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UND Game Preview: NCHC Pod Game #6 vs. St. Cloud State

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

Fast forward one season, and the Huskies went just 13-15-6 (.471).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Incidentally, the 2019-2020 North Dakota Fighting Hawks (26-5-4) were ahead of the pace set by the 2015-2016 team, and, had the season continued, UND fans could have definitely seen another 30-win season from the Green and White.

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 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).

The Fighting Hawks came in at number one in this season’s NCHC media preseason poll, with Denver, Minnesota Duluth, and St. Cloud State rounding out the top four. So far, the Bulldogs (14 points in 5 games played) have come out on top, with the Huskies (9 points in 4 games) and Fighting Hawks (9 points in 5 games) not far behind. Denver (7 points in 5 games) has lost to each of the other three teams in the top four of the preseason poll, but the Pios found redemption with a narrow victory over UND on Tuesday afternoon.

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, St. Cloud State returned nearly 70 percent of its goal scoring from last season, led by senior F Easton Brodzinski (12-15-27), junior F Sam Hentges (7-17-24), junior F Micah Miller (7-11-18), sophomore F Jami Krannila (5-9-14), senior F Kevin Fitzgerald (5-7-12), junior F Nolan Walker (2-10-12), junior D Nick Perbix (4-11-15), and junior D Spencer Meier (4-6-10).

The problem is that the Huskies only scored 94 goals last season (UND scored 135).

UND rookie defensemen Jake Sanderson and Tyler Kleven will not appear in today’s contest, having arrived in Plymouth, Michigan for the 2021 U.S. National Junior Team training camp. Sanderson and Kleven are two of 29 players invited to the camp, which will run until the final roster of 25 players is announced on December 13th. On that date, the team will depart for Edmonton, Alberta for the World Junior Championships, which will be played from December 25th, 2020 through January 5th, 2021.

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 played his first collegiate game on Sunday against Western Michigan and tallied an assist. Rieger has appeared in 35 games over his four seasons at North Dakota, with one goal, three assists, and 24 penalty minutes, including two minor penalties against Denver. Moore is growing into his role on the back end, and it definitely helped both of them that head coach Brad Berry split them up against Minnesota Duluth on Thursday (they played together on the third d-pair on Tuesday vs. Denver).

Each team’s first few NCHC pod games have given us a glimpse of what we can expect over the next couple of weeks and throughout 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 on Friday night, boat raced Western Michigan 8-2 on Sunday, fell 3-2 to the Pioneers in Tuesday’s rematch, and took #3 Minnesota Duluth to overtime on Thursday before losing in a shootout.

#13 St. Cloud State got off to a fast start in the pod, downing #17 Western Michigan (4-3), #4 Denver (4-3), and Omaha (5-3). The Huskies had a hiccup on Wednesday, however, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Western Michigan Broncos. SCSU has not played since that tilt against WMU three days ago.

Junior netminder Adam Scheel (four games, 2-1-1, 1.95 GAA, .922 SV%, 1 SO) and senior Peter Thome (one game, 1-0-0, 2.00 GAA, .889 SV%) have each seen time between the pipes for North Dakota. With so many games in a short stretch of days, I am expecting a 60/40 or 70/30 split of minutes for the Fighting Hawks, with Thome earning the start today against the Huskies.

For SCSU, senior David Hrenak (2-1-0, 2.70 GAA, .910 SV%) has been solid in the pod so far, and Wednesday’s loss to the Broncos was certainly not on him (30 saves on 32 shots). Sophomore goaltender Jaxon Castor (1-0-0, 3.00 GAA, .889 SV%) got the start against Omaha, but I can’t imagine that it’s not Hrenak’s crease this afternoon.

Brett Larson has to be impressed with his group through four games, with forwards Kevin Fitzgerald (2-1-3), Jami Krannila (1-2-3), Veeti Miettinen (1-2-3), and Easton Brodzinski (1-1-2) and defensemen Nick Perbix (2-1-3), Spencer Meier (1-1-2), and Brady Ziemer (1-1-2) leading the charge.

North Dakota has eight players at three points or better through five games, led by forwards Shane Pinto (3-5-7), Jordan Kawaguchi (2-5-7), Grant Mismash (2-1-3), Collin Adams (1-3-4), and Riese Gaber (3-0-3) and defensemen Ethan Frisch (1-2-3), and Matt Kiersted (1-4-5). Although the Fighting Hawks will sorely miss freshman blueliners Jake Sanderson (1-2-3 in three games) and Tyler Kleven (1-0-1 in three games) for the remainder of their games in the Omaha pod, they will certainly contend for the highest-scoring defensive unit in the country.

It is abundantly clear that North Dakota will have the puck a lot this season, and the numbers bear that out. After five games, the Fighting Hawks are eighth in the nation in shots on goal allowed/game (24.0) and are fifth in the nation in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi (% of shots taken vs. opponent): 58.2%
Fenwick (% of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent): 59.9%

By comparison, the Huskies are 32nd in both Corsi (45.0%) and Fenwick (44.9%), averaging 27.8 shots on goal per game (North Dakota is averaging 32.6/game) while allowing 29.0 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 60.9 percent, while the Huskies are 16th (51.0%) among the 44 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 (68.7%, 7th in the country), Jasper Weatherby (66.7%, 10th in the country), and Collin Adams (50.0%). St. Cloud State will counter with Will Hammer (60.6%), Nolan Walker (53.1%), and Sam Hentges (50.9%).

The Huskies (12.6%) and Fighting Hawks (11.0%) are both scoring on a high percentage of their shots on goal, good for 5th and 10th in the country.

Up to this point in the season, here is the specialty teams ledger and team offense/defense for each side:

St. Cloud State team offense: 3.50 goals scored/game
St. Cloud State team defense: 2.75 goals allowed/game
St. Cloud State power play: 0 of 9, 0.0 percent
St. Cloud State penalty kill: 15 of 17, 88.2 percent

North Dakota team offense: 3.60 goals scored/game
North Dakota team defense: 2.00 goals allowed/game
North Dakota power play: 8 of 22, 36.4 percent
North Dakota penalty kill: 17 of 22, 77.3 percent

After today’s tilt with the Huskies, the Fighting Hawks will face St. Cloud State just one more time this season: next Wednesday, December 16th at 7:35 p.m. in the Omaha pod. After its pod games are complete, the Fighting Hawks are not scheduled to face Miami, Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud State, or Western Michigan during the remainder of the regular season. In addition to four second-half games against Denver, UND will face Omaha six times and Colorado College six times.

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: St. Cloud State
(Saturday, December 12th at 4:05 p.m.)

Pod Game #7: Western Michigan
(Sunday, December 13th at 4:05 p.m.)

Pod Game #8: St. Cloud State
(Wednesday, December 16th at 7:35 p.m.)

Pod Game #9: Minnesota Duluth
(Saturday, December 19th at 12:05 p.m.)

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

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

St. Cloud State Huskies

Head Coach: Brett Larson (3rd season at SCSU, 46-22-9, .656)

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

2019-20 Season Statistics:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

North Dakota Fighting Hawks

Head Coach: Brad Berry (6th season at UND, 119-58-24, .652)

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: February 22nd, 2020 (St. Cloud, MN). In the last college hockey game I watched in person, St. Cloud’s Jack Poehling broke a 1-1 tie six minutes into the third period and the Huskies made it hold up despite being outshot 13-5 in the final frame and 30-19 for the game. One night earlier, the teams skated to a 3-3 tie before St. Cloud State notched the extra league point with a shootout win.

Most Important Meeting: NCAA West Regional Final in Fargo, ND (March 28, 2015). North Dakota scored three unassisted goals over the final two periods of the hockey game to defeat St. Cloud State 4-1 in the West Regional Final and advance to the NCAA Frozen Four. Jimmy Murray got the Huskies on the board less than 90 seconds in to the hockey game, but that did nothing to quiet the partisan crowd of 5,307 at SCHEELS Arena. Four different players scored for UND, while Zane McIntyre made 19 stops to earn his 29th and final victory of the season.

All-Time Series: North Dakota leads the all-time series, 74-45-15 (.608). Aside from their 2015 and 2018 NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinal victories, the Huskies also defeated North Dakota in the 2001 WCHA Final Five championship game. The teams have been squaring off regularly since the 1989-90 season, but have only met once in the NCAA tournament (2015).

Last Ten: SCSU has won five of the last ten meetings between the teams, with two others ending in ties. Each team has scored 24 goals over that stretch of games. Five of the last ten meetings have gone to overtime.

Game News and Notes

St. Cloud State has won the regular season league title four times over the past seven seasons (WCHA 2012-13; NCHC 2013-14, 2017-18, & 2018-19). UND senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi (32-65-97 in 113 games) is three points shy of reaching 100 points in his North Dakota career. SCSU has made the national tournament 13 times in the past twenty seasons, with one Frozen Four appearance (2013).

The Prediction

Two things stick out to me: St. Cloud State has not scored a power play goal through four games, and, despite their team speed, they have been in 17 shorthanded situations against just nine man-advantage opportunities. SCSU has more offensive skill on the blue line than most of North Dakota’s opponents thus far, but the Fighting Hawks should be able to generate chances off of the forecheck and cycling the puck down low. This feels like the game where things really start to click for the Green and White. UND 4, SCSU 2.

Broadcast Information

Saturday afternoon’s contest will be broadcast live on Midco Sports Network and will also be available online at NCHC.tv. All UND men’s hockey games can be heard on stations across the UND Sports Home of Economy Radio Network as well as through the iHeart Radio app.

Social Media

Keep up with the action live during all UND hockey games by following @UNDmhockey and @UNDInsider on Twitter. Fans can also read the action via Brad Schlossman’s live chat on the Grand Forks Herald website.

As always, thank you for reading. I welcome your questions, comments, and suggestions. Follow me on Twitter (@DBergerHockey) for more information and insight. Here’s to hockey!

UND Game Preview: NCHC Pod Game #5 vs. Minnesota Duluth

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

According to twincities.com:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

After winning its second consecutive national title (and third in team history) in 2019, the Bulldogs were picked to finish first in the NCHC and capture the program’s first-ever Penrose Cup 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.

The Fighting Hawks came in at number one in this season’s NCHC media preseason poll, with Denver, Minnesota Duluth, and St. Cloud State rounding out the top four. So far, the Bulldogs (4-0-0-0, 12 points) have come out on top, with the Huskies (3-1-0-0, 9 points)) and Fighting Hawks (3-1-0-1, 8 points) not far behind. Denver (1-3-0-0-1, 4 points) has lost to each of the other three teams in the top four of the preseason poll, but the Pios found redemption with a narrow victory over UND on Tuesday afternoon.

By comparison, Minnesota Duluth returned nearly 80 percent of its goal scoring from last season, led by Junior F Cole Koepke (16-17-33), Junior F Noah Cates (14-19-33), Senior F Nick Swaney (12-14-26), Junior F Jackson Cates (9-11-20), Senior F Kobe Roth (13-8-21), Junior F Tanner Laderoute (8-8-16), and sophomore F Quinn Olson (7-8-15).

The only thing that I see separating these teams right now is that North Dakota mostly avoided the early departure bug while Duluth lost forward Justin Richards (14-11-25, left one year early) and defensemen Scott Perunovich (6-34-30, left one year early) and Dylan Samberg (1-20-21, left one year early).

Of particular concern for the Bulldogs is that the absence of Perunovich and Samberg means that they return only two goals and eight 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.

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 has played in two games in his collegiate career, tallying one assist. Rieger has appeared in 34 games over his four seasons at North Dakota, with one goal, three assists, and 24 penalty minutes (including two minor penalties in his last game vs. Denver).

I say UND mostly avoided the early-departure bug because while head coach Brad Berry did not see anyone leave his program early for the pro ranks, junior defenseman Jonny Tychonick transferred to Omaha. Tychonick, who put together a line of 4-7-11 in 24 games played last season, was looking for more playing time, and Maverick bench boss Mike Gabinet has certainly used the nimble blueliner in plenty of situations in UNO’s first five pod games against #3 Minnesota Duluth (3-5 loss), #17 Western Michigan (10-2 win), Miami (2-1 win), St. Cloud State (3-5 loss), and Colorado College (6-1 win). The 2018 second-round pick of the Ottawa Senators notched his first point of the season with an assist on the Mavericks’ first goal against the Broncos. With its three victories in the pod, Omaha is now ranked #18 in the country, joining #1 North Dakota, #3 Minnesota Duluth, #9 Denver, and #13 St. Cloud State.

Each team’s first four NCHC pod games have given us a glimpse of what we can expect over the next couple of weeks and throughout the season.

#1 North Dakota (3-0-0) blanked Miami 2-0 to open up their pod schedule, followed that up with a 4-3 overtime victory over #4 Denver on Friday night, boat raced Western Michigan 8-2 on Sunday, and fell 3-2 to the Pioneers in Tuesday’s rematch.

#3 Duluth is perfect through four games, with a 5-3 victory over Omaha, a 2-1 comeback win against Denver, and two consecutive victories over Miami (5-3, 4-2). After today’s tilt with the Fighting Hawks, UMD will face Denver at noon on Saturday.

Junior netminder Adam Scheel (three games, 2-1-0, 1.99 GAA, .914 SV%, 1 SO) and senior Peter Thome (one game, 1-0-0, 2.00 GAA, .889 SV%) have each seen time between the pipes for North Dakota. With so many games in a short stretch of days, I am expecting a 60/40 or 70/30 split of minutes for the Fighting Hawks, with Thome earning the start today against the Bulldogs.

For the Bulldogs, sophomore Ryan Fanti (3-0-0, 2.33 GAA, .920 SV%) has been one of the stories of the pod so far, serving as a more-than-adequate replacement for all-everything netminder Hunter Shepard (22-10-2, 2.18 GAA, .918 SV%, 2 shutouts last season). Freshman goaltender Zach Stejskal (1-0-0, 2.00 GAA, .920 SV%) got the start in UMD’s last game vs Miami, but I can’t imagine that it’s not Fanti’s crease this evening.

Scott Sandelin has to be impressed with his forward group so far, with senior Nick Swaney (1-7-8), senior Kobe Roth (5-1-6, including two game-winning goals), junior brothers Noah (2-3-5) and Jackson Cates (2-2-4), and junior Cole Koepke (1-3-4) leading the charge. Freshman defenseman Wyatt Kaiser and senior Matt Cairns (0-2-2) have chipped in from the blueline as well.

North Dakota has eleven players at two or more points through four games, led by forwards Shane Pinto (2-5-7), Jordan Kawaguchi (2-3-5), Grant Mismash (2-1-3), Collin Adams (1-3-4), Riese Gaber (2-0-2), Jasper Weatherby (1-1-2), and Mark Senden (0-2-2) and defensemen Ethan Frisch (1-2-3), Matt Kiersted (1-3-4), and Jacob Bernard-Docker (0-2-2). Although the Fighting Hawks will sorely miss freshman blueliners Jake Sanderson (1-2-3) and Tyler Kleven (1-0-1) for the remainder of their games in the Omaha pod, they will certainly contend for the highest-scoring defensive unit in the country.

It is abundantly clear that North Dakota will have the puck a lot this season, and the numbers bear that out. After four games, the Fighting Hawks are fourth the nation in shots on goal allowed/game (22.0) and fourth in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi (% of shots taken vs. opponent): 60.2%
Fenwick (% of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent): 61.7%

By comparison, the Bulldogs are 16th in both Corsi (52.1%) and Fenwick (52.4%), averaging 31.5 shots on goal per game (North Dakota is averaging 33.8/game) while allowing 28.0 shots on goal against/contest.

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 61.7 percent, while the Bulldogs are right in the middle (20th, 50.0%) among the 41 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 (71.1%, 7th in the country), Jasper Weatherby (67.3%, 10th in the country), and Collin Adams (49.1%). Minnesota Duluth will counter with Noah Cates (53.0%), Jackson Cates (50.0%), and Jesse Jacques (48.2%).

The Bulldogs (12.7%) and Fighting Hawks (11.9%) are both scoring on a high percentage of their shots on goal, good for 5th and 9th in the country.

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

Minnesota Duluth team offense: 4.00 goals scored/game
Minnesota Duluth team defense: 2.25 goals allowed/game

Minnesota Duluth power play: 5 of 17, 29.4 percent
Minnesota Duluth penalty kill: 17 of 19, 89.5 percent

North Dakota team offense: 4.00 goals scored/game
North Dakota team defense: 2.00 goals allowed/game

North Dakota power play: 7 of 20, 35.0 percent
North Dakota penalty kill: 14 of 19, 73.7 percent

After today’s tilt with the Bulldogs, the Fighting Hawks will face Minnesota Duluth just one more time this season: next Saturday, December 19th at 12:05 p.m. in the Omaha pod. After its pod games are complete, the Fighting Hawks are not scheduled to face Miami, Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud State, or Western Michigan during the remainder of the regular season. In addition to four second-half games against Denver, UND will face Omaha six times and Colorado College six times.

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: Minnesota Duluth
(Thursday, December 10th at 7:35 p.m.)

Pod Game #6: St. Cloud State
(Saturday, December 12th at 4:05 p.m.)

Pod Game #7: Western Michigan
(Sunday, December 13th at 4:05 p.m.)

Pod Game #8: St. Cloud State
(Wednesday, December 16th at 7:35 p.m.)

Pod Game #9: Minnesota Duluth
(Saturday, December 19th at 12:05 p.m.)

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

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

Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs

Head Coach: Scott Sandelin (21st season at UMD, 395-321-89, .546)

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

2019-20 Season Statistics:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

North Dakota Fighting Hawks

Head Coach: Brad Berry (6th season at UND, 119-58-23, .653)

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

2019-20 Season Statistics:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: January 25th, 2020 (Duluth, MN). The score was 1-0 in UND’s favor after two periods thanks to Westin Michaud’s tally. Early in the third, Duluth’s Scott Perunovich assisted on the tying goal and scored the go-ahead goal. The Fighting Hawks stormed back with two markers of their own (Matt Kiersted, Jonny Tychonick) to claim the road victory. One night earlier, the Bulldogs prevailed 7-4 behind two goals from Kobe Roth. North Dakota led that game 3-1 early in the second period before the floodgates opened. The teams did not play in Grand Forks last season.

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

The Meeting That Never Was: Both teams advanced to the 2011 NCAA Frozen Four at Xcel Energy Center (St. Paul, Minnesota). UND could not get past Michigan, falling 2-0 despite outshooting the Wolverines 40-20. In the other national semifinal, Minnesota-Duluth defeated Notre Dame 4-3 and rode that momentum to the title game. The Bulldogs took the Wolverines to overtime before senior forward Kyle Schmidt scored the game winner and earned UMD their first national championship. North Dakota won two of the three games against Duluth that season, outscoring Scott Sandelin’s team 11-5.

All-time Series: UND leads the all-time series, 148-86-10 (.627). The teams first met in 1954, with North Dakota winning the first ten games between the schools by a combined score of 72-16. UMD’s first win over the Fighting Sioux (a 3-2 road victory on December 18th, 1959) did not sit well with the defending national champions. UND defeated Duluth 13-2 the following night.

Last Ten: Minnesota Duluth is 6-4-0 (.600) in the last ten games between the teams, outscoring the Hawks 34-27 over that stretch. Eight of the past ten contests have taken place in the state of Minnesota, with the Bulldogs winning five times.

Game News and Notes

Both head coaches this weekend are alumni of the University of North Dakota; Brad Berry (1983-86) and Scott Sandelin (1982-86) both played for UND under John “Gino” Gasparini. In 2015, Boston University defeated both Minnesota-Duluth (3-2) and North Dakota (5-3) in the NCAA tournament on their way to the championship game. The Terriers fell 4-3 to the Providence Friars, one win short of a national title.

The Prediction

Goaltending and special teams will be key in this one (as they so often are). The absence of Jake Sanderson and Tyler Kleven on the back end makes a huge difference for North Dakota as they try to match up against Minnesota Duluth’s forward depth, and until I see more out of Moore and Rieger, I’m giving the edge to the Bulldogs. The Fighting Hawks’ best chance is to get pucks in deep, establish the cycle, and outwork UMD down low. This one could go either way, but I’m predicting one more loss for the Green and White until they can right the ship and escape the pod with six or seven total victories. Minnesota Duluth 4, UND 2.

Broadcast Information

Thursday 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!

UND Game Preview: NCHC Pod Game #4 vs. Denver

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.)

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.

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).

In last Friday’s NCHC pod contest in Omaha, #1 North Dakota defeated then-#4 Denver 4-3 in overtime behind senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi’s overtime winner. Bobby Brink assisted on the Pios’ first two goals, while Shane Pinto was held pointless but won all 18 of his faceoffs, an unheard-of statistic.

Three players from Friday’s tilt will not appear in the lineup this afternoon. UND freshmen defensemen Jake Sanderson and Tyler Kleven and Denver forward Bobby Brink have arrived in Plymouth, Michigan for the 2021 U.S. National Junior Team training camp. Sanderson, Kleven, and Brink are three of 29 players invited to the camp, which will run until the final roster of 25 players is announced on December 13th. On that date, the team will depart for Edmonton, Alberta for the World Junior Championships, which will be played from December 25th, 2020 through January 5th, 2021.

The absence of Sanderson and Kleven will mean that both senior Josh Rieger and freshman Cooper Moore will be inserted into the lineup on defense for UND. Moore played his first collegiate game on Sunday against Western Michigan and tallied an assist. Rieger has appeared in 33 games over his four seasons at North Dakota, with one goal, three assists, and twenty penalty minutes. It will be very interesting to watch how many minutes (and in which situations) Rieger and Moore are asked to play this afternoon.

DU will certainly miss Bobby Brink, but they will have the services of centerman Cole Guttman for the rematch. Guttman was held out of the UND game but has played in his team’s other two pod matches, scoring one goal. For his career, the junior from Los Angeles, California has a line of 29-26-55 in 78 games played.

The Fighting Hawks came in at number one in this season’s NCHC media preseason poll, with Denver, Minnesota Duluth, and St. Cloud State rounding out the top four. UND, UMD, and SCSU have all held up their end of the bargain by collecting three wins each to open pod play.

With losses to each of the other three teams in the top four of the preseason poll, the Denver Pioneers fell to #9 in this week’s USCHO men’s Division I college hockey poll. After today’s tilt against North Dakota, the schedule lightens up a bit for the Pios, as four of their next five games will be against Miami and Western Michigan.

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

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

I say UND mostly avoided the early-departure bug because while head coach Brad Berry did not see anyone leave his program early for the pro ranks, junior defenseman Jonny Tychonick transferred to Omaha. Tychonick, who put together a line of 4-7-11 in 24 games played last season, was looking for more playing time, and Maverick bench boss Mike Gabinet has certainly used the nimble blueliner in plenty of situations in UNO’s first four pod games against #3 Minnesota Duluth (3-5 loss), #17 Western Michigan (10-2 win), Miami (2-1 win), and St. Cloud State (3-5 L). The 2018 second-round pick of the Ottawa Senators notched his first point of the season with an assist on the Mavericks’ first goal against the Broncos. With its two victories in the pod, Omaha is now ranked #18 in the country, joining #1 North Dakota, #3 Minnesota Duluth, #9 Denver, and #13 St. Cloud State.

Each team’s first three NCHC pod games have given us a glimpse of what we can expect over the next couple of weeks and throughout the season.

#1 North Dakota (3-0-0) blanked Miami 2-0 to open up their pod schedule, followed that up with a 4-3 overtime victory over #4 Denver on Friday night, and boat raced Western Michigan 8-2 on Sunday.

#9 Denver has lost leads in all three of its NCHC losses (1-2 vs. Minnesota-Duluth, 3-4 [OT] vs. North Dakota, and 3-4 vs. St. Cloud State). Two of those leads were coughed up in the third period. Even though it is early in the season, DU bench boss David Carle has to be concerned about this trend.

In the pod, there is just simply not as much time for practice, video work, and system adjustment, which means that the teams with veteran leadership, depth, and good-to-excellent goaltending will do well over the next couple of weeks.

Junior netminder Adam Scheel (two games, 2-0-0, 1.48 GAA, .927 SV%, 1 SO) and senior Peter Thome (one game, 1-0-0, 2.00 GAA, .889 SV%) have each seen time between the pipes for North Dakota. With so many games in a short stretch of days, I am expecting a 60/40 or 70/30 split of minutes for the Fighting Hawks, with Scheel earning the start today against the Pioneers even though he allowed three goals on 22 shots in UND’s first matchup with Denver.

For the Pios, sophomore goaltender Magnus Chrona has played every minute in net, allowing ten goals while posting a goals-against average of 3.37 and a save percentage of .880. While I expect his numbers to improve over the next couple of weeks, I wouldn’t be surprised if grad transfer Corbin Kaczperski got a spot start over this next stretch of games. Here are Kaczperski’s career numbers from his three seasons at Yale:

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

Freshman forward Carter Savoie has been the brightest spot for Denver in the pod, tallying four goals and an assist through his first three 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.

Others to splash for the Pioneers have been sophomore forward Brett Edwards (1-0-1 in two games) and freshman defenseman Mike Benning (0-5-5 )

North Dakota has eleven players at two or more points through three games, led by forwards Shane Pinto (2-3-5), Jordan Kawaguchi (1-3-4), Grant Mismash (2-1-3), Collin Adams (0-3-3), Riese Gaber (2-0-2), and Jasper Weatherby (1-1-2) and defensemen Ethan Frisch (1-2-3), Matt Kiersted (1-1-2), Jacob Bernard-Docker (0-2-2), and Gabe Bast (1-0-1). Although the Fighting Hawks will sorely miss freshman blueliners Jake Sanderson (1-2-3) and Tyler Kleven (1-0-1) for the remainder of their games in the Omaha pod, they will certainly contend for the highest-scoring defensive unit in the country.

It is abundantly clear that North Dakota will have the puck a lot this season, and the numbers bear that out. After two games, the Fighting Hawks are third the nation in shots on goal allowed/game (19.7) and are in the top five in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi (% of shots taken vs. opponent):
62.0% (third in the nation)

Fenwick (% of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent):
64.1% (second in the nation)

By comparison, the Pioneers are 10th in Corsi (55.2%) and 15th in Fenwick (52.8%), averaging 28.0 shots on goal per game (North Dakota is averaging 36.3/game) while allowing 27.7 shots on goal against/contest.

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 62.0 percent, while Denver is dead last (38.1%) among the 40 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 (73.4%, 5th in the country), Jasper Weatherby (66.7%, 9th in the country)), and Collin Adams (53.7%). Denver will counter with Jaakko Heikkinen (41.0%), Cole Guttman (43.8%), Brett Stapley (51.9%), and <kohen olischefski (25.0%).

Through three games, here is the specialty teams ledger:

Denver power play: 4 of 17, 23.5 percent
Denver penalty kill: 9 of 12, 75.0 percent

North Dakota power play: 5 of 17, 29.4 percent
North Dakota penalty kill: 11 of 14, 78.6 percent

The Pioneers have scored four of their seven goals this season with the man advantage, while the Fighting Hawks have scored five of their fourteen goals this season on the power play. Denver must generate more five-on-five chances today and in their remaining pod games if the Pios hope to leave Omaha with a .500 record or better.

This will be the last time that North Dakota and DU square off in the first half of the season. UND is scheduled to travel to Denver for a weekend series on January 15th and 16th and host the Pios at Ralph Engelstad Arena on February 5th and 6th.

After today’s tilt with the Pios, the Fighting Hawks will face Minnesota Duluth on Thursday evening and St. Cloud State on Saturday afternoon before a rematch with Western Michigan on Sunday afternoon. 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: Denver
(Tuesday, December 8th at 3:35 p.m.)

Pod Game #5: Minnesota Duluth
(Thursday, December 10th at 7:35 p.m.)

Pod Game #6: St. Cloud State
(Saturday, December 12th at 4:05 p.m.)

Pod Game #7: Western Michigan
(Sunday, December 13th at 4:05 p.m.)

Pod Game #8: St. Cloud State
(Wednesday, December 16th at 7:35 p.m.)

Pod Game #9: Minnesota Duluth
(Saturday, December 19th at 12:05 p.m.)

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

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

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

Denver Pioneers

Head Coach: David Carle (3rd season at DU, 45-24-11, .631)

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

2019-20 Season Statistics:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

North Dakota Fighting Hawks

Head Coach: Brad Berry (6th season at UND, 119-57-23, .656)

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

2019-20 Season Statistics:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: Friday, December 4th, 2020 (Omaha, NE). The teams managed one power play goal a piece through the first forty minutes of play (Carter Savoie and Jake Sanderson). On the first shift of the third period, DU’s Brett Edwards put the Pios in front, but North Dakota’s Ethan Frisch and Jasper Weatherby put the Fighting Hawks ahead with under five minutes to play. Savoie struck again 94 seconds later, and the bitter rivals were headed to an extra session of 3-on-3 hockey, 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.

A Recent Memory: April 7, 2016 (Tampa, Florida). In the semifinals of the NCAA Frozen Four, the two league rivals squared off in a tightly-contested matchup. Senior forward Drake Caggiula scored twice early in the middle frame to stake UND to a 2-0 lead, but the Pioneers battled back with a pair of third period goals. The CBS line came through when it mattered most, with Nick Schmaltz scoring the game winner off of a faceoff win with 57 seconds remaining in the hockey game. North Dakota blocked 27 Denver shot attempts and goaltender Cam Johnson made 21 saves for the Fighting Hawks, who won the program’s eighth national title on the same sheet of ice two nights later.

Most Important Meeting: It’s hard to pick just one game, as the two teams have played four times for the national title. Denver defeated UND for the national championship in 1958, 1968, and 2005, while the Sioux downed the Pioneers in 1963. But the game that stands out in recent memory as “the one that got away” was DU’s 1-0 victory over the Fighting Sioux in the 2004 NCAA West Regional final (Colorado Springs, CO). That North Dakota team went 30-8-4 on the season (Dean Blais’ last behind the UND bench) and featured one of the deepest rosters in the past twenty years: Brandon Bochenski, Zach Parise, Brady Murray, Colby Genoway, Drew Stafford and David Lundbohm up front; Nick Fuher, Matt Jones, Matt Greene, and Ryan Hale on defense; and a couple of goaltending stalwarts in Jordan Parise and Jake Brandt.

Last Ten Games: With a tie and three wins last season combined with Friday’s victory, North Dakota is now even with Denver over their last ten meetings (4-4-2). UND has scored a total of fifteen goals in the last four games after scoring only six combined goals in the six games before that. On a positive note, the Pioneers have only scored eighteen goals in the past ten. Four of the last ten meetings have gone into overtime.

All-time Series: UND leads the all-time series, 150-128-16 (.537), although the Pioneers hold a slight 8-7-1 (.531) edge in games played at neutral sites. The teams first met in 1950, with North Dakota prevailing 18-3 in Denver.

Game News and Notes

Tuesday afternoon’s contest will be Brad Berry’s 200th game as UND’s head coach. He could get his 120th victory to go along with just 57 losses and 23 ties. North Dakota has won four consecutive games over Denver, the longest streak for the Green and White since a five-game winning streak from March 15th, 2003 through January 30th, 2004. That streak started with a pair of home overtime wins in the WCHA playoffs. The last time DU had a four-game winning streak over North Dakota was from November 20th, 2009 through January 30th, 2010. Incredibly, senior forward Jordan Kawaguchi’s overtime winner was his first career goal in sixteen games against the Pioneers, although he has notched nine assists. Since seven of Michigan’s nine titles were earned by 1964, I consider Denver (eight titles) and North Dakota (eight titles) to be the top two men’s college hockey programs of all time.

The Prediction

Here’s what I said on Twitter two days ago: “Not looking forward to UND facing an 0-3 Denver squad looking for revenge on Tuesday, but that’s what’s on the schedule in the #NCHCPod.” I still feel that way. North Dakota will definitely feel the loss of Jake Sanderson and Tyler Kleven on the back end, while the Pioneers should be able to handle things without Bobby Brink. All signs point to the Pios righting the ship with their first victory of the 2020-2021 campaign. Denver 4, North Dakota 3.

Broadcast Information

Tuesday afternoon’s contest will be broadcast live on Midco Sports Network and will also be available online at NCHC.tv. All UND men’s hockey games can be heard on stations across the UND Sports Home of Economy Radio Network as well as through the iHeart Radio app.

Social Media

As always, thank you for reading. I welcome your questions, comments, and suggestions. Follow me on Twitter (@DBergerHockey) for more information and insight. Here’s to hockey!

UND Game Preview: NCHC Pod Game #3 vs. Western Michigan

Each team’s first two NCHC pod games have given us a glimpse of what we can expect over the next couple of weeks and throughout the season.

#1 North Dakota (2-0-0) blanked Miami 2-0 to open up their pod schedule, and followed that up with a 4-3 overtime victory over #4 Denver on Friday night.

In its first game, #17 #Western Michigan (0-2-0) dropped a close 4-3 decision to St. Cloud State and lost their starting goaltender (sophomore Brandon Bussi, 18-12-4, 2.65 goals-against average, and a save percentage of .910 last season). Bussi went down just over eight minutes into the contest with what appeared to be a groin injury. The sophomore from Sound Beach, New York was expected to stabilize things on the back end while the team dealt with the loss of defensemen Luke Bafia, Kale Bennett, Cam Lee, and Mattias Samuelsson.

In the first game without Bussi, the Broncos lost 10-2 to Omaha.

It appears as though senior Austin Cain will shoulder the load in Bussi’s absence, although he has given up ten goals on fifty shots in eighty minutes of game action over two games. Cain appeared in 13 games over his first two seasons in Kalamazoo (2017-19, stats) but did not see any game action last year. Unfortunately for the Broncos, his stat line reads like something out of “Slapshot”:

Win/loss record: 4-9-0 (.308)
Goals-against average: 4.56
Save percentage: .838

Freshman netminder Alex Aslanidis also took the ice in the Omaha shellacking, allowing three goals on eleven shots in his twelve minutes between the pipes.

Bussi, who started 34 of 36 games for WMU a year ago, is not expected to return to action in the first half of the season.

Junior netminder Adam Scheel (2-0-0, 1.48 GAA, .927 SV%, 1 SO) started the first two games of the pod for North Dakota, although I would expect UND bench boss Brad Berry to call on Peter Thome (7-1-2, 1.37 GAA, .935 SV%, 2 SO last season) for Sunday’s noon start. With so many games in a short stretch of days, I am expecting a 60/40 or 70/30 split of minutes for the Fighting Hawks.

Aside from senior forward Josh Passolt (two assists), no Broncos player has more than one point through two games. One could argue that Passolt also assisted on St. Cloud State’s game-winning tally with 27 seconds remaining, as he batted a puck out of the air and into his own net. The Huskies’ Nick Perbix was given credit for the goal.

North Dakota has six players at two points through two games, and three of them are defensemen (sophomore Ethan Frisch, freshman Jake Sanderson, and senior Matt Kiersted have each tallied a goal and an assist). Blueliners Jacob Bernard-Docker and Gabe Bast should also chip on offensively for the Fighting Hawks, who will contend for the highest-scoring defensive unit in the country.

UND fared remarkably well in conference play last season, winning its third Penrose Cup with a league record of 17-4-3-2. By opening up the pod with two victories, the Fighting Hawks became the first NCHC team to notch 100 wins in league play. St. Cloud State duplicated that feat with a victory over Denver last night. Here’s the complete league leaderboard:

1. North Dakota and St. Cloud State (100)
3. Minnesota Duluth (95)
4. Denver (92)
5. Western Michigan (70)
6. Omaha (66)
7. Miami (50)
8. Colorado College (37)

It is abundantly clear that North Dakota will have the puck a lot this season, and the numbers bear that out. After two games, the Fighting Hawks are third the nation in shots on goal allowed/game (20.5) and are in the top five in two key puck possession statistics:

Corsi (% of shots taken vs. opponent):
59.9% (fourth in the nation)

Fenwick (% of unblocked shots taken vs. opponent):
63.4% (third in the nation)

By comparison, the Broncos are 30th in Corsi (44.8%) and 31st in Fenwick (44.1%), averaging 25.0 shots on goal per game (North Dakota is averaging 37.0/game) while allowing 35.5 shots on goal against/contest.

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 66.1 percent. Western Michigan is fifth in the country at 57.5 percent.

Leading the way in the faceoff circle for North Dakota have been Shane Pinto (80.4%, including a remarkable 18-0 vs. Denver), Jasper Weatherby (64.0%), and Collin Adams (62.1%). Western Michigan will counter with Paul Washe (72.9%), Drew Worrad (52.8%), and Brett Van Os (50.0%).

Through two games, here is the specialty teams ledger:

Western Michigan power play: 1 of 5, 20.0 percent
Western Michigan penalty kill: 2 of 2, 100.0 percent

North Dakota power play: 2 of 9, 22.2 percent
North Dakota penalty kill: 7 of 9, 77.8 percent

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

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

By comparison, Western Michigan only returns 51 percent of its point production from last season, with senior forward Paul Washe (12-9-21), senior forward Ethen Frank (9-11-20), junior forward Cole Gallant (4-16-20), junior forward Rhett Kingston (9-8-17), junior forward Drew Worrad (6-11-17), senior forward Josh Passolt (5-11-16), junior defenseman Michael Joyaux (2-15-17), and sophomore defenseman Ronnie Attard (6-8-14) leading the way.

It will be strange to face a Broncos team without forward Wade Allison. The oft-injured right winger seemingly played for WMU forever, scoring 45 goals in 106 career games at Western Michigan.

While North Dakota mostly avoided the early-departure bug, WMU lost forward Austin Rueschhoff (12-14-26) and defenseman Mattias Samuelsson (2-12-14) to the pro ranks. Rueschhoff left one year early, while Samuelsson left two years of eligibility on the table.

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

After today’s matchup, UND freshman defenseman Jake Sanderson will be headed to Plymouth, Michigan for the 2021 U.S. National Junior Team training camp. Sanderson is one of 29 players invited to the camp, which will run from December 6th until the final roster of 25 players is announced on December 13th. On that date, the team will depart for Edmonton, Alberta for the World Junior Championships, which will be played from December 25th, 2020 through January 5th, 2021. Sanderson, who is expected to make the team, will miss the final seven games of the pod and UND’s first two games of the second half (December 31st and January 1st at Omaha).

While a noon start is unusual, I am glad that UND will get the first ice of the day at Baxter Arena, as there are two more games scheduled on the same sheet later on Sunday (Duluth vs. Miami at 4:05 and Omaha vs. St. Cloud State at 8:05).

North Dakota and Western Michigan will face off for the second time in the NCHC Pod on Sunday, December 13th at 4:05 p.m.. In this year’s unbalanced schedule, that will be the last time that the two teams tangle in the regular season.

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: Western Michigan
(Sunday, December 6th at 12:05 p.m.)