DENVER -- It's 89 degrees outside. Let's play hockey! That southwestern heat dome is a hell of a thing, guys. It's very warm out, but not humid. The ice inside Magness looks good, and it's not a freezer in here. Yet. The National Cup is in the house, and will be presented to the winner of this game. That winner gets an...

The game should be good, but that would be the case no matter the venue. Denver has earned the right to host Saturday's NCHC title game, and we're expecting Magness Arena to be 1) full, and 2) jumping. But the lead-up to Saturday includes chatter about the future of the conference tournament, for good reason. 9 THOUGHT...

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Fittingly, college hockey's crown jewel gets the first crack at hosting a home-site semifinal in the sport's best conference. Ralph Engelstad Arena is the spot, as UMD faces NCHC regular season champion North Dakota in the first of two semifinals on this evening (Denver hosts Western Michigan in a ...

The NCHC started in the 2013-14 season, with a conference tournament that wrapped up at Target Center in Minneapolis. In 2018, the event moved across the Mississippi River to what is now Grand Casino Arena. But 2025 was the last NCHC Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul. The conference's deal with the facility expired, and the d...

A dramatic come-from-behind win for UMD in Friday's series opener, as Zam Plante tied the game with 22.9 seconds left in regulation, before winning it off a faceoff 3:30 into overtime. That quickly, what appeared to be a chance for St. Cloud State to take the series lead on the road evaporated, and the Huskies are left...

On Wednesday, I spent some time with UMD sophomore forward Max Plante. Excited for the playoffs, we talked about the importance of getting Hunter Anderson back this weekend, and the importance of Adam Gajan getting a game in before the postseason after a 28-day layoff. "We're fully healthy going into the postseaso...

Does more need to be said? It's the postseason. Let's go. 9 THOUGHTS 1. We aren't blind, we understand math is on UMD's side. We're going to discuss the whole .0001 thing a bit here, sorry if you aren't into national championship nostalgia. But the reason .0001 happened was because a young-ish UMD team limped through c...

For UMD, the scenarios are pretty simple. If the Bulldogs win, tie, or just get this game to overtime, it's St. Cloud State in here next weekend for a best of three. If Colorado College wins this game in regulation, the Tigers will return to Duluth next weekend, likely armed with a red-hot goalie who just stole a game ...

The end of the regular season is somehow upon us. For UMD, if you were to look only at the end result, a successful season would have included -- bare minimum -- home ice to open the NCHC playoffs, and a return to the NCAA Tournament. One is in the bag. The other might as well be. Now, we'll see if the Bulldogs can con...

Before we get into the weekend to come, a quick salute to everyone who helped put together the celebration of life for Hoagie on Tuesday. Plenty of laughs, some tender moments, and a great idea to have one more stick salute with UMD's current teams joined by alumni, staff, family, and friends of Hoags. You can watch it...

OXFORD, Ohio -- Going to try something different here, combining takeaways from Friday night with the Saturday lineup post. I'll get this out there, then update later when we have the official line charts for both teams (in other words, after we get to the rink). In other words, I was too lazy to write after the game (...

OXFORD, Ohio -- Not much to say here. We all know what Hoagie would have wanted. It's time to deliver. And we know it isn't that easy. Ethan Dahlmeir vs Matteo Drobac. Lines? Lines. UMD forwards Plante (Max) - Plante (Zam) - Shaugabay Truman - Gaffney - Arnott Anderson - Shlaine - Bibby Zaremba - Kovich - Bentz UMD def...

When Hunter and I arrived at Grand Casino Arena for the World Juniors the day after Christmas, we soon found out that, back home, Dale Haagenson had been stricken with a stroke the day before. The man we all called "Hoagie" was in the hospital, and it did not sound like a great situation. Over the course of t...

Good win Friday. Let's do it again. UND captain Bennett Zmolek is out with an injury. Jayden Jubenvill replaces him. UMD changes nothing. Ethan Dahlmeir vs Jan Spunar again. Lines? Lines. UMD forwards Plante (Max) - Plante (Zam) - Shaugabay Truman - Gaffney - Arnott Anderson - Shlaine - Bibby Bentz - Kovich - Bechen UM...

Here we go. Lines? Lines. UMD forwards Plante (Max) - Plante (Zam) - Shaugabay Truman - Gaffney - Arnott Anderson - Shlaine - Bibby Bentz - Kovich - Bechen UMD defense Hanson - Kleber Pionk - Pierce Cleveland - Siepmann Bodnarchuk UMD goalies Dahlmeir - Sheffield North Dakota forwards Swanson - Rickwood - Zellers James...

As you read this (thanks for that, by the way), the 2026 Winter Olympics are underway, with women's hockey among the events that get going before the opening ceremony Friday night, Italy time. Plenty of UMD flavor in the hockey tournaments, especially on the women's side of things. Oh, and UMD hosts its final scheduled...

DENVER -- Very interested to see how this game starts. UMD has lost three straight by 4-3 scores, gaining only one of a possible nine points in the NCHC standings. Starting goalie Adam Gajan will leave the team Sunday to join the Slovakians ahead of the Olympics in Italy. Outside of a third period that featured UMD pos...

DENVER -- At his weekly media conference Wednesday, UMD coach Scott Sandelin bristled at the opening question from Matt Wellens of the Duluth News Tribune, where Matt asked about how the players are handling the adversity off getting swept by Western Michigan last weekend. "What adversity are we going through?,&qu...

DENVER -- The postseason is still six weeks away, but we're getting closer and closer, and games are going to get tighter and tighter. UMD's 9-1 non-conference record has it still in a very good position to return to the NCAA Tournament, despite losing three of its last four games. Scott Sandelin seemed encouraged by h...

DENVER -- From a results standpoint, the UMD men had their toughest weekend of the season against a very good Western Michigan team last weekend at Amsoil Arena. But success in the regular season isn't always measured by the pure result of the game. Saturday is a good example of that. Sometimes you have to, well, you k...