And just like that, UMD enters its final non-conference test before kicking off the league schedule next weekend in Colorado.
It’s easy to say that we don’t know as much as we were hoping to know about the 2026-27 edition of the Bulldogs, what with the team’s unquestioned best player — and one of its great leaders/drivers — not having played the last three weekends. And the reality is that we don’t know maybe as much as we normally would.
But you can see pieces of this team coming together. While the result Saturday wasn’t as much fun as the result Friday, UMD took some steps in its overall quality of play, settling for a tie against a Minnesota outfit that was much better Saturday than it was last Friday.
(And then that Gophers team took another step Thursday in beating No. 3 North Dakota 5-3 in their home opener, Brett Larson’s first win as head coach.)
Judging teams from week to week is a tough business. Bemidji State took North Dakota to the wire twice but couldn’t close the deal. It shouldn’t say anything negative about the Beavers heading into this weekend. This is a quality side from up Highway 2, and as we talked about in the pregame blog, Tom Serratore’s teams are always ready to play. Their style is one that will make things very tough on UMD if UMD isn’t taking good care of the puck, especially in its own zone and the neutral zone. Bemidji State might not have the same kind of horses a team like, say, Western Michigan does, but this is a team that can kill you in transition if you turn pucks over and feed that part of their game.
UMD dresses the same lineup as last weekend, but freshman forward Kade Kohanski is available this time. Max Plante and Trevor Stachowiak remain out. Err, unavailable. Sorry, I’ll get adjusted.
Carl Axelsson vs Max Hildebrand.
Lines?
Lines.
UMD forwards
Plante (Victor) – Plante (Zam) – Hall
Bibby – Shaugabay – Anderson
Zaremba – Arnott – Bentz
Fischer – Platter – Bechen
UMD defense
Hanson – Kleber
Pionk – Murphy
Cleveland – Siepmann
McInnis
UMD goalies
Axelsson – Dahlmeir – Sheffield
Bemidji State forwards
Miedema – Peer – Rapalje
Namestnikov – Gould – Dube
Lund – McLean – Yuhas
Dawson – Panzer – Klima
Bemidji State defense
Vig – Thornton
Roelofs – Gramer
Ziprick – D’Amato
Birnie
Bemidji State goalies
Hildebrand – Robbins
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