2026-27 University of North Dakota Hockey Season

[cberkas]

1 minute ago, siouxforce19 said:

It’s moderately important so there is room to bring in our recruits. Don’t we have one senior next year? 

Two

[OopsSioux]

Assuming Zellers continues developing his 200' game wouldn't it be just as likely to have Simpson pair with Reschny and Zellers?

That's a lot of high end offensive talent on one line with Reschny a playmaker, Zellers a shooter/finisher, and Simpson a shooter/finisher.

To me if those two wingers can help in the corners with Reschny that'd be pretty potent.

I also think Brock Schultz might surprise some of us.  I don't believe he'll be all-conference as a freshman but the young man can skate, play physical, and bring some offense.  I also think Brock's impact will be determined by his role.  He may be most successful working up from the 4th line however.

I'm not that familiar with Ashton.

No matter the case I believe UND has more questions marks on the front end than the back end.  

[cberkas]

2 hours ago, Dustin said:

I'd say two things:

1) experienced D (Grad, Jr., Jr., the rest were younger)

2) true top line / finishers (No UND player was in the top 30 in the nation scoring)

This is what they need, not more 4th liners.

We should be looking at Denver, no 1st rounders, 1 2nd rounder, and they barely use the portal 1.5 guys from the portal (Salminen was committed originally to Denver). Normally Denver has 3 to 2 guys from the portal max. 

[NoDak Hockey Nation]

19 minutes ago, cberkas said:

This is what they need, not more 4th liners.

We should be looking at Denver, no 1st rounders, 1 2nd rounder, and they barely use the portal 1.5 guys from the portal (Salminen was committed originally to Denver). Normally Denver has 3 to 2 guys from the portal max. 

5 upperclassmen on D too.

[tnt]

I’ll reiterate what someone else said, Denver has won their titles based mostly on one position — goaltender.  Denver had 26 shots in a double overtime game and 7 shots midway through the third in the Championship. Capitalizing on the chances they did have and goaltending were the key, so it wasn’t magical coaching by Carle in that situation, but he does seem to make the right moves most of the time.  Who knows what happens if Miller doesn’t get injured and Carle was forced to put in Hicks.

[OopsSioux]

5 minutes ago, tnt said:

I’ll reiterate what someone else said, Denver has won their titles based mostly on one position — goaltender.  Denver had 26 shots in a double overtime game and 7 shots midway through the third in the Championship. Capitalizing on the chances they did have and goaltending were the key, so it wasn’t magical coaching by Carle in that situation, but he does seem to make the right moves most of the time.  Who knows what happens if Miller doesn’t get injured and Carle was forced to put in Hicks.

Agreed.  Even with their success of recent I'm not sure Denver's example is the way for a lot of other programs.  If Denver played Michigan ten times this year I just don't see Denver winning more than 3

[tnt]

To me getting portal players or CHL players will depend on what a team’s current roster looks like.  If you are really young, you might dip into the portal for guys that have already proven themselves at the college level.  If you have experience you might want to go after high end CHL talent.  Either way, you might only have the guys for a year or two.

[Walsh Hall]

1 hour ago, tnt said:

I’ll reiterate what someone else said, Denver has won their titles based mostly on one position — goaltender.  Denver had 26 shots in a double overtime game and 7 shots midway through the third in the Championship. Capitalizing on the chances they did have and goaltending were the key, so it wasn’t magical coaching by Carle in that situation, but he does seem to make the right moves most of the time.  Who knows what happens if Miller doesn’t get injured and Carle was forced to put in Hicks.

Exactly.  To win a title the “key” is to have a competitive team and have the best goalie in 4 games in a row. 

[SiouxForever]

2 minutes ago, Walsh Hall said:

Exactly.  To win a title the “key” is to have a competitive team and have the best goalie in 4 games in a row. 

Spunar did his part and did really well. Our powerplay went 0-5. They desperately needed a goal to gain some momentum and the PP sh^t the bed. 

I’m fairly confident had they beat Wisconsin, they would have beat Denver in a 3-1 score. 

[siouxweet]

11 minutes ago, SiouxForever said:

Spunar did his part and did really well. Our powerplay went 0-5. They desperately needed a goal to gain some momentum and the PP sh^t the bed. 

I’m fairly confident had they beat Wisconsin, they would have beat Denver in a 3-1 score. 

To rub salt in the wounds we went 0-5 on the PP including 1:56 of 5 on 3 against the second worst penalty kill in the country.

[nascar99]

10 minutes ago, siouxweet said:

To rub salt in the wounds we went 0-5 on the PP including 1:56 of 5 on 3 against the second worst penalty kill in the country.

Lack of urgency on that 5v3 was super visible and quite alarming for a Frozen Four Semifinal.

[Fratt Mattin]

7 minutes ago, nascar99 said:

Lack of urgency on that 5v3 was super visible and quite alarming for a Frozen Four Semifinal.

I've never seen a 5v3 that was focused solely on one timers. There was no attempt to set anything up except for one time blasts from way out. Didn't get that at all

[burd]

To make it insultingly worse, it was actually 5 on 2 for a time with UND in possession and a Badger player hurt, on his knees, and without a stick.  A little like blowing a 4 on 0 breakaway.  

[NoDak Hockey Nation]

1 hour ago, nascar99 said:

Lack of urgency on that 5v3 was super visible and quite alarming for a Frozen Four Semifinal.

It shocks me how good the power play percentage was. It was so frustrating to watch. They didn’t score many pretty goals. Verheoff was way too indecisive in the dot, bumper and goal line guys were way too stagnant. It felt like every goal they scored was a broken play

[tnt]

38 minutes ago, burd said:

To make it insultingly worse, it was actually 5 on 2 for a time with UND in possession and a Badger player hurt, on his knees, and without a stick.  A little like blowing a 4 on 0 breakaway.  

To be fair, the Wisconsin goalie somehow snagged the blast that was targeted, and even more impressive held onto it, which allowed a faceoff to get the injured guy off.  It could have gone on 5 on 2 for a while, because he didn’t appear to be getting back in the play.

[cberkas]

1 hour ago, burd said:

To make it insultingly worse, it was actually 5 on 2 for a time with UND in possession and a Badger player hurt, on his knees, and without a stick.  A little like blowing a 4 on 0 breakaway.  

5x2 and a shot right away to a whistle 

[nascar99]

30 minutes ago, cberkas said:

5x2 and a shot right away to a whistle 

Patient approach with a 5v2 = backdoor tap in. Whatever the hell they were doing = shot into the pads, whistle

[Und Princess]

On 4/9/2026 at 7:42 PM, 108498 said:

I know the loss stings, but I think the team has come along way compaired to the last few years. Over all I am proud how far the team went this year. 

I agree! It felt like a poisonous bee was stinging me after the loss. But I am super duper proud of how this year went! UND Hockey has a bright future ahead! 

[TwamleyShuffle]

This is tangentially related, I swear. Today I went to a Blackhawks game with my UND jersey and a guy approached me and said they graduated from UND 49 years ago. Cool moment of two strangers meeting through the common element of being UND grads. 
 

Also, wouldn’t mind seeing UND in the Frozen Four there in two years 

sidenote: I’ve only been to two nhl games, but both times I have seen a team Sweden jersey. 

[brianvf]

Welcome aboard Gavin Lindberg!
Great pickup for the staff...will be a JR.  Liked his game at CC.
Might get a little confusing with multiple Lindberg's and multiple Schultz's next season. 

 

[brianvf]

Added Lindberg.
Lindberg was 3rd on CC in points, 2nd highest TOI for forwards, and also led the team in +/-.

I wonder what the Lindberg jerseys will say on the nameplates next season?  Gavin and Garrett doesn't make it easy...can't just put 1st initial like the Schultz boys.

Three forwards and two defensemen to go for Chyz and Co.

Forwards (12 of 15):
SR - Menghini
JR - Croal, Lindberg, Swanson
SO - Josephson, Kernan, Reschny, Zakreski, Zellers
FR - A.Schultz, B.Schultz, Simpson

Defense (6 of 8):
SR -
JR - Boser, Emery
SO - Laurila, Verhoeff
FR - Lindberg, MacKenzie

Goalies (3 of 3):
SR - Sandy
JR -
SO - Spunar
FR - Heil

[cberkas]

2 minutes ago, brianvf said:

Added Lindberg.
Lindberg was 3rd on CC in points, 2nd highest TOI for forwards, and also led the team in +/-.

I wonder what the Lindberg jerseys will say on the nameplates next season?  Gavin and Garrett doesn't make it easy...can't just put 1st initial like the Schultz boys.

Three forwards and two defensemen to go for Chyz and Co.

Forwards (12 of 15):
SR - Menghini
JR - Croal, Lindberg, Swanson
SO - Josephson, Kernan, Reschny, Zakreski, Zellers
FR - A.Schultz, B.Schultz, Simpson

Defense (6 of 8):
SR -
JR - Boser, Emery
SO - Laurila, Verhoeff
FR - Lindberg, MacKenzie

Goalies (3 of 3):
SR - Sandy
JR -
SO - Spunar
FR - Heil

They will do what they did MacMillan

[burd]

7 hours ago, nascar99 said:

Patient approach with a 5v2 = backdoor tap in. Whatever the hell they were doing = shot into the pads, whistle

That was my thought.   Whoever was running that PP needed to take control.  But I didn’t mean to go woulda coulda shoulda on those kids.  It’s done.  They did their best—all we can ask.   I’m pretty sure you feel that way too.     
        They’ll be back, and we’re not going anywhere.  

[scpa0305]

14 hours ago, tnt said:

I’ll reiterate what someone else said, Denver has won their titles based mostly on one position — goaltender.  Denver had 26 shots in a double overtime game and 7 shots midway through the third in the Championship. Capitalizing on the chances they did have and goaltending were the key, so it wasn’t magical coaching by Carle in that situation, but he does seem to make the right moves most of the time.  Who knows what happens if Miller doesn’t get injured and Carle was forced to put in Hicks.

I’d say it has more to do with coaching/culture to be honest. Goalie is getting the attention but by in and team D structure are significantly more important.

[The Sicatoka]

5 hours ago, brianvf said:

I wonder what the Lindberg jerseys will say on the nameplates next season?  Gavin and Garrett doesn't make it easy...can't just put 1st initial like the Schultz boys.

Olympic approach: Older gets just last name, other gets initial and last name; for example, see: Tkachuks in Italy.