The annual Highway 2 back-and-forth takes place this weekend, with the UMD men and Bemidji State alternating home games over a two-game series, one that starts in Duluth on Friday.
If you haven’t heard, longtime Bemidji State coach Tom Serratore announced before this season started that it would be his last on the job. Associate coach and BSU alum Travis Winter will take over starting next season.
Throw in older brother Frank, who has announced that this will be his last season at Air Force, and college hockey is losing two more really good ones. It’s hard not to notice this trend. And I get that none of us are getting any younger, but it’s also hard to not hear what a lot of these coaches are saying about their decisions.
10 THOUGHTS
1. Serratore was pretty straighforward — as usual — when I asked him about his decision to make 2026-27 his last year as a head coach.
“I’ll be 63 years of age in May,” he said. “26 years. It’s been a good run. got a heck of a guy ready to take over the program in Travis Winter. Those things played a big part, but also the landscape of college sports and college hockey, you know, some of these things I didn’t sign up for 34 years ago. It takes its toll on you, especially for the guys who are a little older. Sometimes, you better embrace change. If you don’t want to embrace change, you better get out. It’s not like I didn’t embrace change, but I sure as heck wasn’t into it. And I think when you factor all those other things in that I talked about, it made it the right time.”
Serratore repeated the phrase “I didn’t sign up for this,” or some derivative of that, a couple more times in our 25-minute conversation. I asked him about what feels like a large number of accomplished, veteran coaches in college men’s hockey who have stepped away in recent years.
“For a lot of us,” he said, “we felt like we’ve made it when we’ve coached a day in our 60s and we’ve had some longevity. But part of the reason, again, all those guys will have retired and some of them got fired, some of them retired, but it’s the decade of the 60s and it’s exactly what I told you a couple of minutes ago. A lot of us didn’t sign up for this. This isn’t what this isn’t what it was like 10 years ago, 15 years ago, 20 years ago, heck, even five years ago.”
2. Serratore isn’t alone. Sandelin has vented frustrations about the transfer portal before, not that it exists but instead over how certain people conduct themselves around it.
When longtime Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson announced before the 2024-25 season that he was stepping away, he was clear to not call his decision a retirement, making clear he was interested in continuing his coaching career. But he was also frustrated with the state of affairs in the sport.
“It’s become more like football and basketball, where everything is cutthroat” Jackson said. “Stealing everybody’s players and recruits. It’s just not what it used to be, and it’s disappointing, but more importantly, I worry about the future of college hockey in that regard.”
The phrase from “Moneyball” is “Adapt or die.” A bit extreme, yes, but coaches who were pretty set in how they did things have been forced by the times to adapt. Everyone has done it to one extent or the other, but as Serratore said, it’s not something he was in love with doing. And that’s not even accounting for what might change in the future.
Later in our conversation, Serratore gushed about Sandelin, and we’ll get to some of that here. But I really encourage you to check out our podcast for the full interview. He’s a Serratore. He’s honest, upfront, and not afraid to talk about a topic like this.
3. Sandelin and Serratore have known each other since high school. The two got into coaching around the same time, and their paths have crossed numerous times over the years, by design. The respect they have for each other is off the charts.
“He’s a really good recruiter, always has been,” Sandelin said of Serratore. “He’s got a really good staff that has brought in some really good players. They’ve taken advantage of the CHL window. So they’ve got quite a few new guys this year that I’m not super familiar with, but they’ve got really good sticks and they produced at that level. And that’s one thing, Tom’s players, I know how he likes to get players with good sticks and that offensive IQ. Their teams always compete.”
Serratore said Sandelin and his staff are as good as anyone in the country.
“They do the best job in college hockey,” he said. “Scott Sandelin and his staff do the best job in college hockey. They’re consistent on how they play. They play the right way. They coach the right way. They’re confident in themselves and they’re comfortable on how they do things. They’ve got an unbelievable culture. I just want to make sure I say that I have more respect in that program and any program in college hockey, how they operate. And it’s not about three national titles that Sandy’s won either, by the way, it’s about the day-to-day operation, what they do for the Bulldogs and how they do it. They just do things the right way. They don’t go to the transfer portal right and left. They use it accordingly, but they’ve used it minimally. And they just do things the right way.
“Our relationship, well, we grew up together. We played against each other. We’re the same age. And you know what? Over the years, when I’ve got to know Sandy, he’s just a great guy. I respect how he does his business as a colleague. I look at him, that guy does things the right way. That’s probably why the relationship is the way it is. And I think it’s the same way with me. We’ve had great games. We’ve had great competition. I think we play the game the right way as well. So I think there’s just a mutual respect, but the respect I have for him is exactly what I just said, Bruce. He’s just a standup guy and I just like how he operates.”
4. I’m guilty of this, so my hand is raised as you read these words. Just picture that. We’ve joked a lot about Bemidji playing the “flip it off the glass and take an icing if you have to” game. Yes, that was a thing. But Bemidji State should be known for the pressure it puts on opponents as much as the flip play that, frankly, everyone runs these days.
So I asked Serratore what he thinks the identity of his Beaver teams is.
“Our identity is puck pressure,” he said. “Have an attack mindset. We take away time and space. We forecheck our tails off. We’re trying to create turnovers. I’m trying to minimize the amount of time that we spend in our own zone defensively. What we try to do more than anything is we just try to take away time and space and that’s all over. That’s defensively. In the neutral zone doesn’t matter where you know, we want to reload hard and get above the pucks. But so does everybody, so it’s not like we do things any different, but we put a huge emphasis on it.
“There’s years that we have more talent. But the bottom line is a lot of our offense probably comes off hard work. It’s not like there’s a different formula, we all play pretty similar, but sometimes again people want to label you. Watch the National Hockey League, they play the same way for 84 games, but they have some of the most talented players in the world.
“We compete hard, we try to be disciplined. We do want to play with tempo. Like I tell our guys, we want to play with no speed limit, but so does Duluth. I don’t want to have a speed limit. We have a speed limit when we’re on the roads, right? Well, on the ice, they don’t have signs up. So we want to get up and down the sheet as quick as we possibly can. And once somebody else has the puck, we want to get it back as quick as we can.”
Sandelin talked at his weekly media conference Wednesday about what he’s seen from Serratore’s teams over the years that makes them so consistently effective and hard to play against.
“I think they play an up tempo game,” he said. “They try and stretch the rink. They’ll get pucks. Yeah, maybe 20 years ago they used to wrap it around all the time and flip it off the glass. Now it’s more flips in the air, or indirect passes, and they stretch the rink. And one thing with his teams, (they) have never changed how hard they compete. They’re a team that if you don’t respect them enough and you think it’s going to be an easy night, you’re in for a long, long weekend.
“They compete and they always play well defensively. They have the players now that can produce more. That’s just kind of Tom’s teams. don’t change a lot. The names change, but the way they play and the one thing that always keeps coming back is you gotta outwork them. You can’t get outworked. You gotta match it or you gotta outwork them. Otherwise you’re in trouble.”
“They play so hard, and we play so hard, too,” said UMD senior Braden Fischer. “So the games are always tight checking. And they’re really well-coached, and they’re really structured, too. So they’re good at that. They’re good at executing their game plan, and oftentimes it’s pretty successful.”
5. Serratore was a strong advocate for the CHL change we saw a couple years ago, and his program went to immediate work on that very fertile recruiting ground once the floodgates opened up.
Bemidji State already sports 13 players who came to the program with experience from the CHL. Among them is senior forward Oliver Peer, who showed up in Bemidji last season after transferring from Canada’s USports system.
“He’s a good player, really good player,” Serratore said of Peer. “He was the heartbeat of our offense last year, but he’s kind of the heartbeat of our team. He’s just a pleasant guy. He’s a confident locker room guy. He brings offense and he brings speed, but is he going to have a year like he had last year? I don’t know. I mean, it’s hard to have two 20-goal years at this level, offense is hard to get. The matchups are going to be a little different this year. I’ve talked to him about that. Your matchups aren’t going to be great. People know who you are. When you are in the zone, the puck’s gotta get out a little quicker.”
Another former CHL player is defenseman Hudson Thornton, who also logged some time in the ECHL after juniors before deciding to make the trek to college hockey in Bemidji. He’s becoming a leader on the back end for Bemidji. It’s a defensive group that sports no seniors this season, but Serratore said it’s been “rock solid” through three games.
“I’m still trying to figure out who we are,” Serratore said when talking about his defensemen. “We definitely have their attention right now, which is good. It’s early on and we’re trying to really hammer down certain details of how we want to play and how we do things. Cause we are young.”
6. Fischer had two goals last weekend against Minnesota, the first two-goal weekend of his Bulldog career. The senior from Winnipeg, who grew up attending Manitoba Moose games before the city got an NHL team back in 2011, has played in just 55 games over his UMD career. He’s a guy who Sandelin has been able to trust to be ready whenever needed.
With three forwards out of the lineup last weekend, UMD had just 12 available, and all 12 played both games.
Sandelin was asked Wednesday about what it means to have an experienced player like Fischer who always seems to be ready to do whatever is needed when called upon.
“He’s great on the bench,” Sandelin said of Fischer. “He’s great in the locker room. He hasn’t been necessarily a regular all the time. I think it’s great for other guys to see the way he approaches it. If you watch him every day, I never worry about him because he comes to work every day, is really positive, is a great team guy. You would never know if he’s extremely disappointed, which I know at times he’s been because he wants to play. But he practices to be ready for games. And I think that’s a great lesson for any player.
“That probably gives him that advantage. He’s at a level he’s comfortable with because he practices that way and prepares himself during the week, each and every week, to play a game and play the way he’s capable of playing. We’ve had him in different positions, whether it’s been center or wing, which is also good to have a little versatility.
“He’s been awesome. He’s a part of our leadership group. It’s been that way for two years. And there’s a reason for that, too. Just he’s a great example for a lot of our guys.”
Obviously, Fischer wants to see his name on the board every night. But he was asked how he always seems to be ready when the bell rings.
“I’m just determined to help out however I can,” he said. “It obviously sucks when you can’t play, but that’s kind of the nature of it. So whenever I get an opportunity, I make sure that I’m ready to go. And I have a process that I’m ready every time. So whenever I’m getting an opportunity, I’m going to try and make an impact.”
“He’s a great guy off the ice,” said junior center Peyton Platter. “He’s one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet and most positive guy. On the ice as well, he’s a very good player and he supports you well and plays hard, competes, and does everything right.”
Like Sandelin said, it’s a great lesson for young players.
7. With Max Plante out yet again for UMD this weekend, the Bulldogs will need their depth players to shine. That happened against Minnesota. Fischer’s line, centered by Platter and including wing Blake Bechen, was a beast on the forecheck and with its cycle game all weekend.
“I thought they gave us really good minutes and played the way that line needs to play to have effectiveness,” Sandelin said.”
“I think we just played simple,” Platter said. “We played harder than them and we just competed, out competed them and just kept it simple.”
“I think we I just kept it simple,” Fischer said. “We played the right way. It’s kind of what coach says and what we know it to be true is that when you’re playing with new people and you’re trying to get some chemistry going the best way to do it is just to play hard and get the puck behind them and plays will start opening up, especially against a team like the Gophers where we felt like we could play pretty hard against them and have some success.”
Sandelin has been clear this can’t be a one-man or one-line team. What he saw last weekend was encouraging.
“We’re going to need it,” he said of the bottom six getting in on the offense. “We’re going to some of that secondary scoring to be successful the rest of the year. So it was good for those guys to get on the board and play the way they did. Hopefully, it should give them a lot of confidence as far as where to build from.”
(Plante and Trevor Stachowiak, by the way, are out this weekend. Freshman forward Kade Kohanski practiced after missing three games, and Sandelin termed him “available” for the Bemidji series.)
8. This final weekend before the NCHC season begins features a renewal of college hockey’s best rivalry. North Dakota takes its perfect record to Minneapolis to match up with Minnesota in a Thursday-Friday series. The Gophers are feeling better about themselves after Saturday’s 2-2 draw and (meaningless) shootout win against UMD. These are the first home games for new coach Brett Larson.
Elsewhere, Denver tries to shake off the Michigan sweep last weekend by hosting Boston College for two games. Western Michigan plays a single game Friday night at Michigan (it’s a home and home series that concludes with an outdoor game in Kalmazoo on Jan. 30). St. Thomas and Minnesota State meet for a home and home series that starts at Anderson Arena Friday night. Omaha plays two at Lindenwood. Alaska-Anchorage visits Miami for a two-game series. Finally, Colorado College (UMD’s opponent next weekend) faces Air Force in a home and home series, playing at Ed Robson Arena Friday, then at the Academy on Saturday.
Arizona State and St. Cloud State are both off before opening the NCHC season head-to-head next weekend in St. Cloud.
9. Laura Schuler was like a proud parent on Wednesday, lauding her players who will be playing for national teams at next month’s IIHF Women’s World Championships in Denmark.
Leading that charge are senior goalie Eve Gascon and junior forward Caitlin Kraemer, who will play for Team Canada.
“So proud of them and just how they continue to develop,” Schuler said. “I think it just speaks to who they are as athletes and their consistency and their preparation and their compete level on and off the ice day in and day out. The two of them continue to set the standard of excellence for us each and every day. So it is so wonderful to see them get rewarded like this.”
In addition, UMD is expected to be missing Finnish national team members Paulina Salonen and Tuuli Talonen, along with Swedish national Ida Karlsson, for next weekend’s games at Minnesota (there’s a Euro Tour that will help these nations finalize their World Championship rosters), along with the possibility of players still being absent for the Ohio State trip Nov. 13-14. UMD is off this weekend, as well as Nov. 6-7.
“I feel so blessed each and every day to be able to coach these young women,” Schuler said. “They’re incredible people, and they bring a level of excellence to their play and to their practice on a regular daily occurrence. For me that is so fun to be a part of to see excellence in action.”
10. UMD has posted three straight shutouts, including an 8-0 aggregate last weekend at Bemidji State. Schuler was harping on her team’s defensive details after the Bulldogs’ non-conference split at Vermont, and she’s seen marked improvement since.
“Much better,” she said. “There were some things that we addressed through video, and each and every day in practice, in terms of our defensive zone habits. I think we’ve reaped the benefits of that.”
Gascon missed the St. Thomas series Oct. 9-10, which saw UMD bounce back from a 2-1 loss with a 3-0 win in the series finale.
“What I like about our team is we’re able to get better every day,” she said. “I think we saw it the second game with St. Thomas (Gascon said she and Kraemer watched that one from afar as they were at the Canadian training camp ahead of the Worlds). We were way better and this weekend against Bemidji, too. I like that we’re really able to get better and progress from our weekends, which I think it says a lot about our team. And it’s the beginning of this season, so I’m excited to see how much we can be better going forward too.
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Friday is our final home game of October, and our last men’s hockey tailgate party. Join the fun by the Slip Bridge, with food, yard games, a bar opened up, the band, cheerleaders, and a DJ. I’ll be out there with associate coach Adam Krause around 5:50pm to preview the game and the weekend.
6:30pm pregame on the radio Friday, then 5:30pm from Sanford Center on Saturday. Sorry in advance for any potential distractions, the Brewers are playing in the World Series both nights.
Back pregame with lines.
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