It’s a story I’ve told a few hundred times over the years.
Heading into the 2011-12 season, UMD was about to raise its first national championship banner by playing the team it beat in the national semifinals: Notre Dame. And legendary coach Jeff Jackson brought back basically everyone off the team he got to a Frozen Four the season before.
Chatting the week of the series, Jackson was quick to remind me that it doesn’t matter how many players a team brings back. Every season, every team is at least a little bit different. Players evolve, their personalities change, their roles change, they develop more of a voice within the room.
I’m reminded of that conversation often, especially when UMD turns over as much as it turned over after last season.
Let’s ride.
9 THOUGHTS
1. This isn’t just a different team. It’s younger. Significantly younger. In fact, UMD’s 2023-24 roster is listed as the eighth-youngest team in the country, tied with UMass-Amherst, per the database from College Hockey News.
(Looking back, UMD’s had younger teams, but the sport is still skewing older than ever as we cycle through one more year of COVID eligibility.)
It’s a different time for UMD, which has recruited a lot of older freshmen over the years, often intentionally. But Scott Sandelin isn’t hiding his excitement as his 25th season as UMD’s bench boss begins Saturday against Bemidji State.
“Certainly there’s some really good players that have some really good track records,” Sandelin said this week. “And I believe that they’re going to continue that at this level over time. We’re looking for a lot of those guys to be a big part of our team as we go through the year. It’s going to be fun to watch them grow.”
Sitting with Sandelin for an hour, as I did a couple weeks ago at Amsoil Arena, it’s hard not to get really excited when you hear him talk about the new guys. 12 newcomers, 11 freshmen, and a few of them are going to have opportunities to make a major impact early.
2. Who are these guys? Let’s start up front. Obviously, brothers Zam and Max Plante are the headliners. More on them in a moment.
Jayson Shaugabay was a Mr. Hockey winner at Warroad in 2023. Blake Bechen came on and had a great year for Green Bay of the USHL last season, where he was teammates with Shaugabay and freshman goalie Adam Gajan. Harper Bentz won a Clark Cup title with Zam Plante in Fargo. Trevor Stachowiak had a great year with Minot of the NAHL. Callum Arnott (if that last name rings a bell, his uncle Jason was an outstanding NHL center and won a Stanley Cup) was fantastic north of the border with Penticton (BCHL).
Ty Hanson was second among USHL defensemen in scoring last year while serving as a captain in Sioux City. Adam Kleber went the Neal Pionk route and played two years of USHL hockey in Lincoln, joining UMD in his draft year (second round pick by Buffalo).
Gajan and Klayton Knapp are the new goalies, joining Zach Sandy in the competition there.
Only one new transfer, with former St. Cloud State forward Joe Molenaar choosing to play his fifth year at UMD.
(No better guy to talk to for a Molenaar endorsement than SCSU coach Brett Larson: “Joe is one of the highest quality human beings I’ve ever been around or coached. He’s actually one of my favorite guys. This fifth year stuff can get tough for players and kids sometimes. I think Duluth’s the right fit for Joe, and I’m happy for him.”)
As big a freshman class as we can remember, and one that has a chance to be awfully special.
3. Sandelin was asked on Wednesday if everyone is available for the weekend, an opening weekend that includes a game that counts (Saturday vs Bemidji State) and one that does not (Sunday vs Manitoba).
It’s arguably a bit silly to ask such a question before the season opener, but you have to go back to the 2020-21 shortened COVID year to find the last time UMD had a full compliment of players available for the season opener.
(Before 2021-22, Luke Mylymok suffered a long-term injury that kept him out until February. Before 2022-23, Kyler Kleven suffered a season-ending injury. Kleven wasn’t healthy for the start of 2023-24 because of a separate injury, and Dominic James went down for the year before Kleven was able to return to the lineup.)
One of those players is defenseman Will Francis. It’s hard to put into words how impressive Francis is, both in physical stature and clearly in mental fortitude. I could give you a bunch of quotes from Wednesday’s media conference, but Matt Wellens wrote about it incredibly well, and there’s no need for me to steal that thunder. Read Matt’s story here.
This dude’s been through hell the last four years. We aren’t supposed to play favorites with the players, but you can bet that I’ll be pulling for Francis to get some opportunities on a blue line with nine players, including six returnees from last season who’ve gained some needed experience, talented freshmen in Hanson and Kleber, and Francis.
How much will Francis play? No idea.
“He obviously brings the size and a little bit of that edge to his game,” Sandelin said. “He’s trying to find his groove too. I mean, he’s missed a lot of hockey, and last year was not a great year for him. But we’ll get him in there at some point.”
4. Sandy returns in goal, meaning UMD gets one of its 37 starts from last season back after Zach Stejskal and Matthew Thiessen moved on.
Gajan and Knapp are on board, with Gajan bringing an impressive resume that includes two years of World Juniors experience with Slovakia.
“Not a lot of experience,” Sandelin said in September, “but obviously a lot of high credentials with Adam. I think last year, even when he came back from the World Juniors in Green Bay, (he) went through some struggles and even in the playoffs.
“I think that’s healthy. I think that’s good for those guys to experience some of that because things were going really well for him and there’s always going to be setbacks. I like that he kind of bounced back.”
Knapp was recruited during the second half of last season, and Sandelin was quickly impressed by his attitude as much as anything he was doing for NAHL Bismarck.
“He knew Adam was coming,” said Sandelin of Knapp. “I liked the fact he wanted to come in and compete for that job.”
And don’t discount Sandy, who has just the one start — a crazy overtime win over St. Cloud State last season — in his two years at UMD.
“We’ve seen guys like that,” Sandelin said, citing 2011 NCAA champion Kenny Reiter. “Guys that maybe sat around for a couple years and didn’t get a lot of games, but stuck it out and learned.
“I kind of feel that Zach can be that type of guy too if he gets called upon. He played great in the exhibition periods (Jan. 6 against St. Thomas was last season’s exhibition) and it was great. I think the guys were super excited for him last year to get that game and get a win for him.”
5. UMD’s leadership group is an interesting mix, led by captain Dominic James. UMD’s process on naming its leadership for this season was different than usual. Going back to Sandelin’s end-of-season media conference, it was clear that James was going to be back for his senior season after an injury kept him out for all but four-plus periods of 2023-24.
Sandelin is very excited to see what James can do in what appears certain to be his final season of college hockey.
“I think one of the things that I’m happy about is that we’ve been able to watch him mature and grow,” said Sandelin. “And I think I’ve said it to you before, I think since day one you saw some leadership qualities in him. I think that he’s matured and grown over the last two or three years. And he’s been able to watch other guys be leaders and learn from them. So I’m excited for him to be back. I’m excited for him to have a big year.”
What about James? Yeah, he’s also ready.
“Being able to play in Amsoil again and being able to wear that ‘C’ and wear the Bulldog,” said James. “I’m so excited. It’s the most excited I’ve ever been for a hockey season.”
In September, UMD announced that senior defenseman Owen Gallatin would be joined by junior rearguards Aiden Dubinsky and Joey Pierce as alternate captains. It was much later than normal to make such an announcement, but Sandelin said that was by design.
“With a lot of new guys, we wanted their input, wanted them to be part of the process, which not every year we’ve included them,” he explained. “It’s been more of the older guys or returning guys.
“We’re fortunate. I think we’ve got some really good people in there. But we’ve got some guys in that locker room that aren’t wearing a letter that are gonna be equally important and guys that not only older guys but younger guys that have been leaders.”
6. This is indeed Sandelin’s 25th season on the job. When we sat down in September, I asked him if he could ever have seen himself spending a quarter century here when he took the gig in April of 2000, hired by then-athletic director Bob Corran to replace Mike Sertich.
“No, not especially in this profession,” he said. “You certainly look at that and I’m very thankful that I’m still having the opportunity to be part of this program and coach it. And I probably appreciate it more and more every year.
“What’s been great for me is I’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of great people to work with, a lot of my staff, coaches, support staff, and most importantly, the players. I think that’s what keeps you going as a coach, is those new challenges every year, different personalities.”
Sandelin isn’t your typical old-school coach. He’s not the same coach he was when he got to Duluth.
“I like to say I’m a little bit smarter, but that’s probably experience,” he cracked.
“I still think the values are the same. I guess I’m a pretty intense guy. I mean, I was the same way when I played. I expected a lot out of myself and tried to push myself to be the best that I could be. I think it’s no different as a coach. Certainly over the years, those methods maybe have changed a little bit.”
7. With a slew of new guys on the roster, is there a better season-opening opponent than Bemidji State?
Sandelin doesn’t seem to think so.
“I think it’s great,” he said. “First of all, I love playing Tom’s (Serratore) teams because they do play extremely hard, very well coached. They don’t give you a lot.”
Bemidji State claimed the MacNaughton Cup last season, winning the CCHA regular season championship. The Beavers fell a win short of the NCAA Tournament, losing a heartbreaker to Michigan Tech for the conference tournament title in front of a full Sanford Center in Bemidji.
“I’ve been in front of quite a few sold out crowds of the Sanford Center but nothing like that,” Serratore said. “Reminded me a little bit of (the Minnesota Twins) 1987. We walk out to 4,000 Beaver hankies like the Homer Hankies.”
Old friend Sandelin knows he’s set his team up for a tough game.
“It’s gonna be a little bit of a challenge for us. They’re picked to win their league, so they’ve got a good group again. They always like playing us.”
8. It’s a bit of a strange opening weekend. For starters, the NCAA allowed a few teams to play games on Friday and Saturday, instead of waiting until Saturday because it’s supposed to be the first day of competition. As a result, Miami plays Ferris State on Friday and Saturday, Arizona State plays two at Air Force starting Friday, while Minnesota State visits Michigan starting Friday, among other series that got a jump-start.
Among the NCHC, only Miami, ASU, and Denver (at Alaska-Anchorage Saturday and Sunday) will play two games that count.
UMD has Bemidji Saturday and the Manitoba exhibition Sunday. St. Cloud State gets Minnesota for an exhibition Saturday before visiting St. Thomas Sunday. North Dakota (vs Augustana), Western Michigan (US Under 18s), Colorado College (Briercrest), and Omaha (Wisconsin) play exhibition games on Saturday.
9. After upsetting defending national champion Ohio State in a season-opening sweep, the UMD women got an unexpected weekend off. Syracuse was supposed to be in Duluth last weekend, but travel issues caused by Hurricane Helene kept the Orange from getting to the Twin Ports in a timely fashion. The series will instead be played Jan. 2-3 in Duluth.
In place of the games, first-year head coach Laura Schuler said in her Wednesday media conference the team held an instra-squad scrimmage over the weekend.
Schuler noted the team’s truncated start to the season, with the games in Ohio coming earlier than any scheduled games in program history. The scrimmage gave the Bulldogs a chance to work on a few things they hadn’t spent much time on yet.
“Whether it was 5-on-6, 6-on-5, 3-on-3,” Schuler said, “in essence I think that weekend allowed us to even better prepare in order to go into this weekend.”
In the Ohio State sweep, the games were different. The Bulldogs goalie’d Ohio State in the opener, getting 39 saves from Eve Gascon in an exemplary performance. The next day saw more of a back-and-forth game, which came after some adjustments by Schuler and her staff.
“Our focus was on tightening it up in the D zone and not getting pulled out so much,” Schuler explained. “And so that was really important. I felt like it put us into better position defensively in order to get pucks back and turn pucks over more quickly. And then from an offensive standpoint, once we got the puck, we wanted to get north as quickly as possible.”
It’s not all great for UMD at the outset. Schuler said forward Gabby Krause will not play this season because of injury, and fifth-year senior Nina Steigauf — a transfer from Quinnipiac — left the team after the opening weekend for what Schuler termed “personal reasons.” That knocks the roster down to 11 forwards. While Schuler did concede she might consider adding a forward at the semester break, they’ll do what they can to manage it for now.
“We take a little more planning in order to be able to execute game situations and things like that,” she said of practices. “We don’t practice long in general, so our practices are high intensity and shorter duration, and I think that helps keep our student athletes healthy. The other aspect of it, we have all of this technology to help gauge our workloads. We use our medical staff, our strength and conditioning coach, our team doctor and our athletic trainers to help give us information that we need.”
UMD plays at Colgate this weekend. Those games (5pm Friday and 2pm Saturday) can be viewed if you subscribe to ESPN Plus.
_______
We’ll have the men’s games for you on KDAL. 4:30pm pregame Saturday, around 1:45pm Sunday for the exhibition.
As always, we’ll be back pregame with the lines both days. Follow me on X (@BruceCiskie) for in-game updates and occasionally highlight clips. Listen to my radio show (10am weekdays on KDAL) for a ton of college hockey content throughout the season.
Comments