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North Dakota (14-13-6, 6-10-4-2 NCHC) hosts #14 Omaha (11-6-3-2 NCHC) in the final weekend of the regular season. Exactly one year ago this weekend, UND secured the program’s third-consecutive Penrose Cup with a 5-4 overtime victory at Baxter Arena in Omaha.

It is worth noting that, despite being unranked at this point in the season, UND currently sits in 21st place in the all-important Pairwise Rankings, mostly due to the fact that ten of its thirteen losses are to teams in the top ten in the country (Minnesota, Quinnipiac, Denver four times, St. Cloud State twice, and Western Michigan twice). Omaha is 16th in the Pairwise coming into this weekend.

According to KRACH, North Dakota has faced the nation’s tenth-toughest schedule to this point of the season, while the Mavericks’ schedule weighs in as the sixteenth-most difficult.

In addition to the ten losses mentioned above, the three defeats that are looming large in UND’s current Pairwise predicament are:

(41st in PWR) Arizona State 3, North Dakota 2 (October 29th)

(43rd in PWR) Miami 4, North Dakota 3 (November 19th)

(26th in PWR) Minnesota Duluth 2, North Dakota 1 (January 21st)

All three of those games were tied in the third period.

With ten conference losses against just six victories, the Fighting Hawks are currently in sixth place in the league standings (one point behind fifth-place Duluth) with just two NCHC games remaining. As I wrote earlier this week, it is a mathematical certainty that UND will go on the road for the first round of the NCHC playoffs, with Western Michigan, St. Cloud State, or Omaha as its possible opponents.

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

Back in early November, the Fighting Hawks took four of six points with a 4-1 victory and 3-3 overtime tie (shootout loss) against the homestanding Mavericks. North Dakota outshot Omaha 81-47 on the weekend, scored a power play goal each night, held the Mavs scoreless on ten combined power play opportunities, and received three goals from junior forward Riese Gaber.

On March 4th, 2022, North Dakota built a 4-2 advantage over the first two periods but gave up the lead in the third period, allowing a power play goal at 8:49 and an extra-attacker goal at 19:04. Less than 90 seconds into overtime, UND’s Tyler Kleven scored a 3-on-3 goal to secure yet another league championship for the Fighting Hawks. There was certainly a letdown the following night, as Omaha dispatched the visitors by a final score of 4-1.

One month earlier (Friday, February 4th), UND broke a 1-1 tie with three goals in the second period, including a 5-on-3 tally by Ethan Frisch with seven seconds remaining. In Saturday’s rematch, North Dakota built a 2-0 lead through two periods but could not hold off the Mavs, allowing two third-period goals less than three minutes apart and surrendering a 3-on-3 goal midway through the five-minute overtime session.

Saturday’s rematch marked the first time in 19 games between the teams that the team scoring first did not prevail.

And two seasons ago, the two teams tangled six times over the course of 36 days in the second half of the season, and familiarity bred contempt. To that point, a line brawl erupted in the final minute of the fourth meeting between the squads, a 7-1 North Dakota home victory which 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.

The Saturday melee in Grand Forks started with Omaha sophomore forward Joey Abate slashing UND’s Louis Jamernik on the wrist instead of attempting to win the faceoff. Jamernik responded with a cross-check, and the royal rumble 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.

Despite the aforementioned Maverick ruffians, Omaha was the biggest surprise in the NCHC two seasons ago. Of course, I expected them to have good results playing at home in the pod (and they did, posting a record of 6-3-1), but I also expected them to regress in the second half. On the contrary, the Mavs 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, finished with an overall record of 14-11-1, and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time since their Frozen Four appearance in 2015. UNO ended its season with two consecutive losses; a 5-4 defeat at the hands of Denver in the opening round of the NCHC Frozen Faceoff and a 7-2 drubbing by #2 Minnesota in the NCAA West Regional (Loveland, CO). The Gophers would be blanked 4-0 in the regional final by #5 Minnesota State.

Omaha’s 2020-2021 campaign was buoyed by excellent results in close games, including four overtime victories, four wins by one goal in regulation, and a ninth in a shootout. The Mavericks’ two victories over UND last season were a 5-4 win on January 30th and a 3-2 overtime victory on March 5th. North Dakota defeated UNO by scores of 6-2, 4-1, 7-1, and 4-2 for a combined scoring margin of 27-14 over the six-game season series.

Omaha did not make the national tournament last season, finishing with a record of 21-17-0.

Nine 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 Central Collegiate Hockey Association (Miami and Western Michigan) created the National Collegiate Hockey Conference and left Alaska Anchorage, Bemidji State, Michigan Tech, and Minnesota State behind in a watered-down WCHA. And now, the WCHA is no more, and the CCHA reformed beginning with the 2021-2022 campaign. The NCHC has been the premier hockey conference since its inception, and particularly over the past eight seasons. The eight teams in the league have gone 434-223-72 (.645) in non-conference action since the start of the 2014-15 season and sent twelve teams to the Frozen Four (UND and Omaha in 2015, UND and Denver in 2016, Denver and Duluth in 2017, Duluth in 2018, Denver and Duluth in 2019, Duluth and St. Cloud State in 2021, and Denver in 2022) over that seven-year stretch (there was no national tournament in 2020). Conference members North Dakota (2016), Denver (2017, 2022), and Minnesota Duluth (2018, 2019) have won five of the last six national titles.

In the NCHC, Omaha has finished 3rd, 3rd, 6th, 6th, 5th, 7th, 6th, 4th, and 6th for an average finish of 5.11, sixth among the eight league teams. North Dakota leads the conference with an average finish of 2.33 (2nd, 1st, 1st, 4th, 4th, 5th, 1st, 1st, and 2nd). The Mavericks have never advanced past the first round of the league playoffs in nine seasons.

Turning our attention to this weekend’s matchup, a half-point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and Mike Gabinet’s 2022-2023 squad has seven active players who meet that threshold, including six forwards: senior Jack Randl (18-14-32), graduate student Tyler Weiss (5-20-25), sophomore Ty Mueller (12-13-25), graduate student Jake Pivonka (9-7-16), sophomore Cameron Berg (9-12-21), and junior Matt Miller (11-11-22). On defense, the Mavericks are led by graduate student Jonny Tychonick (8-18-26).

Ty Mueller is not expected in the lineup this weekend in Grand Forks.

By that same measure, North Dakota boasts five skaters at a half point per game or better: junior forward Riese Gaber (19-14-33), freshman forward Jackson Blake (15-23-38), graduate defensemen Chris Jandric (3-28-31), senior defenseman Ethan Frisch (4-11-15), and junior defenseman Tyler Kleven (6-9-15).

UND is tenth in the nation in shooting percentage at an astounding 11.4% (109 goals on 955 shots). By comparison, Omaha is 26th in the country at 9.8% (99 goals on 1013 shots). The Mavericks average nearly three additional shots on goal per game than the FIghting Hawks (31.7 – 28.9), although North Dakota allows far fewer shots on goal per game (24.7 – 28.4). The two teams are nearly identical in puck possession statistics, with Omaha leading 53.6% to 53.4% in Corsi (percentage of shots taken vs. opponent) but UND leading 53.0% to 52.6% in Fenwick (percentage of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent).

One key area to watch this weekend is the face-off circle. The Fighting Hawks have fallen to 19th in the nation on draws (52.1%), while Omaha clocks in at 53.5% (7th).

For UND, sophomore Jake Schmaltz has been making a living on draws, winning 319 of 572 (55.8%). Junior Louis Jamernik V has been making strides (308 of 589, 52.3%), while freshman Owen McLaughlin has been a reliable third option (183 of 364, 50.3%). Fifth-year forward Mark Senden has chipped in with 79 wins in 153 opportunities (51.6%).

For Omaha, graduate student Jake Pivonka has taken the majority of important draws, going 285 of 509 (56.0%). Senior captain Nolan Sullivan has had the most success (307 of 519, 59.2%), while sophomore Ty Mueller (220 of 457, 48.1%) has been up and down.

To this point in the season, North Dakota has had far the better of the specialty teams play. UND has been a combined +18, with 41 power play goals scored (41 of 141, 29.1%, 1st in the country) 23 power play goals allowed (103 of 126, 81.7%, 22nd), two shorthanded goals scored, and two allowed.

Omaha has posted a +6, with 29 power play goals scored (29 of 122, 23.8%, 12th), 23 power play goals allowed (80 of 103, 77.7%, 49th), three shorthanded goal scored, and three allowed.

North Dakota has earned far more man advantage opportunities than shorthanded situations this season (141-126), while Omaha has fared even better (122-103).

North Dakota is 13th in the country in scoring offense (3.30 goals scored/game) but just 34th in the country in scoring defense (2.94 goals allowed/game). Omaha is 21st in the country in scoring offense (3.09 goals scored/game) but a more respectable 18th in scoring defense (2.53 goals allowed/game).

UND has definitely tightened things up in its own end over the second half of the season. Over the first seventeen games of the 2022-23 campaign, the Fighting Hawks allowed 58 goals (3.41 per game) and went 6-8-3 (.441).

In the sixteen games since, North Dakota has allowed just 39 goals (2.44 per game) while going 8-5-3 (.594).

North Dakota is strong offensively on the back end this season, with junior Tyler Kleven and senior Ethan Frisch leading the way. A trio of graduate students (Chris Jandric, Ty Farmer, and Ryan Sidorski) match up well with junior Cooper Moore to form a puck-moving defensive corps not unlike the one that took UND all the way to the national title seven years ago.

The six blueliners expected in the lineup for the Green and White this weekend have scored 18 goals and added 68 assists for 86 points in 161 combined games this season (0.53 points/game). Back in 2015-16, Troy Stecher, Tucker Poolman, Paul LaDue, Keaton Thompson, Christian Wolanin, and Gage Ausmus combined for 24-91-115 in 241 games played (0.48 points/game).

By comparison, the six available defensemen for Omaha have posted a line of 11-60-71 in 176 games (0.40).

Freshman netminder Simon Latkoczy has been a revelation for Omaha this season. The first-year goalie from Trencin, Slovakia has posted a record of 10-3-1 with a goals-against average of 2.06, a save percentage of .926, and two shutouts. Latkoczy took over the reigns from junior Jake Kucharski (8-8-2, 2.76 GAA, .902 SV%, 1SO) in late January and has given up more than two goals only once since October 15th. He played his junior hockey with the Madison Capitols and Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League.

Goaltending has been a struggle for most of this season for North Dakota, but graduate netminder Drew DeRidder appears to have righted the ship. The Michigan State transfer has started ten straight games for the Fighting Hawks, allowing a total of twenty goals in two games each against Duluth, Miami, Denver, St. Cloud State, and Colorado College. Over that stretch, DeRidder has posted a record of 5-3-2 with a goals-against average of 2.09, a save percentage of .914, and two shutouts. He has also locked it down in shootouts, stopping five of six shooters against SCSU and CC.

Back in November, DeRidder started both games at Omaha, stopping 43 of 47 shots and earning a win and a tie. In the two-game series, the fifth-year goaltender from Fenton, Michigan posted a goals-against average of 1.92 and a save percentage of .915.

Sadly, Omaha assistant coach Paul Jerrard died last month after a long-term battle with cancer. Jerrard made a positive impact on the game of hockey, and he will be greatly missed. To learn more about his work and legacy, please read this feature on Jerrard from the University of Nebraska Omaha.

Omaha Team Profile

Head Coach: Mike Gabinet (6th season at UNO, 93-97-14, .490)

National Rankings: #14/#14
Pairwise Ranking: 16th
KRACH Rating: 201.1 (15th)

This Season: 18-11-3 overall, 11-6-3-2 NCHC (2nd)
Last Season: 21-17-0 overall, 9-12-2-1 NCHC (6th)

Team Offense: 3.09 goals scored/game – 21st of 62 teams
Team Defense: 2.53 goals allowed/game – 18th of 62 teams

Power Play: 23.8% (29 of 122) – 12th of 62 teams
Penalty Kill: 77.7% (80 of 103) – 49th of 62 teams

Key Players: Senior F Jack Randl (18-14-32), Graduate F Tyler Weiss (5-20-25), Sophomore F Ty Mueller (12-13-25), Graduate F Jake Pivonka (9-7-16), Sophomore F Cameron Berg (9-12-21), Junior FMatt Miller (11-11-22). Graduate D Jonny Tychonick (8-18-26), Freshman G Simon Latkoczy (10-3-1, 2.06 GAA, .926 SV%, 2 SO)

North Dakota Team Profile

Head Coach: Brad Berry (8th season at UND, 176-90-31, .645)

National Rankings: NR/NR
Pairwise Ranking: 21st
KRACH Rating: 166.6 (18th)

This Season: 14-13-6 overall, 6-10-4-2 NCHC (6th)
Last Season: 24-14-1 overall (NCAA Regional Semifinalist), 17-6-1 NCHC (t-1st)

2022-2023 Season Statistics:

Team Offense: 3.30 goals scored/game – 13th of 62 teams
Team Defense: 2.94 goals allowed/game – 34th of 62 teams

Power Play: 29.1% (41 of 141) – 1st of 62 teams
Penalty Kill: 81.7% (103 of 126) – 22nd of 62 teams

Key Players: Junior F Riese Gaber (19-14-33), Freshman F Jackson Blake (15-23-38), Freshman F Owen McLaughlin (2-12-14), Graduate F Mark Senden (7-9-16), Senior F Gavin Hain (9-5-14), Senior F Judd Caulfield (9-7-16), Graduate D Chris Jandric (3-28-31), Junior D Tyler Kleven (6-9-15), Senior D Ethan Frisch (4-11-15), Junior D Cooper Moore (3-9-12), Graduate G Drew DeRidder (9-7-4, 2.64 GAA, .896 SV%, 4 SO)

By The Numbers:

Last meeting: November 5, 2022 (Omaha, NE). The Fighting Hawks only led for 84 seconds in the third period before Omaha’s Ty Mueller and Jack Randl scored just 85 seconds apart to stake the homestanding Mavs to a 3-2 lead. UND’s Riese Gaber sent the game to overtime with his eighth goal of the season, but Omaha prevailed in the shootout after a scoreless five-minutes of 3-on-3 action. One night earlier, North Dakota throttled the Mavericks 4-1 behind two goals from Riese Gaber. UND outshot Omaha 81-47 on the weekend and blanked the Mavs on ten combined man-advantage opportunities.

Last meeting in Grand Forks: February 5, 2022. North Dakota built a two-goal lead through the first forty minutes of action but couldn’t make it hold up, surrendering two third-period goals less than three minutes apart to send the game to overtime. Omaha’s Brannon McManus ended the contest halfway through the five-minute 3-on-3 session. One night earlier, the teams were tied after one period, but UND erupted for three goals in the middle frame, including a 5-on-3 tally with just seven seconds remaining. The Mavericks outshot the Fighting Hawks 9-4 in the third period but could not put a second goal past Zach Driscoll, who finished with 26 saves.

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

Last ten: North Dakota has won six of the last ten contests between the schools, going 6-3-1 and outscoring the Mavericks 36-23 over that stretch. Three of the last seven games have gone to overtime, with two of those going the way of Omaha by identical 3-2 scores.

All-time: UND leads the all-time series 31-17-2 (.640), including a 15-9-1 (.620) record in games played in Grand Forks. North Dakota owns a record of 26-14-2 (.643) against the Mavericks since both teams joined the NCHC. The teams first met on November 19, 2010.

Game News and Notes

Fighting Hawks’ freshman forward Jackson Blake (10-17-27 in 22 league games) trails only Denver sophomore forward Massimo Rizzo (10-20-30) and St. Cloud State senior forward Jami Krannila (17-11-28) in the conference scoring race. Linemate Riese Gaber (13-9-22) is tied for sixth, while UND defenseman Chris Jandric (2-18-20) is tied for eleventh. 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. North Dakota’s Brad Berry is 22-11-1 (.662) in his head coaching career against Omaha. UND’s Riese Gaber and Mark Senden each have 11 points against Omaha in their collegiate careers. The Mavericks have gone 10-2-1 since New Year’s Eve. In 22 of the past 23 contests in this series, the winning team is the one which scores the first goal.

The Prediction

Both teams will be attempting to play to their identity this weekend in Grand Forks, and both teams are playing arguably their best hockey of the season. For North Dakota, two wins would be a huge boost in the Pairwise, but I have a feeling that Omaha is just too strong in net for that to happen unless UND gets four power plays each night. With the intensity of recent Fighting Hawks/Mavericks games, that’s not outside the realm of possibllity. North Dakota is in the process of building momentum for the playoffs, and the fans are definitely in for a treat this weekend in Grand Forks. UND 3-2, 3-3 tie.

Broadcast Information

Both games this weekend will be broadcast live on Midco Sports Two and also available via webcast 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!

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.

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.

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).

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

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!