#5 North Dakota (16-6-2, 7-0-0-5 NCHC) hosts the #4-ranked Denver Pioneers (17-5-2, 6-3-2-1 NCHC) this weekend in a pivotal battle of perennial powers.
Both teams have impressive non-conference victories that have vaulted them to the top of the national rankings…
North Dakota blanked #3 Wisconsin 2-0 at Ralph Engelstad Arena back on October 14th.
One week later, Denver won 4-3 at #2 Boston College.
UND was also able to avenge its only two non-conference losses of the season (vs. #9 Minnesota, at #1 Boston University) with wins the following night.
According to KRACH, North Dakota has faced the nation’s third-toughest schedule to this point of the season, while the Pioneers’ schedule weighs in as the seventh-most difficult.
Before we dig into this weekend’s matchup, let’s take a quick look back at the past few games between the two teams…
On December 1st and 2nd, 2023, North Dakota traveled to Denver for a pair of NCHC contests. In Friday’s opener, UND’s Dylan James got the visitors on the board less than two minutes into the action. The Pioneers would storm back with four first-period goals of their own, and it looked like the rout was on. The Fighting Hawks pulled within one in the middle frame, but a late DU goal from Tristan Broz had the Pios up by two with just twenty minutes remaining. The third period was all Green and White, as Jackson Blake, Louis Jamernik V, Riese Gaber, and Cameron Berg all potted goals en route to a 7-5 North Dakota victory.
In Saturday’s finale, UND never trailed in regulation but also never extended a lead past a single goal. DU tied things up at two goals apiece with nine minutes remaining and scored the game-winner during 3-on-3 action to take the extra league point.
Given how things started out on Friday night, grabbing four out of six points in the conference standings was a good result for the Fighting Hawks.
UND looked overmatched against the visiting Pios back in November 2022, as David Carle’s squad managed a 3-2, 6-3 road sweep over a Fighting Hawks team that had taken five of six points at Omaha the week before. Friday’s opener ended up as a one-goal DU victory, but that was only because North Dakota held the Pioneers scoreless on six man-advantage opportunities.
And in the rematch at altitude in February 2023, it was more of the same. Denver scored five goals each night and held the Fighting Hawks to five total goals on the weekend in securing the rare four-game season sweep. In Friday’s opener, UND played well enough to win but were undone by poor goaltending, as Drew DeRidder allowed four goals on the eleven shots he faced before giving way to Jacob Hellsten just five minutes into the second period. The last two goals that DeRidder allowed came just fourteen seconds apart.
In the 2021 NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinals (held at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks), North Dakota needed overtime to outlast a gutsy performance by a Pios squad that had been decimated by COVID-19. DU dressed only nine forwards for the contest but led 1-0 with under 90 seconds remaining. With the goalie pulled, the Fighting Hawks’ Shane Pinto blasted a shot on net that hit Jasper Weatherby on the way in to send the game to overtime. It took over eight minutes of extra time before Gavin Hain sent the home crowd into a frenzy with a blast of his own that advanced the Green and White into the championship game; Denver had just killed Antti Tuomisto’s boarding minor but could not clear the zone. UND outshot the weary Pioneers 20-4 in the third period and overtime.
With the playoff victory, North Dakota moved to 20-5-1 on the season; David Carle’s squad saw its season end at 10-13-1, the first time DU failed to advance to the NCAA tournament since 2007. The 2020-2021 season was the first losing campaign for DU since the 1999-2000 team went 16-23-2. UND won five of the seven meetings between the teams three years ago, outscoring the Pios 22-14. North Dakota allowed ten goals in the first three meetings with a record of 1-2; since their loss in game one at Denver on January 17th, the Fighting Hawks notched four consecutive victories over DU (15 goals for, 4 goals against). That mid-January defeat was definitely a wakeup call for Brady Berry’s squad; from that point until the end of the season, the Green and White went 13-3, outscoring opponents 69-28.
Denver definitely rebounded two seasons ago, going 31-9-1 and defeating Minnesota State 5-1 for the program’s ninth national title. That championship game was tied 1-1 until the 7:33 mark of the third period. The Pios would add two empty-net goals for the misleading final score.
Since Denver ended North Dakota’s season in 2019, UND has gone 11-7-1 against the Pios.
In the NCHC, it is clear that Denver/North Dakota is at the top of the league rivalries, with the two programs combining for eight NCHC regular season titles and averaging a top-three finish in the league standings each year (UND 2.5, DU 2.9).
The teams have played 47 times during the first ten seasons of the new conference (with the series deadlocked at 20-20-7), 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 thirteen 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.)
The rivalry intensified three seasons ago, with the teams combining for 187 penalty minutes in six regular season games (the NCHC semifinal game featured just four minor penalties). The last contest between the squads in Denver saw a DU goaltender run over with nine minutes remaining, which ignited tempers further. That spilled over to the series in Grand Forks in February, with the Pioneers “winning” the penalty minute battle 54-29. North Dakota won the specialty teams battle, scoring two goals on ten man-advantage opportunities and blanking DU on its ten power play chances.
In Saturday’s series finale, North Dakota led on the scoreboard 5-2 thanks to two goals by Jasper Weatherby and 18 saves from Peter Thome, who started in place of injured netminder Adam Scheel. And how was Scheel injured, you might ask? Denver’s Kohen Olischefski ran Scheel from behind late in Friday’s 3-0 UND victory. Olischefski was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for goaltender interference and was issued an additional one-game suspension by the league office.
And in the only series played between the teams two years ago, the two sides combined for 78 penalty minutes and ten power play opportunities. UND swept the series 3-1 and 4-1, thanks in no small part to a 1-for-5 effort on the power play and a perfect penalty kill.
Ten 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 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 nine seasons. The eight teams in the league have gone 473-239-81 (.648) 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 eight-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 seven national titles.
#5-ranked North Dakota has gone 16-6-2 against Army, #3 Wisconsin, #9 Minnesota, Minnesota State, #1 Boston University, Minnesota Duluth, Miami, Bemidji State, #4 Denver, #16 Colorado College, Alaska, Omaha, and #15 St. Cloud State, with a record of 11-4-1 at home and 5-2-1 on the road.
How has North Dakota made such a dramatic turnaround in just one season?
After missing the national tournament last year, head coach Brad Berry and his staff brought in fourteen fresh faces, tied for the second-most in team history. More strikingly, all eight defensemen are new to the UND men’s hockey program, including four freshmen.
Coincidentally, the breakdown of first-year players and transfers into the North Dakota system is identical:
Freshmen:
Four defensemen (Nate Benoit, Tanner Komzak, Jake Livanavage, Abram Wiebe)
Two forwards (Michael Emerson, Jayden Perron)
One goaltender (Hobie Hedquist)
Transfers:
Four defensemen (Logan Britt, Keaton Pehrson, Garrett Pyke, Bennett Zmolek)
Two forwards (Cameron Berg, Hunter Johannes)
One goaltender (Ludvig Perrson)
Update: freshman forward Michael Emerson left the UND program at semester break; Emerson appeared in six games during the first half of the season.
These thirteen newcomers join eleven returning forwards and second-year netminder Kaleb Johnson to form UND’s 25-player roster. The Fighting Hawks returned 70 goals up front, led by senior Riese Gaber (20 goals last season) and sophomore Jackson Blake (16). With the addition of Berg (10 goals last season at Omaha), Johannes (13 at Lindenwood), and Chicago Steel (USHL) teammates Emerson (30) and Perron (24), North Dakota should easily surpass the 102 goals scored all of last season by its forward group.
Over the first 24 games of the 2023-2024 season, UND forwards have scored 84 goals and are on pace for 126 goals in the regular season alone. It is also encouraging that eleven North Dakota forwards already have multiple goals this season, led by Blake (15), Gaber (12), Berg (12), Johannes (9), McLaughlin (8), and Perron (8). Those six forwards combined for twenty goals over the past three weekends of game action.
Hunter Johannes will miss this weekend’s games with a lower-body injury.
Perhaps alarmingly, Fighting Hawks defensemen have only scored seven goals this season (Pyke 3, Britt 2, Livanavage 2) to go along with their 44 combined assists in 148 games played (0.30 points/game). The offensive output from the blue line has been increasing lately, with Livanavage in particular chipping in more regularly (one goal and ten assists in his last twelve games).
By comparison, Pioneer blueliners have a combined line of 21-88-109 in 159 games played (0.69 points/game), led by two freshman – Zeev Buium (6-26-32) and Boston Buckberger (4-13-17) – and two juniors – Sean Behrens (2-18-20) and Shai Buium (5-15-20).
That production from the back end has helped Denver score more goals than any other team in the country (126). North Dakota is fifth nationally in goal-scoring with 91.
A half-point per game or better is my benchmark for solid offensive production, and David Carle’s squad has an astounding TWELVE players who meet that threshold. Incredibly, four of those are averaging over a point per game. The offensive leaders for Denver include junior forward Massimo Rizzo (10-32-42), junior forward Jack Devine (21-18-39), junior forward Carter King (14-17-31), senior forward McKade Webster (8-15-23), junior forward Tristan Broz (9-12-21), sophomore forward Rieger Lorenz (8-8-16), sophomore forward Aidan Thompson (6-12-18), freshman forward Miko Matikka (14-6-20), freshman defenseman Zeev Buium (6-26-32), junior defenseman Sean Behrens (2-18-20), freshman defenseman Boston Buckberger (4-13-17), and junior defenseman Shai Buium (5-15-20).
By that same measure, North Dakota has nine lineup regulars at a half point or better: sophomore forward Jackson Blake (15-15-30), senior forward Riese Gaber (12-10-22), sophomore forward Owen McLaughlin (8-17-25), graduate forward Hunter Johannes (9-6-15), junior forward Cameron Berg (12-11-23), freshman forward Jayden Perron (8-4-12), senior forward Louis Jamernik V (6-7-13), senior defenseman Garrett Pyke (3-18-21), and freshman defenseman Jake Livanavage (2-12-14).
On the injury front, North Dakota graduate forward Hunter Johannes will miss this weekend’s series with a lower-body injury. Denver freshman defenseman Garrett Brown had surgery back in November to repair a lower-body injury and will miss the rest of the season.
DU has not had an issue scoring goals, but they have had some trouble keeping the puck out of their own net. Junior Matt Davis (8-1-2, 2.63 GAA, .897 SV%) and freshman Freddie Halyk (8-4-0, 2.91 GAA, .883 SV%, 3 SO) have seen the most time between the pipes with Halyk starting twelve games over the first three months of the season while Davis was recovering from injury. Matt Carle did choose to add goalie Paxton Geisel from the Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL) during the first half of the season in order to bolster their netminding crew.
Denver leads the nation in shooting percentage at 16.1%. Put another way, goaltenders opposing the Pioneers have a combined save percentage of just .839. North Dakota clocks in at 12.3%, good for fifth in the country.
DU slightly outpaces UND in shots on goal, with a 784-739 (32.7/game – 30.8/game) advantage through 24 games. Denver’s shot output ranks 14th; UND’s is 24th.
On the defensive side, UND has only allowed 607 shots on goal this season (25.3/game, 8th), while Denver has allowed 620 (25.8, 10th).
These two teams are both in the top quarter of all teams in the nation in two key puck possession statistics:
North Dakota: 15th in Corsi (53.3%) and 11th in Fenwick (54.8%)
Denver: 8th in Corsi (55.1%); 12th in Fenwick (54.7%)
Corsi measures the share of shot attempts for each team at even strength, while Fenwick measure the share of unblocked shot attempts for each team at even strength. It makes sense that UND has a stronger showing in Fenwick, as more of their shot attempts and offense come from their forwards, and those shots are less likely to be blocked.
As always, a key area to watch this weekend is the face-off circle. The Fighting Hawks are the nation’s 18th-best team on draws (51.9%), while the Pioneers clock in at just 50.6% (30th).
For UND, junior Cameron Berg has been making a living on draws, winning 242 of 414 (58.5%). Senior Louis Jamernik V (153 of 272, 56.3%) has been improving, while sophomore Owen McLaughlin (130 of 273, 47.6) has struggled of late.
For Denver, it’s been junior Carter King (235 of 448, 52.5%) taking the majority of draws, with sophomore Aidan Thompson (189 of 371, 50.9%), freshman Kieran Cebrian (132 of 224, 58.9%), and junior Massimo Rizzo (161 of 361, 44.6%) contributing as well.
To this point in the season, Denver has had the better of the specialty teams play. DU has been a combined plus-18, with thirty power play goals scored (30 of 115, 26.1%, 7th in the country) and nineteen power play goals allowed (70 of 89, 78.7%, 42nd), with SEVEN shorthanded goals scored and none allowed.
The Fighting Hawks have posted a plus-11, with twenty power play goals scored (20 of 83, 24.1%, 14th), just twelve power play goals allowed (53 of 65, 81.5%, 29th), three shorthanded goals scored, and none allowed.
It is also worth noting that UND has earned 18 more power plays than penalty kill situations (83-65), while DU has had the advantage 26 more times (115-89).
In the December series in Denver, UND went 3-for-9 (33.3%) with the man advantage and held DU scoreless on five power play chances. Since that series, North Dakota has gone 8-for-19 (42.1%) on the power play.
Denver is 1st in the country in scoring offense (5.25 goals scored/game) but just 31st in the country in scoring defense (2.96 goals allowed/game).
North Dakota is 9th in the country in scoring offense (3.79 goals scored/game) and an equally impressive 12th in the country in scoring defense (2.46 goals allowed/game).
A huge key to UND’s defensive turnaround this season has been the play of senior netminder Ludvig Persson. The transfer from Miami has played all but three games between the pipes for the Fighting Hawks, posting a record of 13-6-2 with a goals-against average of 2.40, a save percentage of .905, and three shutouts.
Persson was ill three weekends ago, and freshman Hobie Hedquist stepped in for him, winning both games while posting a goals-against average of 3.01 and a save percentage of .870).
Two weeks ago, Persson returned to practice on Wednesday and got the start on Friday, but he struggled, allowing five goals on 24 shots. Hedquist stepped in on Saturday, making 22 of 23 saves and earning his third victory of the season. Persson started both games in St. Cloud last weekend, and he shined, stopping 66 of 72 shots which came his way for a combined save percentage of .917.
Last year, UND’s team save percentage was .886, the fifth-worst mark among 62 teams. To put the difference in perspective, North Dakota allowed 110 goals on 962 shots last season. If we apply Persson’s save percentage from this year to that shot total, the Fighting Hawks would have allowed a total of only 91 goals, a difference of 19 goals over the 39-game season.
And what difference does one goal make? UND found itself in a Pairwise predicament last season due to three tough losses:
Arizona State 3, North Dakota 2 (October 29th, 2022)
Miami 4, North Dakota 3 (November 19th, 2022)
Minnesota Duluth 2, North Dakota 1 (January 21st, 2023)
All three of those games were tied in the third period.
North Dakota currently finds itself in 3rd place in the all-important Pairwise rankings, with victories over Boston University (PWR 1), Wisconsin (PWR 4), Denver (PWR 6), and Minnesota (PWR 9) certainly helping the cause. After this weekend, UND will face Minnesota Duluth (PWR 25) and Western Michigan (PWR 10) at home and travel to Miami (PWR 44), Colorado College (PWR 18), and Omaha (PWR 20) to close out the regular season. With a top-four finish in the NCHC, UND should be a lock for the national tournament.
At #6 in the Pairwise, Denver also appears to be headed toward another NCAA tournament berth.
Denver Team Profile
Head Coach: David Carle (6th season at DU, 133-58-15, .682)
National Rankings: #4/#4
Pairwise Ranking: 6th
KRACH Rating: 523.1 (7th)
This Season: 17-5-2 overall, 6-3-2-1 NCHC (3rd)
Last Season: 30-10-0 overall (NCAA East Regional Semifinalist), 17-4-2-1 NCHC (1st)
2023-2024 Team Statistics:
Team Offense: 5.25 goals scored/game – 1st of 64 teams
Team Defense: 2.96 goals allowed/game – 31st of 64 teams
Power Play: 26.1% (30 of 115) – 7th of 64 teams
Penalty Kill: 78.7% (70 of 89) – 42nd of 64 teams
Key players: Junior F Massimo Rizzo (10-32-42), Junior F Jack Devine (21-18-39), Junior F Carter King (14-17-31), Senior F McKade Webster (8-15-23), Junior F Tristan Broz (9-12-21), Sophomore F Rieger Lorenz (8-8-16), Freshman D Zeev Buium (6-26-32), Junior D Sean Behrens (2-18-20), Freshman D Boston Buckberger (4-13-17), Junior G Matt Davis (8-1-2, 2.63 GAA, .897 SV%)
North Dakota Team Profile
Head Coach: Brad Berry (9th season at UND, 196-98-33, .650)
National Rankings: #5/#5
Pairwise Ranking: 3rd
KRACH Rating: 586.7 (4th)
This Season: 16-6-2 overall, 7-0-0-5 NCHC (1st)
Last Season: 18-15-5 overall (missed NCAA tournament), 7-10-5-2 NCHC (t-5th)
2023-2024 Season Statistics:
Team Offense: 3.79 goals scored/game – 9th of 64 teams
Team Defense: 2.46 goals allowed/game – 12th of 64 teams
Power Play: 24.1% (20 of 83) – 14th of 64 teams
Penalty Kill: 81.5% (53 of 65) – 29th of 64 teams
Key Players: Sophomore F Jackson Blake (15-15-30), Senior F Riese Gaber (12-10-22), Sophomore F Owen McLaughlin (8-17-25), Junior F Cameron Berg (12-11-23), Freshman F Jayden Perron (8-4-12), Senior F Louis Jamernik V (6-7-13), Senior D Garrett Pyke (3-18-21), Freshman D Jake Livanavage (2-12-14), Graduate D Logan Britt (2-5-7), Senior G Ludvig Persson (13-6-2, 2.40 GAA, .905 SV%, 3 SO)
By The Numbers
Last Meeting: December 2, 2023 (Denver, Colorado). UND never trailed in regulation but also never extended a lead past a single goal. DU tied things up at two goals apiece with nine minutes remaining and scored the game-winner during 3-on-3 action to take the extra league point. One night earlier, UND’s Dylan James got the visitors on the board less than two minutes into the action. The Pioneers would storm back with four first-period goals of their own, and it looked like the rout was on. The Fighting Hawks pulled within one in the middle frame, but a late DU goal from Tristan Broz had the Pios up by two with just twenty minutes remaining. The third period was all Green and White, as Jackson Blake, Louis Jamernik V, Riese Gaber, and Cameron Berg all potted goals en route to a 7-5 North Dakota victory.
Last Meeting in Grand Forks: November 12, 2022. The visiting Pioneers outshot UND 33-24 and went 2-for-3 with the man advantage in a 6-3 victory, completing the rare road sweep. One night earlier, North Dakota lost 3-2 despite enjoying a 23-19 shot advantage and holding DU scoreless on six power play opportunities. Later on in the season, Denver would sweep the Fighting Hawks on home ice, securing the rare four-game series sweep between these two storied programs.
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: The two teams have each won five of the last ten games, with UND holding a 33-32 edge in goals scored over that stretch. The four most recent games in this series were played in Denver. The Pioneers have won five of the past six contests.
All-time Series: UND leads the all-time series, 157-135-16 (.536), including a strong 92-46-10 (.655) record in games played in Grand Forks. The teams first met in 1950, with North Dakota prevailing 18-3 in Denver. The 308 games played between the schools is the most among all of UND’s opponents.
Game News and Notes
Since Denver ended North Dakota’s season in 2019, UND has gone 11-7-1 against the Pios. UND netminder Ludvig Persson faced DU twelve times as a member of the Miami RedHawks, with dreadful numbers (1-11-0, 4.69 GAA, .879 SV%). Twelve of Denver head coach David Carle’s 58 head coaching losses have come against UND. As a team, North Dakota has blocked an astounding 317 shots this season (13.2 per game), led by Bennett Zmolek (50), Abram Wiebe (36), and Garrett Pyke (35). Two seasons ago, the Fighting Hawks won the Penrose Cup as NCHC regular season champions for the fifth time in the ten-year history of the league; the Pioneers have captured the Penrose only three times (2016-2017 and back-to-back in 2021-2022 and 2022-2023). Since seven of Michigan’s nine titles were earned by 1964, I consider Denver (nine titles) and North Dakota (eight titles) to be the top two men’s college hockey programs of all time.
The Prediction
For the first time in forever, Magnus Chrona is not between the pipes for the Pios, and that bodes well for the home team. DU’s defensemen are active and offensive-minded, so the recipe for success is to make them work in their own end by getting pucks in and forcing them to defend and work hard to break out pucks. The Pioneers have not lost since December 8th, while the Fighting Hawks have not lost in regulation since November 3rd. The North Dakota fans and the Denver fan should enjoy two entertaining contests this weekend. DU 5-3, UND 4-3.
Broadcast Information
Friday’s opener (7:36 p.m. Central Time) will be broadcast exclusively on CBS Sports Network, with Saturday’s rematch (6:07 p.m. Central Time) available on Midco Sports Network 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!