Brad Berry

UND HOCKEY: Mid-Week Media Gathering

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After coming back from Alaska 1-0-1, the North Dakota Fighting Hawks were able to take a little bit more than a win and tie away from it. They seemed to learn a bit more about the team they have.

“We learned a lot about our team. One of the words we use is depth and we have it,” head coach Brad Berry said to the media at the mid-week press conference. “Guys coming in and out of the line-up, it was good to see that they were ready. As far as the trip, it’s good to get that out of the way. Our longest trip of the year and the team did a great job in focusing given the circumstances. We didn’t accomplish everything we needed to, winning two games, but we’re getting very close to that.”

“We learned no games are easy,” mentioned senior Johnny Simonson. “It was good for us to have a tough couple games. It’ll help us the next couple weekends ahead. Last year, we had a lot of success really early, then we played tougher competition. It was hard to get up Monday after a really hard Sunday. Tuesday, we really got our feet back underneath us.”

With that adventure out of the way, UND looks forward to more conference action with St. Lawrence coming into town Friday and Saturday. The Saturday game will have a lot of pomp and circumstance, as the 1987 National Championship team– known as the Hrkac Circus– will be in honored pregame.

“It’s great, it’s hard to believe 30 years went that fast,” said Berry. “For our guys, it’ll be great for them to see faces from the past who build the foundation for this school. It’s nice to have that collective group of guys coming through here at the same time.”

However, the Fighting Hawks will need to keep their eye on the prize, especially with St. Lawrence coming off of two losses to Big Ten opponents in Michigan and Penn State.

“I heard they’re a real strong, big, physical team,” Simonson said. “We’re expecting a pretty chippy weekend, so we have to be prepared for that. We’re expecting a hard series.” 

Coach Berry continued, “We’re coming back home and when you have 11,000 fans helping you out, it aids to the success. We’re looking at team from the east, they play fast, and they’re going to bring their A-game. Yeah, we’re at home, but we got to make sure we’re ready.”

UND RECAP: Youth Served in Exhibition Win

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Photo via University of North Dakota’s Twitter

GRAND FORKS, ND– The kids were in full force for the University of North Dakota on Saturday, as the Fighting Hawks won their exhibition match-up against the University of Manitoba for a 14th straight season. The Hawks’ rookies had two goals and five assists from the freshman class, while the other newcomer, junior transfer Nick Jones, added an assist.

The start was a little rocky for UND, as they gave up the first goal after Manitoba’s Remi Laurencelle picked the puck off and went in to beat Cam Johnson five-hole almost five minutes in the first period. Manitoba controlled the game early, which shouldn’t be a surprise with the Bisons playing six games leading up to this match-up.

Things settled down once Ludvig Hoff fired a rocket of a wrist-shot from the top of the circle to beat Byron Striggs and tie the game up. It was the first of two goals Hoff would score in the game, as he was bumped to “top line” center for UND between captain Austin Poganski and Shane Gersich.

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09/30/17 Ludvig Hoff (photo by Jen Conway)

“I felt very comfortable playing between those two,” Hoff said post-game of his two linemates. “They’re two really talented players and made it a lot more fun for me out there.”

After that, the rookies took center stage, with Grant Mismash potting his first goal of his UND career after a fantastic pass from fellow freshman Collin Adams, a play all started by spare freshman defenseman Matt Kiersted.

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09/30/17 Grant Mismash (photo by Jen Conway)

“It was pretty surreal, though I kind of whiffed on it,” said Mismash, a Nashville Predators prospect. “Obviously, first period there were nerves, but once we settled down it was just like playing a good ol’ game of hockey.”

Aside from a goal by Manitoba three minutes in, the second period belonged to UND. Started by another great passing display by Adams, who found a streaking Christian Wolanin to put the third goal on the board for UND, while Hoff put up the fourth, freshman Jordan Kawaguchi scored UND’s fifth, and senior Johnny Simonson put up the sixth and final goal for the Hawks in a 6-2 final.

“We learned we’re not a one-line team,” mentioned head coach Brad Berry post-game. “Lot of good effort out there, but a lot we need to work on. We weren’t as sharp as we could have been. We need to have a good week of practice leading up to Alaska next week.”

The Ralph tonight had 10,682 to watch the game, which is something both rookies Mismash and Adams hadn’t seen in their junior playing days.

“You’re only getting, what, 3,000 or so people out in the USHL,” mentioned Adams. “To have this here for just an exhibition game was pretty fun.”

While this team has been a lot about the play of Cam Johnson, he didn’t have his best game, letting up two goals on 12 shots, one of which was a fluky, bouncing puck in the second that was credited to Calvin Spencer. Freshman Peter Thome took over for the third and stopped all five shots he faced.

“(Defensive zone) is one of the big things we need to clean up,” Coach Berry stressed. “We have to make sure we address the chemistry of the lines and know the importance of cleaning up in front of our house. It doesn’t come overnight, it’s something we have to instill on a constant basis.”

UND takes a long road trip to start the season, as they’ll travel to Anchorage to take on the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves next weekend in their first series, which is a non-conference tilt.

UND HOCKEY: Depth Will Be Key to Hawks Success This Season

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When it comes to this season, North Dakota head coach Brad Berry has quite the problem– but it’s one that he is probably glad to have.

“The difference of this team from the teams the past two years is the depth. It’ll be a challenge on a nightly basis to put a line-up together, and that’s a good thing,” Berry said during the annual UND Media Luncheon on Tuesday. “There’s going to be a lot of competition to be in our line-up night in and night out.”

Depth is something they might need. With the big losses of Brock Boeser, Tyson Jost, and Tucker Poolman, on top of the graduation Gage Ausmus left some holes in a line-up that was a bit of the envy of most teams in the nation. Yet, this year– the Fighting Hawks are without a 1st Round Draft pick on their roster and will really show off their character and make a name of themselves where there’s few big names to be found.

While it is out with the old, it’s definitely in with the new. Eight top-notch prospects are coming into Grand Forks with plenty to prove– especially Nick Jones, who is playing after sitting a year out after transfering from the Ohio State University. One of the most hyped players is Grant Mismash, a recent draft pick for the Nashville Predators and is another player to filter out of the US National Developmental program. Peter Thome could also be someone who battles incumbent netminder Cam Johnson for playing time at some point through the season.

“We have eight guys coming in, but one of them is a junior– so I can’t call them all freshman. We have one true freshman in Grant Mismash who is coming out of high school, but we have four guys who are 20-years-old and have some experience at the Junior A level, so they’ll be a huge part of our leadership going forward,” remarked Berry.

However, it’s all about not only how you start, but how you finish. Last year, UND was the tale of two teams. Though they started out of the gates quick, the hangover of a National Championship caught up to the Hawks. With struggles in the middle of the season thanks to injuries to Boeser, Jost, Poolman, and Johnson to name a few– the young team had to step-up quickly and find a way to develop even quicker.

“We started out of the gates last year strong going 5-0, but then we ran into senior-heavy teams like Duluth and Minnesota that kind of gave us a wake-up call,” said Berry. “We felt as a staff, we were playing the best hockey all year in the last two months of the season going into the national tournament. The NCHC, you all know what it’s all about. It’s a very tough league, but it helps us get prepared. Anyone who comes out of this schedule will have a great chance to hang a banner at the end of the year.”

While they stress the NCHC schedule, non-conference games are what Berry thinks the team needs to put a lot of stock in, as they go up against the Pairwise Rankings when it comes to at-large bids for the National Tournament. Yet in that time, it’s nice to have some of the old guard to come back and let this young team see the shoulders in which they are perked up on.

“We’re going up to Anchorage. We haven’t been up there in a number of years, but I think it’s going to be a good team bonding situation for us,” said Berry. “When we get back, we’ll be home to St. Lawrence, but what’s special about that weekend is that we’ll be honoring the 1987 National Championship team for a 30-year reunion. Guys like Eddie Belfour and Tony Hrkac will be back and it’ll be great to honor the foundation of our program back in our building. It’ll show the guys here what it take to win a National Championship and that that time passes by fast. We won the National Championship two years ago, but next thing you know– they’ll be back for their 30-year reunion. It’ll be a special weekend.”

Berry knows that his players needs to know that this season, while it may go quick, will be a marathon.

“When we open up against Manitoba this weekend, we’ll know a little more about our players and our depth. After that you have to stand by the process in every game and every practice and not get too ahead of yourself.”