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NCHC Playoff Preview: UND vs. Miami

After a full year of waiting, the postseason is finally here. Top seed North Dakota (18-5-1) will face eighth-seeded Miami (5-17-2) in the first matchup between the two teams in nearly three months. UND’s NCAA tournament bid is locked up – the Fighting Hawks will be playing in the Fargo regional two weekends from now – while Chris Bergeron’s squad will need three consecutive victories in the modified NCHC Frozen Faceoff to continue their season.

Way back on December 2nd, these two teams met in Omaha in the first pod game for either side. North Dakota blanked Miami 2-0 and put 39 shots on goal.

And in the rematch on December 20th – the final game of the Omaha pod – the RedHawks managed to score twice but allowed six North Dakota goals on 39 shots.

Miami put a total of 42 shots on frame over the course of those six periods of hockey.

Unfortunately for the RedHawks, that’s been the case far too frequently, as Chris Bergeron’s squad has only scored 46 goals all season (1.92 goals/game) and has been outshot 839-559. Goaltending has kept things close (more on that later), but Miami has scored more than two goals in a game just seven times this year (in 24 games played).

By comparison, North Dakota has scored at least two goals in all but one contest this year, averaging 3.92 goals/game (94 goals in 24 games).

Despite the apparent advantages that Brad Berry’s crew will enjoy in tonight’s league playoff opener – home ice, last line change, and a deeper, more talented roster – Chris Bergeron has one ace up his sleeve: Ludvig Persson. The freshman netminder from Hindas, Sweden started five games during the Omaha pod, with a goals-against average of 1.91 and a save percentage of .962. His best performance came against Omaha on December 12th, with a 30-save shutout in a game his team won 1-0 despite putting only twelve shots on frame.

Persson has not faced North Dakota this season.

For the season, Miami has allowed 83 goals. With Persson in net? They have scored 24 and allowed 24.

Over the first eight seasons of the NCHC, Miami has averaged worse than a sixth-place finish (8th, 2nd, 5th, 7th, 8th, 8th, 7th, 8th), with a combined league record of 55-117-20 (.339).

By comparison, North Dakota has finished 2nd, 1st, 1st, 4th, 4th, 5th, 1st, and 1st for an average finish somewhere between 2nd and 3rd place and a combined league record of 116-61-15 (.643). No other league member has collected as many conference wins as UND.

Miami is used to dreadful postseason positioning, and the RedHawks have the only three victories by #8 seeds over #1 seeds in league history, all against St. Cloud State (a 2-0 series victory in 2014 and a 2-1 series loss in 2018). With the single-elimination format of the entire NCHC playoff bracket, MU would need just one victory over North Dakota (rather than the typical two) to advance into the semifinal round.

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.

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.

After winning its second consecutive national title (and third in team history) in 2019, the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs were picked to finish first in the NCHC and capture the program’s first-ever Penrose Cup last season. Things looked to be on schedule for UMD, as they took a 7-1-2 record into St. Cloud. 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 those games, took five of six points at Miami to extend its lead to eight points over Duluth and nine points over Denver. UND never looked back, securing the program’s third Penrose Cup (2015, 2016) with a conference record of 17-4-3-2.

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).

As another sign that Berry has righted the ship, UND is now 44-10-5 (.788) over the past two seasons.

Junior netminder Adam Scheel (16-3-1. 1.80 GAA, .929 SV%, 4 SO) has made the majority of starts for North Dakota, with senior Peter Thome (2-2-0, 2.83 GAA, .872 SV%) appearing in five games. In addition to his four shutouts, Scheel has allowed just a single goal in six other victories this season. The junior from Lakewood, Ohio was recently named NCHC Goaltender of the Year and a 2021 Mike Richter Award finalist (along with eight other goaltenders; Scheel is the only finalist from the NCHC). The winner of this year’s Richter will be announced in April during the NCAA Frozen Four.

A half-point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and Chris Bergeron’s squad has just four players who meet that threshold: junior forward Matt Barry (2-15-17), senior forward Casey Gilling (4-10-14), freshman forward Matthew Barbolini (5-9-14), and junior defenseman Derek Daschke (4-8-12). No other Miami player on the roster has more than eight points on the season.

By that same measure, Brad Berry has ten players at a half point or better per game: sophomore forward Shane Pinto (15-13-28), senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi (7-20-27), senior forward Collin Adams (9-15-24), senior defenseman Matt Kiersted (3-16-19), senior forward Grant Mismash (9-9-18 in 18 games), freshman forward Riese Gaber (8-8-16), junior forward Jasper Weatherby (11-8-19), junior forward Mark Senden (3-10-13), junior defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker (2-13-15), and freshman defenseman Jake Sanderson (2-9-11 in 17 games). Pinto, Kawaguchi, Adams, and Mismash are all averaging a full point or better per contest, although Mismash (upper body injury) is expected to miss his sixth consecutive game.

Jordan Kawaguchi was the only NCHC player to notch at least one point in each of his team’s games in the Omaha pod. Shane Pinto has already generated 141 shot attempts this season and won the league scoring title over Kawaguchi and Duluth’s Nick Swaney (13-14-27). Pinto was recently named the NCHC Player of the Year, Forward of the Year, and Defensive Forward of the Year.

Both Kawaguchi (14th in the nation in scoring) and Pinto (8th) should be considered candidates for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award along with teammate Matt Kiersted, whose 19 points rank fourth among defensemen.

Of UND’s four national award hopefuls, only Shane Pinto (Ottawa, #32 overall in 2019) has been drafted. Kiersted, Kawaguchi, and Scheel should all expect plenty of offers once they have used up their college eligibility. Including Pinto, the Fighting Hawks have twelve NHL draft picks on their roster, the most in the NCHC. Miami has zero drafted players on its roster and the same number in its recruiting pipeline. UND is expected to bring in four more drafted players next season – Ethan Bowen, Matteo Costantini, Jackson Kunz, and Jake Schmaltz.

It is abundantly clear that North Dakota will have the puck a lot during the postseason, and the numbers bear that out. After 24 games, the Fighting Hawks are 5th in the nation in shots on goal allowed/game (24.7) and are ninth in the country in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi (% of shots taken vs. opponent): 55.1%
Fenwick (% of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent): 56.2%

By comparison, the RedHawks are 47th in both Corsi (41.8%) and Fenwick (40.6%), averaging 23.3 shots on goal per game (North Dakota is averaging 31.0/game) while allowing 35.0 shots on goal against/contest.

Miami has been outshot 839-559 this season; North Dakota is outshooting opponents 745-593.

One key area to watch in this contest is the face-off dot. The Fighting Hawks are second in the nation in faceoff win percentage at 55.5 percent, while Miami is 34th (48.1%) among the 51 men’s college hockey teams to have played at least one game this season.

Leading the way in the faceoff circle for North Dakota have been Shane Pinto (62.0%), Jasper Weatherby (53.9%), and Collin Adams (56.0%). Miami will counter with Casey Gilling (46.2%), Monte Graham (57.0%), and Matt Barry (44.1%).

In their two games against Miami in the Omaha pod, North Dakota won 67 of 126 faceoffs (53.2%).

The Fighting Hawks are scoring on 12.6 percent of their shots on goal, a remarkable statistic good for 2nd in the country. The RedHawks are near the bottom of the list, lighting the lamp on just 8.2 percent of their shots on goal (41st).

North Dakota’s puck possession game and sharpshooting have led to 94 goals scored by nineteen different players in 24 games (3.92 goals scored/game); 94 goals was the high-water mark in the NCHC regular season. Miami’s 46 goals (1.92 goals/game) have been scored by 21 different players.

Only Colorado College (35 goals scored in 22 games played) was a more futile offensive unit than the RedHawks.

UND’s offensive prowess is matched by their stingy defense, as the Fighting Hawks have only allowed 47 goals in 24 games (1.96 goals allowed/game), the lowest total in the NCHC. Minnesota Duluth finished in second place defensively, having allowed 54 goals in 24 games this season for an average of 2.25 goals allowed per game.

By comparison, Miami allowed 3.46 goals per contest (83 goals allowed in 24 games), one less goal than the Western Michigan Broncos allowed as the league’s worst defensive team.

Through 24 games, Miami has blocked 279 shots as a team, led by Jack Clement (40), Derek Daschke (32), Bray Crowder (25), and Dylan Moulton (18).

North Dakota has blocked 309 shots in its 24 games, with Matt Kiersted (44), Jacob Bernard-Docker (31), Gabe Bast (21), and forward Mark Senden (21) leading the way.

When North Dakota is at full strength on the back end, they enjoy a roster advantage against nearly every opponent, and that will be the case again tonight. Miami’s six most likely starters on defense have combined for 13 goals and 17 assists in 126 combined games this season (0.24 points/game), while the six UND defenders expected in the lineup tonight have put together a line of 16 goals and 46 assists in 117 combined games (0.53 points/game). Matt Kiersted, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Jake Sanderson, Ethan Frisch, Tyler Kleven, and Gabe Bast can all defend, move the puck, and score, and Brad Berry has the luxury of trusting all of his defensemen in all situations, much like he had during North Dakota’s run to the national title in 2016 (with Gage Ausmus, Paul LaDue, Tucker Poolman, Hayden Shaw, Troy Stecher, Keaton Thompson, and Christian Wolanin manning the back end).

Remarkably, the Fighting Hawks’ d-corps has put up those offensive numbers while also allowing less than two goals per contest (1.96, good for 5th in the country). By comparison, Miami is allowing 3.46 goals per game (38th).

Through each team’s 24 regular season games, here is the specialty teams ledger:

Miami power play: 12 of 81, 14.8 percent (43rd)
Miami penalty kill: 58 of 77, 75.3 percent (43rd)

North Dakota power play: 27 of 108, 25.0 percent (7th)
North Dakota penalty kill: 88 of 102, 86.3 percent (9th)

North Dakota has scored four shorthanded goals this season, while the RedHawks have one to their credit. The Fighting Hawks have not allowed a shorthanded tally this year; MU has given up one. That leaves Miami’s net specialty teams at a -7, while UND weighs in at +17.

The RedHawks have scored 12 of their 46 goals this season with the man advantage, while the Fighting Hawks have scored 27 of their 94 goals this season on the power play.

The NCHC playoff semifinals (Monday, March 15th) and championship game (Tuesday, March 16th) will also be played at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks are hosting an NCAA Regional 70 miles south in Fargo on March 26 and 27 and would be automatically placed in that regional if they are selected for the national tournament, which seems to be a lock at this point.

Of course, being the home team means familiar surroundings and last line change, and that has certainly paid off for the Green and White this season. After going 18-1-0 at REA last season, North Dakota has gone 6-1-0 at home this season, outscoring opponents 30-8 while going 8-for-35 (22.9%) on the power play and killing 25 of 27 opponent man-advantage situations (92.6%). UND netminder Adam Scheel has been at his best at the Ralph, winning all five of his starts with a goals-against average of 0.60, a save percentage of .970, and two shutouts.

UND’s next potential road game is on Thursday, April 8th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the site of this season’s NCAA Frozen Four.

Miami RedHawks

Head Coach: Chris Bergeron (2nd season at Miami, 13-38-7, .284)
National Rankings: NR/NR

This Season: 5-17-2 overall, 5-17-2 NCHC (8th)
Last Season: 8-21-5 overall, 5-16-3 NCHC (7th)

2020-2021 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 1.92 goals scored/game – 45th of 51 teams
Team Defense: 3.46 goals allowed/game – 38th of 51 teams

Power Play: 14.8% (12 of 81) – 43rd of 51 teams
Penalty Kill: 75.3% (58 of 77) – 43rd of 51 teams

Key players:

Junior F Matt Barry (2-15-17), Senior F Casey Gilling (4-10-14), Freshman F Matthew Barbolini (5-9-14), Senior F Phil Knies (2-6-8), Sophomore F Ryan Savage (2-3-5), Junior D Derek Daschke (4-8-12), Freshman D Robby Drazner (3-4-7), Junior D Bray Crowder (2-1-3), Freshman G Ludvig Persson (5-10-2, 2.40 GAA, .930 SV%, 2 SO)

North Dakota Fighting Hawks

Head Coach: Brad Berry (6th season at UND, 134-62-24, .664)
National Rankings: #2/#2

This Season: 18-5-1 overall, 18-5-1 NCHC (1st)
Last Season: 26-5-4 overall, 17-4-3-2 NCHC (1st)

2020-2021 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 2.92 goals scored/game – 1st of 51 teams
Team Defense: 1.96 goals allowed/game – 5th of 51 teams

Power Play: 25.0% (27 of 108) – 7th of 51 teams
Penalty Kill: 86.3% (88 of 102) – 9th of 51 teams

Key players: Sophomore F Shane Pinto (15-13-28), Senior F Jordan Kawaguchi (7-20-27), Senior F Grant Mismash (9-9-18), Freshman F Riese Gaber (8-8-16), Senior F Collin Adams (9-15-24), Junior F Jasper Weatherby (11-8-19), Junior F Mark Senden (3-10-13), Senior D Matt Kiersted (3-16-19), Junior D Jacob Bernard-Docker (2-13-15), Sophomore D Ethan Frisch (3-5-8), Freshman D Jake Sanderson (2-9-11 in seventeen games), Junior G Adam Scheel (16-3-1. 1.80 GAA, .929 SV%, 4 SO)

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: December 20, 2020 (Omaha, NE). For the second consecutive game against Miami, UND freshman phenom Riese Gaber was the difference maker, breaking a 2-2 tie just over eight minutes into period two. North Dakota would add two more goals in the middle frame (Shane Pinto, Collin Adams) and a third period shorthanded tally by Ethan Frisch for a final score of 6-2. In the first pod meeting between the teams, the Fighting Hawks outshot Miami 29-9 through two periods but held a tenuous 1-0 lead on a power play goal from Matt Kiersted. Enter Gaber, who – in his first collegiate game – scored the only goal of the third period just 67 seconds into the final frame. In the two games combined, UND netminder Adam Scheel stopped 37 of 39 shots on goal.

Last Meeting in Grand Forks: November 9, 2019. North Dakota’s Collin Adams scored two goals in the 5-4 UND victory, with the RedHawks making it interesting by scoring the last two goals of the contest. One night earlier, the Fighting Hawks boatraced Miami 7-1, with three players notching three points each. Noah Jordan scored MU’s lone goal three minutes into the third period to spoil the shutout bid by Adam Scheel (21 saves).

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 six wins and two ties (6-2-2, .700) in the past ten contests between the teams, outscoring Miami 39-24 over that stretch of games. The RedHawks have not beaten North Dakota since November 10, 2018, a 3-2 home victory.

All-time Series: North Dakota leads the all-time series 19-7-4 (.700), including a 9-2-2 (.769) record in games played in Grand Forks. The teams first played in 1999 (Badger Showdown, Milwaukee, WI).

Game News and Notes

In their careers against Miami, senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi has five goals and twelve assists in twelve games and senior defenseman Matt Kiersted has two goals and ten assists in ten games. North Dakota has not allowed a third period goal at home this season (nine goals for). UND is 17-0-0 when it scores the first goal and 1-5-1 when its opponent lights the lamp first. Green Hawks are preferable to RedHawks.

The Prediction

It is always difficult to end a team’s season, and tonight’s quarterfinal matchup will have a similar feel to Sunday night Game Threes from past first-round series. Miami will need freshman phenom Ludvig Persson to be at his best between the pipes if they’re going to have a shot at the end. If North Dakota already has its mental bags packed for Fargo and overlooks the RedHawks, things could get interesting; however, there are enough veterans and leaders in the locker room that I don’t see that happening, particularly since UND dropped its last home game one week ago. The Fighting Hawks should survive, advance, and head into Monday with another opponent in its sights. UND 3, Miami 1.

Broadcast Information

All of Friday and Saturday’s quarterfinal matchups will be broadcast live on Midco Sports Network and 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!

Game Preview: UND vs. Omaha

#1 North Dakota (18-4-1) and #12 Omaha (13-9-1) will face off for the sixth time in 36 days at Ralph Engelstad Arena on Friday night, and tensions are high in this series. The last time the two teams tangled in Grand Forks back on February 20th, a line brawl erupted with less than a minute remaining in UND’s 7-1 win over the Mavericks, a victory that secured the Fighting Hawks’ second consecutive league championship and saw Brad Berry’s squad hoist the #PenneRosa for the fourth time in the eight-year history of the NCHC.

It is astounding to think that North Dakota would play 25 percent of its games against one team over the course of the season, but that’s doubly true for North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks also faced Denver six times this year, going 4-2 against the Pioneers. UND has four victories in its previous five meetings with the Omaha Mavericks.

As this is the last week of the regular season, the standings are coming into focus. North Dakota has clinched the #1 seed for the league playoffs, with the only battle remaining for the #2 seed between St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth. SCSU and UMD will play at St. Cloud on Saturday, March 6th, with the Huskies owning a one-point advantage in the league standings.

Seeds 4-8 have all been determined; UND will face Miami in the first round of the conference playoffs.

Here is the current NCHC leaderboard in terms of points earned/game:

1. North Dakota 2.30 (53 points in 23 games)
2. St. Cloud State 1.87 (43 points in 23 games)
3. Minnesota Duluth 1.83 (42 points in 23 games)
4. Omaha 1.65 (38 points in 23 games)
5. Denver 1.41 (31 points in 22 games)
6. Western Michigan 1.38 (33 points in 24 games)
7. Colorado College 0.82 (18 points in 22 games)
8. Miami 0.75 (18 points in 24 games)

Denver and Colorado College cancelled their final two head-to-head matchups, while Western Michigan and Miami have already played all 24 of the league games on their schedules.

North Dakota played all ten scheduled games in the Omaha pod, but it has not been smooth sailing in the second half. UND has already had multiple weekends scratched and rescheduled in the second half; the league has done an excellent job helping teams get games in when possible, and the flexibility the Fighting Hawks have shown in adjusting to game times and days will benefit the team in the national tournament.

Omaha has been the biggest surprise in the NCHC this season. While I expected them to have good results in the pod (and they did, posting a record of 6-3-1), I thought that they might regress in the second half, but they went a combined 7-3 against Colorado College (4-0), Denver (2-2), and North Dakota (1-1) over the first ten games of the “normal travel” portion of the schedule.

Over the past two weekends, however, UNO has run into a buzzsaw of a North Dakota team playing perhaps its best hockey of the season, and the Mavericks were outscored 15-4 in dropping all three games.

Mike Gabinet’s squad could be ranked even higher were it not for a disappointing 1-0 defeat at the hands of Miami back on December 12th. In that contest, the Mavs outshot the RedHawks 30-12 (including 15-2 in the third period) but could not solve Ludvig Persson. Other than that frustration, Omaha has fared extremely well in close games, winning three games in overtime, four games by one goal in regulation, and an eighth in a shootout. One of those one-goal regulation victories was UNO’s 5-4 home victory over the Fighting Hawks back on January 30th.

Turning back the clock a bit: 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 two seasons ago, 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 had to have been a bit more pleased with last season’s results, as the 2019-20 version of the Mavs collected fourteen victories (14-17-5).

As another sign that Berry has righted the ship, UND is now 44-9-5 (.802) over the past two seasons.

Turning our attention to this weekend’s matchup, sophomore netminder Isaiah Saville (11-9-1, 2.80 GAA, .914 SV%, 1 SO) had been spectacular in net for the Mavs coming into the aforementioned Saturday contest at Ralph Engelstad Arena, but the Fighting Hawks chased him after just 33 minutes of game action by scoring five goals on fifteen shots on goal. In Friday’s opener, Saville stopped 37 of the 41 shots he faced.

Fellow second-year netminder Austin Roden has appeared in four games (2-0-0. 2.67 GAA, .921 SV%, 1 SO), including his relief appearance on that Saturday night (two goals allowed on twelve shots). Omaha has allowed more than two goals only eleven times all season (including all five games against UND), while North Dakota’s opponents have scored more than two goals seven times. More impressively, since the Fighting Hawks dropped a 4-1 Sunday decision at Denver back on January 17th, they have allowed just 15 goals in the past ten games, going 9-1-0 over that stretch. The one loss in that timeframe? A 5-4 defeat at Omaha on January 30th.

Junior netminder Adam Scheel (16-3-1. 1.80 GAA, .929 SV%, 4 SO) has made the majority of starts for North Dakota, with senior Peter Thome (2-1-0, 2.79 GAA, .879 SV%) appearing in four games. In addition to his four shutouts, Scheel has allowed just a single goal in six other victories this season. The junior from Lakewood, Ohio was recently named a 2021 Mike Richter Award finalist along with eight other goaltenders; Scheel is the only finalist from the NCHC. This year’s winner will be announced in April during the NCAA Frozen Four.

A half-point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and Mike Gabinet’s squad boasts eight players who meet that threshold: junior forward Chase Primeau (8-14-22), junior forward Taylor Ward (10-7-17), junior forward Tyler Weiss (6-14-20), senior forward Kevin Conley (8-8-16), freshman forward Matt Miller (7-5-12), sophomore forward Jack Randl (5-7-12), freshman forward Brock Bremer (6-7-13), and defenseman Brandon Scanlin (2-12-14).

Sophomore forward Joey Abate (1-7-8) no longer appears on this list of offensive contributors after being held pointless in his last seven games and taking 28 minutes in penalties. Abate is the NCAA leader in penalties and penalty minutes this season.

Saturday’s melee in Grand Forks thirteen days ago started with Abate slashing UND forward Louis Jamernik on the wrist instead of attempting to win the faceoff. Jamernik responded with a cross-check, and the line brawl was on. Not surprisingly, Abate did the same thing late in Friday’s game with North Dakota leading 4-1 and less than two minutes on the clock.

Over the course of the past two weekends, the Hawks chose to do most of their fighting on the scoreboard, and, as evidence of that, Brad Berry now has ten players at a half point or better per game: sophomore forward Shane Pinto (15-13-28), senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi (6-20-26), senior forward Collin Adams (9-14-23), senior defenseman Matt Kiersted (3-16-19), senior forward Grant Mismash (9-9-18 in 18 games), freshman forward Riese Gaber (8-8-16), junior forward Jasper Weatherby (11-7-18), junior forward Mark Senden (3-10-13), junior defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker (2-13-15), and freshman defenseman Jake Sanderson (2-9-11 in 16 games).

Jordan Kawaguchi was the only NCHC player to notch at least one point in each of his team’s games in the Omaha pod. Shane Pinto has already generated 138 shot attempts this season and leads the entire league in scoring, one point ahead of Duluth’s Nick Swaney (13-14-27), who had a hat trick last weekend while Pinto was held out of the lineup. Both Kawaguchi (12th in the nation in scoring) and Pinto (6th) should be considered candidates for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award along with teammate Matt Kiersted, whose 19 points rank fourth among defensemen.

It is abundantly clear that North Dakota will have the puck a lot this season, and the numbers bear that out. After 23 games, the Fighting Hawks are 6th in the nation in shots on goal allowed/game (24.9) and are in the top ten in the country in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi (% of shots taken vs. opponent): 55.1% (10th)
Fenwick (% of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent): 56.2% (7th)

By comparison, the Mavericks are 35th in Corsi (48.0%) and 32nd in Fenwick (48.3), averaging 28.3 shots on goal per game (North Dakota is averaging 31.2/game) while allowing 32.7 shots on goal against/contest.

Remarkably, Omaha is outscoring opponents 76-67 despite being outshot 752-650 on the season (North Dakota is outshooting opponents 717-573).

One key area to watch in this contest is the face-off dot (and not just for slashing). The Fighting Hawks are first in the nation in faceoff win percentage at 55.0 percent, while Omaha is 26th (50.4%) among the 51 men’s college hockey teams to have played at least one game this season.

Leading the way in the faceoff circle for North Dakota have been Shane Pinto (62.1%), Jasper Weatherby (53.9%), and Collin Adams (55.3%). Omaha will counter with Nolan Sullivan (58.3%), Noah Prokop (50.5%), Chayse Primeau (51.8%), and Joey Abate (42.2%).

In their January series in Omaha, the teams were relatively even in the faceoff circle on Friday, with UND holding a slight 29-27 edge (51.2%). North Dakota dominated the dot in the rematch, winning 46 of 71 (64.8%). For the weekend, the Fighting Hawks outshot the Mavericks 83-59.

In Grand Forks, the faceoffs were nearly even, with UND winning 60 draws and Omaha winning 59. North Dakota outshot UNO 68-43 in the two-game series.

And one week ago, North Dakota won 30 of 58 faceoffs and outshot the Mavs 37-32.

The Fighting Hawks are scoring on 12.8 percent of their shots on goal, a remarkable statistic good for 2nd in the country. The Mavericks are right behind in 6th place, lighting the lamp on 11.7 percent of their shots on goal.

North Dakota’s puck possession game and sharpshooting have led to 92 goals scored by nineteen different players in 23 games (4.00 goals scored/game); 92 goals is the high-water mark in the NCHC this season. Omaha’s 76 goals (3.30 goals/game) have been scored by seventeen different players.

After UND and the Mavericks, here are the next closest teams in terms of offensive production:

St. Cloud State: 74 goals scored in 23 games (3.22 goals/game)
Western Michigan: 73 goals scored in 24 games (3.04)
Minnesota Duluth: 69 goals scored in 23 games (3.00)

UND’s offensive prowess is matched by their stingy defense, as the Fighting Hawks have only allowed 44 goals in 23 games (1.91 goals allowed/game), the lowest total in the NCHC. Minnesota Duluth is in second place defensively, having allowed 50 goals in 23 games this season for an average of 2.17 goals allowed per game.

By comparison, Omaha is allowing 2.91 goals per contest (67 goals allowed in 23 games).

UND’s scoring margin of 92-44 is certainly impressive, but a look inside the numbers reveals that the Fighting Hawks outscored Colorado College, Western Michigan, and Miami 36-9 in eight games (8-0-0) and played relatively even (56 goals for, 35 goals against) in its other fifteen matchups (six games against Denver, five games against Omaha, and two each vs. Duluth and St. Cloud State), going 10-4-1 in those contests.

Through 23 games, Omaha has blocked 328 shots as a team, led by Jason Smallidge (45), Nate Knoepke (44), Kirby Proctor (29), and Nolan Sullivan (19).

North Dakota has blocked 297 shots in its 23 games, with Matt Kiersted (43), Jacob Bernard-Docker (31), Gabe Bast (20), and Ethan Frisch (19) leading the way.

When North Dakota is at full strength on the back end, they enjoy a roster advantage against nearly every opponent, and that will be the case again tonight. Omaha’s six most likely starters on defense have combined for 12 goals and 38 assists in 127 combined games this season (0.39 points/game), while the six UND defenders expected in the lineup tonight have put together a line of 16 goals and 46 assists in 111 combined games (0.56 points/game). Matt Kiersted, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Jake Sanderson, Ethan Frisch, Tyler Kleven, and Gabe Bast can all defend, move the puck, and score, and Brad Berry has the luxury of trusting all of his defensemen in all situations, much like he had during North Dakota’s run to the national title in 2016 (with Gage Ausmus, Paul LaDue, Tucker Poolman, Hayden Shaw, Troy Stecher, Keaton Thompson, and Christian Wolanin manning the back end).

Remarkably, the Fighting Hawks’ d-corps has put up those offensive numbers while also allowing less than two goals per contest (1.91, good for 6th in the country). By comparison, Omaha is allowing 2.91 goals per game (27th).

Through each team’s first 23 games, here is the specialty teams ledger:

Omaha power play: 18 of 91, 19.8 percent (20th)
Omaha penalty kill: 78 of 91, 85.7 percent (10th)

North Dakota power play: 27 of 103, 26.2 percent (5th)
North Dakota penalty kill: 87 of 99, 87.9 percent (6th)

North Dakota has scored four shorthanded goals this season, while the Mavericks have two to their credit. The Fighting Hawks have not allowed a shorthanded tally this year; UNO has given up five. That leaves Omaha’s net specialty teams at a +2, while UND weighs in at +19.

In North Dakota’s last defeat (at Omaha on January 30th), North Dakota’s penalty kill let them down, allowing three power play goals to the Mavericks on five man-advantage opportunities in a 5-4 loss. For the weekend, UND went 1 for 10 on the power play, while UNO scored four power play goals on twelve power plays.

Ove the past three games against the Mavs, however, it has been a different story, with the Fighting Hawks scoring seven goals on fourteen man advantage opportunities and holding Omaha scoreless on nine power plays.

The Mavericks have scored 18 of their 76 goals this season with the man advantage, while the Fighting Hawks have scored 27 of their 92 goals this season on the power play.

After tonight’s regular season finale, Brad Berry’s squad will remain in Grand Forks and play all of its league playoff games on home ice at Ralph Engelstad Arena. The Fighting Hawks are hosting an NCAA Regional in Fargo, North Dakota on March 26 and 27 and would be automatically placed in that regional if they are selected for the national tournament, which seems to be a lock at this point.

Of course, being the home team means familiar surroundings and last line change, and that has certainly paid off for the Green and White this season. After going 18-1-0 at REA last season, North Dakota is a perfect 6-0-0 at home this season, outscoring opponents 28-5 while going 8-for-30 (26.7%) on the power play and killing all 24 opponent man-advantage situations. UND netminder Adam Scheel has been at his best at the Ralph, winning all five of his starts with a goals-against average of 0.60, a save percentage of .970, and two shutouts.

UND’s next potential road game is on Thursday, April 8th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the site of this season’s NCAA Frozen Four.

On the injury front, UND senior forward Grant Mismash (9-9-18 in 18 games played) will miss his fifth consecutive game after sustaining an injury on February 12th against Denver. North Dakota is 4-0 without Mismash, outscoring opponents 20-6.

Omaha Mavericks

Head Coach: Mike Gabinet (4th season at UNO, 53-68-11, .443)
National Rankings: #12/#12

This Season: 13-9-1 overall, 13-9-1 NCHC (4th)
Last Season: 14-17-5 overall, 8-13-3-0 NCHC (6th)

Team Offense: 3.30 goals scored/game – 15th of 51 teams
Team Defense: 2.91 goals allowed/game – 27th of 51 teams
Power Play: 19.8% (18 of 91) – 20th of 51 teams
Penalty Kill: 85.7% (78 of 91) – 10th of 51 teams

Key Players: Junior F Chase Primeau (8-14-22), Junior F Taylor Ward (10-7-17), Junior F Tyler Weiss (6-14-20), Senior F Kevin Conley (8-8-16), Freshman F Matt Miller (7-5-12), Sophomore F Jack Randl (5-7-12), Sophomore D Brandon Scanlin (2-12-14), Freshman F Brock Bremer (6-7-13), Junior D Jason Smallidge (1-10-11), Sophomore G Isaiah Saville (11-9-1, 2.80 GAA, .914 SV%, 1 SO)

North Dakota Fighting Hawks

Head Coach: Brad Berry (6th season at UND, 134-61-24, .667)
National Rankings: #1/#1

This Season: 18-4-1 overall, 17-4-1 NCHC (1st)
Last Season: 26-5-4 overall, 17-4-3-2 NCHC (1st)

2020-2021 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 4.00 goals scored/game – 1st of 51 teams
Team Defense: 1.91 goals allowed/game – 6th of 51 teams

Power Play: 26.2% (27 of 103) – 5th of 51 teams
Penalty Kill: 87.9% (87 of 99) – 6th of 51 teams

Key players: Sophomore F Shane Pinto (15-13-28), Senior F Jordan Kawaguchi (6-20-26), Senior F Grant Mismash (9-9-18), Freshman F Riese Gaber (8-8-16), Senior F Collin Adams (9-14-23), Junior F Jasper Weatherby (11-7-18), Junior F Mark Senden (3-10-13), Senior D Matt Kiersted (3-16-19), Junior D Jacob Bernard-Docker (2-13-15), Sophomore D Ethan Frisch (3-5-8), Freshman D Jake Sanderson (2-9-11 in sixteen games), Junior G Adam Scheel (16-3-1. 1.80 GAA, .929 SV%, 4 SO)

By The Numbers:

Last meeting: February 26, 2021 (Omaha, NE). Brad Berry held out forwards Jordan Kawaguchi, Grant Mismash, and Shane Pinto, and it didn’t matter. North Dakota defeated the homestandings Mavs 4-2 behind a goal and two assists from Jasper Weatherby. The Fighting Hawks’ specialty teams came up huge, with three power play goals on four attempts, four successful penalty kills, and a shorthanded empty-netter for good measure.

Last meeting in Grand Forks: February 20, 2021. The Fighting Hawks boatraced Omaha 7-1 to complete the weekend sweep and secure the program’s fourth Penrose Cup in the eight-year history of the NCHC. UND’s Collin Adams scored two goals and added an assist for the league champions, who potted three power play goals in five attempts and killed all three Maverick power plays (Omaha was whistled for 63 minutes in penalties; UND, 41). One night earlier, the score was a bit closer, with North Dakota prevailing 4-1.

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 43-26 over that stretch.

All-time: UND leads the all-time series 28-14-1 (.663), including a 14-7-1 (.659) record in games played in Grand Forks. North Dakota owns a record of 23-11-1 (.671) 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. UND senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi has sixteen points in seventeen career games against Omaha. The Mavericks have not made the national tournament since their run to the Frozen Four in 2015. North Dakota’s Brad Berry is 19-8-0 (.704) in his head coaching career against Omaha. Since coming out flat in game one at Denver just over a month ago, UND has outscored opponents 47-15 and won nine of ten contests. Five of those fifteen goals allowed came in the second game of the January series at Baxter Arena. North Dakota is 17-0-0 when scoring the first goal this season and 1-4-1 when allowing the first goal. Omaha went 10-6-1 (.618) at Baxter Arena this season, while UND clocked in with a record of 9-3-1 (.731).

The Prediction

While it is true that the Green and White could benefit from another victory in its quest for the #1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, the Mavericks are in a very precarious position nationally and could sorely use a win against top-ranked North Dakota, if only to impress the committee making the final seeding decisions. UND has done very well historically on Senior Night, and I’ve got a feeling that seniors Collin Adams, Gabe Bast, Jordan Kawaguchi, Jackson Keane, Matt Kiersted, Josh Rieger, and maybe even goaltender Peter Thome will do everything possible to ensure a victory on home ice. For the second week in a row, I just hope no one gets hurt. UND 5, Omaha 1.

Broadcast Information

Tonight’s game (7:37 p.m. Central Time) will be broadcast live on Midco Sports Network ond TSN (Canada), with a livestream also available 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, I welcome your questions, comments, and suggestions. Follow me on Twitter (@DBergerHockey) for more information and insight. Here’s to hockey!

Game Preview: UND at Omaha

#2 North Dakota (17-4-1) and #11 Omaha (13-8-1) will face off for the fifth time in less than a month at Baxter Arena on Friday night, and tensions are already high. Just six days ago, a line brawl erupted with less than a minute remaining in UND’s 7-1 win over the Mavericks, a victory that secured the Fighting Hawks’ second consecutive league championship and saw Brad Berry’s squad hoist the #PenneRosa for the fourth time in the eight-year history of the NCHC.

With only two weeks remaining in the regular season, the standings are coming into focus. North Dakota has clinched the #1 seed for the league playoffs, with the other three “home ice” teams decided but still jockeying for position within the table.

Here is the current NCHC leaderboard in terms of points earned/game:

1. North Dakota 2.27 (50 points in 22 games)
2. St. Cloud State 1.95 (43 points in 22 games)
3. Minnesota Duluth 1.77 (39 points in 22 games)
4. Omaha 1.73 (38 points in 22 games)
5. Denver 1.33 (28 points in 21 games)
6. Western Michigan 1.23 (27 points in 22 games)
7. Colorado College 0.86 (18 points in 21 games)
8. Miami 0.82 (18 points in 22 games)

Here is the remaining schedule for the eight league members to get each team to 24 conference games before the start of the NCHC playoffs (March 12th-16th):

North Dakota/Omaha (two games remaining):

@ UNO on Friday, February 26th
@ UND on Friday, March 5th

St. Cloud State/Minnesota Duluth (two games remaining):

@ UMD on Saturday, February 27th
@ SCSU on Saturday, March 6th

Denver/Colorado College (three games remaining):

@ DU on Saturday, February 27th and Thursday March 4th
@ CC on Saturday, March 6th

Western Michigan/Miami (two games remaining):

@ WMU on Friday, February 26th
@ Miami on Sunday, February 28th

Last weekend, however, UNO ran into a buzzsaw of a North Dakota team playing perhaps its best hockey of the season, and the visitors were swept by a combined score of 11-2.

As another sign that Berry has righted the ship, UND is now 43-9-5 (.798) over the past two seasons.

Turning our attention to this weekend’s matchup, sophomore netminder Isaiah Saville (11-8-1, 2.78 GAA, .913 SV%, 1 SO) had been spectacular in net for the Mavs coming into last Saturday’s contest at Ralph Engelstad Arena, but the Fighting Hawks chased him after just 33 minutes of game action by scoring five goals on fifteen shots on goal. In Friday’s opener, Saville stopped 37 of the 41 shots he faced.

Fellow second-year netminder Austin Roden has appeared in four games (2-0-0. 2.67 GAA, .921 SV%, 1 SO), including his relief appearance on Saturday night (two goals allowed on twelve shots). Omaha has allowed more than two goals only ten times all season (including all four games against UND), while North Dakota’s opponents have scored more than two goals seven times.

Junior netminder Adam Scheel (15-3-1. 1.78 GAA, .928 SV%, 4 SO) has made the majority of starts for North Dakota, with senior Peter Thome (2-1-0, 2.79 GAA, .879 SV%) appearing in four games. Scheel came on in relief in UND’s loss to St. Cloud State after Thome allowed four goals on 18 shots in 33 minutes of action. After giving up just four total goals in his previous four starts, Scheel allowed five goals on 27 shots in UND’s last game at Omaha but rebounded with a 24-save shutout performance against Denver last Friday night. Near the end of that contest, Denver captain Kohen Olischefski tripped Scheel from behind and earned himself a major penalty and a one-game suspension. Scheel was unable to play in Saturday’s rematch but earned both victories last weekend in Grand Forks, stopping 41 of 43 shots in the two-game sweep.

In addition to his four shutouts, Scheel has allowed just a single goal in six other victories this season. The junior from Lakewood, Ohio was recently named a 2021 Mike Richter Award finalist along with eight other goaltenders; Scheel is the only finalist from the NCHC. This year’s winner will be announced in April during the NCAA Frozen Four.

A half-point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and Mike Gabinet’s squad boasts nine players who meet that threshold: junior forward Chase Primeau (8-14-22), junior forward Taylor Ward (10-7-17), junior forward Tyler Weiss (6-14-20), senior forward Kevin Conley (8-7-15), freshman forward Matt Miller (7-5-12), sophomore forward Jack Randl (4-7-11), freshman forward Brock Bremer (5-7-12), defenseman Brandon Scanlin (2-12-14), and freshman defenseman Jake Harrison (0-3-3 in six games).

Sophomore forward Joey Abate (1-7-8) no longer appears on this list of offensive contributors after being held pointless last weekend and taking eighteen minutes in penalties. Abate is the NCAA leader in penalties and penalty minutes this season.

Saturday’s melee started with Abate slashing UND forward Louis Jamernik on the wrist instead of attempting to win the faceoff. Jamernik responded with a cross-check, and the line brawl was on. Not surprisingly, Abate did the same thing late in Friday’s game with North Dakota leading 4-1 and less than two minutes on the clock.

Over the course of the weekend, the Hawks chose to do most of their fighting on the scoreboard, and, as evidence of that, Brad Berry now has ten players at a half point or better per game: sophomore forward Shane Pinto (15-13-28), senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi (6-20-26), senior forward Collin Adams (9-14-23), senior defenseman Matt Kiersted (3-16-19), senior forward Grant Mismash (9-9-18 in 18 games), freshman forward Riese Gaber (8-8-16), junior forward Jasper Weatherby (10-5-15), junior forward Mark Senden (2-10-12), junior defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker (2-11-13), and freshman defenseman Jake Sanderson (1-8-9 in 15 games).

Jordan Kawaguchi was the only NCHC player to notch at least one point in each of his team’s games in the Omaha pod. Shane Pinto has already generated 138 shot attempts this season and leads the entire league in scoring, two points ahead of Kawaguchi and four points clear of Duluth’s Nick Swaney (10-14-24). Both Kawaguchi (9th in the nation in scoring) and Pinto (6th) should be considered candidates for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award along with teammate Matt Kiersted, whose 19 points rank third among defensemen.

It is abundantly clear that North Dakota will have the puck a lot this season, and the numbers bear that out. After 22 games, the Fighting Hawks are 6th in the nation in shots on goal allowed/game (24.6) and are in the top ten in the country in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi (% of shots taken vs. opponent): 55.3% (9th)
Fenwick (% of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent): 56.4% (5th)

By comparison, the Mavericks are 34th in Corsi (47.9%) and 32nd in Fenwick (48.3), averaging 28.1 shots on goal per game (North Dakota is averaging 30.9/game) while allowing 32.5 shots on goal against/contest.

Remarkably, Omaha is outscoring opponents 74-63 despite being outshot 715-618 on the season (North Dakota is outshooting opponents 680-541).

One key area to watch in this contest is the face-off dot (and not just for slashing). The Fighting Hawks are first in the nation in faceoff win percentage at 55.7 percent, while Omaha is 25th (50.5%) among the 51 men’s college hockey teams to have played at least one game this season.

Leading the way in the faceoff circle for North Dakota have been Shane Pinto (62.1%), Jasper Weatherby (53.2%), and Collin Adams (54.6%). Omaha will counter with Nolan Sullivan (58.5%), Noah Prokop (50.5%), Chayse Primeau (52.4%), and Joey Abate (41.6%).
In their January series in Omaha, the teams were relatively even in the faceoff circle on Friday, with UND holding a slight 29-27 edge (51.2%). North Dakota dominated the dot in the rematch, winning 46 of 71 (64.8%). For the weekend, the Fighting Hawks outshot the Mavericks 83-59.

Last weekend in Grand Forks, the faceoffs were nearly even, with UND winning 60 draws and Omaha winning 59. North Dakota outshot UNO 68-43 in the two-game series.

The Fighting Hawks are scoring on 12.9 percent of their shots on goal, a remarkable statistic good for 2nd in the country. The Mavericks are right behind in 5th place, lighting the lamp on 12.0 percent of their shots on goal.

North Dakota’s puck possession game and sharpshooting have led to 88 goals scored by nineteen different players in 22 games (4.00 goals scored/game); 88 goals is the high-water mark in the NCHC this season. Omaha’s 74 goals (3.36 goals/game) have been scored by seventeen different players.

After UND and the Mavericks, here are the next closest teams in terms of offensive production:

St. Cloud State: 73 goals scored in 22 games (3.32 goals/game)
Minnesota Duluth: 64 goals scored in 22 games (2.91)
Western Michigan: 64 goals scored in 22 games (2.91)

UND’s offensive prowess is matched by their stingy defense, as the Fighting Hawks have only allowed 42 goals in 22 games (1.91 goals allowed/game), the lowest total in the NCHC. Minnesota Duluth is in second place defensively, having allowed 49 goals in 22 games this season for an average of 2.23 goals allowed per game.

By comparison, Omaha is allowing 2.86 goals per contest (63 goals allowed in 22 games).

UND’s scoring margin of 88-42 is certainly impressive, but a look inside the numbers reveals that the Fighting Hawks outscored Colorado College, Western Michigan, and Miami 36-9 in eight games (8-0-0) and played relatively even (52 goals for, 33 goals against) in its other fourteen matchups (six games against Denver, four games against Omaha, and two each vs. Duluth and St. Cloud State), going 9-4-1 in those contests.

In late January, North Dakota traveled to Omaha for a weekend series, winning 6-2 on Friday night before losing 5-4 in the rematch.

Through 22 games, Omaha has blocked 318 shots as a team, led by Jason Smallidge (45), Nate Knoepke (44), Kirby Proctor (29), and Nolan Sullivan (19).

North Dakota has blocked 284 shots in its 22 games, with Matt Kiersted (42), Jacob Bernard-Docker (30), and Ethan Frisch (19) leading the way. Gabe Bast has contributed twenty blocks in his sixteen games, although he will sit this one out after tangling with Omaha’s Noah Prokop in Saturday’s 7-1 UND victory.

When North Dakota is at full strength on the back end, they enjoy a roster advantage against nearly every opponent, and that will be the case again this weekend. Omaha’s six most likely starters on defense have combined for 12 goals and 37 assists in 121 combined games this season (0.40 points/game), while the six UND defenders expected in the lineup tonight have put together a line of 16 goals and 44 assists in 105 combined games (0.57 points/game). Matt Kiersted, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Jake Sanderson, Ethan Frisch, Tyler Kleven, and Cooper Moore can all defend, move the puck, and score, and Brad Berry has the luxury of trusting all of his defensemen in all situations, much like he had during North Dakota’s run to the national title in 2016 (with Gage Ausmus, Paul LaDue, Tucker Poolman, Hayden Shaw, Troy Stecher, Keaton Thompson, and Christian Wolanin manning the back end).

Remarkably, the Fighting Hawks’ d-corps has put up those numbers while also allowing less than two goals per contest (1.91, good for 5th in the country). By comparison, Omaha is allowing 2.86 goals per game (24th).

In addition to Gabe Bast, UND bench boss Brad Berry is likely to be without the services of senior forward Grant Mismash (9-9-18) for the fourth consecutive game. Berry may also choose to sit one or more other players dealing with minor injuries. I would expect freshman Cooper Moore in the lineup in place of Bast, with senior forward/defenseman Josh Rieger (1-1-2 in fourteen games) and sophomore forward Carson Albrecht (scoreless in eight games) in the lineup as well.

Through each team’s first 22 games, here is the specialty teams ledger:

Omaha power play: 18 of 87, 20.7 percent
Omaha penalty kill: 77 of 87, 88.5 percent

North Dakota power play: 24 of 99, 24.2 percent
North Dakota penalty kill: 83 of 95, 87.4 percent

North Dakota has scored three shorthanded goals this season, while the Mavericks have two to their credit. The Fighting Hawks have not allowed a shorthanded tally this year; UNO has given up four. That leaves Omaha’s net specialty teams at a +6, while UND weighs in at +15.

As one of the nation’s most penalized teams, North Dakota’s penalty kill finally let them down in their last game at Omaha, allowing three power play goals to the Mavericks on five man-advantage opportunities in a 5-4 loss. For the weekend, UND went 1 for 10 on the power play, while UNO scored four power play goals on twelve power plays.

Last weekend, things were a different story. The Fighting Hawks scored four goals on ten man advantage opportunities and held Omaha scoreless on five power plays.

The Mavericks have scored 18 of their 74 goals this season with the man advantage, while the Fighting Hawks have scored 24 of their 88 goals this season on the power play.

After this weekend, North Dakota will host the Mavericks on Friday, March 5th, and all of its games in the league playoffs will also be played at Ralph Engelstad Arena. The Fighting Hawks are hosting an NCAA Regional in Fargo, North Dakota on March 26 and 27 and would be automatically placed in that regional if they are selected for the national tournament, which seems to be a lock at this point.

Of course, being the home team means familiar surroundings and last line change, and that has certainly paid off for the Green and White this season. After going 18-1-0 at REA last season, North Dakota is a perfect 6-0-0 at home this season, outscoring opponents 28-5 while going 8-for-30 (26.7%) on the power play and killing all 24 opponent man-advantage situations. UND netminder Adam Scheel has been at his best at the Ralph, winning all five of his starts with a goals-against average of 0.60, a save percentage of .970, and two shutouts.

After tonight, UND’s next potential road game is on Thursday, April 8th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the site of this season’s NCAA Frozen Four.

Omaha Mavericks

Head Coach: Mike Gabinet (4th season at UNO, 53-66-11, .450)
National Rankings: #11/#12

This Season: 13-8-1 overall, 13-8-1 NCHC
Last Season: 14-17-5 overall, 8-13-3-0 NCHC (6th)

Team Offense: 3.36 goals scored/game – 15th of 51 teams
Team Defense: 2.86 goals allowed/game – 24th of 51 teams
Power Play: 20.7% (18 of 87) – 18th of 51 teams
Penalty Kill: 88.5% (77 of 87) – 5th of 51 teams

Key Players: Junior F Chase Primeau (8-14-22), Junior F Taylor Ward (10-7-17), Junior F Tyler Weiss (6-14-20), Senior F Kevin Conley (8-7-15), Freshman F Matt Miller (7-5-12), Sophomore F Jack Randl (4-7-11), Sophomore D Brandon Scanlin (2-12-14), Freshman F Brock Bremer (5-7-12), Junior D Jason Smallidge (1-9-10), Sophomore G Isaiah Saville (11-8-1, 2.78 GAA, .913 SV%, 1 SO)

North Dakota Fighting Hawks

Head Coach: Brad Berry (6th season at UND, 133-61-24, .665)
National Rankings: #2/#1

This Season: 17-4-1 overall, 17-4-1 NCHC
Last Season: 26-5-4 overall, 17-4-3-2 NCHC (1st)

2020-2021 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 4.00 goals scored/game – 1st of 51 teams
Team Defense: 1.91 goals allowed/game – 5th of 51 teams

Power Play: 24.2% (24 of 99) – 8th of 51 teams
Penalty Kill: 87.4% (83 of 95) – 9th of 51 teams

Key players: Sophomore F Shane Pinto (15-13-28), Senior F Jordan Kawaguchi (6-20-26), Senior F Grant Mismash (9-9-18), Freshman F Riese Gaber (8-8-16), Senior F Collin Adams (9-14-23), Junior F Jasper Weatherby (10-5-15), Junior F Mark Senden (2-10-12), Senior D Matt Kiersted (3-16-19), Junior D Jacob Bernard-Docker (2-11-13), Sophomore D Ethan Frisch (3-5-8), Freshman D Jake Sanderson (1-8-9 in fifteen games), Junior G Adam Scheel (15-3-1. 1.78 GAA, .928 SV%, 4 SO)

By The Numbers:

Last meeting: February 20, 2021 (Grand Forks, ND). The Fighting Hawks boatraced Omaha 7-1 to complete the weekend sweep and secure the program’s fourth Penrose Cup in the eight-year history of the NCHC. UND’s Collin Adams scored two goals and added an assist for the league champions, who potted three power play goals in five attempts and killed all three Maverick power plays (Omaha was whistled for 63 minutes in penalties; UND, 41). One night earlier, the score was a bit closer, with North Dakota prevailing 4-1.

Last meeting in Omaha: January 30, 2021. Specialty teams was the difference in this one, as UND allowed three power play goals on five attempts to the homestanding Mavericks, including one to former North Dakota defenseman Jonny Tychonick, who scored his second goal of the season with eleven seconds remaining in the first period. Omaha netminder Isaiah Saville made 43 saves in the 5-4 victory. One night earlier, the Fighting Hawks scored five unanswered goals in the second and third periods to earn a 6-2 road victory.

Last ten: North Dakota has won seven of the last ten contests between the schools, outscoring the Mavericks 41-25 over that stretch.

All-time: UND leads the all-time series 27-14-1 (.655), including a 13-7-0 (.650) record in games played in Omaha. North Dakota owns a record of 22-11-1 (.662) 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. UND senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi has sixteen points in seventeen career games against Omaha. The Mavericks have not made the national tournament since their run to the Frozen Four in 2015. North Dakota’s Brad Berry is 18-8-0 (.692) in his head coaching career against Omaha. Since coming out flat in game one at Denver a month ago, UND has outscored opponents 43-13 and won eight of nine contests. Five of those thirteen goals allowed came in the second game of the January series at Baxter Arena. North Dakota is 16-0-0 when scoring the first goal this season and 1-4-1 when allowing the first goal. Omaha is 10-5-1 (.656) at Baxter Arena this season, while UND clocks in with a record of 8-3-1 (.708).

The Prediction

UND split its last two road series (at Denver, at Omaha), scoring 16 goals and allowing 12. With only one game on the docket this weekend, a split is obviously impossible. I have to imagine that UNO can’t wait to get back on the ice after being swept out of Ralph Engelstad Arena last weekend, and therefore I give the edge to the homestanding Mavs. Fighting Hawks’ head coach Brad Berry may elect to rest a couple of players who are a bit banged up, and a post-#PenneRosa letdown has been a problem for UND in the past. While it is true that the Green and White could benefit from another victory in its quest for the #1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, the Mavericks are playing to avoid facing Denver in the first game of the league playoffs and are in a more precarious position nationally. Honestly, I just hope no one gets hurt in this one. Omaha 3, North Dakota 2.

Broadcast Information

Tonight’s game at Omaha (7:07 p.m. Central Time) will be available via streaming 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, I welcome your questions, comments, and suggestions. Follow me on Twitter (@DBergerHockey) for more information and insight. Here’s to hockey!

Weekend Preview: UND vs. Omaha

With all of the ties, shootouts, late-game heroics, and overtime winners as well as the disparity in each team’s number of games played in the Omaha pod and during the second half of the season, it can be difficult to get a handle on who is ahead in the conference standings. The best way I have found is to look at the average number of points earned. It is also possible that the teams will finish the regular season with an uneven number of games played; in that case, the league will use average points earned/game as the measuring stick to determine the league championship as well as the matchups in the first round of the conference playoffs.

With that as our guide, here’s the NCHC leaderboard (three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime or shootout win, and one point for an overtime or shootout loss)

1. North Dakota 2.20 (44 points in 20 games)
2. St. Cloud State 1.90 (40 points in 21 games)
3. Omaha 1.90 (38 points in 20 games)
4. Minnesota Duluth 1.77 (39 points in 22 games)
5. Denver 1.25 (25 points in 20 games)
6. Western Michigan 1.23 (27 points in 22 games)
7. Colorado College 0.95 (18 points in 19 games)
8. Miami 0.82 (18 points in 22 games)

After losing last night for the third straight game, Duluth has been mathematically eliminated from the race for the Penrose Cup; the top three teams in the standings can all finish as NCHC regular season champions.

#2 North Dakota (15-4-1) played all ten scheduled games in the Omaha pod, but it has not been smooth sailing in the second half. UND has already had multiple weekends scratched and rescheduled in the second half; the league has done an excellent job helping teams get games in when possible, and the flexibility the Fighting Hawks have shown in adjusting to game times and days will benefit the team in the national tournament.

#9 Omaha (13-6-1) has been the biggest surprise in the NCHC this season. While I expected them to have good results in the pod (and they did, posting a record of 6-3-1), I thought that they might regress in the second half, and they certainly haven’t, going a combined 7-3 against Colorado College (4-0), Denver (2-2), and North Dakota (1-1). Prior to this season, it had been six seasons since the Mavericks defeated the Pioneers (a nineteen-game wineless streak).

As another sign that Berry has righted the ship, UND is now 41-9-5 (.791) over the past two seasons.

Turning our attention to this weekend’s matchup, sophomore netminder Isaiah Saville (11-6-1, 2.52 GAA, .921 SV%, 1 SO) has been spectacular in net for the Mavs, with classmate Austin Roden appearing in three games (2-0-0. 2.35 GAA, .933 SV%, 1 SO). Omaha has allowed more than two goals only eight times all season (including both games against UND), while North Dakota’s opponents have scored more than two goals seven times.

Junior netminder Adam Scheel (13-3-1. 1.88 GAA, .925 SV%, 4 SO) has made the majority of starts for North Dakota, with senior Peter Thome (2-1-0, 2.79 GAA, .879 SV%) appearing in four games. Scheel came on in relief in UND’s loss to St. Cloud State after Thome allowed four goals on 18 shots in 33 minutes of action. After giving up just four total goals in his previous four starts, Scheel allowed five goals on 27 shots in UND’s last game at Omaha but rebounded with a 24-save shutout performance against Denver last Friday night. Near the end of that contest, Denver captain Kohen Olischefski tripped Scheel from behind and earned himself a major penalty and a one-game suspension. Scheel was unable to play in Saturday’s rematch but is expected to be available for this weekend’s series against the Mavericks.

A half-point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and Mike Gabinet’s squad boasts eleven players who meet that threshold: junior forward Chase Primeau (8-14-22), junior forward Taylor Ward (10-6-16), junior forward Tyler Weiss (5-14-19), senior forward Kevin Conley (7-7-14), freshman forward Matt Miller (7-5-12), sophomore forward Jack Randl (4-7-11), freshman forward Brock Bremer (5-6-11), sophomore forward Joey Abate (1-7-8), senior forward Martin Sundberg (6-3-9), defenseman Brandon Scanlin (2-12-14), and freshman defenseman Jake Harrison (0-3-3 in six games).

By that same measure, eight North Dakota players make the list: sophomore forward Shane Pinto (14-12-26), senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi (5-18-23), senior defenseman Matt Kiersted (3-16-19), senior forward Grant Mismash (9-9-18), freshman forward Riese Gaber (8-7-15), senior forward Collin Adams (7-12-19), junior forward Jasper Weatherby (8-4-12), and junior forward Mark Senden (2-9-11).

Jordan Kawaguchi was the only NCHC player to notch at least one point in each of his team’s games in the Omaha pod. Shane Pinto has already generated 125 shot attempts this season and leads the entire league in scoring, two points ahead of Duluth’s Nick Swaney (10-14-24 in 22 games played). Both Kawaguchi (10th in the nation in scoring) and Pinto (4th) should be considered candidates for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award along with teammate Matt Kiersted, whose 19 points rank second among defensemen.

It is abundantly clear that North Dakota will have the puck a lot this season, and the numbers bear that out. After twenty games, the Fighting Hawks are 6th in the nation in shots on goal allowed/game (24.9) and are in the top seven in the country in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi (% of shots taken vs. opponent): 55.2% (7th)
Fenwick (% of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent): 56.1% (6th)

By comparison, the Mavericks are 34th in Corsi (48.3%) and 30th in Fenwick (49.0), averaging 28.8 shots on goal per game (North Dakota is averaging 30.6/game) while allowing 32.4 shots on goal against/contest.

Remarkably, Omaha is outscoring opponents 72-52 despite being outshot 647-575 on the season (North Dakota is outshooting opponents 612-498).

One key area to watch in this contest is the face-off dot. The Fighting Hawks are first in the nation in faceoff win percentage at 56.2 percent, while Omaha is 21st (50.6%) among the 51 men’s college hockey teams to have played at least one game this season.

Leading the way in the faceoff circle for North Dakota have been Shane Pinto (61.9%), Jasper Weatherby (53.8%), and Collin Adams (56.3%). Omaha will counter with Nolan Sullivan (59.2%), Noah Prokop (51.7%), Chayse Primeau (51.3%), and Joey Abate (42.4%).

The Fighting Hawks are scoring on 12.6 percent of their shots on goal, a remarkable statistic good for 3rd in the country. The Mavericks are right behind in 5th place, lighting the lamp on 12.5 percent of their shots on goal.

North Dakota’s puck possession game and sharpshooting have led to 77 goals scored by eighteen different players in twenty games (3.85 goals scored/game); 77 goals is the high-water mark in the NCHC this season. Omaha’s 72 goals (3.60 goals/game) have been scored by seventeen different players.

After UND and the Mavericks, here are the next closest teams in terms of offensive production:

St. Cloud State: 69 goals scored in 21 games (3.29 goals/game)
Minnesota Duluth: 64 goals scored in 22 games (2.91)
Western Michigan: 64 goals scored in 22 games (2.91)

UND’s offensive prowess is matched by their stingy defense, as the Fighting Hawks have only allowed 40 goals in twenty games (2.00 goals allowed/game), the lowest total in the NCHC. Minnesota Duluth is in second place defensively, having allowed 49 goals in 22 games this season for an average of 2.23 goals allowed per game.

By comparison, Omaha is allowing 2.60 goals per contest (52 goals allowed in twenty games).

UND’s scoring margin of 77-40 is certainly impressive, but a look inside the numbers reveals that the Fighting Hawks outscored Colorado College, Western Michigan, and Miami 36-9 in eight games (8-0-0) and played relatively even (41 goals for, 31 goals against) in its other twelve matchups (six games against Denver and two each vs. Duluth, Omaha, and St. Cloud State), going 7-4-1 in those contests.

In late January, North Dakota traveled to Omaha for a weekend series, winning 6-2 on Friday night before losing 5-4 in the rematch.

Through twenty games, Omaha has blocked 294 shots as a team, led by Nate Knoepke (42), Jason Smallidge (42), Kirby Proctor (25), and Brandon Scanlin (18).

North Dakota has blocked 257 shots in its twenty games, with Matt Kiersted (39), Jacob Bernard-Docker (29), and Ethan Frisch (19 in fifteen games) leading the way. Gabe Bast has contributed 18 blocks in his fourteen games; he made his return to the lineup last weekend.

When North Dakota is healthy on the back end, they enjoy a roster advantage against nearly every opponent, and that will be the case again this weekend. Omaha’s six most likely starters on defense have combined for 12 goals and 35 assists in 109 combined games this season (0.43 points/game), while UND’s top six have put together the exact same line (12 goals and 35 assists) in 94 games (0.50 points/game). All six UND blueliners expected in the lineup this weekend can defend, move the puck, and score, and Brad Berry has the luxury of trusting all of his defensemen in all situations, much like he had during North Dakota’s run to the national title in 2016 (with Gage Ausmus, Paul LaDue, Tucker Poolman, Hayden Shaw, Troy Stecher, Keaton Thompson, and Christian Wolanin manning the back end).

Remarkably, the Fighting Hawks’ d-corps has put up those numbers while also allowing exactly two goals per contest (6th in the country). By comparison, Omaha is allowing 2.60 goals per game (20th).

Through each team’s first twenty games, here is the specialty teams ledger:

Omaha power play: 18 of 82, 22.0 percent
Omaha penalty kill: 71 of 77, 92.2 percent

North Dakota power play: 20 of 89, 22.5 percent
North Dakota penalty kill: 78 of 90, 86.7 percent

The Mavericks have scored 18 of their 72 goals this season with the man advantage, while the Fighting Hawks have scored 20 of their 77 goals this season on the power play.

After this weekend, North Dakota is scheduled to travel to Omaha for a single game next Friday, February 26th and host the Mavericks on Friday, March 5th. Including this weekend, five of UND’s final six regular season games – as well as all of its games in the league playoffs – will be played at Ralph Engelstad Arena. The Fighting Hawks are hosting an NCAA Regional in Fargo, North Dakota on March 26 and 27 and would be automatically placed in that regional if they are selected for the national tournament, which seems to be a virtual lock at this point.

With two regulation victories over its final four games before the playoffs, North Dakota would win its fourth Penrose Cup as NCHC regular season champions. UND (2015, 2016, 2020) and St. Cloud State (2014, 2018, 2019) are each three-time winners of the #PennaRosa. Denver (2017) is the only other league team to earn the prestigious trophy.

Omaha Mavericks

Head Coach: Mike Gabinet (4th season at UNO, 53-64-11, .457)
National Rankings: #9/#10

This Season: 13-6-1 overall, 13-6-1 NCHC
Last Season: 14-17-5 overall, 8-13-3-0 NCHC (6th)

Team Offense: 3.60 goals scored/game – 12th of 51 teams
Team Defense: 2.60 goals allowed/game – 20th of 51 teams
Power Play: 22.0% (18 of 82) – 14th of 51 teams
Penalty Kill: 92.2% (71 of 77) – 3rd of 51 teams

Key Players: Junior F Chase Primeau (8-14-22), Junior F Taylor Ward (10-6-16), Junior F Tyler Weiss (5-14-19), Senior F Kevin Conley (7-7-14), Freshman F Matt Miller (7-5-12), Sophomore F Jack Randl (4-7-11), Sophomore F Joey Abate (1-7-8), Sophomore D Brandon Scanlin (2-12-14), Junior D Jason Smallidge (1-8-9), Sophomore G Isaiah Saville (11-6-1, 2.52 GAA, .921 SV%, 1 SO)

North Dakota Fighting Hawks

Head Coach: Brad Berry (6th season at UND, 131-61-24, .662)
National Rankings: #2/#1

This Season: 15-4-1 overall, 15-4-1 NCHC
Last Season: 26-5-4 overall, 17-4-3-2 NCHC (1st)

2020-2021 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.85 goals scored/game – 3rd of 51 teams
Team Defense: 2.00 goals allowed/game – 6th of 51 teams

Power Play: 22.5% (20 of 89) – 12th of 51 teams
Penalty Kill: 86.7% (78 of 90) – 10th of 51 teams

Key players: Senior F Jordan Kawaguchi (5-18-23), Sophomore F Shane Pinto (14-12-26), Senior F Grant Mismash (9-9-18), Freshman F Riese Gaber (8-7-15), Senior F Collin Adams (7-12-19), Junior F Jasper Weatherby (8-4-12), Junior F Mark Senden (2-9-11), Senior D Matt Kiersted (3-16-19), Sophomore D Ethan Frisch (3-3-6), Junior D Jacob Bernard-Docker (1-8-9), Freshman D Jake Sanderson (1-5-6 in thirteen games), Junior G Adam Scheel (13-3-1. 1.88 GAA, .925 SV%, 4 SO)

By The Numbers:

Last meeting: January 30, 2021 (Omaha, NE). Specialty teams was the difference in this one, as UND allowed three power play goals on five attempts to the homestanding Mavericks, including one to former North Dakota defenseman Jonny Tychonick, who scored his second goal of the season with eleven seconds remaining in the first period. Omaha netminder Isaiah Saville made 43 saves in the 5-4 victory. One night earlier, the Fighting Hawks scored five unanswered goals in the second and third periods to earn a 6-2 road victory.

Last meeting in Grand Forks: January 11, 2020. 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 ten: North Dakota has won six of the last ten contests between the schools, outscoring the Mavericks 37-30 over that stretch.

All-time: UND leads the all-time series 25-14-1 (.638), including a 12-7-1 (.625) record in games played in Grand Forks. North Dakota owns a record of 20-11-1 (.641) 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. UND senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi has thirteen points in fifteen career games against Omaha. The Mavericks have not made the national tournament since their run to the Frozen Four in 2015. North Dakota’s Brad Berry is 16-8-0 (.667) in his head coaching career against Omaha. Since coming out flat in game one at Denver three weekends ago, UND has outscored opponents 32-11 and won six of seven contests. At home, it’s been even better for the Fighting Hawks, with four straight victories and a combined scoreboard of 17-3.

The Prediction

If the first goal is important in determining the winner of Friday’s opener, then the winner of Friday’s opener may just determine how the rest of the season series goes between these two squads. If Omaha can narrow the Penrose Cup race with a victory in game one, the intensity will ratchet up for the rematch. If North Dakota can defeat the Mavericks in the opener and open up a nine-point advantage with three games remaining on each team’s schedule, the race will be all but over. If UND netminder Adam Scheel can make two starts in his return from injury, I give the advantage to the home team. I expect both games to be tightly contested and have a playoff atmosphere despite limited fans. If North Dakota can weather the early storm and play large stretches of the weekend at 5-on-5, they’ve got a shot at more than a split, and that’s what I’m going with here, with Friday’s game decided in the extra session. UND 4-3 (OT), 4-2.

Broadcast Information

Both games will be broadcast live on Midco Sports Network and also available on 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!

Weekend Preview: UND vs. Denver

With that as our guide, here’s the NCHC leaderboard (three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime or shootout win, and one point for an overtime or shootout loss)

1. North Dakota 2.11 (38 points in 18 games)
2. Minnesota Duluth 2.05 (39 points in 19 games)
3. St. Cloud State 1.95 (37 points in 19 games)
4. Omaha 1.78 (32 points in 18 games)
5. Denver 1.39 (25 points in 18 games)
6. Western Michigan 1.05 (21 points in 20 games)
7. Colorado College 0.94 (15 points in 16 games)
8. Miami 0.75 (15 points in 20 games)

#2 North Dakota (13-4-1) played all ten scheduled games in the Omaha pod, but it has not been smooth sailing in the second half. UND has already had multiple weekends scratched and rescheduled in the second half; the league has done an excellent job helping teams get games in when possible, and the flexibility the Fighting Hawks have shown in adjusting to game times and days will benefit the team in the national tournament.

Remarkably, Denver (7-10-1) has fallen out of the national rankings after appearing in each of the last 159 polls. The longest active streak now belongs to Minnesota Duluth (115). A stick tap to Twitterer @LetsGoDU for the info.

In the NCHC, it is clear that Denver/North Dakota is at the top of the league rivalries. The teams have played 33 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.)

And this season has been no different, with the teams combining for 104 penalty minutes in four games. Furthermore, the last contest between the squads saw a DU goaltender run over with nine minutes remaining, which ignited tempers further (more on that below).

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 2019 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 2020 (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.

Brink has collected four assists in his three games against UND this season. Overall, he has appeared in just nine games this year, with one goal and six assists.

Pinto has just two assists in his four games against Denver this year, but his overall play has him in the mix for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. The sophomore from Franklin Square, New York has an overall line of 11-12-23 in eighteen games played, a faceoff win percentage of 62.8% (tops in the league), and a plus-minus rating of plus-13. Pinto has collected multiple points in his past four games and nine games overall this season, which is tied for the NCAA lead.

Denver netminder Magnus Chrona (16-6-4, 2.15 goals-against average, a save percentage of .920, and two shutouts last season) 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).

Turning our attention to this weekend’s matchup, Denver sophomore goaltender Magnus Chrona started out the season playing every minute in net, but he has gone just 4-8-0 with a goals-against average of 2.66 and a save percentage of .901. Graduate transfer Corbin Kaczperski (3-2-1, 2.60 GAA, .868 SV%) has been up and down in his nine games played; here are Kaczperski’s career numbers from his three seasons at Yale:

29-22-4, 2.53 GAA, .911 SV%, and three shutouts.

In North Dakota’s second game at Denver last month (January 18th), UND’s Grant Mismash was issued a major penalty, a game misconduct, and an additional one-game suspension for running into DU goaltender Magnus Chrona with just over nine minutes remaining in the hockey game. Chrona, a 6’-6”, 216 lb. sophomore from Skelleftea, Sweden, has appeared in just one contest since the incident, a 3-1 victory over Omaha last Friday, February 5th in which he made sixteen saves.

Junior netminder Adam Scheel (12-3-1. 1.99 GAA, .921 SV%, 3 SO) has made the majority of starts for North Dakota, with senior Peter Thome (1-1-0, 3.18 GAA, .870 SV%) appearing in three games. Scheel came on in relief in UND’s loss to St. Cloud State after Thome allowed four goals on 18 shots in 33 minutes of action. After giving up just four total goals in his previous four starts, Scheel allowed five goals on 27 shots at Omaha in UND’s last game. Despite that performance, I believe that it’s Adam Scheel’s crease for the foreseeable future.

A key issue that separated the two teams in the first half of the season 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 returned 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.

To be fair, Denver’s freshman blueliners have stepped up, with Mike Benning (1-7-8), Antti Tuomisto (1-6-7), and Reid Irwin (3-0-3) ranking 1st, 2nd, and 5th in scoring among Pioneer defensemen.

North Dakota also brought in three freshmen on the back end, and Jake Sanderson (1-5-6), Tyler Kleven (3-1-4), and Cooper Moore (2-3-5) have UND boasting its finest defensive depth since the 2015-2016 championship 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.

North Dakota went 7-2-1 in the pod, while Denver managed just three victories (3-6-1). In the pod, there was simply not as much time for practice, video work, and system adjustment, which meant that the teams with veteran leadership, depth, and good-to-excellent goaltending were in the best position to succeed.

Freshman forward Carter Savoie has been the brightest spot for Denver this season, tallying ten goals and five assists through his first eighteen collegiate games. Savoie, a 5-foot-9 left winger who notched 84 goals and 88 assists over two seasons (112 games) with the Sherwood Park Crusaders (AJHL), is a threat to score from anywhere on the ice. The 18-year-old from St. Albert, Alberta was a 4th-round pick (100th overall) of the Edmonton Oilers in the 2020 NHL entry draft.

North Dakota also has a rookie forward who has splashed through his first eighteen collegiate games. Freshman Riese Gaber (8-6-14) is an undrafted right winger from Gilbert Plains, Manitoba (a six-hour drive from Grand Forks, ND) who spent his past two seasons in the USHL, scoring 56 goals and adding 49 assists in 108 games with the Dubuque Fighting Saints.

Savoie trails only North Dakota’s Shane Pinto (11) and Minnesota Duluth’s Cole Koepke (11) in the league goal-scoring race. Only one freshman has scored more than twelve goals in the history of the NCHC. North Dakota’s Brock Boeser notched 20 goals in 24 conference games in 2015-16, leading UND to its eighth national title.

A half-point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and David Carle’s squad has seven players who meet that threshold: freshman forward Carter Savoie (10-5-15), junior forward Cole Guttman (5-10-15), junior forward Brett Stapley (4-3-7 in thirteen games), senior forward Kohen Olischefski (3-6-9), sophomore forward Bobby Brink (1-6-7 in nine games), freshman defenseman Mike Benning (1-7-8), and junior forward Hank Crone (4-1-5 in nine games).

By that same measure, eight North Dakota players make the list: sophomore forward Shane Pinto (11-12-23), senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi (5-16-21), senior defenseman Matt Kiersted (3-14-17), senior forward Grant Mismash (9-9-18), freshman forward Riese Gaber (8-6-14), senior forward Collin Adams (6-11-17), freshman defenseman Jake Sanderson (1-5-6 in eleven games), and junior forward Mark Senden(2-8-10).

It is abundantly clear that North Dakota will have the puck a lot this season, and the numbers bear that out. After eighteen games, the Fighting Hawks are fifth in the nation in shots on goal allowed/game (25.2) and are in the top seven in the country in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi (% of shots taken vs. opponent): 55.6% (7th)
Fenwick (% of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent): 56.2 (6th)

By comparison, the Pioneers are 9th in Corsi (54.9%) and 8th in Fenwick (55.3), averaging 31.7 shots on goal per game (North Dakota is averaging 31.2/game) while allowing 24.2 shots on goal against/contest.

One key area to watch in this contest is the face-off dot. The Fighting Hawks are first in the nation in faceoff win percentage at 56.5 percent, while Denver is 46th (45.8%) among the 51 men’s college hockey teams to have played at least one game this season.

Leading the way in the faceoff circle for North Dakota have been Shane Pinto (62.8%), Jasper Weatherby (55.2%), and Collin Adams (56.7%). Denver will counter with Cole Guttman (57.1%), Jaakko Heikkinen (30.9%), Brett Stapley (47.3%), and McKade Webster (41.8%).

In their first meeting in the pod, North Dakota won 37 of 48 faceoffs (77.1%), including an incredible 18-0 performance by Shane Pinto. In the pod rematch, the faceoff battle was a bit closer, with UND winning 37 of 61 draws (60.7%). Pinto also came back to earth, going 17-9 (65.4%). In the series at altitude last month, the Fighting Hawks won the faceoff battle 68-57.

The Fighting Hawks are scoring on 12.3 percent of their shots on goal, a remarkable statistic good for 4th in the country. The Pioneers are way back in 36th place, lighting the lamp on just 8.8 percent of their shots on goal.

North Dakota’s puck possession game and sharpshooting have led to 69 goals scored by eighteen different players in eighteen games (3.83 goals scored/game); 69 goals is the high-water mark in the NCHC this season. Denver’s 50 goals have also been scored by eighteen different players.

Here are the three closest teams in terms of offensive production:

Omaha: 62 goals scored in 18 games (3.44 goals scored/game)
St. Cloud State: 63 goals scored in 19 games (3.32)
Minnesota Duluth: 62 goals scored in 19 games (3.26)

UND’s offensive prowess is matched by their stingy defense, as the Fighting Hawks have only allowed 38 goals in eighteen games (2.11 goals allowed/game), the lowest total in the NCHC. Minnesota Duluth has allowed 39 goals in 19 games this season for a better average (2.05).

By comparison, Denver is scoring 2.78 goals per game while allowing 2.83.

UND’s scoring margin of 69-38 is certainly impressive, but a look inside the numbers reveals that the Fighting Hawks outscored Colorado College, Western Michigan, and Miami 36-9 in eight games (8-0-0) and played relatively even (33 goals for, 29 goals against) in its other ten matchups (four games against Denver and two each vs. Duluth, Omaha, and St. Cloud State), going 5-4-1 in those contests. To this point in the season, the Fighting Hawks have outscored the Pioneers 12-11 while going 2-2-0 in the four games played.

Amazingly, Western Michigan has already allowed 79 goals through twenty games, an average of 3.95 goals allowed/game. North Dakota scored 14 of those goals in its two pod contests against the Broncos.

Through eighteen games, Denver has blocked 208 shots as a team, led by Justin Lee (22), Griffin Mendel (22), Antti Tuomisto (19), and Kohen Olischefski (19).

North Dakota has blocked 229 shots in its eighteen games, with Matt Kiersted (32), Jacob Bernard-Docker (27), and Ethan Frisch (15 in thirteen games) leading the way. Gabe Bast contributed 16 blocks in his twelve pre-injury games; he is expected to be back in the lineup this weekend.

Through each team’s first eighteen games, here is the specialty teams ledger:

Denver power play: 14 of 73, 19.2 percent
Denver penalty kill: 52 of 65, 80.0 percent

North Dakota power play: 18 of 79, 22.8 percent
North Dakota penalty kill: 68 of 80, 85.0 percent

North Dakota has scored two shorthanded goals this season, while the Pios have one to their credit. Neither team has allowed a shorthanded tally. That leaves Denver’s net specialty teams at a +2, while UND weighs in at +8.

The Pioneers have scored 14 of their 50 goals this season with the man advantage, while the Fighting Hawks have scored 18 of their 69 goals this season on the power play.

Two factors are working against the Pioneers this weekend:

North Dakota held DU scoreless on nine power plays in the January series in Denver.

The Pioneers are just 2 for their last 26 with the man advantage (7.7%).

Denver must generate more five-on-five chances in this series if the Pios hope to gain league points this weekend in Grand Forks.

After this weekend, North Dakota is scheduled to host Omaha next weekend (February 19th-20th) as well as on Friday, March 5th and travel to Omaha for a single game on Friday, February 26th. Five of UND’s final six regular season games – as well as all of its games in the league playoffs – will be played at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

Denver Pioneers

Head Coach: David Carle (3rd season at DU, 52-31-12, .611)
National Rankings: NR/NR

This Season: 7-10-1 overall, 7-10-1 NCHC
Last Season: 21-9-6 overall, 11-8-5-4 NCHC (3rd)

2020-2021 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 2.78 goals scored/game – 30th of 51 teams
Team Defense: 2.83 goals allowed/game – 26th of 51 teams

Power Play: 19.2% (14 of 73) – 27th of 51 teams
Penalty Kill: 80.0% (52 of 65) – 24th of 51 teams

Key players: Freshman F Carter Savoie (10-5-15), Junior F Cole Guttman (5-10-15), Junior F Brett Stapley (4-3-7), Freshman F McKade Webster (3-5-8), Senior F Kohen Olischefski (3-6-9), Sophomore F Bobby Brink (1-6-7 in nine games), Freshman D Mike Benning (1-7-8), Freshman D Antti Tuomisto (1-6-7), Junior D Slava Demin (3-3-6), Sophomore G Magnus Chrona (4-8-0, 2.66 GAA, .901 SV%)

North Dakota Fighting Hawks

Head Coach: Brad Berry (6th season at UND, 129-61-24, .659)
National Rankings: #2/#1

This Season: 13-4-1 overall, 13-4-1 NCHC
Last Season: 26-5-4 overall, 17-4-3-2 NCHC (1st)

2020-2021 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.83 goals scored/game – 6th of 51 teams
Team Defense: 2.11 goals allowed/game – 9th of 51 teams

Power Play: 22.8% (18 of 79) – 14th of 51 teams
Penalty Kill: 85.0% (68 of 80) – 12th of 51 teams

Key players: Senior F Jordan Kawaguchi (5-16-21), Sophomore F Shane Pinto (11-12-23), Senior F Grant Mismash (9-9-18), Freshman F Riese Gaber (8-6-14), Senior F Collin Adams (6-11-17), Junior F Mark Senden (2-8-10), Senior D Matt Kiersted (3-14-17), Sophomore D Ethan Frisch (3-3-6), Junior D Jacob Bernard-Docker (1-7-8), Freshman D Jake Sanderson (1-5-6 in eleven games), Junior G Adam Scheel (12-3-1. 1.99 GAA, .921 SV%, 3 SO)

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: January 18, 2021 (Denver, CO). One night after dropping a 4-1 decision to the homestanding Pioneers, North Dakota earned a split on the weekend series with a 5-1 victory despite being outshot 33-26. A key factor in the game was an 0-for-7 performance by the Pios on the power play. UND’s Grant Mismash was issued a major penalty, a game misconduct, and an additional one-game suspension for running into DU goaltender Magnus Chrona with just over nine minutes remaining in the hockey game. Fighting Hawks netminder Adam Scheel was pulled in the opener after allowing four goals on twenty shots through the first two periods but rebounded nicely in the rematch, making 32 of 33 saves.

Last Meeting in Grand Forks: Saturday, February 15, 2020. #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: After losing the last two games of the 2018-2019 season, North Dakota went 3-0-1 against the Pioneers last year, outscoring the Pios 12-4 in the process. Splits in the Omaha pod and in Denver give the Fighting Hawks a slight 5-4-1 (.550) advantage over the last ten games. UND has outscored DU 26-21 over that stretch, including a 12-11 scoreboard advantage this season.

All-time Series: UND leads the all-time series, 151-130-16 (.535), with a considerable edge of 87-44-10 (.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

Denver has been outscored 24-18 in third periods and overtime this season, while UND is outscoring opponents 24-13 in the same frames. North Dakota and DU were tabbed to finish one-two in the league in the 2020-2021 NCHC Preseason Media Poll. To this point in the season, the Pioneers are not holding up their end of the bargain. 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

Denver’s pattern over the last three weekends has been to come out strong in game one (outscoring opponents 11-3) and fade in game two (outscored 7-15). That’s what I’m going with here as well, with North Dakota’s depth shining through in the series finale. DU 3-2, UND 5-2.

Broadcast Information

Both games 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!

Weekend Preview: UND at Omaha

With all of the ties, shootouts, late-game heroics, and overtime winners as well as the disparity in each team’s number of games played in the Omaha pod and over the first few weeks of the second half, it can be difficult to get a handle on who is ahead in the conference standings. The best way I have found is to look at the average number of points earned. It is also possible that the teams will finish the regular season with an uneven number of games played; in that case, the league will use average points earned/game as the measuring stick to determine the league championship as well as the matchups in the first round of the conference playoffs.

With that as our guide, here’s the NCHC leaderboard (three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime or shootout win, and one point for an overtime or shootout loss)

1. North Dakota 2.19 (35 points in 16 games)
2. St. Cloud State 1.94 (33 points in 17 games)
3. Omaha 1.93 (27 points in 14 games)
4. Minnesota Duluth 1.80 (27 points in 15 games)
5. Denver 1.31 (21 points in 16 games)
6. Western Michigan 1.06 (19 points in 18 games)
7. Colorado College 0.94 (15 points in 16 games)
7. Miami 0.94 (15 points in 16 games)

#9 Omaha (9-4-1) has been the biggest surprise in the NCHC this season. While I expected them to have good results in the pod (and they did, posting a record of 6-3-1), I thought that they might regress in the second half. Over the past two weekends, the Mavs went out to Colorado Springs and swept the Tigers (3-2, 3-2 OT) before splitting a home series with Denver (1-4, 5-2). A home split may not seem impressive, but Saturday’s win was the first time that Omaha had beaten the Pioneers in six years, snapping a nineteen-game winless streak.

Mike Gabinet’s squad could be ranked even higher were it not for a disappointing 1-0 defeat at the hands of Miami back on December 12th. In that contest, the Mavs outshot the RedHawks 30-12 (including 15-2 in the third period) but could not solve Ludvig Persson. Other than that frustration, Miami has fared extremely well in close games, winning two games in overtime and another in a shootout.

#2 North Dakota (12-3-1) played all ten scheduled games in the Omaha pod (going 7-2-1), but the second half has had a few hiccups. UND has already had four games scratched against Omaha, with those games rescheduled for later this season. Not wanting two consecutive weekends off, the Fighting Hawks worked with the NCHC to squeeze in a Sunday-Monday series in Colorado Springs three weekends ago. After sweeping the Tigers (3-0, 2-1), Brad Berry’s squad returned home to prepare for a road series against the 18th-ranked Pioneers, only to learn on Wednesday that that series would also be pushed back two days. Last week’s home series against CC was also pushed back to a Saturday-Sunday series, with UND winning both nights. As I mentioned last week, the flexibility that the Fighting Hawks have shown in adjusting to game times and days will benefit this team in the national tournament.

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.

Turning our attention to this weekend’s matchup, sophomore netminder Isaiah Saville (7-4-1, 2.18 GAA, .928 SV%, 1 SO) has been spectacular in net for the Mavs, with classmate Austin Roden appearing in three games (2-0-0. 2.35 GAA, .933 SV%, 1 SO). Omaha has allowed more than two goals only four times all season, while North Dakota’s opponents have scored more than two goals six times.

Junior netminder Adam Scheel (11-2-1. 1.77 GAA, .928 SV%, 3 SO) has been the clear-cut #1 for North Dakota, with senior Peter Thome (1-1-0, 3.18 GAA, .870 SV%) appearing in three games. Scheel won both games against the Tigers last weekend in Grand Forks, allowing just one goal on 34 shots in the two-game sweep and earning NCHC Goaltender of the Week honors for the second time in the past three weeks.

A half-point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and Mike Gabinet’s squad boasts eleven players who meet that threshold: junior forward Chase Primeau (4-9-13), junior forward Taylor Ward (7-4-11), junior forward Tyler Weiss (4-7-11), senior forward Kevin Conley (5-5-10), freshman forward Matt Miller (6-3-9), sophomore forward Jack Randl (4-5-9), sophomore forward Joey Abate (1-7-8), senior forward Martin Sundberg (5-2-7), sophomore forward Ryan Brushett (0-6-6), sophomore defenseman Brandon Scanlin (1-9-10), and junior defenseman Jason Smallidge (1-7-8).

By that same measure, eight North Dakota players make the list: sophomore forward Shane Pinto (8-11-19), senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi (5-13-18), senior defenseman Matt Kiersted (3-13-16), senior forward Grant Mismash (8-7-15), freshman forward Riese Gaber (8-4-12), senior forward Collin Adams (6-10-16), junior forward Mark Senden (1-8-9), and freshman defenseman Jake Sanderson (1-4-5 in nine games).

Jordan Kawaguchi was the only NCHC player to notch at least one point in each of his team’s games in the Omaha pod. Shane Pinto has already generated 100 shot attempts this season and leads the entire league in scoring, one point ahead of Kawaguchi, Duluth’s Nick Swaney (6-12-18), and St. Cloud State’s Veeti Miettinen (9-9-18). Both Kawaguchi (6th in the nation in scoring) and Pinto (4th) should be considered candidates for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award along with teammate Matt Kiersted, whose 16 points rank third among defensemen.

It is abundantly clear that North Dakota will have the puck a lot this season, and the numbers bear that out. After sixteen games, the Fighting Hawks are fourth in the nation in shots on goal allowed/game (24.7) and are in the top ten in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi (% of shots taken vs. opponent): 55.0% (9th)
Fenwick (% of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent): 56.2% (7th)

By comparison, the Mavs are 29th in Corsi (49.2%) and 26th in Fenwick (49.9%), averaging 28.7 shots on goal per game (North Dakota is averaging 29.9/game) while allowing 31.1 shots on goal against/contest. Remarkably, Omaha is outscoring opponents 49-32 despite being outshot 435-402 on the season (North Dakota is outshooting opponents 479-395).

One key area to watch in this contest is the face-off dot. The Fighting Hawks are leading the nation in faceoff win percentage at 56.2 percent, while the Mavericks are 15th in the country at 52.2%. To this point of the season, 51 men’s Division I college hockey teams have played at least one game.

Leading the way in the faceoff circle for North Dakota have been Shane Pinto (62.7%), Jasper Weatherby (54.2%), Collin Adams (56.6%), and Mark Senden (48.3%). Omaha will counter with Nolan Sullivan (60.8%), Chayse Primeau (51.6%), Noah Prokop (56.9%), and Joey Abate (43.6%). Pinto and Sullivan are the top two faceoff men in the NCHC.

The Fighting Hawks are scoring on 12.3 percent of their shots on goal, a remarkable statistic good for 6th in the country. The Mavs are right behind in eighth place, lighting the lamp on 12.2 percent of their shots on goal.

North Dakota’s puck possession game and sharpshooting have led to 59 goals scored by eighteen different players in sixteen games (3.69 goals scored/game); 59 goals is the high-water mark in the NCHC this season. Omaha’s 49 goals have been scored by sixteen different players.

Here are the three closest teams in terms of offensive production:

St. Cloud State: 54 goals scored in 17 games (3.18 goals scored/game)
Western Michigan: 50 goals scored in 18 games (2.78)
Omaha: 49 goals scored in 14 games (3.50)

No other league team has scored more than 43 goals this season.

UND’s offensive prowess is matched by their stingy defense, as the Fighting Hawks have only allowed 31 goals in sixteen games (1.94 goals allowed/game), the lowest total in the NCHC. Omaha has allowed 32 goals in 14 games (2.29 goals allowed/game), with Minnesota Duluth close behind (33 in 15; 2.20).

UND’s scoring margin of 59-31 is certainly impressive, but a look inside the numbers reveals that the Fighting Hawks outscored Colorado College, Western Michigan, and Miami 36-9 in eight games (8-0-0) and played relatively even (23 goals for, 22 goals against) in its other eight matchups (four games against Denver and two each vs. Duluth and St. Cloud State), going 4-3-1 in those contests.

Amazingly, Western Michigan has already allowed 70 goals through eighteen games, an average of 3.89 goals allowed/game. North Dakota scored 14 of those goals in its two pod contests against the Broncos.

Through fourteen games, Omaha has blocked 208 shots as a team, led by Nate Koepke (35), Jason Smallidge (29), and Kirby Proctor (15).

North Dakota has blocked 209 shots in its sixteen games, with Matt Kiersted (31), Jacob Bernard-Docker (26), and Ethan Frisch (15 in eleven games) leading the way. Gabe Bast contributed 16 blocks in his twelve games but is expected to be out of the lineup again this weekend.

Special teams will be a huge battle this weekend, with both squads boasting terrific power play and penalty kill units.

Omaha has scored eleven power play goals this season and has successfully killed 47 of 50 opponent man advantage opportunities (94.0%, the best penalty kill in the country). To their credit, the Mavs have scored two shorthanded goals, but they have also allowed four to their opponents. This brings their net special teams margin to +6.

North Dakota has scored seventeen power play goals this season and has successfully killed 60 of 68 opponent man advantage opportunities, including 41 of its last 42 to bring its season-long average to 88.2% (tenth-best in the nation). The Fighting Hawks have also scored two shorthanded goals while not allowing any, for a net special teams margin of +11.

As mentioned above, UND is expected to once again be without the services of senior defenseman Gabe Bast, who was injured three weekends ago at Colorado College and has not returned to the lineup. Bast has appeared in 97 games in his North Dakota hockey career. On the plus side for UND, sophomore blueliner Ethan Frisch will make his return to the lineup in this series after missing the past three games. In the absence of Bast and Frisch, head coach Brad Berry went with a third D-pair of freshman Cooper Moore and senior Josh Rieger last weekend against the Tigers. Thankfully for the Fighting Hawks, both Moore and Reiger got extended playing time in the Omaha pod while freshmen Jake Sanderson and Tyler Kleven were off winning gold medals at the World Junior Championships. I expect Frisch to displace Rieger on the blueline against the Mavericks, as Cooper Moore has developed nicely over the first half of the season and deserves to see the ice.

When North Dakota is healthy on the back end, they enjoy a roster advantage against nearly every opponent, and that will be the case again this weekend. Omaha’s six most likely starters on defense have combined for seven goals and 23 assists in 74 combined games this season (0.41 points/game), while UND’s top six have scored eleven goals and added 28 assists in 73 games (0.53 points/game). All six UND blueliners expected in the lineup this weekend can defend, move the puck, and score, and Brad Berry has the luxury of trusting all of his defensemen in all situations, much like he had during North Dakota’s run to the national title in 2016 (with Gage Ausmus, Paul LaDue, Tucker Poolman, Hayden Shaw, Troy Stecher, Keaton Thompson, and Christian Wolanin manning the back end).

Remarkably, 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 2.29 goals per game (13th).

After this weekend, UND and Omaha are scheduled to play four more times; here is North Dakota’s remaining regular season schedule (subject to change, of course):

January 29 and 30: at Omaha
February 5 and 6: No games scheduled
February 12 and 13: vs. Denver
February 19 and 20: vs. Omaha
February 26: at Omaha
March 5: vs. Omaha

NCHC quarterfinals are scheduled at home venues on March 12-14, with the NCHC Frozen Faceoff the following weekend at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. UND is hosting an NCAA Regional in Fargo, North Dakota on March 26 and 27 and would be automatically placed in that regional if they are selected for the national tournament.

Omaha Mavericks

Head Coach: Mike Gabinet (4th season at UNO, 49-62-11, .447)
National Rankings: #9/#9

This Season: 9-4-1 overall, 9-4-1 NCHC
Last Season: 14-17-5 overall, 8-13-3-0 NCHC (6th)

Team Offense: 3.50 goals scored/game – 15th of 51 teams
Team Defense: 2.29 goals allowed/game – 13th of 51 teams
Power Play: 20.4% (11 of 54) – 22nd of 51 teams
Penalty Kill: 94.0% (47 of 50) – 1st of 51 teams

Key Players: Junior F Chase Primeau (4-9-13), Junior F Taylor Ward (7-4-11), Junior F Tyler Weiss (4-7-11), Senior F Kevin Conley (5-5-10), Freshman F Matt Miller (6-3-9), Sophomore F Jack Randl (4-5-9), Sophomore F Joey Abate (1-7-8), Sophomore D Brandon Scanlin (1-9-10), Junior D Jason Smallidge (1-7-8), Sophomore G Isaiah Saville (7-4-1, 2.18 GAA, .928 SV%, 1 SO)

North Dakota Fighting Hawks

Head Coach: Brad Berry (6th season at UND, 128-60-24, .660)
National Rankings: #2/#3

This Season: 12-3-1 overall, 12-3-1 NCHC
Last Season: 26-5-4 overall, 17-4-3-2 NCHC (1st)

2020-2021 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.69 goals scored/game – 10th of 51 teams
Team Defense: 1.94 goals allowed/game – 5th of 51 teams
Power Play: 24.6% (17 of 69) – 8th of 51 teams
Penalty Kill: 88.2% (60 of 68) – 10th of 51 teams

Key players: Senior F Jordan Kawaguchi (5-13-18), Sophomore F Shane Pinto (8-11-19), Senior F Grant Mismash (8-7-15), Freshman F Riese Gaber (8-4-12), Senior F Collin Adams (6-10-16), Junior F Mark Senden (1-8-9), Senior D Matt Kiersted (3-13-16), Sophomore D Ethan Frisch (2-3-5 in eleven games), Junior D Jacob Bernard-Docker (1-5-6), Freshman D Jake Sanderson (1-4-5 in nine games), Junior G Adam Scheel (11-2-1. 1.77 GAA, .928 SV%, 3 SO)

By The Numbers:

Last meeting: March 7, 2020 (Omaha, NE). One night after dropping a 4-1 decision to the Mavs, North Dakota rebounded with a resounding 5-0 triumph, highlighted by two power play goals and Colton Poolman’s shorthanded marker late in the first period. Jacob Bernard-Docker scored twice while netminder Peter Thome stopped all 17 shots he faced. Saturday’s game would be the last of the season for the Fighting Hawks, ending a fantastic campaign at 26-5-4.

Last ten: North Dakota has won seven of the last ten contests between the schools, outscoring the Mavericks 35-26 over that stretch.

All-time: UND leads the all-time series 24-13-1 (.645), including a 12-6-0 (.667) record in games played in Omaha. North Dakota owns a record of 19-10-1 (.650) 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. UND senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi has ten points in thirteen career games against Omaha. The Mavericks have not made the national tournament since their run to the Frozen Four in 2015. Johnny Tychonick has scored one goal and added one assist in his eleven games with the Mavs. Tychonick was a member of the North Dakota men’s hockey team for the past two seasons. Incredibly, UND’s Collin Adams has scored six goals in only 25 shots on net. North Dakota’s Brad Berry is 15-7-0 (.682) in his head coaching career against Omaha. Since coming out flat in game one at Denver two weekends ago, UND has won three straight, outscoring opponents 14-2.

The Prediction

I am very interested to see just how the season series between these two squads plays out. With so many games in just a few short weeks – and with so much on the line, including NCAA tournament berths and the Penrose Cup – I expect every game to be tightly contested and have a playoff atmosphere despite limited fans. The last two series in Omaha have been splits, and I can’t deviate from that formula until I see both teams hit the ice tonight. The Mavericks are coming off of a huge victory against the Pios, and the first ten minutes will tell the tale. If North Dakota can weather the early storm and play large stretches of the weekend at 5-on-5, they’ve got a shot at putting some more distance between themselves and the Mavs. As it is, though, I see each side claiming one victory, and, with three of the remaining four head-to-head matchups taking place at Ralph Engelstad Arena, the Fighting Hawks should have the inside track to the Penrose Cup. Omaha 4-3, UND 3-1.

Broadcast Information

Friday’s opener (7:00 Central Time) will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network, with Saturday’s rematch (6:00 Central Time) available on 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!

Weekend Preview: UND vs. Colorado College

With that as our guide, here’s the NCHC leaderboard (three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime or shootout win, and one point for an overtime or shootout loss)

1. North Dakota 2.07 (29 points in 14 games)
2. Omaha 2.00 (24 points in 12 games)
3. St. Cloud State 1.88 (30 points in 16 games)
4. Minnesota Duluth 1.62 (21 points in 13 games)
5. Denver 1.29 (18 points in 14 games)
6. Western Michigan 1.19 (19 points in 16 games)
7. Colorado College 1.07 (15 points in 14 games)
8. Miami 1.00 (15 points in 15 games)

#3 North Dakota (10-3-1) played all ten scheduled games in the Omaha pod, but the second half has had a few hiccups. UND has already had four games scratched against Omaha, with those games rescheduled for later this season. Not wanting two consecutive weekends off, the Fighting Hawks worked with the NCHC to squeeze in a Sunday-Monday series in Colorado Springs two weekends ago. After sweeping the Tigers (3-0, 2-1), Brad Berry’s squad returned home to prepare for last weekend’s series against the 18th-ranked Pioneers, only to learn last Wednesday that that series would also be pushed back two days. As I mentioned last week, the flexibility that the Fighting Hawks have shown in adjusting to game times and days will benefit this team in the national tournament.

Amazingly, UND played its first fourteen games of the season on the road (ten in the Omaha pod plus road series at Colorado College and Denver). Brad Berry’s team is one of just five in men’s Division I ice hockey without a home game to its credit. Of course, that will change tonight at Ralph Engelstad Arena. After 330 days, the Fighting Hawks will be on home ice, playing in front of nearly 3000 fans (25 percent capacity) and raising a banner as 2020 NCHC regular season champions.

Of the other four teams who have been on the road to this point in the season, Sacred Heart (2-3-0) is scheduled to play a home game next weekend, with Long Island (3-5-0) following suit on February 13th. Maine (2-5-1) is at the mercy of the league office, as Hockey East is setting schedules on a weekly basis. Arizona State (5-11-2) is playing all of its games on the road this season.

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). Two seasons ago. Colorado College registered its most wins under Mike Haviland (17) and most since joining the NCHC. CC went 9-12-3-0 in league play and finished 6th in the league. Last year, however, the Tigers went just 11-20-3 overall and won only four games in the NCHC, finishing in last place.

Turning our attention to this weekend’s matchup, freshman netminder Dominic Basse (3-5-1, 2.71 GAA, .897 SV%) has been steady as Colorado College (3-9-2) sorts out its goaltending situation. Matt Vernon got the majority of the starts for CC last year (8-16-3, 3.43 GAA, .901 SV%), but the sophomore from Calgary, Alberta has struggled mightily in the early going, going winless in six appearances (0-4-1) with a goals-against average of 3.88 and a save percentage of just .843.

Junior netminder Adam Scheel (9-2-1. 1.98 GAA, .923 SV%, 2 SO) has been the clear-cut #1 for North Dakota, with senior Peter Thome (1-1-0, 3.18 GAA, .870 SV%) appearing in three games. Scheel won both games against the Tigers in Colorado Springs, allowing just one goal on 51 shots in the two-game sweep and earning NCHC Goaltender of the Week honors. Last weekend against Denver, Scheel was pulled after two periods in the opener (four goals allowed on twenty shots) but rebounded with a strong performance on Monday night, stopping 32 of 33 in the 5-1 victory.

A half-point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and Mike Haviland’s squad has just three players who meet that threshold: sophomore forward Josiah Slavin (4-6-10), junior forward Grant Cruikshank (6-2-8 in ten games; out of the lineup for the last four), and junior forward Ben Copeland (4-6-10). Freshman defenseman Jack Millar has been held scoreless over the past four games after opening his collegiate career with two goals and four assists in his first ten games.

By that same measure, eight North Dakota players make the list: sophomore forward Shane Pinto (5-10-15), senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi (4-12-16), senior defenseman Matt Kiersted (3-11-14), senior forward Grant Mismash (7-7-14), freshman forward Riese Gaber (8-2-10), senior forward Collin Adams (5-7-12), junior forward Mark Senden (1-8-9), and newly-added freshman forward Louis Jamernik (0-2-2 in four games).

Kawaguchi was the only NCHC player to notch at least one point in each of his team’s games in the Omaha pod. Mismash, who scored in each game of the series in Colorado Springs (including the game-winner in the rematch), will not be available for the first game this weekend in Grand Forks after the NCHC issued him a one-game suspension for checking Denver goaltender Magnus Chrona during Monday night’s game. Chrona left the game after hitting his head on the ice, and there has been no update on his condition.

It is abundantly clear that North Dakota will have the puck a lot this season, and the numbers bear that out. After fourteen games, the Fighting Hawks are sixth in the nation in shots on goal allowed/game (25.8) and are in the top fifteen in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi (% of shots taken vs. opponent): 53.4% (11th)
Fenwick (% of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent): 54.5% (12th)

By comparison, the Tigers are 30th in Corsi (49.0%) and 27th in Fenwick (49.2), averaging 28.6 shots on goal per game (North Dakota is averaging 29.1/game) while allowing 26.3 shots on goal against/contest.

One key area to watch in this contest is the face-off dot. The Fighting Hawks are second in the nation in faceoff win percentage at 56.1 percent, while the Tigers are 37th in the nation at 47.2%. To this point of the season, 51 men’s Division I college hockey teams have played at least one game.

Leading the way in the faceoff circle for North Dakota have been Shane Pinto (63.0%), Jasper Weatherby (52.7%), Collin Adams (58.0%), and Mark Senden (46.6%). Colorado College will counter with Logan Will (55.4%), Josiah Slavin (49.0%), Jackson Jutting (46.9%), and Troy Conzo (39.1%).

The Fighting Hawks are scoring on 12.3 percent of their shots on goal, a remarkable statistic good for 6th in the country. By contrast, the Tigers are lighting the lamp on just 7.0% of their shots on goal (46th).

North Dakota’s puck possession game and sharpshooting have led to fifty goals scored by sixteen different players in fourteen games (3.57 goals scored/game); 50 goals is the high-water mark in the NCHC this season.

Here are the three closest teams in terms of offensive production:

Western Michigan: 48 goals scored in 16 games (3.00 goals scored/game)
Omaha: 43 goals scored in 12 games (3.58)
St. Cloud State: 43 goals scored in 15 games (2.87)

No other league team has scored more than 37 goals this season.

UND’s offensive prowess is matched by their stingy defense, as the Fighting Hawks have only allowed 30 goals in fourteen games (2.14 goals allowed/game). Only Omaha has allowed fewer total goals to this point in the season (26 goals allowed in 12 games; 2.17). Minnesota Duluth is close behind (31 in 13, 2.38), with Miami in fourth place (38 in 14, 2.71)

UND’s scoring margin of 50-30 is certainly impressive, but a look inside the numbers reveals that the Fighting Hawks outscored Western Michigan and Miami 22-7 in four victories and played relatively even (28 goals for, 23 goals against) in its other ten matchups (four games against Denver and two each vs. Colorado College, Duluth, and St. Cloud State). In the series against the Tigers two weeks ago, North Dakota outscored CC 5-1.

Amazingly, Western Michigan has already allowed 61 goals through sixteen games, an average of 3.81 goals allowed/game. North Dakota scored 14 of those goals in its two pod contests against the Broncos.

Through fourteen games, Colorado College has blocked 196 shots as a team, led by Zach Berzolla (44!), Jack Millar (21), Hugo Blixt (17), and Connor Mayer (15).

North Dakota has blocked 182 shots, with Matt Kiersted (25), Jacob Bernard-Docker (22), and Gabe Bast (16) leading the way.

Special teams is a huge area of concern for Mike Haviland’s squad. CC has only scored four goals with the man advantage this season and has already allowed 14 power play goals to opponents. The Tigers have also allowed three shorthanded goals while scoring just one for net of minus-twelve.

By comparison, North Dakota is a plus-nine (15 power play goals scored, 8 power play goals allowed, 2 shorthanded goals scored, 0 shorthanded goals allowed). Colorado College has scored just one power play in its last twenty man-advantage opportunities.

On the injury front, Colorado College junior forward Grant Cruikshank will not be in the lineup this weekend after having his appendix removed. Cruikshank leads the Tigers in goals (six) and is second in shots on goal (38) despite missing the past four games. In his absence, Ben Copeland (four goals, 44 shots on goal) and Josiah Slavin (four goals, 33 shots on goal) will lead the way. Cruikshank is the son of four-team Olympic speed skating parents Bonnie Blair (four gold medals) and Dave Cruikshank.

In much the same way that North Dakota added freshman forward Louis Jamernik to fill out their lineup, Colorado College has added center Matthew Gleason from the Chicago Steel. Gleason, who put up a line of 3-3-6 in thirteen USHL games this season, was a finalist for Minnesota’s Mr. Hockey Award and was named the Star Tribune Metro player of the year.

There may be a couple of holes on the blue line this weekend for North Dakota. Senior defenseman Gabe Bast did not make the trip to Denver last weekend, and sophomore Ethan Frisch left Sunday’s game against the Pioneers and did not return that night or in the rematch. In their absence, freshman Cooper Moore and senior Josh Rieger made up the third pair on Sunday night. An update on the availability of Bast and Frisch for tonight’s contest has not been provided.

Last weekend, North Dakota struggled out of the gate in a 4-1 loss at Denver before rebounding for a resounding 5-1 victory. Colorado College lost two home games against Omaha by identical 3-2 scores this week, including a heartbreaking loss on Tuesday with 0.9 seconds remaining in overtime. The Tigers had the better of the play for large stretches – outshooting the Mavs 69-45 – but went 0-for-11 with the man advantage and fell just short in both games.

Colorado College Tigers

Head Coach: Mike Haviland (7th season at CC, 66-145-22, .330)
National Rankings: NR/NR

This Season: 3-9-2 overall, 3-9-2 NCHC
Last Season: 11-20-3 overall, 4-17-3-1 NCHC (8th)

2020-2021 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 2.00 goals scored/game – 45th of 51 teams
Team Defense: 3.14 goals allowed/game – 35th of 51 teams
Power Play: 8.2% (4 of 49) – 48th of 51 teams
Penalty Kill: 68.2% (30 of 44) – 49th of 51 teams

Key players: Sophomore F Josiah Slavin (4-6-10), Junior F Grant Cruikshank (6-2-8), Junior F Ben Copeland (4-6-10), Freshman F Hunter McKown (2-2-4), Senior F Troy Conzo (1-3-4), Sophomore F Patrick Cozzi (1-4-5), Freshman D Jack Millar (2-4-6), Junior D Bryan Yoon (1-1-2), Freshman D Nicklas Andrews (1-2-3), Freshman G Dominic Basse (3-5-1, 2.71 GAA, .897 SV%)

North Dakota Fighting Hawks

Head Coach: Brad Berry (6th season at UND, 126-60-24, .657)
National Rankings: #3/#3

This Season: 10-3-1 overall, 10-3-1 NCHC
Last Season: 26-5-4 overall, 17-4-3-2 NCHC (1st)

2020-2021 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.57 goals scored/game – 12th of 51 teams
Team Defense: 2.14 goals allowed/game – 9th of 51 teams
Power Play: 25.4% (15 of 59) – 5th of 51 teams
Penalty Kill: 86.4% (51 of 59) – 15th of 51 teams

Key players: Senior F Jordan Kawaguchi (4-12-16), Sophomore F Shane Pinto (5-10-15), Senior F Grant Mismash (7-7-14), Freshman F Riese Gaber (8-2-10), Senior F Collin Adams (5-7-12), Junior F Mark Senden (1-8-9), Senior D Matt Kiersted (3-11-14), Sophomore D Ethan Frisch (2-3-5 in 11 games), Junior D Jacob Bernard-Docker (1-5-6), Freshman D Jake Sanderson (1-2-3 in seven games), Junior G Adam Scheel (9-2-1. 1.98 GAA, .923 SV%, 2 SO)

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: January 11, 2021 (Colorado Springs, CO). After the two teams traded power play goals in the middle frame (Riese Gaber for UND, Ben Copeland for CC), it was Grant Mismash who unknotted the score in favor of the visitors early in the third period. North Dakota locked it down after that, allowing the Tigers only three shots on goal in the final twenty minutes of play. One night earlier, the Fighting Hawks blanked CC 3-0 despite being outshot 27-18.

Last Meeting in Grand Forks: February 1, 2020. One night after a third-period power play goal held up for a 1-0 UND victory, North Dakota built a snowman with an 8-1 win, outshooting the Tigers 35-15 in the process. Seven different Fighting Hawks lit the lamp, including Jordan Kawaguchi, who had two goals and an assist.

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, 164-84-11 (.654), with a remarkable record of 105-22-7 (.810) in games played in Grand Forks. The teams first met in 1948.

Last Ten: North Dakota has eight wins in the last ten meetings between the teams, outscoring CC 37-20 over that span. UND has won five straight against the Tigers, with CC scoring a combined three goals in those five games. The Fighting Hawks’ last home loss to Colorado College was on February 9, 2018 (4-2).

Game News and Notes

These two coaching staffs coached against each other at the AHL and NHL levels prior to the NCHC. North Dakota head coach Brad Berry has had far the better of it, with a overall record of 15-4-1 (.775) against Colorado College. 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). In their careers against Colorado College, Jordan Kawaguchi has five goals and seven assists in twelve games and Grant Mismash has six goals and two assists in eight games. The Tigers have played teams fairly evenly in first periods this season (eight goals scored, nine goals allowed) but have faded after that, allowing 35 goals over the final 45 minutes of games (2nd periods, 3rd periods, and overtime sessions) while scoring just 20. Had last season been allowed to continue, North Dakota would have hosted Colorado College in the first round of the NCHC playoffs. UND will play seven of its final ten regular season games at home.

The Prediction

North Dakota has the depth to handle the absence of Grant Mismash, while Colorado College will continue to struggle without Grant Cruikshank. UND will benefit from home ice, the banner-raising ceremony, at least a few thousand fans, and, if that isn’t enough – the dog cutouts. Most teams would be raring to go after losing in heartbreaking fashion like the Tigers did, so a quick start is important for both sides. CC has not had much success at Ralph Engelstad Arena, and with the home team’s edge in net and on specialty teams, I don’t see anything to indicate a break from that trend. UND 4-2, 5-1.

Broadcast Information

Both games will be broadcast live on Midco Sports Network and streamed 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!

Weekend Preview: UND at Denver

With that as our guide, here’s the NCHC leaderboard (three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime or shootout win, and one point for an overtime or shootout loss)

1. North Dakota 2.17 (26 points in 12 games)
2. Omaha 1.90 (19 points in 10 games)
3. St. Cloud State 1.80 (27 points in 15 games)
4. Minnesota Duluth 1.62 (21 points in 13 games)
5. Denver 1.25 (15 points in 12 games)
6. Western Michigan 1.19 (19 points in 16 games)
7. Colorado College 1.17 (14 points in 12 games)
8. Miami 1.07 (15 points in 14 games)

#2 North Dakota (9-2-1) played all ten scheduled games in the Omaha pod, but it has not been smooth sailing to open the second half. UND has already had four games scratched against Omaha, with those games rescheduled for later this season. Not wanting two consecutive weekends off, the Fighting Hawks worked with the NCHC to squeeze in last weekend’s Sunday-Monday series in Colorado Springs. After sweeping the Tigers (3-0, 2-1), Brad Berry’s squad returned home to prepare for a Friday/Saturday series against 18th-ranked Pioneers, only to learn on Wednesday that this series would also be pushed back two days. Playing last weekend at altitude will certainly help the Green and White this time around, and the flexibility they have shown in adjusting to game times and days will benefit this team in the national tournament.

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)

Turning our attention to this weekend’s matchup, Denver sophomore goaltender Magnus Chrona started out the season playing every minute in net, but he has gone just 2-7-0 while giving up nearly three goals per game (2.96) and posting a pedestrian save percentage of .893. Graduate transfer Corbin Kaczperski (2-0-1, 1.76 GAA, .891 SV%) has filled in admirably; here are Kaczperski’s career numbers from his three seasons at Yale:

29-22-4, 2.53 GAA, .911 SV%, and three shutouts.

Junior netminder Adam Scheel (8-1-1. 1.82 GAA, .927 SV%, 2 SO) has made the majority of starts for North Dakota, with senior Peter Thome (1-1-0, 3.86 GAA, .833 SV%) appearing in two games. Scheel came on in relief in UND’s loss to St. Cloud State after Thome allowed four goals on 18 shots in 33 minutes of action. After allowing just one goal in a weekend sweep at Colorado College (the first time UND has ever accomplished that feat), I believe that it’s Adam Scheel’s crease for the foreseeable future.

Although North Dakota certainly misses (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 returned 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 forward Cole Guttman (14-14-28), sophomore forward Bobby Brink (11-13-24 in 28 games played), junior forward Brett Stapley (5-25-30), senior forward Kohen Olischefski (9-11-20), junior forward Tyler Ward (10-9-19), senior defenseman Griffin Mendel (3-6-9), and junior defenseman 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.

Freshman forward Carter Savoie has been the brightest spot for Denver this season, tallying eight goals and five assists through his first twelve collegiate games. Savoie, a 5-foot-9 left winger who notched 84 goals and 88 assists over two seasons (112 games) with the Sherwood Park Crusaders (AJHL), is a threat to score from anywhere on the ice. The 18-year-old from St. Albert, Alberta was a 4th-round pick (100th overall) of the Edmonton Oilers in the 2020 NHL entry draft.

North Dakota also has a rookie forward with eight goals through his first twelve collegiate games. Freshman Riese Gaber, an undrafted right winger from Gilbert Plains, Manitoba (a six-hour drive from Grand Forks, ND), spent his past two seasons in the USHL, scoring 56 goals and adding 49 assists in 108 games with the Dubuque Fighting Saints.

Savoie and Gaber trail only Western Michigan senior forward Ethen Frank (ten goals in fifteen games) in the league goal-scoring race. Only one freshman has scored more than twelve goals in the history of the NCHC. North Dakota’s Brock Boeser notched 20 goals in 24 conference games in 2015-16, leading UND to its eighth national title.

A half-point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and David Carle’s squad has seven players who meet that threshold: freshman forward Carter Savoie (8-5-13), junior forward Cole Guttman (4-6-10), junior forward Brett Stapley (4-3-7), freshman forward McKade Webster (3-4-7), senior forward Kohen Olischefski (3-3-6), sophomore forward Bobby Brink (0-3-3 in three games), and freshman defenseman Mike Benning (1-7-8).

By that same measure, nine North Dakota players make the list: sophomore forward Shane Pinto (5-10-15), senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi (3-11-14), senior defenseman Matt Kiersted (2-10-12), senior forward Grant Mismash (6-6-12), freshman forward Riese Gaber (8-2-10), senior forward Collin Adams (5-7-12), freshman defenseman Jake Sanderson (1-2-3 in five games), sophomore defenseman Ethan Frisch (2-3-5 in ten games), and junior forward Jasper Weatherby (3-3-6).

Kawaguchi was the only NCHC player to notch at least one point in each of his team’s games in the Omaha pod, although he was held scoreless on Monday evening and saw his eleven-game point streak come to an end. UND’s 44 goals this season have been scored by fifteen different players.

It is abundantly clear that North Dakota will have the puck a lot this season, and the numbers bear that out. After twelve games, the Fighting Hawks are fourth in the nation in shots on goal allowed/game (24.8) and are ninth in the country in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi (% of shots taken vs. opponent): 54.3%
Fenwick (% of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent): 55.6%

By comparison, the Pioneers are 10th in both Corsi (54.2%) and Fenwick (54.7), averaging 30.0 shots on goal per game (North Dakota is averaging 29.3/game) while allowing 24.3 shots on goal against/contest.

One key area to watch in this contest is the face-off dot. The Fighting Hawks are second in the nation in faceoff win percentage at 56.4 percent, while Denver is 48th (44.5%) among the 51 men’s college hockey teams to have played at least one game this season.

Leading the way in the faceoff circle for North Dakota have been Shane Pinto (64.0%), Jasper Weatherby (53.9%), and Collin Adams (55.2%). Denver will counter with Jaakko Heikkinen (40.8%), Cole Guttman (54.4%), Brett Stapley (48.8%), and McKade Webster (39.6%).

The Fighting Hawks are scoring on 12.5 percent of their shots on goal, a remarkable statistic good for 5th in the country. By contrast, the Pioneers are only lighting the lamp on 8.9% of their shots on goal (29th).

UND’s scoring margin of 44-25 through twelve games looks impressive, but a look inside the numbers reveals that the Fighting Hawks outscored Western Michigan and Miami 22-7 in four victories and was relatively even (22 goals for, 18 goals against) in its other eight matchups (two each vs. Colorado College, Denver, Duluth, and St. Cloud State).

Through twelve games, Denver has blocked 137 shots as a team, led by Antti Tuomisto (16), Kohen Olischefski (13), Griffin Mendel (12), and Justin Lee (12).

North Dakota has blocked 148 shots, with Matt Kiersted (21), Jacob Bernard-Docker (19), and Gabe Bast (16) leading the way.

Through each team’s first twelve games, here is the specialty teams ledger:

Denver power play: 12 of 48, 25.0 percent
Denver penalty kill: 31 of 40, 77.5 percent

North Dakota power play: 14 of 50, 28.0 percent
North Dakota penalty kill: 42 of 50, 84.0 percent

North Dakota has scored two shorthanded goals this season, while the Pios have none to their credit. Neither team has allowed a shorthanded tally. The Pioneers have scored 12 of their 32 goals this season with the man advantage, while the Fighting Hawks have scored 14 of their 44 goals this season on the power play. Denver must generate more five-on-five chances in this series if the Pios hope to gain a split or better against North Dakota.

UND is scheduled to host the Pios at Ralph Engelstad Arena on February 5th and 6th in the final regular season meetings between the two teams. North Dakota is also scheduled to face Omaha six times and Colorado College twice in the second half of the season. Seven of UND’s final ten regular season games will be played at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

On the injury front, it remains to be seen whether junior forward Gavin Hain makes his return to the North Dakota lineup. Hain was injured in UND’s first game against Colorado College and did not suit up for the rematch.

Denver did not play last weekend because of a positive COVID-19 test within the team, and Sunday’s lineup chart suggests that bench boss David Carle is missing a few players. Most notably, freshman defenseman Mike Benning (1-7-8 in 11 games played) will not suit up in game one. No active Pioneers defenseman has more than three points, although I expect forward Antti Tuomisto (0-4-4) to play defense against UND. Of the seven players expected to patrol the blue line for the Pios, only Tuomisto is right-handed.

Denver Pioneers

Head Coach: David Carle (3rd season at DU, 49-28-12, .618)
National Rankings: #18/#18

This Season: 4-7-1 overall, 4-7-1 NCHC
Last Season: 21-9-6 overall, 11-8-5-4 NCHC (3rd)

2020-2021 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 2.67 goals scored/game – 30th of 51 teams
Team Defense: 2.75 goals allowed/game – 22nd of 51 teams
Power Play: 25.0% (12 of 48) – 10th of 51 teams
Penalty Kill: 77.5% (31 of 40) – 33rd of 51 teams

Key players: Freshman F Carter Savoie (8-5-13), Junior F Cole Guttman (4-6-10), Junior F Brett Stapley (4-3-7), Freshman F McKade Webster (3-4-7), Senior F Kohen Olischefski (3-3-6), Sophomore F Bobby Brink (0-3-3 in three games), Freshman D Mike Benning (1-7-8), Senior D Bo Hanson (0-3-3), Senior G Corbin Kaczperski (2-0-1, 1.76 GAA, .891 SV%)

North Dakota Fighting Hawks

Head Coach: Brad Berry (6th season at UND, 125-59-24, .659)
National Rankings: #2/#2

This Season: 9-2-1 overall, 9-2-1 NCHC
Last Season: 26-5-4 overall, 17-4-3-2 NCHC (1st)

2020-2021 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.67 goals scored/game – 11th of 51 teams
Team Defense: 2.08 goals allowed/game – 7th of 51 teams
Power Play: 28.0% (14 of 50) – 4th of 51 teams
Penalty Kill: 84.0% (42 of 50) – 17th of 51 teams

Key players: Senior F Jordan Kawaguchi (3-11-14), Sophomore F Shane Pinto (5-10-15), Senior F Grant Mismash (6-6-12), Freshman F Riese Gaber (8-2-10), Senior F Collin Adams (5-7-12), Junior F Jasper Weatherby (3-3-6), Senior D Matt Kiersted (2-10-12), Sophomore D Ethan Frisch (2-3-5), Junior D Jacob Bernard-Docker (1-4-5), Freshman D Jake Sanderson (1-2-3 in five games), Junior G Adam Scheel (8-1-1. 1.82 GAA, .927 SV%, 2 SO)

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: Tuesday, December 8 (Omaha, NE). In their second pod matchup in five days, the Pioneers built an early 2-0 before UND clawed back to even the score late in the 2nd period. The two teams traded chances in the third before Denver’s Carter Savoie netted the game-winning power play goal with just over two minutes remaining in the contest. Each team scored two goals with the man advantage. In their first pod meeting (Friday, December 4th), the two teams needed an extra session, where frequent overtime hero Jordan Kawaguchi sent fans of the Green and White into a frenzy. UND outshot Denver 35-22, including a 14-5 advantage in the second period.

Last Meeting in Denver: November 16, 2019. One night after Colton Poolman scored during the 3-on-3 session to give the visitors the extra point, Cole Smith scored two goals in a 4-1 UND victory. Denver outshot North Dakota 28-22 but went scoreless on six power plays.

Last Ten Games: After going 0-3-1 over the last four games of the 2018-2019 season, North Dakota went 3-0-1 against the Pioneers last year, outscoring the Pios 12-4 in the process. A split in the Omaha pod leaves the teams at 4-4-2 over the last ten games. UND has scored a total of seventeen goals in the last five games after scoring only five combined goals in the five games before that. On a positive note, the Pioneers have only scored nineteen goals in the past ten. Three of the last ten meetings have gone into overtime.

All-time Series: UND leads the all-time series, 150-129-16 (.536), although Denver enjoys a 76-55-5 (.577) advantage in games played at altitude. The teams first met in 1950, with North Dakota prevailing 18-3 in Denver.

Game News and Notes

North Dakota has won six consecutive games, outscoring opponents 23-10 over that stretch. UND and DU were tabbed to finish one-two in the league in the 2020-2021 NCHC Preseason Media Poll. To this point in the season, the Pioneers are not holding up their end of the bargain. UND is one of just five Division I men’s college hockey teams that have yet to play a home game. 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

I don’t think that either team can pick up more than four of the six possible points this weekend. North Dakota has an edge on the back end and in net, but either team can score at any time. I give the edge to the visitors in the opener, and I’m expecting an overtime contest in the rematch. UND 4-2, DU 4-3 (OT).

Broadcast Information

Sunday evening’s game will be broadcast live on Altitude and picked up locally by MidcoSN, while Monday’s rematch will be available nationally on CBS Sports Network. Both games 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!

Weekend Preview: UND at Colorado College

With that as our guide, here’s the NCHC leaderboard (three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime or shootout win, and one point for an overtime or shootout loss)

1. St. Cloud State 2.08 (27 points in 13 games)
2. North Dakota 2.00 (20 points in 10 games)
3. Omaha 1.90 (19 points in 10 games)
4. Minnesota Duluth 1.62 (21 points in 13 games)
5. Colorado College 1.40 (14 points in 10 games)
6. Denver 1.25 (15 points in 12 games)
7. Miami 1.07 (15 points in 14 games)
8. Western Michigan 0.93 (13 points in 14 games)

#3 North Dakota (7-2-1) played all ten scheduled games in the Omaha pod, but it has not been smooth sailing to open the second half. UND has already had four games scratched against Omaha, with those games rescheduled for later this season. Not wanting two consecutive weekends off, the Fighting Hawks worked with the NCHC to squeeze in this unusual Sunday-Monday series in Colorado Springs in advance of its series at Denver on Friday and Saturday (January 15-16), but it remains to be seen whether the games against the Pioneers will go off without a hitch.

This will be UND’s last regular-season trip to World Arena, which is one of only a handful of Olympic ice sheets remaining in college hockey. The Tigers will move to an on-campus rink next season (Robson Arena), with an NHL ice surface and less than half of the number of seats.

North Dakota freshman defensemen Jake Sanderson and Tyler Kleven won gold with Team USA at the World Junior Championships and have been cleared to return to the UND lineup. Both blueliners played in three games before departing Omaha to play for their country.

Turning our attention to this weekend’s matchup, freshman netminder Dominic Basse (3-3-1, 2.75 GAA, .894 SV%) has been steady as Colorado College sorts out its goaltending situation. Sophomore Matt Vernon got the majority of the starts for CC last year (8-16-3, 3.43 GAA, .901 SV%), but the sophomore from Calgary, Alberta has struggled mightily in the early going, going winless in four appearances (0-2-1) with a goals-against average of 4.70 and a save percentage of just .846.

Junior netminder Adam Scheel (6-1-1. 2.13 GAA, .913 SV%, 1 SO) has made the majority of starts for North Dakota, with senior Peter Thome (1-1-0, 3.86 GAA, .833 SV%) appearing in two games. Scheel came on in relief in UND’s loss to St. Cloud State after Thome allowed four goals on 18 shots in 33 minutes of action. I would expect Scheel to get the start tonight against the Tigers.

A half-point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and Mike Haviland’s squad has just four players who meet that threshold: sophomore forward Josiah Slavin (3-6-9), junior forward Grant Cruikshank (6-2-8), junior forward Ben Copeland (2-4-6), and freshman defenseman Jack Millar (2-4-6).

By that same measure, eleven North Dakota players make the list: sophomore forward Shane Pinto (5-8-13), senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi (3-10-13), senior defenseman Matt Kiersted (2-7-9), senior forward Grant Mismash (4-6-10), freshman forward Riese Gaber (7-2-9), senior forward Collin Adams (4-5-9), freshman defenseman Jake Sanderson (1-2-3 in three games), sophomore defenseman Ethan Frisch (2-3-5 in eight games), junior defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker (1-4-5), junior forward Jasper Weatherby (3-3-6), and junior forward Mark Senden (1-4-5).

Kawaguchi was the only NCHC player to notch at least one point in each of his team’s games in the Omaha pod. UND’s 39 goals this season have been scored by fifteen different players.

It is abundantly clear that North Dakota will have the puck a lot this season, and the numbers bear that out. After ten games, the Fighting Hawks are third in the nation in shots on goal allowed/game (24.7) and are in the top ten in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi (% of shots taken vs. opponent): 54.7% (9th)
Fenwick (% of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent): 56.5% (5th)

By comparison, the Tigers are 37th in Corsi (46.4%) and 35th in Fenwick (46.9), averaging 28.1 shots on goal per game (North Dakota is averaging 30.5/game) while allowing 27.6 shots on goal against/contest.

One key area to watch in this contest is the face-off dot. The Fighting Hawks are third in the nation in faceoff win percentage at 57.1 percent, while the Tigers are 38th in the nation at 46.7%. To this point of the season, 51 men’s Division I college hockey teams have played at least one game.

Leading the way in the faceoff circle for North Dakota have been Shane Pinto (65.2%), Jasper Weatherby (56.6%), Collin Adams (53.4%), and Mark Senden (47.3%). Colorado College will counter with Grant Cruikshank (56.1%), Logan Will (55.7%), Josiah Slavin (51.5%), Jackson Jutting (42.7%), and Troy Conzo (39.0%).

The Fighting Hawks are scoring on 12.8 percent of their shots on goal, a remarkable statistic good for 5th in the country. By contrast, the Tigers are only lighting the lamp on 8.2% of their shots on goal (41st).

UND’s scoring margin of 39-24 through ten games looks impressive, but a look inside the numbers reveals that the Fighting Hawks outscored Western Michigan and Miami 22-7 in four victories and was exactly even (17 goals for, 17 goals against) in its other six matchups (two each vs. Denver, Duluth, and St. Cloud State).

Through ten games, Colorado College has blocked 152 shots as a team, led by Zach Berzolla (35), Hugo Blixt (15), and Connor Mayer.

North Dakota has blocked 130 shots, with Matt Kiersted (19), Jacob Bernard-Docker (18), and Gabe Bast (14) leading the way.

Special teams is a huge area of concern for the Tigers. CC has only scored three goals with the man advantage this season and has already allowed 11 power play goals to opponents for a net of minus-eight. By comparison, North Dakota is a plus-five (12 power play goals scored, 7 power play goals allowed).

On the injury front, Colorado College junior forward Grant Cruikshank will not be in the lineup on Sunday evening (appendicitis) and could miss Monday’s rematch as well. Cruikshank leads the Tigers in goals (six) and shots on goal (38); no other CC player has more than three tallies this season or 21 shots on goal this season.

Colorado College Tigers

Head Coach: Mike Haviland (7th season at CC, 66-141-22, .336)
National Rankings: NR/NR

This Season: 3-5-2 overall, 3-5-2 NCHC
Last Season: 11-20-3 overall, 4-17-3-1 NCHC (8th)

2020-2021 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 2.30 goals scored/game – 38th of 51 teams
Team Defense: 3.30 goals allowed/game – 37th of 51 teams
Power Play: 10.3% (3 of 29) – 43rd of 51 teams
Penalty Kill: 65.6% (21 of 32) – 51st of 51 teams

Key players: Sophomore F Josiah Slavin (3-6-9), Junior F Grant Cruikshank (6-2-8), Junior F Ben Copeland (2-4-6), Freshman F Hunter McKown (2-2-4), Senior F Troy Conzo (1-3-4), Sophomore F Patrick Cozzi (1-3-4), Freshman D Jack Millar (2-4-6), Junior D Bryan Yoon (1-1-2), Freshman D Nicklas Andrews (1-1-2), Freshman G Dominic Basse (3-3-1, 2.75 GAA, .894 SV%)

North Dakota Fighting Hawks

Head Coach: Brad Berry (6th season at UND, 123-59-24, .655)
National Rankings: #3/#3

This Season: 7-2-1 overall, 7-2-1 NCHC
Last Season: 26-5-4 overall, 17-4-3-2 NCHC (1st)

2020-2021 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.90 goals scored/game – 5th of 51 teams
Team Defense: 2.40 goals allowed/game – 13th of 51 teams
Power Play: 27.9% (12 of 43) – 5th of 51 teams
Penalty Kill: 82.9% (34 of 41) – 20th of 51 teams

Key players: Senior F Jordan Kawaguchi (3-10-13), Sophomore F Shane Pinto (5-8-13), Senior F Grant Mismash (4-6-10), Freshman F Riese Gaber (7-2-9), Senior F Collin Adams (4-5-9), Junior F Jasper Weatherby (3-3-6), Senior D Matt Kiersted (2-7-9), Sophomore D Ethan Frisch (2-3-5), Junior D Jacob Bernard-Docker (1-4-5), Freshman D Jake Sanderson (1-2-3 in three games), Junior G Adam Scheel (6-1-1. 2.13 GAA, .913 SV%, 1 SO)

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: February 1, 2020 (Grand Forks, ND). One night after a third-period power play goal held up for a 1-0 UND victory, North Dakota built a snowman with an 8-1 win, outshooting the Tigers 35-15 in the process. Seven different Fighting Hawks lit the lamp, including Jordan Kawaguchi, who had two goals and an assist.

Last Meeting in Colorado Springs: 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.

All-time Series: UND leads the all-time series, 162-84-11 (.652), although Colorado College holds a slim 60-55-4 (.521) advantage in games played in Colorado Springs. The teams first met in 1948.

Last Ten: North Dakota has seven wins in the last ten meetings between the teams, outscoring CC 33-21 over that span. UND had gone unbeaten in 14 straight (13-0-1) against the Tigers until four of the last six series between the schools ended in splits.

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 last swept at Robson Arena during the 2015-2016 season on their way to their eighth national title. In their careers against Colorado College, Jordan Kawaguchi has five goals and six assists in eleven games and Grant Mismash has four goals and two assists in six games.

The Prediction

UND is healthy, rested, and ready to finally get the second half underway. The wide sheet of ice is normally problematic for road teams, particularly on the first night of a weekend series. This year’s version of the Green and White has the skating ability, puck possession, and goaltending to mitigate any advantage the Tigers normally have. One of these games will be close, but North Dakota should collect all six points this weekend. UND 3-2, 5-1..

Broadcast Information

Sunday evening’s contest will be broadcast live on Midco Sports Network. Both games 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!

UND Game Preview: NCHC Pod Game #10 vs. Miami

With all of the ties, shootouts, late-game heroics, and overtime winners as well as the disparity in each team’s number of games played in the Omaha pod, it can be difficult to get a handle on who is ahead in the NCHC standings. The best way I have found is to look at the average number of points earned.

With that as our guide, here’s the leaderboard (three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime or shootout win, and one point for an overtime or shootout loss)

Minnesota Duluth 2.00 (18 points in 9 games)
North Dakota 1.89 (17 points in 9 games)
St. Cloud State 1.88 (15 points in 8 games)
Omaha 1.78 (16 points in 9 games)
Colorado College 1.57 (11 points in 7 games)
Denver 1.33 (12 points in 9 games)
Miami 0.89 (8 points in 9 games)
Western Michigan 0.80 (8 points in 10 games)

Way back on December 2nd, these two teams met in the first pod game for either side. North Dakota blanked Miami 2-0 and put 39 shots on goal. Unfortunately for the RedHawks, that’s been the case far too frequently, as Chris Bergeron’s squad has only scored 13 goals all season (nine games, 1.44 goals/game) and has been outshot 309-196. Goaltending has kept things close (more on that later), but Miami has scored more than one goal in a game just three times this year.

By comparison, North Dakota has scored at least two goals in every contest this year, averaging 3.67 goals/game (33 goals in nine games).

UND played Minnesota Duluth at noon yesterday, outlasting a tough Bulldogs squad by scoring the game winner with 48 seconds remaining. Eight hours later, Miami and Colorado College went to overtime, with the Tigers gaining the extra league point with a shootout victory.

After today’s tilt, North Dakota will head into break until Thursday, December 31st.

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).

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).

North Dakota rookie defensemen Jake Sanderson and Tyler Kleven will not appear in today’s contest, having made the final roster for the 2021 U.S. National Junior Team competing in the World Junior Championships (December 25th, 2020 through January 5th, 2021). The team arrived into the Edmonton bubble one week ago, and the international competition begins on Friday. Sanderson and Kleven are also expected to miss UND’s first two games of the second half (at Omaha on December 31st and January 1st) but could return to action at Ralph Engelstad Arena the following weekend (also against Omaha).

The absence of Sanderson and Kleven will mean that both senior Josh Rieger and freshman Cooper Moore will once again be inserted into the lineup on defense. Moore’s first collegiate game was two weeks ago against Western Michigan (one assist). Rieger has appeared in 39 games over his four seasons at North Dakota, with one goal, three assists, and 31 penalty minutes, including two minor penalties against Denver, one minor in game one against SCSU, and a major penalty for boarding in Wednesday’s rematch with the Huskies. Moore is growing into his role on the back end, and it definitely helped North Dakota to have Ethan Frisch back in the lineup on defense yesterday against UMD. Barring a setback, Brad Berry should be able to field six healthy defensemen for his team’s final foray in the pod.

Each team’s first nine NCHC pod games have given us a glimpse of what we can expect today and in the second half of the season.

#1 North Dakota blanked Miami 2-0 to open up their pod schedule, followed that up with a 4-3 overtime victory over #4 Denver, boat raced #17 Western Michigan 8-2, fell 3-2 to the Pioneers in the rematch, took #3 Minnesota Duluth to overtime, lost to #13 St. Cloud State by a final of 5-3, handled WMU 6-2 one week ago, scored eight seconds into overtime in Wednesday’s rematch with the Huskies, and followed up those heroics with a final-minute winner in yesterday’s thrilling victory over the Bulldogs.

It’s been a struggle in the pod for the RedHawks, with only two victories (1-0 vs. Omaha and 3-0 vs. Denver). Miami also took Omaha to overtime in their other matchup (losing 17 seconds into overtime) and fell to the Colorado College Tigers in a shootout last night. In their five regulation losses, Miami has been outscored 20-7.

For the RedHawks, goaltender Ludvig Persson (2-2-1, 1.19 GAA, .962 SV%, 2 SO) has been a revelation, keeping the RedHawks in games despite the team being outshot 107-160 in his five starts. The freshman from Hindas, Sweden was at his best against Omaha on December 12th, with a 30-save shutout in a game his team won 1-0 despite putting only twelve shots on frame. Persson had been alternating starts with sophomore Ben Kraws (0-4-0, 3.30 GAA, .912 SV%), but Chris Bergeron has to go with the hot hand in today’s tilt against the Fighting Hawks.

Junior netminder Adam Scheel (5-1-1, 2.13 GAA, .915 SV%, 1 SO) has made the majority of starts for North Dakota, with senior Peter Thome (1-1-0, 3.86 GAA, .833 SV%) appearing in two games. Scheel came on in relief in UND’s loss to St. Cloud State after Thome allowed four goals on 18 shots in 33 minutes of action. Earlier this week, I mentioned that I expected Thome to get the start today against Miami, but the way Scheel is playing between the pipes has me thinking that Brad Berry may just stick with what’s working in the pod.

A half-point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and Chris Bergeron’s squad has just one player who meets that threshold: junior forward Matt Barry (2-3-5) scored Miami’s lone goal in yesterday’s 1-1 tie (shootout loss) with the Tigers.

By that same measure, eight North Dakota players make the list: sophomore forward Shane Pinto (4-8-12), senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi (3-9-12), senior defenseman Matt Kiersted (2-7-9), senior forward Grant Mismash (4-4-8), freshman forward Riese Gaber (5-1-6), senior forward Collin Adams (3-5-8), freshman defenseman Jake Sanderson (1-2-3 in three games), and junior forward Jasper Weatherby (2-3-5).

Kawaguchi is the only NCHC player to notch at least one point in each of his team’s games in the Omaha pod. UND’s 33 goals this season have been scored by fifteen different players.

It is abundantly clear that North Dakota will have the puck a lot this season, and the numbers bear that out. After nine games, the Fighting Hawks are sixth in the nation in shots on goal allowed/game (24.9) and 11th in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi (% of shots taken vs. opponent): 54.4%
Fenwick (% of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent): 56.4%

By comparison, the RedHawks are 44th in both Corsi (43.1%) and Fenwick (41.3%), averaging 21.8 shots on goal per game (North Dakota is averaging 29.6/game) while allowing 34.3 shots on goal against/contest.

One key area to watch in this contest is the face-off dot. The Fighting Hawks are third in the nation in faceoff win percentage at 58.2 percent, while the RedHawks are 23rd in the nation at 49.9%. To this point of the season, 49 men’s Division I college hockey teams have played at least one game.

Leading the way in the faceoff circle for North Dakota have been Shane Pinto (65.5%), Jasper Weatherby (58.8%), Collin Adams (53.4%), and Mark Senden (49.1%). Miami will counter with Monte Graham (56.1%), Ben Lown (53.5%), Casey Gilling (49.0%), and Matt Barry (48.0%).

The Fighting Hawks are scoring on 12.4 percent of their shots on goal, a remarkable statistic good for 7th in the country. By contrast, the RedHawks are only lighting the lamp on 6.6% of their shots on goal (42nd).

Through nine games, here is the specialty teams ledger and team offense/defense for each side:

Miami team offense: 1.44 goals scored/game
Miami team defense: 2.56 goals allowed/game

Miami power play: 2 of 29, 6.9 percent
Miami penalty kill: 24 of 27, 88.9 percent

North Dakota team offense: 3.67 goals scored/game
North Dakota team defense: 2.44 goals allowed/game

North Dakota power play: 11 of 39, 28.2 percent
North Dakota penalty kill: 31 of 38, 81.6 percent

UND’s scoring margin of 33-22 through nine games looks impressive, but a look inside the numbers reveals that the Fighting Hawks outscored Western Michigan 14-5 in two victories and played its other seven opponents almost even (19 goals for, 17 goals against).

Through nine games, Miami has blocked 113 shots as a team, led by Jack Clement (15) and Bray Crowder (13). Three other RedHawks have blocked eight.

North Dakota has blocked 119 shots, with Jacob Bernard Docker and Matt Kiersted at 17 apiece and Gabe Bast in third place with 13.

After seven games in the first twelve days of the pod (December 2nd-13th), North Dakota will only play three games this week (Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday). This was done so that UND’s student-athletes would have more off-days during finals week.

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 play Omaha six times and Colorado College six times.

North Dakota will open up the second half of the season back in Omaha on Thursday, December 31st and Friday, January 1st, 2021, facing the Mavericks for a pair of NCHC contests. UNO will head to Grand Forks the following weekend for two more games (January 8th and 9th).

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

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

Pod Game #2: 4-3 overtime win vs. Denver

Pod Game #3: 8-2 win vs. Western Michigan

Pod Game #4: 2-3 loss vs. Denver

Pod Game #5: 2-2 tie/shootout loss vs. Minnesota Duluth

Pod Game #6: 3-5 loss vs. St. Cloud State

Pod Game #7: 6-3 win vs. Western Michigan

Pod Game #8: 4-3 overtime win vs. St. Cloud State

Pod Game #9: 2-1 win vs. Minnesota Duluth

Pod Game #10: Miami
(Sunday, December 20th at 8:05 p.m.)

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, 10-27-5, .298)

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, 122-59-24, .654)

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: December 2, 2020 (Omaha, NE). Despite outshooting Miami 29-9 through the opening two periods, North Dakota held a tenuous 1-0 lead on a power play goal from Matt Kiersted. Enter Riese Gaber, playing in his first collegiate game. The freshman potted the only goal of the third period just 67 seconds into the final frame and UND made the lead hold up for a 2-0 victory. The teams played a relatively even final twenty minutes, with each squad mustering ten shots on goal. North Dakota won 39 of 67 faceoffs (58.2%).

Last Meeting Outside The Pod: 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.

Last Ten: UND has picked up five wins and three ties (5-2-3, .650) in the past ten contests between the teams, outscoring Miami 36-25 over that stretch of games. The RedHawks have not beaten North Dakota since November 10, 2018, a 3-2 home victory.

All-time Series: North Dakota leads the all-time series 18-7-4 (.690), including a 3-0-1 record last season and a 3-1 record at neutral sites. The teams first played in 1999 (Badger Showdown, Milwaukee, WI).

Game News and Notes

In their careers against Miami, senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi has five goals and eleven assists in eleven games and senior defenseman Matt Kiersted has two goals and ten assists in nine games. With an assist and the overtime winner against St. Cloud State on Wednesday evening, Kawaguchi (33-69-102 in 117 games) became the 86th member of North Dakota’s Century Club (100 career points). In this year’s unbalanced schedule, this will be the last time that the two teams tangle in the regular season. Green Hawks are preferable to RedHawks.

The Prediction

It will be a shooting gallery tonight in the Omaha pod, and Miami will need freshman phenom Ludvig Persson to be at his best between the pipes if they’re going to have a shot at the end. If North Dakota already has its mental bags packed and overlooks the RedHawks, things could get interesting; however, there are enough veterans and leaders in the locker room that I don’t see that happening. The Fighting Hawks should roll in this one and head into the break feeling good about the first half of their season. UND 3, Miami 1.

Broadcast Information

Sunday 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

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!