2025-26 University of North Dakota Hockey Season

[atxsioux]

NCHC Tiers this upcoming season for discussion purposes

Tier 1

• Denver
• WMU
• UND

Tier 2

• ASU
• CC

Tier 3

• St Cloud
• Omaha
• Duluth

Tier 4

• Miami

 

[beastandco]

26 minutes ago, atxsioux said:

NCHC Tiers this upcoming season for discussion purposes

Tier 1

• Denver
• WMU
• UND

Tier 2

• ASU
• CC

Tier 3

• St Cloud
• Omaha
• Duluth

Tier 4

• Miami

 

Hand up, I don’t pay as much attention to  some of the lower tier NCHC teams as maybe I should.

That being said, I feel like I would maybe switch CC and Duluth. Duluth could be very sneaky in my eyes. I would be surprised if Max Plante wasn’t up for NCHC forward of the year. They have a few other nice pieces returning from last year as well.

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

42 minutes ago, beastandco said:

Hand up, I don’t pay as much attention to  some of the lower tier NCHC teams as maybe I should.

That being said, I feel like I would maybe switch CC and Duluth. Duluth could be very sneaky in my eyes. I would be surprised if Max Plante wasn’t up for NCHC forward of the year. They have a few other nice pieces returning from last year as well.

Duluth is asleep at the wheel regarding CHL kids. Only one that likely would have gone USports rather than pro. Sandelin is the next Berry/Lucia.

[atxsioux]

1 hour ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

Duluth is asleep at the wheel regarding CHL kids. Only one that likely would have gone USports rather than pro. Sandelin is the next Berry/Lucia.

Schloss and others have said Duluth is going to have a "great squad" the past 2 years and they've flopped. At this point they've lost the benefit of the doubt for me personally. '

Granted maybe 3rd times the charm who knows.

[fightingsioux4life]

33 minutes ago, atxsioux said:

Schloss and others have said Duluth is going to have a "great squad" the past 2 years and they've flopped. At this point they've lost the benefit of the doubt for me personally. '

Granted maybe 3rd times the charm who knows.

I think Sandy may be thinking about retirement. He's been there for a quarter century. That's a long time to be in one place. Maybe some newer, younger blood is needed in Duluth.

[burd]

Maybe his understudy, gfhockey, is an option.   He may even be able to convince Spicer to return, despite what Admissions has to say about it.  
       Judy’s would have to open a Duluth shop, of course, and someone would have to provide a bail fund.   

[skateshattrick]

10 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

I think Sandy may be thinking about retirement. He's been there for a quarter century. That's a long time to be in one place. Maybe some newer, younger blood is needed in Duluth.

What makes you say that? He is only 61. 

[fightingsioux4life]

3 minutes ago, skateshattrick said:

What makes you say that? He is only 61. 

He's been in Duluth for 25 years. He has made public comments harshly criticizing the new landscape in college athletics. He just sounds like he doesn't want to do it anymore.

Dean Blais probably had it right when he said no one should stay in one place for too long.

-Lucia did that.

-Berenson did that.

-York did that.

-Gino did that.

Sandy has had tremendous success in Duluth, but that won't save him forever. If he cannot adapt to the increasingly complicated landscape of college athletics, he will get left behind. If that happens, he'll end up leaving Duluth involuntarily.

[cberkas]

14 minutes ago, skateshattrick said:

What makes you say that? He is only 61. 

He’s got 2 or 3 years left, I don’t think he gets a new contract in 2 years. 
 

Kind of like Jeff Jackson staying too long at Notre Dame did more harm than good. 

[scpa0305]

2 hours ago, fightingsioux4life said:

I think Sandy may be thinking about retirement. He's been there for a quarter century. That's a long time to be in one place. Maybe some newer, younger blood is needed in Duluth.

Sandy’s greatest recruiting tool is that he’s never pulled a scholly on a player. Parents/kids love that; there’s a sense of security. UND, MN and most other blue bloods pull schollys left and right (sometimes deserved if the player doesn’t keep developing). 

Fairly tough to compete in this new world if you’re overly loyal. 

[tnt]

11 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

Sandy’s greatest recruiting tool is that he’s never pulled a scholly on a player. Parents/kids love that; there’s a sense of security. UND, MN and most other blue bloods pull schollys left and right (sometimes deserved if the player doesn’t keep developing). 

Fairly tough to compete in this new world if you’re overly loyal. 

Exactly!  How many parents/kids that love that loyalty/security have no problem using the portal to go to another school if it meets their own needs for more playing time in different situations, or frankly just the opportunity to move into a better winning situation with Duluth’s fall from the top?

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

17 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

Sandy’s greatest recruiting tool is that he’s never pulled a scholly on a player. Parents/kids love that; there’s a sense of security. UND, MN and most other blue bloods pull schollys left and right (sometimes deserved if the player doesn’t keep developing). 

Fairly tough to compete in this new world if you’re overly loyal. 

Kid from my hometown had his offer from Duluth pulled after plateauing in Juniors:

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/316111/devlin-mccabe

[ChadR]

1 hour ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

Kid from my hometown had his offer from Duluth pulled after plateauing in Juniors:

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/316111/devlin-mccabe

Judging by the stats, that was the correct choice.

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

4 hours ago, ChadR said:

Judging by the stats, that was the correct choice.

That's the point, honoring every scholarship offer would be a mistake.

[hockeytherapy13]

10 hours ago, atxsioux said:

Schloss and others have said Duluth is going to have a "great squad" the past 2 years and they've flopped. At this point they've lost the benefit of the doubt for me personally. '

Granted maybe 3rd times the charm who knows.

They were a very young team last year and their best player (Max Plante) was injured a good chunk of the year. My money is on him for NCHC forward of the year and player of the year. This 8-0 run against Duluth has been so much fun but I think they’ll snag at least 1 or 2 from us this year. 

[LuvHockey]

30 days till the puck drops friends….

[sioux rube]

Glad I got tics for both games at 99 bucks 

 

[ND_Texan]

On 9/2/2025 at 6:22 PM, beastandco said:

 

Very solid looking D but a lot of new unproven forwards, along with average portal transfer talent. Homer needs to stand tall among the transfers. My instincts suggest a slow start to 25-26, but coming on strong in January. The Manitoba game should tell us a lot. 

[burd]

1 hour ago, ND_Texan said:

Very solid looking D but a lot of new unproven forwards, along with average portal transfer talent. Homer needs to stand tall among the transfers. My instincts suggest a slow start to 25-26, but coming on strong in January. The Manitoba game should tell us a lot. 

I can see why you’d say that, but how much do you ever get from the Manitoba game.  

[I Ranger]

5 minutes ago, burd said:

I can see why you’d say that, but how much do you ever get from the Manitoba game.  

Agreed there isn't much you can take away from that game other than all the newbies getting their feet wet playing in front of a REA crowd. Take two years ago when we all thought Perron was going to potentially be better than Blake after his performance only to have that be his best game in a UND jersey. 

[brianvf]

2 minutes ago, I Ranger said:

Take two years ago when we all thought Perron was going to potentially be better than Blake after his performance only to have that be his best game in a UND jersey. 

Ha, for sure. Most of his career UND highlights taken during his FR year exhibition game. 

[Scratch]

32 minutes ago, burd said:

I can see why you’d say that, but how much do you ever get from the Manitoba game.  

Unfortunately it cant inform if we'll be good, but it can tell you if we're going to suck, like last year

[Oxbow6]

5 hours ago, sioux rube said:

Glad I got tics for both games at 99 bucks 

 

Some here trying to figure how much they could make selling their seats......

[Godsmack]

I will gladly trade someone my CC/Simon Fraser tickets for your UND/Minnesota tix. 

[Green Banner]

3 hours ago, I Ranger said:

Agreed there isn't much you can take away from that game other than all the newbies getting their feet wet playing in front of a REA crowd. Take two years ago when we all thought Perron was going to potentially be better than Blake after his performance only to have that be his best game in a UND jersey. 

Thought the same thing with  Jake Schmaltz after the ex game his freshman year