto (11-7-18), Junior F Grant Mismash (7-9-16), Senior F Cole Smith (9-5-14), Sophomore D Jacob Bernard-Docker (3-13-16), Senior D Colton Poolman (2-9-11), Junior D Matt Kiersted (2-17-19), Sophomore D Jonny Tychonick (3-6-9 in 17 games played), Sophomore G Adam Scheel (17-2-2, 1.85 GAA, .910 SV%, 2 SO)

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: February 23, 2019 (Grand Forks, ND). Two 5-on-3 power play goals proved to be the difference for the visiting Bulldogs, as they defeated the homestanding Fighting Hawks 3-2. North Dakota’s Gavin Hain scored with just a tick over two minutes remaining in the contest to draw his team within one, but the equalizer was not to be found. On Friday night, UND scored three of the four first period goals and added a Cole Smith empty netter for a 4-1 victory.

Last Meeting in Duluth: December 1, 2018. North Dakota got two goals in the first five minutes of the hockey game (Jordan Kawaguchi, Grant Mismash) and made that hold up in a 2-1 victory. UND netminder Adam Scheel made 28 of 29 saves. Duluth won Friday’s opener 5-0 behind two goals from Kobe Roth and a 22-save shutout performance by Hunter Shepard. Scheel came on in relief of UND starter Peter Thome (18 saves on 23 shots) and stopped all seven shots he faced in 26 minutes of action. There were 119 minutes of penalties assessed in the weekend series.

Most Important Meeting: March 22, 1984 (Lake Placid, NY) Minnesota-Duluth and North Dakota met in the national semifinal game, with the Bulldogs defeating the Fighting Sioux 2-1 in overtime to advance to the championship. UND went on to defeat Michigan State 6-5 (OT) for third place, while Duluth fell to Bowling Green 5-4 in four overtimes, the longest championship game ever played.

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, 147-85-10 (.628), including a 60-44-5 (.573) mark in games played in Duluth. 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: Duluth is 7-3-0 (.700) in the last ten games between the teams, outscoring the Hawks 34-23 over that stretch. Six of the past ten contests have taken place in the state of Minnesota, with the Bulldogs winning four times.

Game News and Notes

Duluth senior forward Jade Miller (Minto, ND) is the only North Dakotan on the Bulldog roster (15 from Minnesota, two each from Alberta and Ontario, and one each from California, Iowa, Montana, Ohio and Saskatchewan). 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. In 2015, Boston University defeated both Minnesota-Duluth (3-2) and North Dakota (5-3) in the NCAA tournament on their way to the championship game. The Terriers fell 4-3 to the Providence Friars, one win short of a national title. Through twelve league games, North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth boast seven of the top ten scorers in the NCHC. Duluth junior defenseman Scott Perunovich has scored 16 of his 25 points on the power play. This is the only scheduled matchup between the Fighting Hawks and Bulldogs this season.

Media Coverage

Friday’s opener will be televised on CBS Sports Network. Saturday’s rematch will be available on Midco Sports Network and streamed live in high definition via NCHC.tv. 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). Follow @UNDMHockey for real-time Twitter updates, or follow the action via live chat at UNDsports.com

The Prediction

I can’t see North Dakota taking any more than three points from this series. Both of these teams are used to having the puck and dictating play, and I predict that frustration will mount throughout the series. If one of these games gets out of hand from a penalty perspective, I give the edge in the specialty teams battle to Duluth, particularly on the power play. The Bulldogs are looking to atone for last weekend’s results and also have the goaltending advantage and last line change. If Brad Berry’s crew gives up early leads again this weekend, it could be a sweep for the home team and a very interesting race for the Penrose Cup. As it is, I’ve got the Fighting Hawks scoring enough in the series to take one victory back to Grand Forks. UMD 3-2, UND 4-2.

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!

Weekend Preview: UND at Miami

Over the first six seasons of the NCHC, Miami has averaged a sixth-place finish (8th, 2nd, 5th, 7th, 8th, 7th), with a combined league record of 39-70-11-8 (.378).

For comparison, North Dakota has finished 2nd, 1st, 1st, 4th, 4th, and 5th in the first six seasons of the new league, for an average finish of 3rd place.

Long-tenured head coach Enrico Blasi was fired during the offseason after posting a fourth consecutive losing season. Over that stretch of time, the RedHawks were 47-81-19 (.384). There is reason for optimism in Oxford, however, with new bench boss Chris Bergeron taking 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.

The Fighting Hawks came in at number four in the annual NCHC media preseason poll, trailing Denver, Duluth, and Western Michigan. Miami was picked to finish last in the eight-team league again this year. To this point of the season, UND is 1st in the league standings (8-1-1-1) and Miami is in 5th place (3-6-1-1), two points out of a home ice spot in the playoffs and at the same time just two points ahead of last place St. Cloud State.

It is abundantly clear that the NCHC has been the premier hockey conference since its inception, and particularly over the past five seasons. The eight teams in the league have gone 280-136-51 (.654) in non-conference action since the start of the 2014-15 season and sent nine teams to the Frozen Four (UND and Omaha in 2015, UND and Denver in 2016, Denver and Duluth in 2017, Duluth in 2018, and Denver and Duluth in 2019) over that five-year stretch. Conference members North Dakota (2016), Denver (2017), and Minnesota Duluth (2018, 2019) have won the last four national titles.

The blame for UND’s absence from last season’s NCAA tourney rests squarely on the two road losses at Canisius. When North Dakota failed to make the national tournament following the 2017-2018 season, many pointed to the road series at Miami as the “games that got away”. Let’s get in the DeLorean, shall we?

Friday, February 23rd, 2018. Steve Cady Arena. Miami, Ohio. 1.21 jiggawatts…

#12 UND led the unranked RedHawks 3-0 in the second period before surrendering four unanswered goals, the last in overtime. Had the Fighting Hawks held onto the lead and won that game, it would have been invited to the NCAAs for a sixteenth consecutive season. And conversely, Minnesota Duluth, the eventual national champion, would have been watching the tourney from home.

Here’s a look at the non-conference records under fifth-year head coach Brad Berry:

UND has concluded its non-conference schedule for the season; here are North Dakota’s remaining NCHC games in the race for the Penrose Cup:

January 17-18: at Miami (43rd in the Pairwise)
January 24-25: at #8 Minnesota-Duluth (9th in the Pairwise)
Jan. 31-Feb. 1: vs. Colorado College (35th in the Pairwise)
February 7-8: No games scheduled
February 14-15: vs. #4 Denver (4th in the Pairwise)
February 21-22: at St. Cloud State (t-37th in the Pairwise)
February 28-29: vs. Western Michigan (29th in the Pairwise)
March 6-7: at Nebraska Omaha (27th in the Pairwise)

For UND, the goal is simple: return to national prominence after a two-year absence from the national tournament. There is reason for optimism in Grand Forks, with an experienced d-corps, plenty of returning grit and skill, and a crop of freshmen with a tremendous amount of upside.

So far this season, several returning players have seen a noticeable uptick in their production and in their overall play on the ice, most notably junior forward Collin Adams (7-12-19), senior forward Cole Smith (7-5-12), senior forward Dixon Bowen (6-2-8), and junior defenseman Matt Kiersted (2-12-14). Those four players have combined for 53 points in 83 games played (0.64 points/game) after amassing 95 points in 324 games played (0.29 points/game) prior to this year.

It is abundantly clear that North Dakota will have the puck a lot this season, and the numbers bear that out. Through 21 games, the Fighting Hawks lead the nation in shots on goal allowed/game (20.6) and are first in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi (% of shots taken vs. opponent): 60.3%
Fenwick (% of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent): 60.3%

By comparison, the RedHawks are 51st in Corsi (45.3%) and 54th in Fenwick (44.5%), averaging 25.8 shots on goal per game (North Dakota is averaging 30.7/game) while allowing 32.1 shots on goal against/contest.

Last season, UND trailed only national champion Duluth in both puck possession categories across all Division I teams but could not finish enough of their chances. This year, fans of the Green and White should have already noticed that more shots are going in the net. North Dakota is scoring on a staggering 13.7 percent of their shots on goal, good for the best mark in the country. Last season, UND lit the lamp on only 7.8 percent of their shots on goal (52nd in the nation). Miami’s shooting percentage is 11.6 percent (10th of 60 teams).

Here’s another way to highlight North Dakota’s scoring prowess: UND has scored five or more goals in eight of its 21 games this season; in 2018-19, the Fighting Hawks had five such games all year.

One key area to watch this weekend is the face-off circle. The Fighting Hawks are now sitting at 53.2 percent on the season (10th) after leading the nation at 57.1 percent a year ago. Miami is 21st in the country with a faceoff win rate of 51.2 percent. UND’s best faceoff man this season is Jasper Weatherby (57.8 percent).

After sputtering on the power play to open the season with just two power play goals on their first 25 attempts (8.0 percent), UND has scored thirteen power play goals over its past fourteen games (13 for 57, 22.8 percent) and now faces a Miami penalty kill that has allowed nineteen power play goals this season (66 of 85, 77.6%).

On the other side of the specialty teams ledger, UND has only allowed six power play goals all season long (64 of 70, 90.8%) and currently boasts the fourth-best penalty kill unit in men’s Division I hockey this season.

North Dakota is 1st in the country in scoring offense (4.19 goals scored/game) and 4th in the country in scoring defense (1.81 goals allowed/game), and that leads to the country’s second-best goal differential (+50).

To put that in perspective: In 2018-2019, North Dakota outscored opponents 93-90 over 37 games (18-17-2). This season, UND (17-2-2) has throttled the opposition by a margin of 88-38 over the first 21 games of the campaign. By comparison, Miami has been outscored 60-70 this year for a goal differential of minus-10.

According to KRACH, North Dakota has put up this season’s stellar results while facing the fourth-toughest schedule in the country; Miami’s slate of games ranks as the 24th-most difficult out of sixty men’s Division I hockey programs.

North Dakota is at the top of the league standings after stellar results (8-1-1-1) in its first ten conference games:

North Dakota head coach Brad Berry has a few lineup decisions to make this weekend with Shane Pinto ineligible to play on Friday night (league suspension), captain Colton Poolman unavailable for this weekend (upper body injury), and top defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker questionable (lower body injury). I would expect the Grant Mismash-Collin Adams-Jordan Kawaguchi and Gavin Hain-Mark Senden-Cole Smith forward lines to remain intact, with Jasper Weatherby sliding up into Pinto’s spot between Westin Michaud and Harrison Blaisdell. The fourth line will be some combination of Casey Johnson, Dixon Bowen, Jackson Keane, and Judd Caulfield (Zach Yon is also out with an injury).

On defense, Matt Kiersted will likely be paired with Bernard-Docker, with Gabe Bast, Ethan Frisch, Johnny Tychonick, and Andrew Peski comprising the other two pairs. I expect Josh Rieger to be dressed as the extra skater in the event that Bernard-Docker is unable to take a regular shift on the back end.

Miami Team Profile

Head Coach: Chris Bergeron (1st season at Miami, 6-11-3, .375)

Pairwise Ranking: 43rd of 60 teams
National Rankings: NR/NR

This Season: 6-11-3 overall, 3-6-1-1 NCHC (5th)
Last Season: 11-23-4 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 5-17-2-1 NCHC (t-7th)

Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.00 goals scored/game – 21st of 60 teams
Team Defense: 3.50 goals allowed/game – 54th of 60 teams
Power Play: 21.7% (15 of 69) – 16th of 60 teams
Penalty Kill: 77.6% (66 of 85) – 49th of 60 teams

Key Players: Senior F Gordie Green (9-15-24), Senior F Karch Bachman (7-12-19), Junior F Casey Gilling (5-11-16), Freshman F John Sladic (5-5-10), Freshman F Chase Pletzke (5-6-11), Sophomore D Derek Daschke (6-10-16), Freshman D Jack Clement (4-4-8), Sophomore D Bray Crowder (0-6-6), Senior G Ryan Larkin (5-8-0, 3.72 GAA, .895 SV%, 1 SO)

North Dakota Team Profile

Head Coach: Brad Berry (North Dakota ’02, 5th season at UND; 107-54-21, .646)

Pairwise Ranking: 2nd of 60 teams
National Rankings: #1 (tie)/#2

This Season: 17-2-2 (.857) overall, 8-1-1-1 NCHC (1st)
Last Season: 18-17-2 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 12-11-1-0 NCHC (5th)

2019-2020 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 4.19 goals scored/game – 1st of 60 teams
Team Defense: 1.81 goals allowed/game – 4th of 60 teams
Power Play: 18.3% (15 of 82) – 29th of 60 teams
Penalty Kill: 91.4% (64 of 70) – 4th of 60 teams

Key Players: Junior F Jordan “#HobeyGuchi” Kawaguchi (10-20-30), Senior F Westin Michaud (8-9-17), Junior F Collin Adams (7-12-19), Sophmore F Jasper Weatherby (7-3-10), Freshman F Shane Pinto (10-6-16), Junior F Grant Mismash (6-9-15), Senior F Cole Smith (7-5-12), Sophomore D Jacob Bernard-Docker (3-11-14), Senior D Colton Poolman (2-9-11), Junior D Matt Kiersted (2-12-14), Sophomore D Jonny Tychonick (3-6-9 in 15 games played), Sophomore G Adam Scheel (17-2-2, 1.73 GAA, .916 SV%, 2 SO)

By The Numbers:

Last Meeting: November 9, 2019 (Grand Forks, ND). One night after throttling the visiting RedHawks 7-1, North Dakota had all they could handle in a 5-4 victory. UND scored four times in the first period for a two-goal lead and extended that margin with a Collin Adams goal in the middle frame. Miami scored the final two goals of the contest but could not get the equalizer. North Dakota outshot Miami 29-20 for the game and 57-42 for the weekend.

Last Meeting in Oxford:: November 10, 2018. It was a furious third period at Steve Cady Arena, with each team scoring two goals. The difference was that Miami’s Josh Melnick had opened the scoring with a power play marker in the opening frame and the RedHawks prevailed 3-2. North Dakota won 3-1 one night earlier in the conference opener for both teams. UND outshot Miami 68-40 on the weekend.

Last Ten: UND has picked up six wins and two ties in the past ten contests between the teams, outscoring Miami 37-23 over that stretch of games. North Dakota has only hosted four of the past ten meetings between the schools.

All-time Series: North Dakota leads the all-time series 16-7-3 (.673), including a 5-4-1 (.550) record in games played at Steve Cady Arena. The teams first played in 1999 (Badger Showdown, Milwaukee, WI).

Game News and Notes

Matt Kiersted has one goal and six points in six career games against Miami. With five goals this weekend, North Dakota would match its goal scoring output from all of last season, and UND would equal last season’s victory total with one win. Green Hawks are preferable to RedHawks.

The Prediction

Lines and defensive pairs will be shuffled this weekend with Colton Poolman (upper-body injury; did not travel) and Shane Pinto (one-game suspension) out of the lineup. Miami has been playing better lately and will benefit from the last line change this weekend. I’ve got a hunch that North Dakota will lose a close one on Friday before storming back for an easy victory in Saturday’s rematch. Miami 4-3, UND 5-1.

Broadcast Information

Friday’s opener will be televised live nationally on CBS Sport Network Both games will also be available online at NCHC.tv. All UND men’s hockey games, home and away, can be heard on stations across the UND Sports Home of Economy Radio Network as well as through the iHeart Radio app.

Social Media

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!