Last week, the NCHC had its annual media day over a Zoom call. I have yet to see a video from the interviews that were released. There were a few key points that stood out from UND head coach Dane Jackson's interview.
Let's say that there's a new sheriff in town, and the message is coming in loud and clear.
"I couldn't have been any more invested than I was over the previous 19 years, Jackson said. "The only difference is being the head man; you've got to make the final call on things. To make the tough decisions and have the hard conversations, but I'm fine with that.
"We run our program by what's best for the program, and you make that decision. Whether it's hard or it's easy. You do what you think is right for your program. That's kind of our North Star, and who we are."
You can determine which direction the comment was directed.
The UND hockey team is going to get back to being hard to play against and having players that want to play that way. UND's identity will resemble that of past teams. Former head coach Dave Hakstol comes to mind.
"When I came and played here under Gino Gaspirini, he talked to us right away about our identity as a team, and what it meant to play at North Dakota," Jackson said. "He said, We build our teams differently. We build it on the man. I want character guys, tough players, guys that are committed to the group first.
"Those things really resonated with me. They stuck with me. I learned those from John Tortorella, Pat Quinn, Bruce Boudreau, guys that I played with in pro, and then when I came back, a lot of those lessons and words about our identity and how hard we had to play. That's what I believe wins."
Jackson discussed modernizing the UND hockey program and hiring Bryn Chyzyk as the general manager.
"The first thing people talk about is having Bryn Chyzyk as our general manager," Jackson said. "Obviously, we all invest in our recruiting, but the fact that Bryn is focused on that. He doesn't want to be on the bench (during games). He wants to be building our rosters and getting our future recruits."
Connecting past players with the current players.
"Our first week of school started here on August 25, and we had 20 of our pro players back," Jackson said. "It was cool to see (Brock) Boeser and (Nick) Schmaltz and a bunch of guys back. We had Matt Green come back. He was our so-called social coordinator, culture coordinator. He was connecting our past players, who are still playing professionally, with all of our current players.
"That was really fun for him to connect our former players, guys who have been through the battles here at North Dakota. North Dakota has figured out what it takes to be a pro player, and they try to pass those things along to our guys."
"That we improved a lot, and we cemented in our culture, those two things we have, Jackson said. "We're really excited at the start. We have 15 new players out of 27. That's not an excuse, just the reality. They're good players. They're sharp young guys. They're Captain-type character-filled guys. We're gonna have a lot of coming together to do.
"Most teams in general that are more veteran-laden, and spot in a few new guys, those are the teams that are picked (to win). We have a lot of building to do, as far as how we come together, how we play, and how we do things on a day-to-day basis."
Jackson was asked what the biggest challenge is in maintaining the tradition of playing at UND.
"College hockey has become more transactional," Jackson said. "Guys can transfer. Guys can get lured away if they get a better offer and get more money elsewhere. One of our big challenges is just making guys understand how important it is to play here, how special it is to play here, what a kind of privilege and honor it is to play in an iconic program."
Finally, the UND hockey team's mission statement is: 'You play for the name on the front of the jersey, not the back.' No one is bigger than the program. You have to want to be here. No one is promised anything. You'll earn it every day. Nothing is given, it's earned.
