Having participated in the Ice Breaker and picking up two extra games, UMD is literally at the halfway mark of its campaign, with 18 games played out of 36.
While looking at individual games may reveal opportunities lost along the way, the Bulldogs still sit at 11-6-1 during their holiday break, on pace for a 12th 20-win season under head coach Scott Sandelin. Big picture, an NCHC championship is far from out of reach. UMD gets St. Cloud State four times out of break, and still gets to face league-leading North Dakota, Western Michigan, Denver, and Omaha twice each. The Bulldogs are done with seventh-place Colorado College, but still have four games with last-place Miami.
UMD sits ten points back of UND in the league, with two games in hand (eight games played compared to ten for the Hawks). Western is second, four points up on UMD (same difference in games played), while Denver is third by one point on the Bulldogs.
Before UMD runs its remaining gauntlet of 16 league games that will decide its Penrose Cup fate, it must first complete the non-conference slate, which the Bulldogs will do with games December 30 (road) and January 1 (home) against top-ranked Minnesota State-Mankato.
And while we await that marquee series, now is a good chance to look back on the first half.
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Sandelin was concerned a bit about scoring heading into the season. With the departures of Jackson Cates, Nick Swaney, and Cole Koepke after last year, it certainly felt like a justified concern.
Through 18 games, many of those concerns remain. The Bulldogs are averaging a respectable 2.8 goals per game, not exactly a big dropoff from the 3.00 UMD averaged last season, when Cates, Koepke, and Swaney combined for 39 of the team’s 84 goals (46.4 percent).
Who’s picking up the slack? Well, two-year captain Noah Cates already has more goals this season (6) than he had last season (5), while his points per game is up from .68 last season to .78 so far this go-round.
Oh, and there’s Blake Biondi. The sophomore from Hermantown assisted on a Quinn Olson goal in the opener at Bemidji State, a goal that proved the winner for UMD in a 4-2 triumph. Biondi scored the next night in UMD’s home opener, and he hasn’t looked back. He hasn’t gone more than two games without registering on the scoresheet, and Biondi went into break leading UMD in goals (8) while tied for the team lead in points (14) with Cates.
Having a strong start to the season helped for sure, but Biondi’s surge really started in late September, according to Sandelin. It was then that the coaches put freshman Dominic James (2-7-9 in 17 games) between Olson (3-10-13 in 18 games, tying his goal total and exceeding his point production from last season) and Biondi, and the James Gang was formed. Outside of the time James missed with an injury, and a brief breakup during the 5-0 loss to Denver on Dec. 10, these three have been together and pretty consistent. That will change out of break next week in Mankato, with James playing for the United States in the World Juniors, but expect to see the James Gang reunited the following weekend in St. Cloud.
(And, yes, I’m going to continue to beat the James Gang name into the ground. You love it and you know it.)
Also helping out offensively have been Casey Gilling (5-6-11 in 16 games), senior Tanner Laderoute (6 goals ties for second with Cates on the team), the ever-reliable fifth-year senior Kobe Roth (5-7-12 in 18 games), and freshman defenseman Owen Gallatin (2-8-10 in 18 games, the sixth UMD player in double figures in points).
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If you had told me that UMD would approach that seemingly-magical 3.0 goals per game average with a scattershot (at best) power play, I would have offered a side-eye look in response.
Yet, here we are. UMD’s power play is struggling, at under 17 percent. Since its 3-for-27 start, the PP is hitting at a more respectable 7-for-33 (21.2 percent) clip. But that’s not good enough, and it’s been something Sandelin has talked about a few times.
“I think if we can get to three goals a game, we have a great chance to win,” Sandelin said last month. “The power play has been inconsistent. We had three go in against CC (in a 5-0 win on Nov. 12), it’s the difference in the game. We’ve got to be better there. It’s not been terrible, we’ve had some good looks. The guys have to stick with it, and hopefully we can get on a run.”
It’s not inconceivable. The penalty kill was off to a very sketchy start when you look at the raw numbers. It started 14-for-19 (73.7 percent) through the first six games and change, then ripped off a streak of 25 straight successful kills over the next four-plus games. Even with the Northern Michigan series thrown in (6-for-9, playing without a number of key killers and with third goalie Ben Patt getting the starts), UMD is 18-for-23 (78.2) since the streak ended, and it’s at 84.8 percent overall, which is a very, very good number. Against a scorching-hot Denver power play in the last series before break, UMD managed to kill off all nine power plays it faced.
There are a few factors in play here. Assistant coach Adam Krause has certainly settled into running the penalty kill, and his continued maturation as a coach combines with pretty impressive depth among the killers to help bring on this improvement. Up front, old reliables like Cates and Laderoute are joined by a now-healthy Luke Loheit, Carter Loney, and Olson, among others up front. And UMD’s defensive corps is as good as it comes. You have fifth year guys Matt Anderson and Louie Roehl both giving the Bulldogs high-quality minutes. Fourth year senior Hunter Lellig has become a trusted penalty killer, in part by never meeting a shot he wouldn’t get in the way of. Sophomores Wyatt Kaiser and Connor Kelley continue to provide big minutes as well, with Kaiser really settling in before he missed two weekends in COVID protocol.
Obviously, there are times the goaltender has to be your best penalty killer. It happens to everyone. And Ryan Fanti has done the job when called upon. Fanti’s short-handed save percentage of .925 is very strong, just behind his overall number of .935 at the holiday break. His steady hand in goal has been a huge part of the penalty kill’s return to prominence.
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I offered up the chance to ask questions. Here are a couple good ones that came in.
Any risk in missing a player or two for the Olympics?
— Dan Jacobsen (@DanJacobsen) December 18, 2021
Look, it’s not officially official as of this writing, but it’s a foregone conclusion that the NHL will not be sending players to the Olympics.
So what happens to Team USA? Well, Michael Russo of The Athletic has already indicated that Wild general manager Bill Guerin will relinquish the job of GM of Team USA. And you can bet that the U.S. team will be stocked mainly with pro players based in Europe, maybe even a few out of the American Hockey League. But in 2018, USA Hockey did put three NCAA players on its roster (current Wild forward Jordan Greenway, who was at Boston University; Seattle forward Ryan Donato, who went to Harvard; and Ducks forward Troy Terry, who was in college at Denver).
Could the same thing happen? Well, if it does, you have to assume Cates is going to be a candidate. His strength on the boards and his smarts in all zones make him a good possibility for a team in a short tournament, and his previous World Juniors experience certainly doesn’t hurt in terms of being on USA Hockey’s radar.
(Max, I hope this answers your question, as Cates would be my pick off the UMD roster for the Olympics.)
Of course, part of the problem with the Olympics setup in China is the long quarantine for any athlete who tests positive. Imagine a scenario where any player on a top college team goes to Beijing, then tests positive and can’t return to his university until the NCAA regionals. Or later.
(The same risk, by the way, hangs over any active NCAA women’s players who are under consideration for Olympic rosters. The opportunity to compete at the pinnacle of women’s hockey, however, is likely too much to turn aside, no matter the potential pitfalls. And it’s hard to blame these athletes for that. To whoever goes over, we’re hoping for good health on top of a life experience.)
There could be a so many levels to this, but how does Nicklin, coaching staff/recruitment and the goalies themselves, continue to just improve and be successful year after year? I believe Fanti has improved from last year. Glad to hear Stejskal is doing better.
— Bulldogs and Banjos (@lind2428) December 20, 2021
This is a great question that probably deserves more than a blog blurb as an answer. Volunteer goalie coach Brant Nicklin works tirelessly with the Bulldog netminders, and you can see the progress with them, year in and year out.
Frankly, it’s not much different than UMD’s overall formula, no? And this isn’t dogging Nicklin’s work in any way. UMD’s coaches have identified the type of players it can coach up. This isn’t a program known for getting a bunch of first-round draft picks (UMD hasn’t had one since Riley Tufte, who was drafted in 2016). The Bulldogs instead find players they know will improve and grow into specific roles.
Look at the top line. Gilling and Laderoute were undrafted, Cates a fifth-round pick. The highest-drafted players on the current roster are Kaiser and Olson, both third-round picks.
It’s a team of unheralded guys who have been developed and embrace their roles. The goaltending is no different. Fanti and Zach Stejskal weren’t heralded recruits, but yet here they are. And they aren’t going away.
I know this is a convoluted answer, but there isn’t a simple one. What you see with Fanti (and Stejskal before his testicular cancer diagnosis) is exactly the identity of the program.
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A few midseason awards for you before we wrap this up.
MVP: Fanti. This one is pretty easy. After Stejskal began to get his treatment, and the net became Fanti’s, he has taken over. He produced a stretch of seven games where he conceded a grand total of four goals. When you have a goalie timeshare, you never know what will happen when one of the two in the tandem takes over as the No. 1, whether by choice or by — in this case — necessity. Fanti has been tremendous. When he hasn’t played his best, he’s rallied back the next game every time. He played a huge role in steadying the penalty kill, and he’s made some huge saves in all situations to keep his team in good position in games.
Top forward: Biondi. Apologies to Captain Cates, but the jump we’ve seen from Biondi has been awesome to see. And this is coming from someone who predicted in August it would happen (your humble correspondent also predicted Olson’s surge). It’s also not a fluke. Biondi has learned how to use his body (he has good size at close to 6-foot-1), and he can shoot from practically anywhere on the ice. That play he made for UMD’s fourth goal in the 6-2 win over Denver was, as our analyst Kraig Karakas put it, a “man’s play.”
GOAL!!!! As @zschneider218 was about to bring up 2017, Biondi @biondi_blake7 says shut up and scores a goal to make it 4-1 in the 3rd! #UMDmHky pic.twitter.com/pDEVIhdD86
— UMD Hockey gifs (@UMDHockeygifs) December 12, 2021
Biondi has been consistent, never going more than two games without registering on the scoresheet. He has great chemistry with his linemates. He’s continuing to get better. It’ll be fun to see what he does after the break ends.
Top defenseman: Kaiser. This is a tougher choice, and Kaiser certainly has put together some rockier performances. But, like a lot of other guys, Kaiser doesn’t let those rocky times get to him. He had a tough start in the Oct. 22 game at Minnesota, struggling to handle pucks and engineer breakouts early in the game. By the midpoint, he was back to being Wyatt Kaiser. He’s a great skater and a top-notch defender. More than anything, I’m excited to see how he plays when he gets back from the World Juniors, where he should play good minutes as part of a loaded Team USA blue line.
Top goal of the first half: The effort by Kaiser on this beauty against Minnesota sets him apart in a strong field from the first 18 games.
A bird? A plane? Superman? NO- just Kaiser @wyatt_kaiser5 with a diving goal to put UMD up 4-1 on Minnesota! #UMDmHky #NCHCTOPPLAY pic.twitter.com/RcfayPhSWC
— UMD Hockey gifs (@UMDHockeygifs) October 23, 2021
Top save of the first half: This beauty from Fanti after a great rush by Paul Washe of Western Michigan back on Nov. 6 takes the cake for me.
Fanti @Fanti_29 makes the save to keep WMU off the board! #UMDmHky pic.twitter.com/PCMbjLABBi
— UMD Hockey gifs (@UMDHockeygifs) November 7, 2021
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UMD returns from break next Thursday in Mankato, opening a two-game, home-and-home series against top-ranked Minnesota State. The Bulldogs will play without Kaiser and James, both of whom will be playing for Team USA at the World Juniors. Roehl missed the last three games before break, so hopefully he is ready to return in Mankato.
6:30 pregame next Thursday, then 5;30 for the rematch on New Year’s Day in Duluth. Both games on KDAL, as you would expect.
I’ll be back next week to preview. Until then, have a joyous and safe Christmas holiday. Thank you for everything you do to support this venture, whether it’s listening (however often) or taking in the occasional blog post.
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