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.

Well driving home from the @jfkdance meet in Wahpeton, the @UNDmhockey drops their announcement of who is the next head coach. The phone blew up on I-29—an impressive list of finalists. I wonder if UND could pull an assistant coach or two out of that list.

Matt Smaby, Jason… https://t.co/epbBNGvzkz

— Eric J. Burton (@goon48) March 30, 2025

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.

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. https://t.co/IpNJGIr6Jq

— Eric J. Burton (@goon48) March 30, 2025

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.  

🚨Episode 80: New Bench Boss

-Weekend Recap
-Bob Rock is all time
-UND fires Brad Berry
-Best candidate for the job
-NailGun of the week
-People’s 📞📞 term of the week
&& much more !!

🎧: https://t.co/U0U3Qs1P8W pic.twitter.com/nDGQEFVMFc

— Live in Five (@LiveInFivePod) March 26, 2025

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."

Discussion: UND Finds Their Game, but Is It a Little Too Late?

On Friday night, the UND hockey team won for only the second time in 2025 (2-6-1). Friday has been a killer for the UND hockey team during the second half of the season. With the win, UND improves to 8-8-1 on Friday nights. 

With the 3-1 victory against the Mavericks, the Hawks also broke a three-game losing streak, including a 6-3 loss to the Mavericks in last year's Frozen Faceoff. With their play in the previous four and half weeks, UND has found their game. However, is it a little too late? NODAK is 6-2-0 in the last eight games and 14-7-2 since November 16, 2024. UND needs to win the NCHC tourney to make the NCAA tourney a very tall order. From here on out, every game is a must-win game. 

Speaking of NODAK, UND is 3-1-0 when wearing the white NODAK jerseys. I am on record for the NODAK jerseys becoming the official UND hockey team jerseys. UND could sell more of them than the current jerseys.

Stick Taps 

I was reading the UND post-game notes by Alec Johnson, the UND SID. A few things caught my attention. 

Over the years, the UND hockey team has had the better of the matchup against Omaha, 37-22-2 (.622) all-time. However, entering last night's game, the Mavericks had won the three previous games. 

You can bet that T.J. Semptimphelter will be in the net when the two teams face off on Saturday. He's 2-0-0, 0.99 GAA and a .964 save percentage. Semptimphelter improved to 6-2-0 over his last eight starts.

Carter Wilkie continued his torrid pace, scoring his 10th point in the last 10 games (4g-6a–10pts). 

Freshman forward Sacha Boisvert scored his fifth straight goal, his sixth goal in the previous five games (6g-1a–7pts). He leads the team with 15 goals. That was also his seventh multipoint game of the season.

Speaking of multipoint games. UND sophomore defenseman Jake Livanavage recorded his seventh multipoint game of the season with two assists. Livanavage becomes only 11th UND defenseman to record 50 points in his first two seasons. Even more impressive, Livanavage has the most points by UND defense in his first two seasons since 1999-01 (Travis Roche). Yeah, that guy.

UND junior forward Dylan James has been on a heater; on Friday, he scored his 14th goal of the season, giving him 15 points in the last 16 games (9g-5a-15pts). He's fifth on the team in scoring (14g-8a-22pts). He also has four multipoint games, including a four-point game on February 7, 2025. 

UND Hockey: Crunching the Numbers; It's Crunch Time

Today, I looked at the 2024-25 UND hockey team numbers. There are some good and bad. This time of year, no one cares about anything other than wins, losses, and Natty's. However, some of these statistics are telling and have value. But I digress. These numbers can also paint a larger picture. 

UND needs to improve its penalty kill, especially if it wants to advance in the NCHC playoffs and possibly to the NCAA playoffs. For most of the season, UND's penalty kill bottomed out at 58th in the nation. UND is currently 48th in the PK nationally, which is not great. Since UND's 3-1 win against C.C., the Hawks have improved on the power play and are 27-33 (81.8). 

Dr. Jekyell and Mr. Hyde, Friday nights have been a house of horrors during the second half of the season. Since January, the Hawks have been 1-5-1 (.214). On Saturday nights, UND is 6-1-0 (.857). 

During February, it was no different; UND was 5-3. All three losses came on Friday nights; UND was 1-3-0 (.250). UND was 4-0-0 on Saturday nights. UND's only win was against UMD on Friday night, February 21, 2025, 4-2.

Jake Livanavage Takes Flight 

UND defenseman Jake Livanavage has been stellar, averaging 24:28 minutes per game. His highest minute totals were 30:32 last Saturday against WMU, 29:12 against ASU, 27:47 against UMD, and 27:28 against DU. Jake Livanavage is UND’s top point-getter (4g—22a—26—pts). He’s also a plus-two. He has six multiple-point games. Saturday against Western Michigan, Livanavage scored the game-winning goal. His post-goal Celly was epic.

🤫#UNDproud | #LGH pic.twitter.com/01X66rxkvk

— North Dakota Hockey (@UNDmhockey) March 2, 2025

Carter Wilkie Gets Hot

Graduate forward Carter Wilkie came to UND as a highly touted offensive player. In 117 games at RIT, Wilkie scored (43g-68a—111pts). Yes, he compiled those numbers against the Atlantic Hockey competition, but you still have to be a good player to score those numbers. 

We're seeing a glimpse of what UND was looking for when they recruited Wilikie.

In 33 games with UND, Wilkie has scored (7g-8a—15pts); he’s also a plus one. Wilkie is getting hot at the right time. He has started contributing on the scoresheet after scoring (3g-3a—6pts) in the first 24 games of the season. Wilkie has (3g-6a—9pts) in the last nine games and  (2g-4a—6pts) in the previous four games.

Wilkie's hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“He was snakebit a little bit in the first half of the season. I guess analytically and point-wise, but he’s just kept on playing,” Berry said. 

“We’ve started to play the right way, and it’s reaping the reward right now,” Wilkie said following Friday's wins against UMD. “Every guy in there is contributing, too. Not only my offense but everyone’s continued the winning aspect for our team.”

Louis Jamernik Breaks an O-Fer Streak 

UND captain Louis Jamernik V broke a 14-game pointless streak with an assist last Friday against Western Michigan. Jamernik hasn't scored a goal since November 8, 2024. 

Hobie Sacha? 

Check out this Tweet from the Hobie Baker Memorial Award's X feed. Sacha Boisvert's Hobey Baker Memorial Award. You can vote for Boisvert here. 

Sacha Boisvert is a Hobey Baker Memorial Award nominee! 🏒💪 North Dakota fans, show your support for this standout forward by voting daily at https://t.co/CGEVafN9rB! #VoteForHobey @boisvertsacha @undmhockey @thenchc @drinkbodyarmor pic.twitter.com/lx1BHwYysa

— Hobey Baker Award (@HobeyBakerAward) March 4, 2025

Goal Scoring 19th 

NCHC Goal Scoring 4th

NCHC Goals Scored Per Game 4th 3.21

NCHC Shooting % 2nd 

Goals Against 30th GAA 

NCHC Goals Allowed Per Game 6th 2.88 GAA

Save Percentage 40th 

Save Percentage NCHC .898 7th SV%

Power Play 10th (25.5) 

Power Play NCHC 4th (25.3)

Penalty Kill 48th (76.5) 

Penalty Kill NCHC 8th (76.5) 

Shorthanded Goals Tied 13th 4 

Shorthanded Goals NCHC 3rd 

Faceoffs 54.5 tied Tied for 20th 

Faceoffs NCHC 5th 

(Link to NCHC Stats)

(College Hockey News Stats)

UND Races Past Miami, 5-1

The UND hockey team moved within one game of advancing to the 2024 NCHC Frozen Faceoff with an impressive 5-1 win over the last-place Miami RedHawks. After the first period, the game wasn't close. After taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, UND scored two in the second and two in the third to race past the hapless RedHawks. 

Miami's season has been miserable. The RedHawks last won a game 63 days ago, on January 13, 2024. UND is looking to end Miami's season on Saturday at 6:07 p.m. 

It was a night of surprises. UND senior goalie Ludvig Persson was a last-minute scratch, due to an unknown reason. Freshman goalie Hobie Hedquist took the net and stopped 23 of 24 shots for a .958 save percentage. Hedquist is 4-0-0, 2.28 GAA and .906 save percentage. In the post-game press conference, UND head coach Brad Berry was asked if Hedquist would be starting on Saturday. 

"I don't know," Berry said. "I'll let you guys know tomorrow when you get to the rink." 

On Friday night, UND junior forward Jake Schmaltz scored his first goal of the season—his first in 33 games. Schmaltz last scored on March 12, 2023. His goalless streak lasted one year and three days. Schmaltz was all smiles after the game. 

 

"I figured I was due for one, and now we are just trying to keep building on it," Schmaltz said. "Hopefully, they keep falling for me. 

With UND's win, UND improves to 25-10-2 and 15-8-1 NCHC. With the loss, Miami drops to 7-25-3 and 1-21-2 NCHC. The Hawks improve to 30-8-1 all-time against the RedHawks. UND is 14-3-2 against Miami in Grand Forks. 

Another record was tied. With his goal and assist, freshman defenseman Jake Livanavage tied former defenseman Brian Lee for the most points by a rookie defenseman at UND since the 1999-00 season. When asked about tying Brian Lee's record, Livanavage brushed his accomplishment off. 

"(I am) not focused on that right now," Livanavage said. "We've got a lot of season ahead of us. That's what I'm focused on. I don't care about the individual awards. I care about the team aspect." 

UND's high-octane offense. UND now has two 20-goal scorers. On Friday, Jackson Blake scored his 20th goal of the season, becoming the second player to hit 20 goals. Blake and Cameron Berg are the first two players to score 20 goals since the 2015-16 season when Brock Boeser and Drake Caggiula accomplished that feat. Riese Gaber scored his 17th goal of the season, giving UND the possibility of having three players score 20 or more goals.