Fun weekend for UMD, as both the men’s and women’s teams swept series, mostly on the road (excepting the men’s Friday win over Bemidji State at home).
Lots of good things to talk about, so let’s jump right in.
8 THOUGHTS
1. Oxford Dictionary defines serendipity as “the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.”
It would be a fair word to use as you talk about the formation of the UMD men’s hockey roster for 2023-24 and some events that helped shape it.
(It’s also a key word in a story I’ve shared many times about the Bulldogs, specific to some of their goaltending fortunes. Kasimir Kaskisuo’s departure in 2016 after his sophomore season at UMD led to the recruiting of Hunter Shepard, who was with NAHL Bismarck at the time. Shepard and Nick Deery lost out to freshman Hunter Miska in a three-man battle for the starting job in October 2016, with Miska starting every game the rest of the way. He left after his freshman season, opening the door for Shepard to become the record-setting starter he was for UMD. If Miska stays, who knows how the future would have played out?)
Back to the present.
After Saturday’s dramatic 5-4 overtime win over Bemidji State, I had a thought driving back down Highway 2.
Yes, it’s early, but what would this iteration of the UMD Bulldogs look like had Cole Spicer not decommitted from North Dakota in April of 2022, reportedly because of a logjam of forwards for that fall? Even before Dominic James was lost for the season, and Spicer elevated to the top line, he figured to be a key player for UMD this season. Now he’s added power play duty to his five-on-five and penalty kill ice time that he was already getting. And he’s scoring slick short-handed goals.
How many Bulldog skaters on the ice does it take to score a goal? Only 4⃣ apparently!
2-1 UMD | #UMDvsNMU | #BulldogCountry pic.twitter.com/mFs7AbgHMu
— UMD Men's Hockey (@UMDMensHockey) October 15, 2023
Oh, and he’s also scoring insane overtime winners to walk his guys off.
27 SECONDS INTO OVERTIME! SPICER CALLS GAME!
5-4 UMD | #BSUvsUMD | #BulldogCountry pic.twitter.com/jkjNXYWeVF
— UMD Men's Hockey (@UMDMensHockey) October 22, 2023
Great play for the winner. We’re big fans of Spicer in these colors.
And while we’re at it, where would this roster be had Mike Hastings not taken the job at Wisconsin? That decision put the wheels in motion for Aaron Pionk to decommit from Minnesota State, which allowed him to land at UMD.
He’s been great so far, playing big minutes in all situations and largely not playing like a freshman defenseman who’s been at the position for less than two years.
Still weird to think about that.
2. I actually thought, despite how crazy the game Saturday got, that UMD did a lot of good things.
Yes, it went off the rails in the third period, but UMD dominated five-on-five possession for most of the night. Even strength shots were 13-3 for UMD in the first period, and the Bulldogs were controlling possession deep into the third period.
I didn’t get to re-watch the game, but what I saw was UMD’s best forechecking game of the season, with a lot of sustained offensive zone time. I saw a good number of high-danger scoring chances that the Bulldogs started to pay off on in the second half of the game.
Lots of positives.
3. It was great to see Riley Bodnarchuk get on the scoreboard. The sophomore defenseman from Alberta saw himself not in the lineup a ton last season, and playing very limited minutes when he was dressed.
I asked coach Scott Sandelin about Bodnarchuk before a recent game.
“I think it started last year,” said Sandelin. “He wasn’t playing at the end of the year, but he put his nose to the grindstone and did everything, and then some. He was in the weight room. He was doing extra. He never complained. He just worked hard every day. I think he carried that over in the summer. And I think you see, he has taken a couple of steps from last year into this year. There’s still growth there, but that’s what you want out of players. There’s guys that sometimes just wallow around. He didn’t. He got to work, knew what he wanted to work on, talked about some things, too, at the end of the year. I think he carried that into the summer. So it’s nice to see him take that step.”
Bodnarchuk’s hard work has been rewarded with regular ice time on UMD’s third defensive pairing, along with a lot of opportunity on the penalty kill, mainly with senior Darian Gotz.
Saturday, he scored his first collegiate goal, snapping a quick shot after a Jack Smith clean faceoff win landed on his stick. Bodnarchuk then assisted on UMD’s third goal Saturday, when his shot hit traffic and bounced right to Kyle Bettens for a quick shot in the left circle.
4. Zach Stejskal pitched his first career shutout Friday, a 23-save gem that earned praise from Sandelin.
“I thought Zach was seeing the puck extremely well,” Sandelin said, while also quick to credit a group that blocked 15 shot attempts on Friday, many of those coming during Bemidji State power plays. Stejskal then made 26 saves on Saturday for 49 on the weekend and earned co-NCHC Goaltender of the Week.
Forward Matthew Perkins was named the NCHC Rookie of the Week. Perkins tallied his first career goal in Friday’s game, part of a three-point night, and while he was held off the board Saturday, he won 16-of-31 faceoffs on the weekend, which showed marked improvement there. With James out for the year, Perkins figures to get a lot of work on faceoffs, and his continued improvement will be critical throughout the season.
5. It’s on to Cornell. The Bulldogs head to Ithaca, N.Y., for one of their longest road trips of the season. It’ll be split into a pair of travel days Wednesday and Thursday to get there.
Since Cornell is in the Ivy League, the Big Red have only played an exhibition, where they knocked off the U.S. Under 18 Team in overtime.
So we don’t know much, but we know Cornell is typically a strong defensive team that plays a bigger, heavier style. Veteran head coach Mike Schafer welcomes a recruiting class that includes five drafted prospects, three defensemen and two forwards. Defenseman George Fegeras (Dallas) and Jonathan Castagna (Arizona) were both third round picks, while big freshman defenseman Hoyt Stanley was a fourth-round pick by Ottawa. Cornell’s roster sports 13 players who are 6-2 or taller.
Bell-cow goalie Ian Shane won 20 games and had five shutouts and a .916 save percentage. He’s back for 2023-24.
UMD swept a two-game series in Duluth last year, before the Big Red went on to finish two goals short of a trip to the Frozen Four.
6. It was an uneven weekend around the NCHC. Minnesota and North Dakota split a two-game series in Grand Forks, with the Gophers winning 4-0 Friday and UND 2-1 Saturday. The Fighting Hawks broke a 150-plus minute shutout streak for Gophers goalie Justen Close when Jayden Perron scored in the second period. Jake Livanavage added his first collegiate goal in the third period. Ludwig Persson stopped 21 of 22 Saturday, 49 of 53 for the weekend, and was named the co-NCHC Goaltender of the Week with Stejskal. Denver fell 4-3 Friday at Providence before beating Boston College by the same score Saturday. The Pioneers fell behind in both games, but their rally fell a goal short on Friday night. DU freshman Boston Buckberger earned NCHC Defenseman of the Week honors with a pair of assists on the weekend.
St. Cloud State settled for a weekend split with Alaska, a 4-1 win followed by a 5-2 loss to a team that finished oh-so-close to the NCAA Tournament last year. The Nanooks were outshot in both games, but broke open a 2-2 game with three third-period goals Saturday.
Western Michigan swept Bowling Green by matching 5-2 scores. Sam Colangelo earned NCHC Forward of the Week honors with a hat trick on Saturday.
Colorado College improved to 4-0 with 4-2 and 3-2 home wins over Long Island.
7. The UMD women swept Minnesota State-Mankato, winning 3-1 and 4-1 on the road. Mary Kate O’Brien scored in each game, while the Bulldogs’ young goalies split the weekend games. Hailey MacLeod started Friday and was sharp, then Eve Gascon went on Saturday and also played well.
Much-needed league wins for the Bulldogs, who responded well to getting swept at home by Ohio State the prior weekend. Part of growth for a young group is staring down that adversity, learning from it, and growing. UMD did that last week, and it’s a good sign for a team that has plenty of promise and will keep improving.
UMD plays this weekend at Bemidji State, a pair of games Friday and Saturday afternoons.
8. Something a little different to finish up this blog. We’re all hockey fans here, and the NHL is doing something pretty special on Tuesday night. The league is staging a game with each of its 32 teams, a total of 16 games with staggered start times throughout the night, starting with the first game at 5pm and the last game at 10pm.
You can surely get full-on previews somewhere, but here are all the games, with their start times (Central time zone, because we rule here), and a quick thought on what to watch for. ESPN has games at 5pm, 7:30pm, and 10pm, and you can watch all the out-of-market games on ESPN PLUS (well worth the money IMO). ESPN2 will have special whip-around coverage of all the action starting at 7pm.
5pm
Toronto at Washington: Will Alex Ovechkin finally break out against the occasionally-leaky Leafs?
5:30pm
Anaheim at Columbus: Top young stars in Trevor Zegras and Adam Fantilli meet for the first time on the big stage.
5:45pm
Buffalo at Ottawa: Teams we all expect to take steps toward playoff relevancy collide, at a point where Detroit looks like the surprise wagon in that division.
6pm
Carolina at Tampa Bay: Lightning struggling early, yeah, but Rod Brind’Amour’s Hurricanes have given up the most goals in the NHL. Stunning, I know.
6:15pm
New Jersey at Montreal: I love the Devils. They’re fun. I’m far from convinced this is a contender until they prove they can keep the puck out of their net.
6:30pm
Dallas at Pittsburgh: One of the best defensemen in the world — Miro Heiskanen — versus Sidney Crosby and friends. Yes, please.
6:45pm
San Jose at Florida: Sharks have yet to win. That fits their plan to a tee.
7pm
Colorado at NY Islanders: Avalanche are one of three unbeatens left. Bet against this team at your own peril.
7:15pm
Seattle at Detroit: Last year’s surprise darlings — the Kraken — meet a Red Wings team that could become this year’s surprise darlings.
7:30pm
Boston at Chicago: The Bruins lost their top two centers to retirement, have a meh prospect pool, didn’t do much in free agency, and are 5-0 with no real signs of slowing down. Make it make sense. Oh, and Connor Bedard is incredible.
7:45pm
St. Louis at Winnipeg: Three UMD alumni play for Winnipeg in Alex Iafallo, Neal Pionk, and Dylan Samberg. Justin Faulk is a Blue, and maybe someday St. Louis will let Scott Perunovich out of Witness Protection. Doesn’t look like it’ll happen Tuesday.
8pm
Edmonton at Minnesota: Always fun to see Connor McDavid play. Oh, wait. He’s hurt. Maybe a McDavid absence is what the Wild need to look competent defensively.
8:15pm
Vancouver at Nashville: The Canucks have the potential to be a fun follow whenever they’re not playing late games out west. Meanwhile, the Predators’ retool is off to an okay start.
8:45pm
NY Rangers at Calgary: As someone who expects more out of the Flames, this has been a wobbly start. The Rangers are still trying to figure out new coach Peter Laviolette, and they’ve been weird out of the gates as well.
9:30pm
Arizona at Los Angeles: A lot of media bought early on the Coyotes, but I didn’t have the guts. That said, after the weekend, I will be buying a Travis Dermott jersey.
10pm
Philadelphia at Vegas: Defending champs are off to a 6-0 start against a pretty easy schedule. We’ll see if Noah Cates, Carter Hart, and the Flyers can slow that roll a bit.
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Have a good week, everyone. Back Thursday to set up the weekend.
