2026-27 University of North Dakota Hockey Season

[The Sicatoka]

If he can be Jack Kernan 2.0 I'm good. 

[franchise]

He put up good numbers and I like the looks of his profile write up on hockeydb

[brianvf]

Our forward group will be very deep and balanced. Not a ton of “star” power outside of Zellers, Reschny, Swanson, Simpson, etc but a group that will most certainly get production from any line on the ice. 
This forward group is better than DUs this year that won the title…just need a D that can help with the scoring as well like they had. A pickup of a Carels/DuPont/Rudolph would do wonders for this team. 

[atxsioux]

Was 7th in the USHL for U-19 scoring which is really encouraging especially considering it was his first year in the league out of high school. Seems like a guy that is thrilled to be here as well. For as much as it would've been nice to get a Mathis Preston or a Belchetz both guys are coming off of injuries and "decent" years of JR hockey so there's still a risk that they contribute as much as a Cayden Lindstrom did for Michigan State this year (10 points in 31 games). Not exactly sold on the Ruck Twins either (haven't watched them but there have been critiques that they are good JR hockey scorers but people are hesitant with how legit their point totals are.)

 

Seems like a good chunk of the 2026 draft eligible possible commits aren't the obvious slam dunk like a Reschny was last year

[brianvf]

Keaton named captain of the U18 Canadian team:

 

[tnt]

I will say that the depth we had over Duluth last year was the big difference, but with the addition of Victor Plante, and being able to put Shaugabay on another line with Barrett Hall, I can see Duluth winning the league title for the first time in over 30 years next year.  I assume they keep Kleber and Hansen, along with adding 2 nd team USHL defenseman Carter Murphy, and they have some good depth.  Question mark is the loss of Gajan, but Duluth always seems to be strong in goal.  We really need Zellers and Reschny to be the difference makers the Plante brothers will be next year, and hopefully Simpson has an impactful first year like Zellers.

[tnt]

Hopefully UND doesn’t have the year after a good year setback that Berry’s teams had.  Will the players have that chip on their shoulders this year, and work as hard as they did last summer to get UND back in a good position.  

Teams like Minnesota will have that fire to get back as well, so UND better not take the NCAA tournament for granted.  Will the leadership be as strong as with guys like Strinden, James, and Livanavage, who were determined to turn it around?  

Hopefully Jackson has addressed the year after good year blues,and will have his team ready to tackle a new season, and leave successes from last year in the rear view mirror.  It appears he is sold on getting the guys who are willing to work, which is a great start.

 

[brianvf]

Added Davis to complete the forward group for next year.
Very deep group.  You have to pick three of those guys to sit every game.  
Certainly has the makings of a strong team.  An elite addition to the D group could help push this team even higher.

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

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

Goalies (2 of 3):
SR - 
JR -
SO - Spunar
FR - Heil

[brianvf]

21 minutes ago, tnt said:

I will say that the depth we had over Duluth last year was the big difference, but with the addition of Victor Plante, and being able to put Shaugabay on another line with Barrett Hall, I can see Duluth winning the league title for the first time in over 30 years next year.  I assume they keep Kleber and Hansen, along with adding 2 nd team USHL defenseman Carter Murphy, and they have some good depth.  Question mark is the loss of Gajan, but Duluth always seems to be strong in goal.  

I'd be ok with Duluth winning the league and then flaming out in the 1st/2nd round of the NCAA's.  And then two of the Plante's signing immediately.    

[The Sicatoka]

1 hour ago, brianvf said:

Keaton named captain of the U18 Canadian team:

 

Crazy that KV can still play U18s. 

[cowboys5xsbs]

Is Davis a chippa 

[tnt]

3 hours ago, brianvf said:

Seems like a solid pickup. Forward group is complete now. Hopefully Bryn is spending all his time trying to land a chippah D man or two now. 

Sounds really happy to be here.  Maybe he would be one that isn’t going to bolt after a season if he isn’t playing all the time, and can hang around long enough to be a Strinden, James type guy as an upperclassmen.  Since Littler, Klee,etc. left maybe Chyzyk felt we needed to replace guys they felt would be four year guys.

[Sioux90]

1 minute ago, tnt said:

Sounds really happy to be here.  Maybe he would be one that isn’t going to bolt after a season if he isn’t playing all the time, and can hang around long enough to be a Strinden, James type guy as an upperclassmen.  Since Littler, Klee,etc. left maybe Chyzyk felt we needed to replace guys they felt would be four year guys.

Hoping he’s a fly on stink, type of player. 200 ft game, with high compete level

[Sioux90]

1 minute ago, tnt said:

Sounds really happy to be here.  Maybe he would be one that isn’t going to bolt after a season if he isn’t playing all the time, and can hang around long enough to be a Strinden, James type guy as an upperclassmen.  Since Littler, Klee,etc. left maybe Chyzyk felt we needed to replace guys they felt would be four year guys.

Hoping he’s a fly on stink, type of player. 200 ft game, with high compete level

[jk]

4 hours ago, I Ranger said:

So baffling to me. Is he that much ahead of O'Neil at this point? Obviously the staff must think so or otherwise why not just bring in O'Neil? 

These are good questions.  One can only conclude they do like this guy better, or maybe this was plan B after A fell through.  It might just be the former.  It's not unusual for the commitment list to change with new coaches.

It is funny that the board was pretty excited about getting Gretzky, Lemieux and Orr, and they got Gretzky's brother instead.

[I Ranger]

1 hour ago, jk said:

These are good questions.  One can only conclude they do like this guy better, or maybe this was plan B after A fell through.  It might just be the former.  It's not unusual for the commitment list to change with new coaches.

It is funny that the board was pretty excited about getting Gretzky, Lemieux and Orr, and they got Gretzky's brother instead.

I'm not sure what plan this was but I can't imagine it was Plan A considering this kid wasn't even "officially" available until a month ago when he de-commited from Northeastern and that certainly wasn't any big story when it happened as I've never heard of him until today.