OMAHA, Neb. — Visiting with UMD senior Jesse Jacques this week, I jokingly asked him about spending three days in Omaha versus three weeks in Omaha.
“It was a good experience,” he said. “But definitely don’t want to be down there that long again.”
That’s not a dig on Omaha, by the way. Three weeks in any hotel would probably get on someone’s nerves pretty easily, even if that hotel is in paradise. It’s definitely better to be here on the standard “two games and go home” road trip.
It’s the Bulldogs’ first trip here since the Pod in December 2020, a wonderfully-constructed setup for the league that allowed it to safely jump-start its season and get a bunch of games played, mainly involving the teams farther apart on the map. Junior forward Quinn Olson, asked by a reporter about the pod experience, talked about the ping pong table players had access to in their lounge area.
Guessing this hotel doesn’t have one at the ready for the guys.
No, this will be strictly a business trip. And, KNOCK ON WOOD, it’s been a normal week for Scott Sandelin and his group.
After a Saturday where the only lineup change was a coach’s decision for the first time since the Ice Breaker in October, everyone who was available last weekend against Miami (which was everyone but forward Luke Mylymok and goalie Zach Stejskal, who has been dressing but is not yet ready to play) was available for practice this week.
Reticent to make excuses, Sandelin admitted it’s been hard.
“When you try to get continuity through things, work on things, and you’ve got guys missing,” Sandelin said of the first part of the season, “you’re not sure if they’re going to be (available) on the weekend because you might miss the early part of the week, it’s just hard. I’m not whining or making excuses. It’s just the way it is.
“So these things have been hard, but you have to go through.”
The problems started after the Ice Breaker, when Stejskal was diagnosed with testicular cancer and ruled out long-term by Sandelin. Then on Oct. 22, when UMD played at Minnesota, junior forward Luke Loheit suffered an upper-body injury blocking a shot. He missed a month, came back for three games, then missed three more. Injuries followed involving guys like Connor Kelley and Louie Roehl, and illness invaded and took down the likes of Wyatt Kaiser (four games), Ryan Fanti (two), and Casey Gilling (two). Outside of Stejskal and Mylymok, nothing has really been long-term, but it’s been a bunch guys and it’s been constant, robbing UMD of valuable depth and, as Sandelin said, continuity during the week.
Another great example of the lack of continuity: Kaiser and Dominic James leave after the Denver series and make the U.S. World Junior team. Then the tournament is cancelled because of COVID concerns. As the two are racing to get to Mankato for the opening game of that home-and-home series, Sandelin has crafted a plan and a lineup not imaging he would ever have Kaiser and James available. But Kaiser and James are two of UMD’s best players. No offense to anyone else, but even after not practicing with the team before the games, you have to think they’ll make the Bulldogs better against the nation’s No. 1 team. So the lineup that Sandelin used against the purple version of the Mavericks was not the one that practiced all week. It was a chance every coach in the country would have taken in that spot, too.
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Before NCHC Media Day in September, Sandelin peeked at the Preseason Media Poll and immediately thought us nerds needed to be retired to the nerdery to play with our calculators. We had, in his estimation, underrated Omaha.
(Full disclosure: I had them fifth, which was where the poll landed the Mavs.)
“I think they’ve got a lot of experience,” Sandelin said this week. “Looking at their goaltender, he’s been their guy for three years. They’ve got a talented group of forwards. They’ve got a good mix there. I just think their team has kind of matured over the last couple of years. They play a heavy style. They can skate and get to the net hard, and their special teams are good. I just think they’re a team that’s continually grown and gotten better.”
Omaha coach Mike Gabinet likes his team and believes their experience is a major factor.
“I like our group,” he said. “I think we’re competing hard and growing. They’re giving it everything they’ve got. In this conference, you’re facing good competition. You have to do a lot of things right for a long time to be successful. I love going into games with this group. They’re committed to playing for each other.”
That third-year goalie Sandelin referenced is Isaiah Saville, who has a .914 save percentage so far this season in 17 starts. Sandelin coached Saville with Team USA at the 2019 World Juniors (called him a “great kid” this week and talked about his athleticism and competitiveness). Gabinet said Saville is definitely matured and you can see it every day.
“He came in with a lot of hype,” said Gabinet. “He’s a great kid. He’s a worker. He’s coachable. He wants to get better. Some of the inconsistencies you saw in his game early on are dissipating. More and more, he looks the same every day. That’s growth, and that’s what we want to see. The credit goes to Isaiah.”
Taylor Ward has 14 goals, 10 on the power play. Just two of those goals have come in the last ten games, but Ward is a powder keg ready to explode. UMD has to be aware when he’s on the ice, and the Bulldogs have to stay out of the box against an Omaha power play that is hitting at 22 percent and is always dangerous.
Former Duluth Marshall defenseman Nolan Krenzen, a sophomore for the Mavericks, picked up an injury in Saturday’s loss to Denver and didn’t play Sunday. Minnesota transfer Brannon McManus, second on the team in scoring, is also nursing an injury. Gabinet wasn’t sure about either player when I spoke to him on Tuesday, but he was hoping to get them back.
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Goalie news this week. First, Fanti has made the bloated (28 goalies!) watch list for the Mike Richter Award. Fanti carries a .933 save percentage and 1.60 goals against into the weekend. Most impressive, statistically at least, is Fanti’s save percentage of .932 when UMD is short-handed. To give you context on that number, Minnesota State goalie Dryden McKay, who is considered by some (including me) to be the best goalie in the country to have never won this award, has an .860 save percentage this season when MSU is short-handed. 12 of the 32 goals McKay had conceded heading into Thursday’s game at St. Thomas (which was in progress as this blog went to press) have come when the Mavs were man down. Only six of the 29 goals given up by Fanti have come on adversarial power plays.
UMD women’s goalie Emma Soderberg was both named to the Swedish Olympic team and the watch list for the Women’s Goalie of the Year Award this week (someday, this will be named for someone, and I propose Maddie Rooney be that person). Soderberg leaves Friday to join her Olympic teammates, and she will miss a lot of games, starting with UMD’s series at No. 2 Ohio State starting on Friday night. Sophomore Jojo Chobak has appeared in three games this season, and presumably will draw the start Friday. Freshman Holly Gruber is UMD’s other goalie.
UMD will be well-represented at the Winter Games, with Noah Cates for the U.S. men’s team, three current women’s players on rosters (Ashton Bell for Canada, Kassy Betinol with China, and Soderberg with Sweden), and women’s alumni all over (Rooney with Team USA, Jocelyne Larocque on Canada, Alexandra Vafina with Russia, Michelle Lowenhielm and Linnea Hedin on Sweden, Lara Stalder on Switzerland, and Katerina Mrazova with Czechia).
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A word of warning for all who have tickets for next weekend’s series against Western Michigan:
The University of Minnesota has mandated that all people ages five and up who attend events hosted by University of Minnesota programs — of which UMD is included — show either proof of completed COVID-19 vaccination or proof of a negative test taken under medical supervision within 72 hours of admittance to the event.
This mandate, which will be effective at both Romano Gym for basketball and Amsoil Arena for hockey, goes into effect on Jan. 26 and runs until Feb. 9, so it will be in effect for the men’s (WMU) and women’s (Minnesota State) hockey home series next weekend, as well as home basketball games the next two weekends.
If you have questions about this, UMD has set up a page with information.
Two things:
–> Don’t shoot the messenger. UMD is following rules enacted by the parent institution, and is doing all it can to answer questions ahead of time.
–> If you’re going to choose to go to the games, don’t be a Karen or whatever to the people working at the arena. They’re doing their jobs. In short, if you want to whine about this, 1) don’t; or 2) go to your Facebook page like everyone else.
The mandate could have been to reduce capacity, and none of us want to go through that again.
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6:30 pregames Friday and Saturday from Baxter Arena. I’ll be live from Omaha all morning on our family of radio stations, and again on KQ’s Trainwreck at 5:10 Friday from the arena. Lots to talk about ahead of a big road series for the Bulldogs.
Back pregame with the lines.
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