2026-27 University of North Dakota Hockey Season

[mygarske]

4 hours ago, brianvf said:

Agreed.  I think defense is looking pretty good with those four plus MacKenzie + CHL stud "TBD".
Strathmann takes on a more offensive side (he's got it in him with his skill and skating)...Laurila was a huge surprise this year, he's poised to be a very very good NCAA dman...Verhoeff takes a jump...Emery is the shutdown guy with a pile of minutes.

75% in agreement overall, 100% on Laurila. I thought he should have had twice the minutes of Strathmann, Strat & Weibe were turnover machines when I watched back games & there were breakdowns. Didn't look at the '+/-' numbers because not all bad turnover turned into goals due to Spoons bailouts. We have a boatload of scoring talent in our forward group, we need our D to be really good at playing D first, then think about offense. It was so frustrating to watch Weibe drive the net, with a forward camped in front, shoot wide, get caught below the goal line & then it's his D partner & a forward defending the breakout going the other way.

After watching MacKenzie in WJ's, I think he will be an upgrade from Weibe, regardless of age, could be top 4 coming out of summer camp. Agree that Jubenvile is leaving. Lots of buzz about a few other current players hitting the portal. Hope it just rumors. I'm even more excited for next year's squad. The offense coming in will be upgrades, & this Freshman group made it to the Frozen 4 their first run, that's a ton of experience & battle testing for a very, very talented group. And to confirm some of the other rumors, there are a BOATLOAD of players now reaching out  to play for the Fighting Sioux. As much as the Can Jr.'s world is a dumpster fire, I think Jax & Co. are going to going to have a lot of success recruiting. Talked to the dad of a top MN prospect, his kid said he now wants to go to NoDak so he can play on a line with Zellers or Reschny. 

Good that there's golf & fishing to get me through the summer. Go SIOUX!

[brianvf]

38 minutes ago, mygarske said:

75% in agreement overall, 100% on Laurila. I thought he should have had twice the minutes of Strathmann, Strat & Weibe were turnover machines when I watched back games & there were breakdowns. Didn't look at the '+/-' numbers because not all bad turnover turned into goals due to Spoons bailouts. We have a boatload of scoring talent in our forward group, we need our D to be really good at playing D first, then think about offense. It was so frustrating to watch Weibe drive the net, with a forward camped in front, shoot wide, get caught below the goal line & then it's his D partner & a forward defending the breakout going the other way.

After watching MacKenzie in WJ's, I think he will be an upgrade from Weibe, regardless of age, could be top 4 coming out of summer camp. Agree that Jubenvile is leaving. Lots of buzz about a few other current players hitting the portal. Hope it just rumors. I'm even more excited for next year's squad. The offense coming in will be upgrades, & this Freshman group made it to the Frozen 4 their first run, that's a ton of experience & battle testing for a very, very talented group. And to confirm some of the other rumors, there are a BOATLOAD of players now reaching out  to play for the Fighting Sioux. As much as the Can Jr.'s world is a dumpster fire, I think Jax & Co. are going to going to have a lot of success recruiting. Talked to the dad of a top MN prospect, his kid said he now wants to go to NoDak so he can play on a line with Zellers or Reschny. 

Good that there's golf & fishing to get me through the summer. Go SIOUX!

+1!
I am really excited for MacKenzie...I think he's gonna be really fun to watch at UND for a few years.

[cberkas]

Seeing there are 8 with what is coming in (as of right now), and they dress 7 and had 9 this year. I'd expect 2 more defensemen to leave. 

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

https://archive.is/2026.04.10-175016/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/04/10/sports/will-zellers-bruins-north-dakota/

[nascar99]

57 minutes ago, mygarske said:

75% in agreement overall, 100% on Laurila. I thought he should have had twice the minutes of Strathmann, Strat & Weibe were turnover machines when I watched back games & there were breakdowns. Didn't look at the '+/-' numbers because not all bad turnover turned into goals due to Spoons bailouts. We have a boatload of scoring talent in our forward group, we need our D to be really good at playing D first, then think about offense. It was so frustrating to watch Weibe drive the net, with a forward camped in front, shoot wide, get caught below the goal line & then it's his D partner & a forward defending the breakout going the other way.

After watching MacKenzie in WJ's, I think he will be an upgrade from Weibe, regardless of age, could be top 4 coming out of summer camp. Agree that Jubenvile is leaving. Lots of buzz about a few other current players hitting the portal. Hope it just rumors. I'm even more excited for next year's squad. The offense coming in will be upgrades, & this Freshman group made it to the Frozen 4 their first run, that's a ton of experience & battle testing for a very, very talented group. And to confirm some of the other rumors, there are a BOATLOAD of players now reaching out  to play for the Fighting Sioux. As much as the Can Jr.'s world is a dumpster fire, I think Jax & Co. are going to going to have a lot of success recruiting. Talked to the dad of a top MN prospect, his kid said he now wants to go to NoDak so he can play on a line with Zellers or Reschny. 

Good that there's golf & fishing to get me through the summer. Go SIOUX!

Is this a "top Minnesota prospect" by Minnesota standards or by North American standards? The former is a solid player but often overrated, the latter is an elite, Boeser type player

[brianvf]

Ran into Bryn's parents again tonight at dinner.
They said that the team is (understandably) pretty pissed that they didn't perform up to their capabilities against UW.

They also said that Bryn has a "few aces up his sleeve" for this offseason.
Can't wait to see it.    

[.357]

3 hours ago, brianvf said:

Ran into Bryn's parents again tonight at dinner.
They said that the team is (understandably) pretty pissed that they didn't perform up to their capabilities against UW.

They also said that Bryn has a "few aces up his sleeve" for this offseason.
Can't wait to see it.    

Maybe you could have asked them if Bryn was privy to why UND pulled a disappearing act in the first period. Baffles me to no end how these players have all this love for UND & such great chemistry with each other, then proceed to go out & play with no urgency & passion in the most important game of their careers. Nerves, bad preparation, underestimating Wisconsin..it had to be something. Interesting that Carle has never had these team-wide implosions when they get to the playoffs, but it's common for UND, regardless of the coach.

[atxsioux]

On 4/9/2026 at 7:33 PM, Nodak1883 said:

Not with NPI now. Wins against bad teams that drag down the NPI would hurt us until it's eventually dropped more than say splitting a series against Michigan. And I think fans would want to see tougher teams and not just the same group of non-conference opponents. 

I would love to see more season openers against a CCHA team like the Mavs or Augustana over a 7-1 tilt with Manitoba for the 10th year in a row.  

If you made me guess I’d think Jax and staff will be tweaking how we schedule for the next 5 years + so on. Quite a few of these current schedule deals are still on going I think for the next 2/3 years but after that period we’ll get to see the new series that Jax and Co have signed up on their terms 

[Wilbur]

NCHC again looks again to be uber elite next year in the landscape of college hockey. 

Denver, Duluth, UND, Western, are going to be battling like heck for the conference championship.  Gun to my head I'll pick Duluth, depending on Gajan's replacement adjusting to the college game.  We aren't going anywhere, but I'd assume with scheduling we will be making a trip to Denver and Western next season.  St. Thomas with a punchers chance.  Can't wait to see Karl back at the Ralph and the post game handshakes.     

[nodakgirl93]

3 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

NCHC again looks again to be uber elite next year in the landscape of college hockey. 

Denver, Duluth, UND, Western, are going to be battling like heck for the conference championship.  Gun to my head I'll pick Duluth, depending on Gajan's replacement adjusting to the college game.  We aren't going anywhere, but I'd assume with scheduling we will be making a trip to Denver and Western next season.  St. Thomas with a punchers chance.  Can't wait to see Karl back at the Ralph and the post game handshakes.     

We don't travel to Kalamazoo next season. Schlossman already confirmed that.

 

Is this the Lawson Ice Arena farewell for UND hockey? - Grand Forks Herald | Grand Forks, East Grand Forks news, weather & sports https://share.google/VW8q9HDLNumx6bE4V

[Snake]

8 hours ago, .357 said:

Maybe you could have asked them if Bryn was privy to why UND pulled a disappearing act in the first period. Baffles me to no end how these players have all this love for UND & such great chemistry with each other, then proceed to go out & play with no urgency & passion in the most important game of their careers. Nerves, bad preparation, underestimating Wisconsin..it had to be something. Interesting that Carle has never had these team-wide implosions when they get to the playoffs, but it's common for UND, regardless of the coach.

It looked like nerves to me. I didn’t think this team would feel the “pressure” of the frozen four as much as past teams maybe have, but they looked tight. There’s no doubt these kids feel the pressure to perform for all of the fans that show up. Our fan base is the best in college hockey, and Strinden even said himself that they were sorry they couldn’t get it done for the fans.  They talked about how bad they wanted to do it for the city.  We are a passionate group!

Denver doesn’t quite have that  

 

[ChetSteadman]

17 hours ago, mygarske said:

75% in agreement overall, 100% on Laurila. I thought he should have had twice the minutes of Strathmann, Strat & Weibe were turnover machines when I watched back games & there were breakdowns. Didn't look at the '+/-' numbers because not all bad turnover turned into goals due to Spoons bailouts. We have a boatload of scoring talent in our forward group, we need our D to be really good at playing D first, then think about offense. It was so frustrating to watch Weibe drive the net, with a forward camped in front, shoot wide, get caught below the goal line & then it's his D partner & a forward defending the breakout going the other way.

After watching MacKenzie in WJ's, I think he will be an upgrade from Weibe, regardless of age, could be top 4 coming out of summer camp. Agree that Jubenvile is leaving. Lots of buzz about a few other current players hitting the portal. Hope it just rumors. I'm even more excited for next year's squad. The offense coming in will be upgrades, & this Freshman group made it to the Frozen 4 their first run, that's a ton of experience & battle testing for a very, very talented group. And to confirm some of the other rumors, there are a BOATLOAD of players now reaching out  to play for the Fighting Sioux. As much as the Can Jr.'s world is a dumpster fire, I think Jax & Co. are going to going to have a lot of success recruiting. Talked to the dad of a top MN prospect, his kid said he now wants to go to NoDak so he can play on a line with Zellers or Reschny. 

Good that there's golf & fishing to get me through the summer. Go SIOUX!

Kid must be wanting to come in this fall.  Can’t imagine Zellers and Reschny will be around for a third year.  Maybe Zellers, definitely not Reschny.