Showing posts with label Dylan James. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dylan James. Show all posts

Sunday, November 09, 2025

UND Sweeps Omaha in Omaha, a Night of Firsts


How sweep it is. Here are my thoughts from this past weekend. UND traveled to Omaha for its first National Collegiate Hockey Conference road series of the season. 

Mission accomplished. UND returned home with six conference points. 

What a difference a year makes. On Saturday night, after Omaha scored the goal to make it 2-1, last year's team might have crumbled and lost the game. The 2025-26 UND hockey team has a much better mental makeup. They seem to thrive on adversity. Nodak would score two more goals to give UND the win and an impressive (7-2 W, 4-1 W) sweep of Omaha. 

Not that it matters, but UND is sitting atop the NCHC standings after two weekends of conference play. Obviously, it's early, and there are 22 more conference games to go. UND has improved, but still has a lot of work to do. 


I posted this on Sioux Sports: I don't know about y'all, but I never felt that UND was going to lose last night's game. Was it a tight game? Of course. UND frustrated the Mavericks throughout the weekend. There is definitely a difference in talent level between UND and Omaha. I saw many things this past weekend that gave me hope. This team is one of the younger ones in college hockey, and they're making great strides. I have been impressed with the CHL kids, as well as the freshmen, such as Kernan and Zellers. Are there things that need to be cleaned up? Yes, 100 percent. Mac Swanson is starting to excel and make plays. 

Two-Headed Goalie Rotation

If UND has a two-headed monster in the net, that would be a good thing, too. We should find out over the next month what UND has in net. Okay, I am guilty, after I saw the lineup was posted for Saturday's game, I tweeted this. Okay, maybe it didn't age well. 

Gibson Homer has appeared in seven games and is (4-3-0, 2.74 GAA, and a .890 save percentage). Looking at his career numbers, this is by far his worst in his three-year career. Counting this year, he has two years of eligibility left, but the word is that he's going to turn pro after the season is over. His victory on Saturday broke a three-game losing streak. 

Jan Spunar has appeared in three games (3-0-0, 1.01 GAA, and a .951 save percentage). Spunar has let in three goals in 178.09 minutes of play. That's impressive. 

Night of Firsts

Yes, it was a night of firsts. Freshman forward Jack Kernan scores the first goal of his collegiate career. It will be the first of many to come.   

Entering the season, I expected more from Anthony Menghini, the junior forward from Baxter, Minnesota. I was also excited that he was signed by UND. First, he entered the season having scored 20 goals in 72 games. This year, my excitement had faded. Through the first eight games, he's been almost invisible until Saturday night, when he scored his first goal of his UND hockey career in his ninth game. That was also his first career point with UND. Hopefully, this is the first of many for Gino.  

CHL Alumni Take Center Stage 

We've heard a lot about the CHL players being eligible to play in NCAA hockey. Now, all of a sudden, the NHL media has spent more time taking a look at NCAA hockey. Albeit, they have foamed and slobbered all over Penn State and Gavin McKenna. What the writers are discovering is that Division 1 college hockey is challenging. There are no nights off. 

When Friday’s game was over, he’d scored what would stand as Penn State’s lone goal of the weekend, finished plus-1, registered a game-high seven shots (nearly a third of the 25 his team registered) and played a game-high 23:57.

And yet the gathering collection of scouts and hockey folks weren’t kind to him leaving the rink, with multiple NHL scouts commenting to The Athletic over the course of the weekend on his work rate off the puck, a number of backchecks he appeared to give up on, pucks he didn’t stop on and an ongoing desire for more effort. (Link) 

With development of CHL players getting to play in college hockey, this has also changed how teams in the NCAA have recruited. This season, UND has four players who have come over from the WHL; these players are making an impact. After 10 games, forward Cole Reschny has scored (2g-8a--10pts), and he's also a minus-one. He's averaging 16:48 minutes a game.

It's hard to believe that Keaton Verhoeff is 17 years old. The freshman defenseman from Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta has scored (4g-2a--6pts) and is plus-two. He's scored one goal on the power play and is probably going to be a top-five draft pick. 

While everyone is ranting and raving aobut Gavin McKenna, there are other players in college hockey that should be grabbing everyones attention. The aforementioned Reschny has 10 points in 10 games, McKenna has played two more games and is only four points ahead (4g-10a--14pts).  

Last weekend, Ollie Josephson (2g-4a--6pts), had a breakthrough weekend, scoring (2g-2a--4pts), Friday night, he added an assist to his points total. Unfortunatley, his three-game points streak came to an end on Saturday night.  Nodak has won four straight over Omaha and four straight at Baxter Arena, and they have won five of the last six games they've played against the Mavericks. Nodak is 6-4-0 in he last 10 games they've played against Omaha.  

Finally, freshman Josh Zakreski was having a good season, until he suffered a serious lower-body injury. Until his injury, the Portland Winterhawks Alum was playing a significant role.  In six games, the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native scored (1g-2a--3pts). He's listed as month-to-month. Hope he can return before the season is over.       



Senior Forward Dylan James 

During his collegiate career, senior forward Dylan James has scored 37 goals, nine (.243) of them have come against Omaha. Three of them were scored this past weekend.

Omaha goalie Simon Latkoczy has now played UND 14 times in his 5-9 and has lost four out of the last five games against UND. One final stat, as we mentioned earlier James has scored goals agianst Omaha, six of his nine goals have come against Latkoczy. 
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Saturday, October 18, 2025

Linkarama: Minnesota vs North Dakota Click Away

 

Last night, college hockey fans witnessed the revival of one of the greatest rivalries in college hockey. Minnesota vs. North Dakota — or, as some would say, Gophers versus Sioux. 

If you're a UND hockey fan, you're smiling from ear to ear today. If you're a Gophers fan, you're probably not as happy. 

This morning, the theme I am hearing today, Gopher Nation is complaining about the officiating. Some things never change. Four of the Gophers' minor penalties were for stick fouls. The NCHC officials will make that call every time. Don't worry, NCHC fans aren't going to show you any empathy; we've already addressed the NCHC's on-ice officials. Multiple times. 

Whine or not, UND went 1-7 (.142) on the man advantage last night. To make things work, UND held the Gophers to 6 shots over the final two periods. That's not a missprint. 


Here's the GPL Gamer from last night's game. Hey, it's a rivalry —not everyone is going to be happy with how things unfolded. Gophers coach Bob Motzko thought some of the calls weren't penalties. (Gophers Drop Opener in Grand Forks)


Here's Brad Schlossman's gamer: UND delivers rivalry win over Minnesota for a raucous crowd. 

"I don't know if I'll experience something like this again — pro hockey or wherever hockey takes me," Dylan James told the press following the game. "I don't think there's a crowd or a fan base that has more passion for their players. I'm grateful to be here and score in front of them."

Here's another stat from Brad Schlossman: UND is now 8-3 in the last 11 rivalry games against Minnesota, and 20-3-4 in the last 27 against college hockey teams from the state of Minnesota. I didn't realize that UND has owned the teams from the state of hockey in recent years.  


Alex Faber: Dylan James’ latest shorthanded goal is the dagger in rivalry win

Here's my post-game post from Inside Hockey: The Roar is Back; UND beats UMN, 5-2

Let's say it was loud in the Ralph last night. I had to turn my hearing aid down because my head was ringing. One of the new players that has stuck out for me this season is Ellis Rickwood, the transfer portal pickup. He’s been a pleasant surprise. While the young kids and high draft choices get a lot of press, this guy is a solid two-way player. Through three games, Rickwood is UND’s leading scorer with (1g–4a–5pts). He’s an excellent pickup.  

Here's a stat that many of us weren't aware of.

I also took some pictures during the first period of last night's game: UMN vs. UND in Pictures. 

If you're one of the few people who didn't watch last night's game, here are the highlights from last night. Finally, remember it's just a game, have fun, enjoy the game, and make some good memories.

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Sunday, March 30, 2025

Dane Jackson Is UND Hockey's 17th Head Coach, Now What?

Grand Forks, ND—What a week it's been. Last Sunday, around 6:20 pm, the University of North Dakota announced that it had fired Brad Berry and named Associate Head Coach Dane Jackson interim head coach. UND also announced that a national search would start immediately and close at Midnight on Wednesday.

Fast-forward to Saturday evening, around 9:30 pm, when UND announced that it had promoted Dane Jackson to head coach. Apparently, after conversations with current and former players and others, UND decided they didn't need to look outside the organization.


Now what? From this day forward, UND head coach Dave Jackson's chair will immediately be hot. If you think I am kidding, I am not. All you have to do is peruse social media and our favorite fan messageboard. Some from this group wanted Dave Hakstol fired after he didn't win an NCAA title after numerous trips to the Frozen Four. 


Again,  we've come full circle. 

Exhibit A: UND Hockey: Making the Case for Dave Hakstol

Exhibit B: Fire Coach Hakstol, Not Likely


For the record, I am not a burn it to the ground fire everybody kind of guy. Did we need to make a change? I don't know. Something had to change. The loudest fire Brad Berry fans got their wish. We now have a new head coach. I don't know if UND got better. Only time will tell. It is what it is, that's the nature of the business. College sports are now a professional minor league. 


As I tweeted on X today, checking the responses to this announcement, it would appear that it's about 40/60 or 50/50 on the @UNDmhockey team's new head coach.


My question is, how long of a honeymoon does Jackson get? How long before the fans start calling for his head, too? Some people are never happy. I guess time will tell. It will be interesting to see how the 2025-26 UND hockey team responds. There will be a lot of background noise, especially if they stumble out of the gate. 


Also, if Jackson wins a title in his first year, will fans say, "Well, he did it all with Brad Berry's recruits?" 


Also, should we be concerned that the players chose Berry's replacement? Is everyone comfortable with this? This is 2025, not your daddy's UND Fighting Sioux team or a 1990s version of college sports. Everything has changed. In the old days, if you were unhappy with your playing time, you'd talk to the coach, and he'd tell you to practice harder and play better. Now, players go somewhere else. The unhappy players take their sticks and leave. It's just a different time. 


After Jackson was hired, Dylan James and Jake Livanavage announced their return. That's excellent news for the UND hockey team. We should see more personnel announcements as the week moves forward. 


I recommend that you listen to the "Live in Five" podcast. It's interesting. It features former UND hockey players Gage Ausmus and Jordan Schmaltz from the 2016 NCAA title-winning team. Obviously, Ausmus is dialed in to the college hockey NIL.  


Here are a few things that stood out for me from the podcast. 

"The fans think they have the answers: We can go out and get whoever we want, or replacing Bubs is the better option," Ausmus said. "Are we sure we'll find a better coach than Bubs? Are you sure about that? You don't know. I don't know, either. Who knows if it's the right call?" 

 "The college landscape has changed, Jordo," Ausmus said. "The Gopher's first line this year cost them 225k or something like that, that's a rumor that I heard. Our first line cost 12k, and some free Deeks pizza on Saturday nights. What are we ranking right now in NIL money compared to these other schools? It ain't near the top 10 or 15. There might be like 10 to 15 teams spending more money than us. Do we expect to be better than them? I know we got a huge tradition and culture at North Dakota, and it's a great place to play, but at the end of the day, we've got to figure that out."

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Sunday, February 25, 2024

Dylan James Leads UND Past UMD, 4-2

What a difference a week makes. After dropping two games to the Colorado College Tigers, the University of North Dakota hockey team was looking to rebound against the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. After giving up 13 games last weekend, UND tightened up on defense and protected their goalie, Ludvig Perrson, who had a bounce-back weekend, stopping 43 of 45 shots for a .955 save percentage. UND swept the season series against UMD for the first time since the 2015-16 season. We all remember what happened that season. 


When the final horn sounded, and after the game-ending scrum had ended, UND had put 10 goals behind the UMD goaltenders and only gave up two goals against. Sophomore forward Dylan James led UND with two goals, his first two-goal game of the year and the second of his career. Jackson Blake finished the weekend with seven points (1g-6a-7pts). It was an impressive effort all the way around. 

UND also kept UMD's leading scorer, Ben Steeves, off of the score sheet. More impressive UND held Steeves to a single point, an assist in four games this season. 

"It was a very productive weekend," head coach Brad Berry said. "It's what we needed. It's what we had to have after losing two to CC. The guys did a good job. It was the tale of two different games. Last night was sharp, and special teams were a big part. We scored some power play goals, and tonight we scratched and clawed and found a way to win." 

 On defense, sophomore defenseman Bennett Zmolek blocked 10 shots on the weekend. What's impressive is that Zmolek spent 12 minutes in the penalty box after getting a two-minute roughing penalty and a 10-minute misconduct penalty in the second period. 

"When somebody enters the portal, there's not much time to pull the trigger," Berry said. "He didn't play last year. He was out with hip surgery, and his body of work was talked about through phone conversations. We didn't have a lot of current video to watch on him. We called former coaches and people in his circle to see what kind of player, what kind of person he is. The biggest thing for me was him playing against his brother in Bemidji for four years and his other brother in Mankato for four years. If he's anything like those two guys. I'll take him in a heartbeat."

Garrett Pyke transferred from the University of Alaska and has never played for a conference title or played in the NCAA tourney. In his senior season, finally, he's getting that chance.

"It was exciting last year; my team went on a run for hopefully the tournament, so I'm looking at it the same way," Pyke said. "We're looking at the Penrose and to make a deep run, so it's a lot of fun." 

 
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Saturday, December 02, 2023

Goon's Takeaways: UND Beats DU in Denver, 7-5


Last night in Magness Arena, after the game, when game officials posted the final box score read UND 7 DU 5. It was a tale of two games. UND would score first with a goal from forward Dylan James. Then the momentum would shift, and then it was all Denver as they raced to a 4-1 lead. In the first period, UND looked like deer in the headlights. UND also came out on their heels and a step slow. Maybe a little nervous. UND didn't panic. 

In the second period, UND picked up momentum, got a rhythm, and started chipping away at the Pioneer's 4-1 lead. UND would score six of the last seven goals to beat the Pioneers. I know this sounds cliche, but this game may end up being one for the ages. You can see the highlights below if you didn't watch Friday's game. 

Entering Friday's game against DU, UND goalie Ludvig Persson had played in 12 games, going 1-11-0, 4.69 GAA, and a .879 save percentage, snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Pioneers. The last time Persson had beaten DU was on December 17, 2020, in the pod at Baxter Arena. Persson struggled in the first period, stopping 6/10 shots. He would finish the game with 27 saves on 32 shots.  Persson is now (12-2-1, 2.06 GAA, .917 save percentage). He also has three shutouts. 

With the win, UND is now on an eight-game winning streak. That's the longest in the nation. With the win, UND also vaulted to the top of the Pairwise rankings. Yes, I still think it's too early to worry, but it was mentioned somewhere else.  

UND freshman forward Jayden Perron recorded his first assist of the season. He now has (7g--1a--8pts), he's also a plus-four. 

Sophomore forward Jackson Blake continues to shine; he notched his fifth three-point game of the season, which leads, UND. He's also scored in five straight games; that's a career-high. In 15 games this season, Blake has scored (11g-10a--21pts); he's also a plus-nine. Two of his 11 goals have come on the power play. Blake has six multi-point games this season. That leads UND. In 54 games, Blake has scored (27g-36a--63pts).

After missing four games due to injury, sophomore forward Jake Schmaltz returned to the lineup and added a pair of assists. In 10 games, Schmaltz has recorded six assists and is a plus-one. 

Sophomore forward Owen McLaughlin also recorded three points for the third time this year. In 14 games this season, he's scored (4g-11a--15pts), and he's also a plus-seven. The Spring City, PA., native has recorded four multi-point games this season. McLaughlin has equaled his point total of last season.   

Some in the college hockey world made a big deal about UND using the NCAA Transfer Portal to fill in their roster holes. UND hit the jackpot with junior forward Cameron Berg. The Fargo native now has four multi-point contests in his last seven games.  Speaking of faceoffs, the Hawks finished with a 33-25 advantage over the Pioneers. Berg led the way for UND, going 13-6 (.684).  In 15 games, Berg has (6g-8a--14pts); he's also a plus-seven. 

They Said

You can get the Let's Go DU perspective on last night's game. 

The Grand Forks Herald Gamer 

"I get it, they're a high-emotion team," Louis Jamernik V told the Grand Forks Herald following the game. "They can get a little cocky sometimes. We just said, 'All right, we'll match it. If you want to put your stick up in front of our bench, we'll do the same to you.'"

"We knew, and we thought there were going to be growing pains at certain points through the year," DU Head Coach David Carle said. "This hurts; this needs to hurt. We can't forget how this feels and go about it the same way we always do. We'll teach and try and get better."

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Saturday, November 18, 2023

UND Beats Miami 6-4 in Game One


The University of North Dakota hockey team opened their conference schedule at home with a 6-4 win against the Miami RedHawks. 

UND Scored two in the first period, three in the second period and one in the third period. At the 11:59 mark of the first period, graduate forward Hunter Johannes would get UND on the board with this beautful goal from the top of the circles. That was goal number six of the year. Assists Cameron Berg and Jackson Blake.

At the 14:32 mark of the first period, freshman forward Jayden Perron would give UND a 2-0 lead with his sixth goal of the seasons. Assists by Hunter Johannes, Cameron Berg. Perron has yet to record an assist, he has 6 goals in 11 games. Johannes now has two multi-point games on the season. Last season, he has seven multi-point games with Lindenwood.  At the 7:52 mark of the second period, Owen McLauglin give UND a 3-0 lead. Assists Jackson Blake and Riese Gaber. Miami would get two quick goals less than a minutes apart by PJ Fletcher, and Matthew Barbolini. Unfortunately, the RedHawks didn't post the goals on their Twitter page.

At the 12:42 mark of the second period, UND would take a two goal lead with a goal from Jackson Blake. The RedHawks would challenge the goal for a handpass, but the goal would stand. Less than two minutes later, senior forward Carson Albrecht assist Owen McLaughlin. In the pregame, I was talking to Virg Foss and he said that Albrecht was going to score tonight. He's also add an assist later in the game. UND didn't take long to open the scoring in the third period. Seven seconds in sophomore forward Dylan James would give UND a 6-2 lead. That would close out the scoring or UND. Albrecht would pick up the assist.
Miami would scored to goals in the final two minutes of the game to make the score 6-4.



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Location: One Ralph Engelstad Arena Dr, Grand Forks, ND 58203, USA
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