The Return

*Screen pans across the ice, focusing on group of bloggers, readers, fans. Long, slow camera draw towards the far corner. Enter, the returning protagonist*

*Camera shift towards protagonist. Dramatic music rises*

*Protagonist's brow furled, clutching laptop, skating towards crowd*

*Protagonist's stride slowly extends as the group takes notice of returning protagonist. Music builds*

*Camera pans crowd, acknowledging protagonist. Faces stunned*

"It's DDC."

*One in crowd claps. Again. Again. Camera pans to another in crowd. Joins slow clap. Crowd continues to join*

*Music crescendos* 

*Protagonist begins 3/4 skate towards crowd, opens laptop as claps reach summit. Protagonist joins the crowd*

END SCENE

Too much? Meh. It's been a while, and DDC enjoys an entrance.

It's been 1,398 days since DDC's last post, a November 20, 2017 recap of then No. 1 Denver and No. 3 UND splitting a series in Magness Arena. That was a fun one, by the way. Green and White were down 3-0 on Friday and came back to win 5-4 in wild fashion. Anyway, it's been a while! Let's catch up!

What's up?

Welp, not much has happened since 2017, amirite?! Right?? *Insert overplayed, lame 2020-21 joke here*. DDC has been busy. Right before and right as the world went nutty, a house was sold, a move to the in-laws occurred, a new house was purchased, a MBA was completed, and DDC baby No. 3 came along. 

And, NOTHING. ELSE. HAPPENED. DDC swears. How about you? Nothing? Good. Glad all is well 😀

New season, new DDC -- well, old DDC? Idk. We're blogging, again

DDC swore he'd get back to his droves of fans once the MBA was done. It's done, so he's here. We'll be rolling this out again, at least once a week, during the hockey season, to chat about the good and the bad of our beloved University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks. *sigh* ok... he did it. He said it. Fighting Hawks. Time heals all terrible monikers, or something like that.

The Green and White have changed, a lot, obviously, since DDC has been gone, but the game stays the same. UND comes into the 2021-22 season as the two-time defending Penrose Cup champions as NCHC regular season winners and fully expects to compete for green banner No. 9, this year. The Hawks should be a physically dominant and defensive-minded team that, if the offense clicks with a hoard of new faces (transfers and freshmen), could be a real contender. More on that in the coming weeks as we inch towards the October 2nd exhibition against Manito... er, uh, Bemidji State. Wait, what? Yeah, we'll get to that. Stay tuned!

DDC is back, ladies and gentlemen. Looking forward to hearing from all of you.

Roses and Thorns: Well, That was Interesting

It was No. 1 Denver versus No. 3 UND this past weekend from Magness Arena in Denver and what a series it was.

Storylines galore in this match up.

Friday night, the Fighting Hawks were stunned out of the gates and trailed the Pioneers 3-0 midway through the second when UND head coach Brad Berry took his team's timeout.

From there, it was pretty much a Green and White avalanche (see what DDC did there? Avalanche... Denver... NHL... get it? :D) as the Hawks stormed
to a 5-4 comeback win.

On Saturday, DU got the split in a 4-1 win on the back of three power play goals. 'Nuff said about that, right? Na. We'll get to that later.

Bear with DDC, but this is a wee bit longer than normal, but he swears, there's some entertainment involved.

Check out what stood out to DDC in his Roses and Thorns review of the Pios and UND.

Roses

No. 1 -- Passing the Test

Coming into this weekend, DDC opined that while UND has been impressive in may ways so far this season, this series against DU would be a true test that would show the college hockey landscape, largely, who the Fighting Hawks really are. Indeed, the Pioneers proved they are the real deal (albeit with some chinks in the armor) but the Green and White took one from No. 1 in stunning fashion at Magness Arena on Friday and if it weren't for some.... well... DDC will touch on this later... we'll say... interesting calls...., had a chance for the sweep despite a 4-1 loss on Saturday. The college hockey season is indeed a marathon, not a sprint, but UND staked its claim as a team that is going to continue to make noise as a contender the calendar turns to 2018.

No. 2 -- Testicular Fortitude

DDC is going to share a bit of a secret that his droves (😉) of fans may not know about him. DDC is proud to say he's a wrestling fan. He understands that no, it's not real, but indeed, it is scripted. You know what, he'll say it... IT'S STILL REAL TO HIM, DAMMNIT!  Annnnyway, DDC is going to steal a phrase from WWE legend Mick Foley (sorry for this, David Larson) and say one thing about this UND hockey team. They've got testicular fortitude.

Ok, so this video is talking about Bill Simmons getting fired from ESPN for this, phrase, but it's all DDC could find... but the point still stands.

At one point in the first period, the Hawks were being out shot 21-2 on the road against the No. 1 team in the country and after a second period shorthanded goal, UND trailed 3-0. But man, did this team show the guts and fight of a team that did not want to lose and rallied back for a ridiculous 5-4 victory, outshooting DU 34-13 after their horrendous start. This will be an important win for the Green and White to look back and know that in whatever situation they are in from here on out, they have the fight to get back and win hockey games.

Testicular fortitude for days, ladies and gentlemen. 

No. 3 -- Depth

It's been said several times this year, but UND is truly a product of its depth. In Friday night's stunning comeback, the Green and White saw 13 players tally points and got goals from Zach Yon and Joel Janatuinen, both of which was their first of the season and Johnny Simonson's game-winner with 2:31 left was just his second on the year. On Saturday, freshman Matt Kierstad, inserted into the lineup after an injury to Casey Johnson on Friday, opened the scoring with his first of the year. While the Hawks may lack a bit of top end scoring (DDC will touch on this later), the depth of this team to be able to roll four lines against any team and get scoring from all over the lineup is this team's identity at this point of the season. Couple that with a defense that is playing incredibly well, UND has the pieces in place to stay with anyone in the NCAA.

Thorns

No. 1 -- Lack of True Top-End Scoring

DDC does believe that depth is a good thing and that definitely helped UND on Friday, its lack of top-end scoring is something this team lacked. The Fighting Hawks have just three players with double-digit points on the season as junior Nick Jones leads the team with five goals. In contrast, the top trio of Denver, Henrik Borgstrom, Troy Terry and Dylan Gambrell showed this weekend what top-end scoring looks like. The trio combined for 11 points on the weekend with Borgstrom and Terry both notching five-point weekends. Terry was particularly impressive, making plays all over the ice all weekend against UND. The Green and White need players who've shown scoring ability throughout their careers (ie. Shane Gersich and Austin Poganski) to step up and tally some points for UND to take the next step.

 No. 2 -- Officiating

 

Ugh, DDC really does hate being "this guy", but the referee crew in Denver certainly made a difference this weekend. He's going to do his best to make this quick, but it can't go without saying that officiating played a part all weekend long. On Friday night, the NCHC crew made it a point toss players from the faceoff circle in a torrid fashion. Ok, DDC gets, they were trying to prove a point about faceoff infractions, but this was ridiculous. At one point, DDC counted five-consecutive faceoff tosses. It's just too much. Then on Saturday, the officiating crew literally changed the game. With UND sporting a 1-0 lead in the first, Cole Smith was issued a five-minute major and was tossed from the game for a penalty that lead to an injury to DU defenseman Adam Plant. While the play was certainly interference, DDC believes the call to make it a major was, and he's being nice here, a stretch. Take a look at the hit in question (Credit to the Goonie!). DU tied the game at 1 on a Borgstrom goal. You make your call, but that hit, to DDC, wasn't malicious, high, nor did it come at high speed.

The big calls kept coming and after a Pioneers goal to make it 2-1 early in the third, UND appeared to tie it on a nifty passing play on a 2-1 rush when freshman Collin Adams fed fellow rookie Jordan Kawaguchi beating Tanner Jaillet. Just before the faceoff, however, the refs got together after some, shall we call it, "protesting" from Denver head coach Jim Montgomery. After review, the officials ruled Adams made enough contact with Jaillet to overturn the goal on goaltender interference. Check it out... the play in question starts at 2:42 in the clip:

Even further, here's a still shot of Adam's stick touching Jaillet's pad, but the point here, the pass to Kawaguchi has already been made.

In short, did that contact prevent Jaillet from making the play? DDC's take? Absolutely not. The shot comes an instant later... Jaillet is already beaten. How was this play even sent for review? That may be even the bigger mystery here. Montgomery told local media after the game he challenged the play, which would have put DU's timeout on the line. If that's the case, why did the crew stand around to talk about it for several minutes? It was also reported that the officials told the UND bench that the linesman called the interference. Is this the case? If indeed it was, that may the the first time DDC has ever heard of a linesman making that kind of call. This case was echoed by other media. And if it were the linesman, again, why was there a discussion before the review? It seemed to DDC that this play wasn't going to be reviewed until Denver made a case for it. Simply bizarre.

DU then went on to score two more goals, both on the power play, to pace a 4-1 win and a split.

The power play goals are the biggest note here. Remember the major penalty to tie the game at 1-1? Well, that was only the start. The final tally of penalties called on Saturday night? Denver -- 1 penalty for 2 minutes (UND had :33 seconds of power play time). UND -- 8 penalties for 27 minutes (per Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald, DU had 13:41 of power play time). That is absolutely ridiculous. The Hawks were certainly guilty of some poorly-times penalties in this game and warranted a big chunk of those calls, but are you meaning to tell DDC that DU did not commit a single penalty after the first period? Not a single stick in the skates? No hook around the waist? No interference? Nothing?

It was a sad state of affairs on Saturday that really overshadowed a wonderful weekend of hockey with No. 1 taking on No. 3, but what can you do?

Holy smokes, so much for keeping that short, eh? 

Moving on. Thanks for reading and come back later for DDC's take on UND vs. Union in a Turkey Day weekend tussle from the Ralph.

Friday Gameday: Time for a Test

Oh hey, Denver. Remember me? Nick Schmaltz celebrates his game-winning goal in the 2016 Frozen Four semifinals.
Sure, this has nothing to do with this weekend when No. 3 UND takes on No. 1 Denver at Magness Arena, but so be it.

Coming into the season, there was really one sure-fire hypothesis across the college hockey landscape -- the Denver Pioneers were going to be really good again after winning the national championship last season.

Sure the Pios lost 2017 Hobey Baker winner Will Butcher, but they returned five big stars from their title run -- the forward trio of Henrik Borgstrom, Troy Terry and Dylan Gambrell, All-American goaltender Tanner Jaillet and head coach Jim Montgomery. All five of those who returned spurned NHL offers to come back to DU for another run at college hockey glory.

The Pioneers had a hiccup two weekends ago when they were swept by Western Michigan in Kalamazoo, but after a convincing sweep of then No. 1 and undefeated St. Cloud State last weekend, all is right again in Denver with the Pios back on top of the polls.

So far, the hypothesis is still spot on -- DU is really good.

For the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks, the Green and White faithful had plenty of questions coming into the season. With the departures of three NHL players Tyson Jost, Brock Boeser and Tucker Poolman, who would pick up the slack for UND?

The Hawks sport the nation's third-best team defense allowing just 1.75 goals per game and all things considered, UND has had a heckuva start to their season. Going 7-2-3 with good weekends against Minnesota, Wisconsin and a five-point weekend last series against Miami, it has indeed been a good start, but this weekend is a different story. It's time for a test.

UND travels to the Rocky Mountain state to take on the Pioneers in a weekend that could very well show the Hawks where they stand in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference and NCAA landscape in a match up of No. 1 vs. No. 3.

A rivalry rooted in history renews and DDC has his take and says what he's watching in this weekend's "Who? What? How?" series preview.

Who?

Players to Watch

DU So. F, Henrik Borgstrom
leads the NCAA with 11 goals.

University of Denver Pioneers

Jr. F, Troy Terry, 5 goals, 13 assists -- 18 points (second in NCAA); So. F, Henrik Borgstrom, 11g (leads NCAA), 6a -- 17 pts (leads NCAA in points per game); Jr F, Dylan Gambrell, 5g, 11a --16 pts; Jr. F, Jarid Lukoesevicius, 4g, 6a -- 10 pts; Jr. F, Colin Staub, 2g, 7a -- 9 pts; Sr G, Tanner Jaillet, 5-1-2, 2.46 goals against average; .911 save percentage.

University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks:

Fr. F, Grant Mismash, 4g, 7a -- 11 pts; Jr. D, Christian Wolanin, 3g, 7a -- 10 pts; Jr. F, Nick Jones, 5g, 4a --9 pts; Jr. F, Shane Gersich, 4g, 4a -- 8 pts; Jr. F, Rhett Gardner, 3g, 4a -- 7 pts; Sr. G, Cam Johnson, 5-2-1, 1.63 GAA (5th in NCAA), .925 SV PCT; Fr. G, Peter Thome, 2-0-2, 1.92 GAA, .929 SV PCT (9th in NCAA).

What? 

Standout Stats

Denver:

The Pioneers are 42nd in the NCAA in penalty killing at 77.8%, but are 4th in power play, clipping at 27.7%.

Denver is the nation's 2nd best scoring attack, netting 4.20 goals per game.

Sophomore sensation Henrik Borgstrom leads the NCAA in goals (11) and in goals per game (1.22). He's third in points (17). Teammate Troy Terry is second in points with 18 and Dylan Gambrell is tied for 7th with 16.

UND:

UND is tied for 3rd in team defense nationally, allowing just 1.75 goals per game and is second in the NCAA with a 95.8% penalty kill.

Senior netminder Cam Johnson is tied for 5th nationally with a 1.63 goals against average. Teammate Peter Thome is 10th with a 1.92 mark and 9th in save percentage at .929.

Freshman Grant Mismash is tied for 4th in the NCAA in rookie scoring with a 1.00 point per game mark. 

How?

How’d they get here?

No. 1 Denver (6-2-2; 2-2-0 NCHC) swept then No. 1 SCSU at home 4-2, 5-1. Sophomore Henrik Borgstrom continued his early-season tear, notching two goals and an assist on Friday and added an assist on Saturday for a four-point weekend.

No. 3 UND (7-2-3, 2-1-1 NCHC) took five points last weekend at home against Miami, winning 4-1 on Friday and winning a shootout after a 3-3 tie on Saturday. Freshman goaltender Peter Thome started his third- and fourth-straight games for the Fighting Hawks as senior Cam Johnson nurses an injury.

The Pick

It's hard to not get nostalgic when UND vs. Denver faceoff.

One of DDC's fondest hockey memories, the Green and White's victory over the Pioneers in the 2016 Frozen Four semifinal capped by Nick Schmaltz's dramatic game-winner with just a minute to go in the game, will always come to mind when these two teams tussle.

Just for funsies, shall we?

What a memory.

Anyway, sure, Denver won it all last year, but UND actually served Denver its last loss before the Pios ran the table to a title last year, a 1-0 win in the NCHC semifinals last year.

Ok, back to the business at hand.

Again, Denver is really good. They sport a top trio in the aforementioned Borgstrom, Terry and Gambrell. They are good in net with Jaillet. The only question mark Denver had coming into this weekend was on the backend and after a leaky weekend against WMU, the Pioneers held an explosive St. Cloud team to just three goals last weekend.

For most of the season, Denver grouped their big three together and their offense was great, but the defense struggled a bit. Last weekend against the Huskies, Borgstrom, Terry and Gambrell were split up and that paid dividends.

Can UND slow DU's dynamic trio of Henrik Borgstrom (11 goals leads NCAA)
Troy Terry (17 points, second in NCAA) and Dylan Gambrell (16 points)
who've combined for a whopping 51 points in 10 games this season?

With last change against a UND team defense who's been really good this year against some good offenses, will Montgomery split the three up in hopes of spreading the offense around? Or will the trio be grouped together to avoid the Hawks top D-pairing of Christian Wolanin and Colton Poolman?

For UND, their scoring this season has been about depth. Against the Pioneers, DDC thinks the Green and White scoring punch needs to step up. Junior Shane Gersich and senior Austin Poganski have had slow starts to this season, but are more than capable of putting this team on their backs.

This weekend will come down to UND playing defense and picking their spots on offense. Expect to see bodies consistently hitting Borgstrom, the NCAA leader in goals (11) this weekend. If the Hawks can slow down Denver and get good goaltending from freshman Peter Thome, who has yet to lose in four starts, they should be able to keep up. Senior netminder Cam Johnson will miss his third-straight weekend due to injury.

Just in case he wasn't clear, for the third time, DU is really good. DDC also thinks UND is pretty good, too, but the question is how good? Will the Green and White score enough this weekend? DDC thinks the Hawks make a statement against the champs and leave Colorado with important early-season points.

UND COMES OUT FIRING ON FRIDAY WITH A 3-2 WIN AND GETS A POINT ON SATURDAY WHEN THE PIOS WIN IN A SHOOTOUT, 5-4.

Come back after the weekend to see if UND passed its test. Thanks for reading!

Roses and Thorns: It's Back and It's Still Fun

UND goalie Cam Johnson fights off Minnesota forward Brannon McManus during UND's 4-0 win over the Gophers
on Saturday in Grand Forks. Johnson earned his 10th-career shutout with the victory. (Photo: GF Herald)

Well, it's back and for all intents and purposes, this past weekend's series between UND and
Minnesota lived up to its billing.

The Green and White played incredibly well on Friday, outshooting the Gophers handily, allowing just 18 shots on goal, the first time Minnesota was held under 20 shots in a span of 110 games. However, the Gophers got two transition play goals, one in the first period and the other halfway into the third to pace a 2-0 lead late into the game. UND got a Rhett Gardner goal with just under seven minutes to play to make it 2-1, but that's all they could muster as Minnesota took the opener.

On Saturday night, Minnesota upped their game and played better overall, but a power play goal on a five-minute major penalty taken late in the first staked UND to a 2-0 first period lead. The Fighting Hawks tallied twice more on that power play in the early parts of the second and the 4-0 lead held up as UND earned the split.

While DDC certainly would have loved a sweep, he'll take a split in two good performances.

Here's what stood out to DDC in his Roses and Thorns recap of the series with the Gophers.

Roses

No. 1 -- The Rivalry is Back

Regardless of the scores, this weekend was flat out fun to watch. Midco Sports color commentator and former Sioux goaltender Jake Brandt noted a few times in the past handful of weeks that the Ralph Engelstad Arena had lost a bit of its mojo and hadn't been too tough a place to play recently. Well, that went out the window on Friday from the very first shift as UND pushed paced early on and the REA faithful responded. Down the stretch in the front end of the series as the Green and White tried to rally back to tie the game, the crowd was loud and fully involved. Then on Saturday, three goals on on a five-minute major kept the barn rocking. Two good paced games with high energy made things clear -- The Rivalry is back. Cheers to five more consecutive years of this series.

No. 2 -- Christian Wolanin

UND Jr. D, Christian Wolanin
leads the team in goals,
points and shots on goal

While UND fans certainly saw a glimpse of what was to come from the junior defenseman from Detroit down the stretch last season, particularly in the NCAA tournament game against BU, Wolanin has certainly lived up to his stature this season. Wolanin was dynamic against the Gophers with an assist on Friday and two goals in a span of four and half minutes with UND on a five-minute power play to pace the 4-0 win on Saturday. The junior now leads the Fighting Hawks in goals (3), points (6) and shots on goal (23). Quarterbacking the power play, Wolanin had lead UND to a stellar 22% mark. Known for his offensive prowess during his career, Wolanin has been solid defensively, as well as the Green and White lead the nation in goals against, allowing just 1.17 goals per game on the season. It's been a heckuva start for Wolanin.

No. 3 -- Defense and PK

UND lost a senior captain in Gage Ausmus and an All-American now playing in the NHL in Tucker Poolman from last year's blue line, so it was easy to think that the Fighting Hawks would struggle at the outset defensively, this year. However, this has simply not been the case. As previously mentioned, the Green and White lead the nation in goals against (1.17) is second in penalty kill (96.3%) and net special teams (+7). Minnesota has always been known for a dynamic power play that can move the puck and pepper the net with opportunities over the years, but UND simply shut the Gophers down this past weekend killing off all 11 chances down a man. Senior netminder Cam Johnson earned his 10th career shutout on Saturday and is now third in the nation in goals against average (1.16) and 10th in save percentage (.942). As the Fighting Hawks look to find more scoring punch, their blue line is holding up incredibly well. Adding freshman Gabe Bast to the lineup this past weekend proved to be a good experiment as Bast added a tremendous offensive presence. Great start for the blue liners and Cam.

Thorns

No. 1 -- Don Lucia

Fr. F, Casey Mittelstadt
sat out Saturday night's
contest against UND

Alright, DDC is going to make this short, but Minnesota head coach Don Lucia is officially on this blogger's nerves. Lucia skipped a fan luncheon that has been attended by each visiting coach as long as DDC can remember. This can be dismissed easily as gamesmanship and so be it if that's the case. However, it did not end there. After a tough battle on Friday, Lucia decided to sit freshman star Casey Mittelstadt for Saturday night's game after the rookie took a shove in the lower back area on a net-front scrum. Lucia noted that Mittelstadt was sore and maybe he was just protecting his player. Again, this can be dismissed, but should it be? Lucia noted that Mittelstadt said he wanted to play, but the head coach held him out. To DDC, this is a disappointing move. What is this doing for Mittelstadt? Taking him out of probably the most heated game he's ever played isn't going to help the freshman as he's going to need to play in this type of environment at some point. Let the kid earn his stripes, coach. Well, that wasn't short, but so be it.

Thanks for reading, everybody! Comeback for a look at DDC's preview of UND's trip to Colorado Springs as National Collegiate Hockey Conference play beings against the Colorado College Tigers.

Friday Gameday: The Best College Hockey Has to Give

UND and Minnesota renew pleasantries this weekend in Grand Forks for the first time since 2013. (Photo: UND sports)

DDC has done the superlatives before.

It's memories of Matt Frattin steamrolling Kevin Wehrs. It's Blake Wheeler with an improbable diving goal for a Final Five Gophers victory. It's Chris Porter potting an overtime winner one week later to send the Fighting Sioux to the Frozen Four. It's Robbie Bina's 180-foot bouncing puck for a goal in Mariucci. It's 0.6.

It's in-game and postgame scrums. It's intensity. It's passion. It's the best college hockey has to give.

It's UND vs. Minnesota and simply put, it's The Rivalry.

No. 4 North Dakota and No. 7 Minnesota faceoff this weekend and for the first time since 2013, the Gophers travel up to Grand Forks to take on UND. Frankly, there's really not much else that needs to be said about it as all who read this know what this series is all about.

Strap it on, boys and girls. This one will be fun.

Here's what to watch for in DDC's weekly "Who? What? How?" series preview.

Who?

Players to Watch

Fr. F. Casey Mittelstadt
was the 8th-overall pick
in the 2017 NHL Draft
of the Buffalo Sabres.

Minnesota Golden Gophers:

Jr. F, Tommy Novak, 1 goal, 3 assists -- 4 points; So. F, Rem Pitlick, 1g, 3a -- 4 pts; Fr. F, Brannon McManus, 3g, 0a -- 3 pts; Fr. F, Casey Mittelstadt, 2g, 1a -- 3 pts; Jr. F, Tyler Sheehy and Fr. F. Scott Reedy both likely out this weekend due to injury; Jr. G, Eric Shierhorn, 2-2-0, 2.50 goals against average, .918 save percentage.

University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks:

Jr. F, Rhett Gardner, 1g, 2a -- 3 pts; Jr. D, Christian Wolanin, 1g, 2a -- 3 pts; Jr. F, Joel Janautinen, 0g, 3a -- 3 pts; Jr. F, Shane Gersich, 1g, 1a -- 2 pts; Fr. F, Collin Adams, 2g, 0a -- 2 pts; Fr. F, Grant Mismash, 1g, 1a -- 2 pts; Sr. G, Cam Johnson, 3-0-1, 1.23 GAA, .938 SV PCT.

What? 

Standout Stats

Minnesota:

The Gophers are averaging 19 penalty minutes per game, tied for 4th-most nationally.

Minnesota is tied for 13th in the nation in team scoring with a 3.00 goals per game average.

The Gophers have allowed six power play goals in 18 chances this season. The 66.7% penalty kill is tied for 50th out of 54 teams.

UND:

UND is tied for 4th in team defense, nationally allowing just 1.25 goals per game and are 7th in Penalty Kill at 93.8%.

Senior netminder Cam Johnson is tied for 8th nationally with a 1.23 goals against average.

The Fighting Hawks are allowing just 20.25 shots on goals per game, the best mark in the NCAA.

How?

How’d they get here?

No. 7 Minnesota (2-2-0; 1-1-0 BTHC) split at home against Penn State last weekend, losing 3-1 on Friday and winning 6-3 on Sunday. Freshman Brannon McManus notched his first three career goals for his first collegiate hat trick in Sunday's win.

No. 4 UND (3-0-1) swept St. Lawrence last weekend at home, 2-1 and 6-1. The Green and White had six different scorers in Saturday night's win. Senior goalie Cam Johnson and Freshman forward Grant Mismash were tabbed as NCHC goaltender and rookie of the week with their performances against St. Lawrence.

Ranked 4th and 7th respectively, this will be UND and Minnesota's first meeting since January 18-19, 2013 in which the two teams faceoff as Top 10 teams in the polls. That was the last time the Gophers took on UND in Grand Forks. 

The Pick

Gross.

DDC has so many memories of this beloved and historic rivalry. 

 

It started in his youth with players like Jay and Jeff Panzer rolling over Minnesota in the old REA. Through high school, DDC watched players like Grant Potulny, Thomas Vanek and Phil Kessel rip his heart out with crushing losses.

 

Moving into college, DDC experienced blowout wins behind the vaunted DOT and Pony Express lines and pure jubilation on the backs of Fighting Sioux sweeps in Mariucci and Chris Porter's OT winner in the 2007 West Regional final with a dozen of his closest friends.

Ok, that's better.

Post college, the historic tilts continued. The Timeout game in the WCHA Final Five semis. The Gopher win a week later at the X to send Minny to the Frozen Four. Then, of course, 0.6. 

Year after year, game after game, this Rivalry has brought out the best in both teams and DDC ultimately expects this weekend to be no different.

With this weekend continuing a 7-year run of these two teams facing off each year, will another name be added to UND vs. Minnesota legend? Paging Shane Gersich. Austin Poganski. Paging Casey Mittelstadt. Rem Pitlick. Rivalry legends Chris Porter, Matt Frattin, Justin Holl and Blake Wheeler are waiting to hear from you.

Let's. Frickin'. Go.

Both teams have started fairly well, with each ranked in the Top 10 in the country. While trends of Minnesota starting cold in special teams play and UND lacking scoring punch from expected team leaders in Shane Gersich and Austin Poganski have arisen, throw that out the window. Big players play big in big games. 

DDC fully expects to get Minnesota's best this weekend and the Gophers know the Ralph Engelstad Arena will be bedlam, this weekend. 

With how early this season is, DDC could just as well play it safe and pick a split between two good teams in a huge rivalry, but that wouldn't be DDC's style, would it?

This weekend, it comes down to not only who's on the ice, but who's in the stands. With junior captain Tyler Sheehy and dynamic freshman Scott Reedy out this weekend, UND has a bit of an advantage in depth. Couple that with about 12,000 rabid fans getting to watch The Rivalry at home for the first time since 2013, DDC sees the stands as a big difference maker. 

 

UND SWEEPS THE GOPHERS WITH A LITTLE BIT OF HOME COOKIN', 3-2, 4-3. 

 

It's gonna be fun. Check back next week to see how it all went down and as always, thanks for reading!


 

UND/Minnesota -- What's a Rivalry?

Former UND captain Chris Porter's game-winning goal in the 2007 West Regional Final. (Photo: UND Sports)

Pardon DDC for being a little bit disconnected the past two weeks. 

With Baby DDC No. 2 growing and battling sleep regression and his favorite baseball team playing currently playing in the ALCS (thumbs down... if you don't know what this means, Google it) DDC has been a wee bit predisposed. 

In the midst of all of this, in case you didn't know, my guess is you did, but in case you don't, the Minnesota Gophers travel to Grand Forks to take on the University of North Dakota men's hockey team this Friday and Saturday for a renewal of pleasantries in what has apparently become a debatable topic -- Is UND vs. Minnesota still a rivalry? 

So, let's take a look, shall we? First, let's start with a simple definition

What's in a Sports Rivalry?

According to the Wikipedia entry on "List of sports rivalries", a sports rivalry is defined as an "intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, but not directly related to the formal sport and the practice thereof. This pressure of competition is felt by players, coaches, and management, but is perhaps felt strongest by the fans."

So, in summation in DDC's words, a sports rivalry isn't necessarily about the ins and outs of the history between two teams (of course this is a massive part of it), but more about the experience and how players, coaches, teams respond to how the FANS feel about the competition. 

With this considered, there are two obvious sides -- Side 1 says "since UND and Minnesota have stopped playing yearly, the game is big, but doesn't feel the same." Side 2 rebuts with "the rivalry is as strong as ever regardless of how often they play."

Most Recent Examples

DDC is strong on side 2 with the two previous match ups (2014 Frozen Four semifinals and last year's series in Minneapolis) between UND and Minnesota showing an incredible intensity on the ice and a tremendous community response. 

Two examples of this.... one important thing to note. Listen to the crowd. DDC understands the importance of the 2014 goal, but the ovations are incredible.

This makes DDC a bit sick to his stomach to show this, but it helps prove his point. Just a note, DDC didn't watch it, he just listened.

Insanity. Listen! 

So, if we're using the most recent example, this sounds like tremendous community support, correct? Well, let's take a look at how the teams feel about this "rivalry".

What do the Players and Coaches Think?

DDC's single-favorite picture ever taken in regards
to this rivalry. (Photo: John Stennes, GF Herald.)

Head coach Brad Berry before UND traveled to take on Minnesota last season -- "It's on our walls in our rink here. (The players) get it from there. To hit on that point, we had T.J. Oshie and Taylor Chorney come in and give their point of view on how special the weekend is. Not only for the players, but for alumni watching. Obviously we haven't played them in a few years, but the history and tradition resonates through this building and through our program." 

By the way, what does that say about this set of games that NHL players TRAVEL TO GRAND FORKS to talk about it on their day off?

UND forward Shane Gersich about the games against Minnesota -- "Everyone knows what this rivalry is about. We know what's at stake without even talking about."

Former Minnesota forward Jake Bischoff before last year's series -- "My dad used to love playing North Dakota. Watching as a kid, I remember it being super intense; all the players would be getting into it with each other, and all the games were really competitive. It was always fun as a fan. Now, getting to play it should be unbelievable."

Former Minnesota forward Justin Kloos before last year's series -- "These are the ones you highlight. These are the ones you dream about."


So, so far... fans? Check. Players, coaches and alumni? Check.  

DDC's Final Take

In short, when considering the parameters of how the FANS feel and how the teams respond, DDC thinks it's clear as day that UND vs. Minnesota is still as big as it comes when talking about a sports rivalry, particularly in college hockey. 

Outside of these stated parameters, consider the tickets to the actual games. The UND athletic department announced ticket prices for this weekend's series at the Ralph Engelstad Arena back in August at $99, this highest single-game price in REA history. Did this cause fans pause to buy these tickets? Absolutely not. In fact, the tickets sold out instantly back in September.

Even the NCAA has recognized this rivalry, recently naming UND vs. Minnesota its No. 2 best in college hockey in a Facebook video. While DDC disagrees with this being No. 2, it still helps cement the point. 

The rivalry, yes, it is a rivalry, is back and we're all ready to go. So, how about a few pump up memories? Let's go. 

Check back tomorrow for a series preview. Thanks for reading!

 

Friday Gameday: Just Like Old Times?

UND defenseman Derek Forbort battles along the boards with a UAA skater from in Anchorage, Alaska
in 2011 during the last time the Green and White and Seawolves played each other in Sullivan Arena. (Photo: UND Sports)

Alright, so this time is counts.

We've officially reached college hockey season as the No. 7 University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks travel to a place well known by the program, but not much by the current team.

The Hawks are on the road to faceoff with long-time Western Collegiate Hockey Conference foe the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves Friday and Saturday from Sullivan Arena.

These two teams have a long history together, but haven't played each other since the 2012-13 season as North Dakota left to join the National Collegiate Hockey Conference before the 2013-14 campaign. UND hasn't played in Sullivan Arena since 2011.

Since then, UAA has struggled to perform in the WCHA having continued to finish near the bottom of the conference and dead last the past two years. UND, on the other hand, has continued its run at or near the top of the college hockey world, making the NCAA tournament every year since 2001 and winning its 8th National Championship in 2016.

So, will it continue to be like old times for this series that has seen UND dominate to a 46-17-5 clip all-time, or is the dawn of a new season and the task of the Hawks traveling nearly 3,000 miles for a pair of games enough to sway the tide for UAA?

Let's see what DDC thinks will stand out this weekend in Alaska in his weekly "Who? What? How?" series preview.

Who?

Players to Watch

Sr. G Olivier Mantha

Alaska-Anchorage (2016-17 scoring):

Sr. F, Matt Anholt, 5 goals, 17 assists -- 22 points; Sr. F, Tad Kozun, 5g, 14a -- 19 pts; Sr. D, Jarrett Brown, 5g, 10a -- 15 pts; Jr. F, Jonah Renouf, 3g, 6a -- 9 pts; Fr. F, Cameron Trott, 50 points in two seasons of Junior A hockey; Sr. G, Olivier Mantha, 7-18-4, 2.82 goals against average, .913 save percentage.

UND (2016-17 scoring):

Jr. F, Shane Gersich, 21g, 16a -- 37 pts; Sr. F, Austin Poganski, 12g, 13a -- 25 pts; So. D, Christian Wolanin, 6g, 16 a -- 24 pts; So. F, Rhett Gardner, 8g, 13a -- 21 pts; Fr. F, Grant Mismash, 2nd Round NHL draft pick; Sr. G, Cam Johnson, 20-13-3, 2.38 GAA, .903 SV PCT.

What? 

Standout Stats

Alaska Anchorage:

The Seawolves were last in the NCAA in scoring last season, recording just 1.74 goals per game and were second to last in power play goals at 0.44 per game.

Senior Matt Anholt leads UAA returners with 22 points (5g, 17a) last season.

Senior netminder Olivier Mantha has posted a .903 save percentage of better in his of his three seasons with the Seawolves.

UND:

UND leads the all-time series with UAA at a 46-17-5 mark. This weekend marks the first time the two long-time WCHA foes have played since October 26-27, 2012.

North Dakota has made the NCAA tournament in 15-straight seasons.

The Fighting Hawks return 7 of their top 10 scorers from last season, but lose 99 combined points from Tyson Jost (Colorado), Brock Boeser (Vancouver) and Tucker Poolman (Winnipeg), who all left for NHL contracts and are on opening-night rosters for their respective teams.

How?

How’d they get here?

UAA won their exhibition matchup against Simon Fraser University, 6-1. Senior forward Austin Azurdia had a hat trick and an assist in the win..

No. 7 UND topped Manitoba 6-2 in exhibition fashion as sophomore forward Ludvig Hoff notched two goals while all six rookie skaters tallied at least a point.

The Green and White are 6-0 in their last six games against Alaska Anchorage.

UND rookies Jordan Kawaguchi (29) and Nick Jones
converge on a Manitoba skater. (Photo: GF Herald)

The Pick

Well, this is kind of an odd one.

A non-conference series (and we know how important these are to the Pairwise) that's 3,000 miles from home with a team in UND that's chocked full of new faces that are still trying to get to know each other while replacing three NHL players from last season's roster.

Sounds easy, right?

Well, DDC thinks it will end up being that way, but it may take a minute. UAA has a nice group of returning players and are going to be fired up at home against an old-time foe, but frankly put, they have been at the bottom of the WCHA for the past two years for a reason.

The Hawks look like they are going to bring a depth that the Seawolves just cant hang with for a 60-minute game. With a group of returning standouts like skaters Shane Gersich, Austin Poganski, Christian Wolanin and netminder Cam Johnson, UND is simply more talented than UAA.

With that complement of talented returners, the Green and White showed in the exhibition that their rookies can play, too. Freshmen Grant Mismash and Jordan Kawaguchi both potted goals in their first games in a UND sweater while all six rookies tallied at least a point in a 6-2 drubbing of Manitoba. Of course, this is only an exhibition, but the rookies certainly passed the eye test last week against the Bisons.

Travel shouldn't be an excuse for the Fighting Hawks as they arrived three days in advance for this series and are the more talented team.

UND GETS THE SWEEP AT SULLIVAN AND LEAVES THE LAST FRONTIER WITH TWO WINS, 6-2, 4-1

Thanks for reading! Check back next week to see how the Green and White fared.

Roses and Thorns: Starting Hoff on the Right Foot

UND freshmen Matt Kierstad and Grant Mismash (16) celebrate a goal on Saturday from the Ralph Engelstad Arena
in Grand Forks. All six rookie skaters notched at least one point as the Fighting Hawks rolled
the Manitoba Bisons 6-2. (photo: GF Herald)

It'd been six months since we saw our boys in Green and White on the ice for competitive hockey and after a 6-2 exhibition drubbing of the Manitoba Bisons, the game was less about the score and more about who did the scoring for the Fighting Hawks.

UND got at least one point from all six of its rookie skaters, including a goal and an assist from second-round pick Grant Mismash and two assists from Collin Adams while the entire group looked like the college game would suit them fine.

Not to be undersold, the Hawks got a big performance from a returning skater in Ludvig Hoff who, centering the top line for the first time in his career, potted two goals leading the top group with Shane Gersich and Austin Poganski to a +6 performance.

Depth was the story before the start of the season and that held through in the exhibition as all four foward lines and two of three defensive pairings notched points against the Bisons.

It was a good start for the Green and White and here's what stood out to DDC in 2017-18's first installment of Roses and Thorns.

Roses

So. F, Ludvig Hoff
netted two goals
against Manitoba

No. 1 -- New Man in the Middle?

For the past two seasons before the start of 2017-18, UND's top line featured a dynamic, game-breaking name that centered the Green and White's clear best group. With Nick Schmaltz and Tyson Jost, both now in the NHL, UND has to find someone new to find that role. With two goals, including laser from the spot to open the scoring for the Fighting Hawks, sophomore Ludvig Hoff has firmly planted his name on the line chart, to start this year. Centering Shane Gersich and Austin Poganski, Hoff looked very much in control as the trio notched four points and were a combined +6.

No. 2 -- Newbies Step Right In

As DDC mentioned in his previous of this season, UND's season could come down to its depth and having a contributions from the crop of new faces would be a big development. Well, at least for this night, this rang true as all six rookie skaters notched a point. Standing out from that group were Grant Mismash with a goal and an assist. Mismash looked like he belonged with heady vision and a couple fantastic moves with his hands. Jordan Kawaguchi also scored a nice goal off a terrific pass from fellow freshman Josh Rieger from cross ice. This will be a group that is tremendously important to UND this season and the exhibition was a great start.

No. 3 -- Top Players Start Quick

Jr. D, Christian Wolanin
recorded a goal and an assist

Not to be forgotten during the underclassmen bonanza, the Green and White got great performances from a few established stalwarts. Junior Shane Gersich looked incredible, skating and creating chances all night while adding and assist while fellow Junior Christian Wolanin netted a goal and an assist. Arguably UND's two best pure playmakers, Gersich and Wolanin looked ready to start the season on a high note as both saw significant special team's time, as well. Wolanin quarterbacked the Power Play and looked calm and collected in doing so. Not to be left out, senior netminder Cam Johnson played well, too. While he let up two goals, one was on a clean breakaway after a turnover and the other on a bit of an off bounce. Johnson made a couple of key saves early in the second, as well. Good performance from some of UND's key players in this one.

Thorns

No. 1 -- Bad Turnovers

Turnovers were a bit of a problem last year and unfortunately, this hasn't wholly changed following the exhibition. Whether it's trying to go too quickly out of transition or completely missing open sticks on passes, UND had couple bad lapses against the Bisons. Sure, this can be attributed to knocking off a bit of rust, but it's a trend that has roots from 2016-17. Here's to hoping that's left behind before the Hawks travel up to Alaska.


Thanks for reading and check back later this week as DDC previews the Green and White traveling to Anchorage to face off with the Seawolves.

Let's Drop the Puck -- DDC's 2017-18 Season Preview

It's been six long months since we've last seen our beloved UND men's hockey team in action, but that changes as
the puck drops on Saturday when the Fighting Hawks take on the Manitoba Bisons in exhibition action. (Photo: Fargo Forum)

Holey moley, it's frickin' hockey season.

Maybe it's the fact that it was 90 degrees last weekend that makes it feel like we are still in the dog days of summer, but alas, here we are. It's nearly October and it's about time to drop the puck on the 2017-18 season.

Denver is the clear favorite for a back-to-back run at the Penrose Cup as National Collegiate Hockey Conference champions as well as the favorite to defend their national championship, but as we UND hockey fans well know, it's pretty dang hard to repeat.

It's been six long months since the Fighting Hawks lost in heartbreaking OT fashion to Boston University at the West Regional in Fargo and UND has gone through some serious changes. Gone to the NHL are stalwarts Tyson Jost, Brock Boeser and Tucker Poolman. But, the cupboards are certainly not bare. The Green and White return a great nucleus of players that will lead UND in their run to a potential shot at Green Banner No. 9 when the Frozen Four rolls around from St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center in April.

Captaining this year's squad, senior Austin Poganski leads the way with Shane Gersich, Christian Wolanin and netminder Cam Johnson helping pace UND in it's new pursuit of greatness. Accompanying the returners, the Fighting Hawks bring in a nice group of freshman that are hoping to make an immediate impact.

So, let's take a look at what storylines will write the history for this year's UND men's hockey team. DDC delves into those storylines as well as preview his view of the NCHC and NCAA picture and predicts the Hawks' exhibition game against the Manitoba Bisons. Without further ado, let's get it going, shall we?

1) Depth, Depth, Depth

This team, unlike the past two seasons, isn't loaded with elite-level scoring, but it does have a lot of depth. The Fighting Hawks lose a combined 99 points from the trio of Jost, Boeser and Tucker Poolman, all having moved on to professional hockey contracts, but return 7 of their top 10 scorers from last season including last year's team leader in Shane Gersich (21 goals, 16 assists -- 37 points). UND looks to young players like Dixon Bowen and Ludvig Hoff to expand their roles as this team should be able to roll four deep lines if newcomers can come in and instantly contribute.

2) Fresh Meat

UND's rookie class doesn't have the blue chip name like Jost, Boeser or Nick Schmaltz like they have had in the past few seasons, but that doesn't mean this isn't a good class of rookies. In fact, neutralzone.net had the Hawks rated as the top class in the NCAA coming into this year. Grant Mismash is a 2nd-round NHL draft pick while Jordan Kawaguchi and Nicholas Jones are coming off BCHL playoff runs that saw them posted No. 1 and 2 in scoring.

3) Can Cam Return to Form?

2016-17 wasn't a terrible season for UND netminder Cam Johnson, but it wasn't to the level of what it was like during the Hawks' 2015-16 title run in which Johnson was a Mike Richter finalist as the NCAA's top goaltender. Loads of new freshmen defensemen getting used to college hockey was a big part of this, but Johnson was nevertheless not at his top form. With a returning group of D-men in Christian Wolanin, Colton Poolman, Hayden Shaw, Andrew Peski and Casey Johnson that logged significant minutes last season, Cam will have a chance to improve and be the backbone of UND once again. If this happens, the Green and White will have a chance to be in every game this year.

DDC's Preseason NCAA Top 10

1) DU
2) Providence
3) Boston University
4) UMass-Lowell
5) Penn State
6) Wisconsin
7) UND
8) St. Cloud State
9) Minnesota
10) Notre Dame

DDC's NCAA Take

It's DU's world and we're all just living in it. In all seriousness, all the top contenders have big question marks while DU pretty much just has the least. Returning the talent they have on the front end, they are the best team in the country until that is proven differently. Boston University lost a lot of talent, but still has a lot of with Jordan Greenway, Patrick Harper and Jake Oettinger leading the way. 

Penn State and Wisconsin are wholly unproven, but are loaded with talent. The Badgers lost Luke Kunin, but gained a legit No. 1 goalie in graduate transfer, All-American Kyle Hayton, formerly of St. Lawrence. DDC believes that UND can make some hay with a lot of depth, but lacks dynamic scoring that they have had the past two seasons. If Cam Johnson plays like he did during the Fighting Hawks' 2015-16 title run, the Green and White could be right there in St. Paul for the Frozen Four in April.

NCHC Picks

1) Denver
2) UND
3) St. Cloud State

Denver sophomore forward is DDC's
NCHC preseason Player of the Year pick

4) Minnesota Duluth
5) Miami
6) Western Michigan
7) Colorado College
8) Omaha

DDC's All-NCHC Team

F -- Henrik Borgstrom, DU

F -- Dylan Gambrell, DU

F -- Shane Gersich, UND
F -- Troy Terry, DU

D -- Jimmy Schuldt, St. Cloud State

D -- Louie Belpedio, Miami

G -- Cam Johnson, UND

Player of the Year: Borgstrom

Defenseman of the Year: Schuldt

Rookie of the Year: Grant Mismash, UND

DDC's NCHC Take

DU is No. 1 in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference and the NCAA polls and rightfully so. Losing last year's Hobey Baker Will Butcher is a big blow to their blue line, but returning stars in Henrik Borgstrom, Dylan Gambrell, Troy Terry and goaltender Tanner Jaillet, the defending national champs are poised for another deep run.

DDC likes UND's depth this season, but who will stand out as scorers? Contributions are needed from a nice group of freshman led by 2nd round NHL draft pick Grant Mismash. Cam Johnson ala 2015-16 would be a nice piece for North Dakota.

St. Cloud State looks like a team that will contend both in the NCHC and nationally with Jack Ahcan, Will Borgen, Mikey Eyssimont, the Poehling trio and Jimmy Schuldt leading the way. They are a legit goaltender from being really, really good. Can Slovakian rookie David Hrenak be they guy for the Huskies?

UND is 13-0 all time against the Manitoba Bisons

Bring on the Bisons

UND is 13-0 all-time against Manitoba and topped the Bisons 5-1 last year, but that game was more about raising banner No. 8 to the Ralph Engelstad Arena rafters. In this one, the Fighting Hawks starts its run to No. 9 and are trying to see who can make an early impact. Nicholas Jones has experience in college hockey, leaving Ohio State and heading to the BCHL before coming to Grand Forks. After a huge playoff run, can he make an early impression on his new teammates?

How about Shane Gersich? Can he build of an impressive sophomore campaign and bring the Hawks the elite scoring they are looking for? Will Cam Johnson once again become the man between the pipes or will freshman Peter Thome make his push?

DDC sees UND's depth taking hold here. The Green and White get scoring from all over the lineup as Gersich nets two, captain Austin Poganski gets one to go, while freshmen Jordan Kawaguchi and Grant Mismash endear themselves to the REA faithful with their first tallies. Ludvig Hoff and Johnny Simonson round out the scoring for a successful start to 2017-18.

UND ROLLS, 7-2

It's hockey season, ladies and gents. Let's do this!

Come back next week to see how it went down. Thanks for reading!

NCAA Tournament -- West Regional: It's Ours to Defend

UND's title defense starts Friday at 2 pm from Scheels Arena in Fargo versus the Boston University Terriers.

After all the ups and downs for the 2016-17 UND men's hockey team, they enter this weekend's NCAA West Regional right where they wanted to be at the start of the season -- 81 miles from home in Fargo with a chance to defend their 2015-16 national championship.

It's in our state and the title is ours to defend until someone takes it.

Joining the Green and White at Scheels Arena are three other teams who want to end UND's run at the top and move on to the Frozen Four in Chicago.

Semifinal 1 pits No. 3 seeded UND, the away team just an hour-plus from home, against the No. 2 seeded Boston University Terriers. In the other semifinal, the No. 1 seeded Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs faceoff with the No. 4 seeded Ohio State Buckeyes.

2017 NCAA West Regional -- Scheels Arena, Fargo

Friday:
Semifinal 1 -- No. 2 BU vs. No. 3 UND, ESPN2, 2 p.m.
Semifinal 2 -- No. 1 UMD vs. No. 4 OSU, ESPNU, 5:30

Saturday:
UND/BU vs. UMD/OSU -- ESPNU, 5 p.m.

Loaded with nine players drafted in the first or second round in the NHL draft, the Terriers are a team chocked full of talent. Minnesota Duluth enters the West Regional as the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament and have beaten the Green and White five times in five opportunities this season, capped off by a wild 4-3 win in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship game last weekend in Minneapolis. Ohio State features the best power play in the nation and the second-highest scoring offense.

Simply put, this is anybody's region to win.

When the brackets were announced this past Sunday, DDC called a friend when finding out UND would be taking on BU and had a potential looming battle with a foe in UMD that just locked the Green and White in a rough and tumble battle at the Target Center the night before and said, "Yikes."

DDC's first reaction was that he didn't want the Terriers in the first round. The response he got was simple -- "Well, no one wants to play us in the first round, either."

Think about it... The Green and White are playing this regional weekend having just beat the No. 1 overall seed Denver and took the No. 2 seeded Bulldogs down to the wire. UND is playing its best hockey of the season. Add that to the fact that the three other teams are headed to Fargo to play this weekend and the point is easy to make -- this region, this NCAA title, is ours until someone takes it.

Let's get it on.

Here's DDC's "Who? What? How?" breakdown of what will be a terrific weekend. Who will punch their ticket to Chicago?

Who?

Players to watch

BU Fr. F, Clayton Keller
leads all NCAA rookies
in points per game (1.45).

Boston University Terriers

Fr. F, Clayton Keller, 20 goals, 22 assists -- 42 points; Fr. F, Patrick Harper, 12g, 22a -- 34 pts; So. F, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, 13g, 19a -- 32 pts; So. F, Bobo Carpenter, 13g, 18a -- 31 pts; Fr. G, Jake Oettinger, 20-10-3, 2.09 goals against average, .927 save percentage.

UND

So. F, Shane Gersich, 21g, 16a -- 37 pts; Fr. F, Tyson Jost, 16g, 19a -- 35 pts; So. F, Brock Boeser, 16g, 17a -- 33 pts; Jr. D, Tucker Poolman, 7g, 23a -- 30 pts (questionable with injury); Jr. G, Cam Johnson, 20-12-3, 2.38 GAA, .904 SV PCT.

OSU So. Mason Jobst
leads the nation's top
power play and second-
highest scoring offense.

Ohio State University Buckeyes

So. F, Mason Jobst, 19g, 36a -- 55 pts; Sr. F, Nick Schilkey, 27g, 14a -- 41 pts; Sr. F, David Gust, 18g, 23a -- 41 pts; So. F, Dakota Joshua, 12g, 22a -- 34 pts; Sr. G, Christian Frey, 9-7-3, .910 SV PCT, 3.07 GAA; Sr. G, Matt Tomkins, 12-4-3, .909 SV PCT, 2.48 GAA.

Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs

Sr. F, Alex Iafallo, 18g, 27a -- 46 pts; So. F, Adam Johnson, 17g, 19a -- 36 pts; So. D, Neal Pionk, 7g 25a -- 32 pts; Fr. F, Joey Anderson, 10g, 20a -- 30 pts; Fr. G., Hunter Miska, 24-4-5, 2.23 GAA, .917 SV PCT.

What?

Standout Stats

Boston University

The Terriers are 18th in the NCAA in scoring, averaging 3.16 goals per game and 10th in goals allowed at 2.27.

Freshman Clayton Keller leads all NCAA rookies with a 1.45 points per game mark.

BU has four NHL first-round draft picks in Keller, Kieffer Bellows, Dante Fabbro and Charlie McAvoy and four second-round picks in Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, Jordan Greenway, Chad Krys and John MacLeod. Netminder Jake Oettinger is expected to be drafted high in June's draft.

UND

The Green and White are t-16 in NCAA in scoring (3.18) and 19th in goals against (2.56).

UND allows the second least amount of shots per game in the nation with 24.8.

North Dakota is 12-5-2 when scoring first this year and just 9-10-1 when not.

Freshman Tyson Jost is 6th in the nation in rookie points per game with 1.09.

Minnesota Duluth

The Bulldogs are 8th in the NCAA in scoring offense (3.42) and 11th in defense (2.29).

Minnesota Duluth netminder Hunter Miska is t-4 in the NCAA with five shutouts and 2nd in winning percentage .803.

Neal Pionk and Dom Toninato are tied for 10th nationally in plus/minus with a +22 rating.

UMD is 16-0-2 when leading after two periods, this season and 4-4-5 when trailing at that same point.

Ohio State

OSU is 2nd in the NCAA in scoring with 3.97 goals per game but are allowing a 31st-best 2.89. The Buckeyes are first in power play with a ridiculous 32.5%, nearly five percentage points better than No. 2 Northeastern.

Sophomore forward Mason Jobst is 8th in the NCAA in points per game with 1.45 and t-5th in assists per game with .95.

Senior forward Nick Schilkey leads the nation in power play goals with 16 and is 2nd in goals per game with .79.

How?

How'd they get here?

No. 6 BU (23-11-3, At-Large Bid, 2nd in Hockey East) lost to Boston College in the Hockey East Tournament semifinals. The Terriers have won four out of their last six games. BU was rolled by Denver, 7-2, in the first round of the NCAA tournament last season.

No. 10 UND (21-15-3, At-Large Bid, 4th in NCHC) topped Denver 1-0 and lost to UMD 4-3 in the  NCHC Frozen Faceoff last weekend. The loss on Saturday snapped a five-game winning streak. The Green and White are the defending national champion and are playing in their 15th-consecutive NCAA tournament (2nd-best streak in history).

No. 3 UMD (25-6-7, NCHC tournament champion, 2nd in NCHC) topped UND 4-3 in the finals of the NCHC Frozen Faceoff last weekend. The Bulldogs have won five straight games. UMD lost to Boston College 3-2 in the Regional Final.

No. 14 Ohio State (21-11-6, At-Large Bid, 3rd in BTHC) lost to Wisconsin 2-1 in the Big Ten tournament semifinals. Before the loss, the Buckeyes had won four straight. OSU returns to the national tournament for the first time since 2009.

The Pick(s)

So now that you're all caught up on the ins and outs of these four teams, let's get to it.

West Regional Semifinal No. 1 -- UND vs. BU

What a juicy match up. These are two of college hockey's blue bloods taking the ice in an arena that will be packed to the rafters.

Boston University entered this season will all the accolades.

Picked by many fans and media as the favorites to raise the national championship trophy at the end of the year, the Terriers have wholly lived up to expectations. While their season hasn't been perfect, BU is a tremendously talented team that is stocked with players who know what it feels like to play in big-time situations. Seven players from this year's squad played in the World Junior Championship tournament with six winning gold for Team USA. The big stage won't scare the Terriers.

On the other side of the ice, the defending national champions know exactly how to play in this spot, having won the 2015 West Regional in Scheels Arena in front of a green-clad, tremendously partisan and raucous crowd.

While both teams won't be afraid of the bright lights, the crowd in Fargo will be jacked up for this one and an early edge will do one of two things depending on who nets the first tally on Friday. It will either blow the roof off the arena if it's the Green and White leading, while the silence will be deafening if it's the Terriers.

Boston University, with all its youth, hasn't exactly been world beaters away from home this season, going just 10-8-1 away from their home rink, Agganis Arena. Also, since the national tournament went to its current 16-team format in 2003, BU hasn't done well when having to fly to a regional, losing in the first round in three previous attempts.

The Terriers have also had a recent trend of falling behind early. In their last nine games, BU has allowed the first goal of the game and have gone 4-4-1 in those games.

So, being unfazed by the big stage is one thing in the WJC, falling behind UND in Fargo doesn't seem like a recipe for success for the Terriers.

Both teams have top end talent. Both teams can score. Both teams are serviceable defensively. Both teams have solid goaltending. What will be the decider?

Again, this one is in North Dakota and this rink is ours to defend.

UND TOPS BU IN A WILD ONE, 5-4.

West Regional Seminfinal No. 2 -- UMD vs. OSU

Ohio State reminds DDC a lot of UND's 2016 Midwest Regional final foe, Michigan. This is a team that can score quick, fast and in a hurry. However, that's not where the comparison ends. Much like the Wolverines last season, the Buckeyes are a bit leaky defensively, sporting the 31st-ranked team defense, allowing 2.89 goals per game.

Their opponent, the UMD Bulldogs are, top-to-bottom, one of the most well-rounded and skilled teams in the NCAA featuring the 8th-best scoring offense and 11th-ranked team defense. Goaltender Hunter Miska will be tested against a team the tries to fire the puck from everywhere, but UMD has been near the top of the NCAA polls all year for a reason.

In DDC's opinion, it's all about composure for the Bulldogs. In the Frozen Faceoff championship last weekend against UND, Minnesota Duluth was incredibly undisciplined, committing 15 penalties and allowing three power play goals. Against the best power play in the country in OSU, UMD has to stay out of the box.

While DDC thinks OSU will get their chances with the extra man, the Buckeyes don't look to be deep enough to hold the Bulldogs down for 60 minutes.

THE BULLDOGS MOVE ON TO SATURDAY, 5-2.

West Region Final -- UND vs. UMD

*Takes a deep breath*

The Bulldogs have beaten the Green and White five teams this season and have won the last six between the two teams, overall.
 
However, after UMD beat UND last weekend in Minneapolis, in a game that was as intense, chippy and wild as it comes, DDC realized one thing -- the Green and White can beat the Bulldogs.

Much like against BU, both of these teams can score, play defense and have good netminding. This time, UND finishes the job.

Forget Neal Pionk running over Cam Johnson. Forget all the questionable calls. Forget the late, heart-breaking goal in Minneapolis. Forget six losses in a row.

With sights set on Chicago and revenge in the cross hairs, North Dakota will take on one of its biggest rivals, but this time, it's to keep its title defense alive and it's in their backyard.

It's ours to defend.

UND TAKES DOWN THE BULLDOGS AND ADVANCES TO THEIR FOURTH-STRAIGHT FROZEN FOUR, 3-2.

Strap in, boys and girls. Thanks for reading.