They were warmed by David Silye’s hat trick to lead No. 2 Minnesota State past St. Thomas 7-1 in Saturday’s Hockey Day Minnesota main event on the football field at Blakeslee Stadium in snowy Mankato to complete a weekend sweep of the Tommies.

“It was a challenge (to stickhandle and pass),” Silye said. “But most of us grew up playing on the outdoor ponds. It was such a cool moment to go back into our childhood and we kind of had to simplify the game.”

Thousands of fans crowded the home-side concrete football stands behind the player benches and the temporary aluminum bleachers that lined the far-side of the rink. Students from each university, plus MSU’s “Maverick Machine” pep band piled into the bleachers behind one goal, within shouting distance of each other which allowed the sides to hurl insults back-and-forth.

A climb to the top of the football bleachers to peer over the edge would reveal a thousand more fans below wandering around a makeshift village lined with food, beer and clothing vendors surrounding fans huddled around fire pits as kids slid across the mini hockey rinks.

Despite the cold and MSU’s widening lead, the stands remained mostly full into the third period.

And while it was the players who got the Mavericks fans on their feet to sing “Ole! Ole! Ole!” after each goal, the shovelers on the ice crew became the stars of the show as the game went on and the snow fell heavier.

The ice crew was led by Mat Hennen and Arena Warehouse of Alexandria. The crew arrived in Mankato on Jan. 16 to begin construction on the rink.

“We were prepared for the snow, but the volunteers are saving us tonight,” Hennen said of the shovelers.

The shoveling crew, much of which was manned by members of high school hockey teams, struggled to get the heavy snow to the Zamboni door and off the ice, where it was loaded into a skid loader bucket and hauled away as players on both benches gave enthusiastic stick taps the volunteers.

“The guys on the bench were talking about how it looked like the shovelers were starting to get gassed,” MSU coach Mike Hastings said. “They were tired and you could see it. The players were so appreciative of what they were doing.”

The Mavericks were well on their way to completing the lopsided victory but, for a moment, the snowy ice surface took its typical toll on a hockey game by slowing the puck and the overall pace.

The evidence was in the powder the puck would kick into the air and the trail it would leave in its wake as it scooted along, resulting in passes that sometimes failed to make its destination. That can often even the playing field and hurt the more-skilled team, in this case MSU, and it almost resulted in the Tommies sneaking their way back into the game.

The Mavericks took an early 2-0 lead on Silye’s first two goals, but St. Thomas came back with a goal by Tom Piechowski two minutes into the second period. Just a few minutes later, the Mavericks misplayed a puck at the blue line and Piechowski took it the distance on a breakaway, but his wrister for the potential tying goal rang off the post.

“The energy changed a little bit when they made it 2-1,” Hastings said. “Then they come down and ring one off the post. Momentum is a crazy thing. They don’t get one and then we find a way to get the two-goal lead again.”

The Mavericks capitalized off the Tommies’ missed opportunity and rattled off five unanswered goals, ending with Silye’s hat trick-clinching goal nine minutes into the third period.

“This kind of hockey, playing in the winter outside, was special and we tied it all in,” Silye said. “As challenging as [the snow] was, I don’t think we would’ve changed it for any other weather.

“Coach Hasty made sure we soaked it all in and appreciated what was going on. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

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SAINT PAUL — There’s an age-old adage that says “success breeds success” and, while that may be true, it also has a way of breeding nearly as much contempt. The University of St. Thomas experienced both sides of that coin over the course of several decades of athletic dominance at the Division III level.

But a new era has dawned for St. Thomas, which now faces the reality of playing the role of David in a world of Goliaths at the Division I level beginning with the 2021-22 sports season. With the puck having already dropped on both the Tommies men’s and women’s hockey seasons, it’s a role the school, the players and its fans have already embraced.

Both teams went from the frying pan and into the fire in their respective opening weekends.

The women opened on the road against Ohio State, the NCAA’s current No. 3-ranked team, and were swept by the Buckeyes. The Tommies bounced back the following weekend at home against Bemidji State, winning the second game of the series 2-1 on Luci Bianchi’s third-period goal for its first Division I win and a series split.

The men, meanwhile, faced second-ranked St. Cloud State in a home-and-home series culminating with the Tommies hosting the Huskies at Xcel Energy Center. The Tommies got themselves in penalty trouble in St. Cloud, falling 12-2 thanks in no small part to seven Husky power-play goals. The following night was a different story as St. Thomas played a more disciplined game and hung in there with St. Cloud State before falling by a 2-0 margin in front of 4,261 mostly Tommie fans. 

St. Thomas coach Rico Blasi, who led Miami (Ohio) University to 10 NCAA tournament and two Frozen Four appearances, including one championship game, took note of the fan support and even singled out the student section. 

“I’m super excited for our program, I’m super excited for our university,” Blasi said. “All the people have been working extremely hard for this transition and to have that kind of support is really going to show you what St. Thomas is going to be all about.”

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Swaney’s double-overtime winner lifts UMD to Frozen Faceoff title

St. Paul — With their NCAA tournament seeding secured and only Minnesota Duluth’s region placement fate to be determined there would not seem to be much to play for between St. Cloud State and UMD on a late March Saturday night in St. Paul. Don’t tell that to the Huskies and Bulldogs, though, as the two in-state, intra-conference rivals went at each other hard and fast in the first-ever NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship overtime game at Xcel Energy Center. 

“Anytime you get the top two teams in the country in the same building you know you’re going to have a good game,” UMD forward Billy Exell said. “When you get into these battles both teams are preparing and they don’t want to lose.”

But someone must lose and, in this battle between two NCAA tournament top seeds, Minnesota Wild prospect, and Lakeville native, Nick Swaney scored the game winner at 7:29 of overtime to give Minnesota Duluth a 3-2 win over the Huskies. The Bulldogs captured the school’s second Frozen Faceoff title overall and first since beating North Dakota 4-3 in the 2017 championship game.

“It’s certainly exciting to to win this championship again against a great team,” Minnesota Duluth coach Scott Sandelin said. “It didn’t look so good early but our guys just stuck with it and kind of grinded through it and found a way. We’ve played five times this year and we’ve had unbelievable games with them so I have a lot of respect for their team.”

Despite his team coming up short, first-year St. Cloud State coach Brett Larson, who until this season was an assistant under Sandelin at UMD, expressed what most observers of the game would say, regardless of the result.

“For me, being around college hockey for a long time, that was one hell of a hockey game,” St. Cloud State coach Brett Larson said. “Two unbelievable teams getting after it and if you’re a fan college hockey you like that one for sure.” 

The winning play began with UMD freshman forward Jesse Jacques blocking St. Cloud State Hobey Baker Award top 10 finalist Jimmy Schuldt’s shot which sparked a 2-0n-1 featuring fellow freshman Tanner Laderoute and Nick Swaney with SCSU freshman Spencer Meier the lone defenseman back. Laderoute picked the puck up at his own blue line, carried it into the Huskies’ zone and slid a pass to Swaney who lifted a short-side backhand shot past St. Cloud State goaltender David Hrenak.

“He made a great pass and I was fortunate to find the back of the net,” Swaney said of Laderoute. “It was all him.”

Swaney nearly did not get the opportunity to be the hero as the Bulldogs trailed the Huskies 2-1 with less than five minutes to play in regulation and Jacques in the penalty box serving a tripping penalty. But that’s when the UMD penalty kill, which limited SCSU to just one goal on six power-play chances, made its biggest play of the night.

Laderoute took advantage of a poor cross-ice pass by Jack Achan in his own zone, stole the puck and fed Exell between the circles who buried just his second of the year with 4:51 remaining to tie it up and eventually send the game to overtime. 

Even that goal may not have mattered had a bounce not gone UMD’s way in the third period.

After a scoreless second period, the Huskies started the third with 47 seconds of power-play time but only needed 28 seconds of it when Patrick Newell corralled a loose puck in the high slot, spun 180 degrees and fired a shot through traffic which beat Shepard for a 2-1 St. Cloud State lead. 

St. Cloud State nearly made it 3-1 midway through the final period when Blake Lizotte’s shot hit iron and the puck traveled post-to-post without going in. The official behind the net initially ruled it a goal but, after a lengthy review, the goal was overturned.

Newell said the Huskies, winners of 13 straight coming into the game, learned at the right time they are not invincible.

“We came with a 12 or 13 game win streak, two of those games were against that team and credit to them for for a hell of a battle,” Newell said. “Obviously, this one stings and it’s something that we really wanted to get done but, you know, luckily for us there’s more hockey to be played and that’s what we’re going to look forward to this week.”

The familiar foes were all square at 1-1 after 20 minutes with the Huskies applying heavy pressure to the tune of a 15-6 shots on goal advantage while the Bulldogs applied plenty of heavy hitting. Shepard stood tall in the opening period, keeping UMD close with 14 saves despite plenty of traffic in front of him.

“Well we didn’t have the puck in the first period so we had to do something,” Sandelin said of UMD’s physical opening period.

The Huskies struck first on a delayed tripping penalty on UMD’s Peter Krieger when Robby Jackson pounced on a rebound to tap in his 19th goal of the season at the 7:45 mark.

“We loved our jump, we were winning races to puck, we were getting there first.” Larson said.  “We had gone through four line changes before they had gone through two and hemmed them up in their zone pretty good.

“After that first 10, 12 minutes, I thought it was real even, really good hockey game but we really liked the momentum we created with the start.”

Per NCHC rules, Krieger still had to serve his time so SCSU was immediately a man up after Jackson’s goal. UMD’s physical play rolled on through the power play but it ultimately cost them when Louie Roehl was tagged for boarding with four seconds remaining on Krieger’s penalty. The officials reviewed Roehl’s hit but determined it not severe enough to be classified as a major.

With the teams skating 4-on-4 due to an Easton Brodzinski tripping call, St. Cloud State’s Nick Perbix nearly doubled his team’s lead when the freshman defenseman found a lane to the UMD net but was denied by Shepard. Just 14 seconds later, however, Minnesota Duluth picked up the equalizer on sophomore defenseman Mikey Anderson’s fifth of the season. 

UMD’s Parker Mackay banked a drop pass off the right wall in the SCSU zone to Scott Perunovich whose backhand pass found Anderson just off the bench and streaking across the blue line. Anderson quickly launched a blast from between the circles past Hrenak’s outstretched glove with 9:11 remaining in the period.

St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth head into the NCAA tournament next week as the top two overall seeds with Minnesota State right behind for a Minnesota top-3 sweep. The Mavericks rallied from a two goal deficit with under two minutes to play at home against Bowling Green on Saturday to win the WCHA championship in overtime as well.

“It was a big win for our guys,” Sandelin said. “It’s really exciting to move into the tournament after a win like this tonight.”

Note:

When the puck dropped to open  Saturday night’s game against St. Cloud State, 2018-19 ALL-NCHC first team goaltender Hunter Shepard made his 77th consecutive start for Minnesota Duluth dating back to Oct. 21, 2017. Shepard eclipses the mark set by current UMD volunteer goalie coach Brant Nicklin from Oct. 12, 1996 to March 15, 1998. 

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Shepard, UMD shut out DU to set up all-Minnesota NCHC final

St. Paul — Postseason goals in hockey are never easy to come by anyway but a playoff game featuring the reigning National Collegiate Hockey  Conference (NCHC) Goaltender of the Year going head-to-head with the 2018-19 NCHC All-Rookie Team goalie makes the task even that much more difficult. Minnesota Duluth’s Hunter Shepard and Denver University freshman Filip Larsson proved that and more in UMD’s 3-0 NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinal on Friday night at Xcel Energy Center.

The win sets up an all-Minnesota Frozen Faceoff championship game between the No. 4 Bulldogs (24-11-2) and No. 1 St. Cloud State (30-4-3) on Saturday night. The Huskies knocked off Colorado College 5-2 in the other semifinal on Friday afternoon.

“We played a lot of games that are really, really close and that’s kind of what it came down to again today,” Minnesota Duluth coach Scott Sandelin said. “But it took a good third period for our team to win and we’re excited about playing tomorrow.”

UMD freshman Cole Koepke’s shot past Larsson through a Parker Mackay screen 42 seconds into the third period turned out to be the game’s only goal scored with a goaltender in the crease. Sophomore defenseman Louie Roehl would later score into an empty net and Koepke would add his second of the game, and seventh of the season, into the same vacant Denver goal.

All three goals were unassisted.

Shepard and Larsson matched each other nearly save-for-save through two periods with Larsson making 21 stops to 19 for Shepard. UMD made a hard push late in the second but Larsson stood his ground and denied all comers. Shepard finished with 25 saves with Larsson stopping 30 UMD shots for the game.

“You gotta get in their good goalie’s space,” Sandelin said. “I thought they were doing a pretty good job of that and we weren’t and I thought we did a better job of that in the third period.”

Shepard, meanwhile withstood some flurries of his own and slammed the door on Cole Guttman’s breakaway opportunity 20 seconds into the second period.

“There’s a reason he’s, you know, won awards last night in this conference and I thought he was seeing the puck really well,” Denver coach David Carle said. “Did we have some second chance opportunities? Yeah, but he did a great job sealing the bottom of his net and, unfortunately, we weren’t able to get any past him.”

Added Sandelin on Shepard, “They were doing a good job around our net and that’s what you have to do against good goalie. It was it was nice to see Shep seeing the puck and making some of those saves for us because, again, that game could have gone either way.”

But it was UMD and Kopeke who broke through when the Hermantown native came off the bench, picked up a loose puck and, with Mackay blocking Larsson’s view, ended the stalemate.

“Larsson’s a great goalie and anytime you can try and take the goalie’s eyes away just increases your chance of scoring,” Koepke said. “So I thought Parker’s positioning was pretty, pretty key on that goal.”

Minnesota Duluth and Denver split their four regular-season meetings with Denver winning 2-0 and 1-0 games but this time the tables were turned.

“I thought it was a good hockey game, tight checking, similar to most of our games against Duluth,” Carle said. “There wasn’t a lot of time and space out there, it came down to execution and they made one more play than we did and that was ultimately all that was needed.”

The Bulldogs briefly thought they had taken a 2-0 lead when Jesse Jacques pounced on a loose puck behind Larsson. After a lengthy review, however, the officials ruled Riley Tufte had interfered with Larsson and the goal was overturned.

Minnesota Duluth now turns its attention to St. Cloud State, a team the Bulldogs have dropped three of four games to this season, although all were fairly tight games including a pair of 4-3 losses (one in overtime) two weeks ago in St. Cloud.

“We had two great games with them at the end of the year, so I expect it to be the same thing,” Sandelin said. “Hopefully, we can find a way to solve them, keep this going and, you know, keep building off of the last few games for our team.” 

 Photo Gallery by Rick Olson for Minnesota Hockey Magazine. Follow Rick on Twitter at @rickolson77.

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St. Cloud State back in NCHC Frozen Faceoff title game with 5-2 win over CC 

St. Paul — St. Cloud State and Colorado College faced each other four times during the regular season, twice with the Huskies ranked No. 2 in the country while Friday’s NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinal meeting marked the third time the Tigers took on SCSU as the nation’s top-ranked team. Each of the first four meetings saw St. Cloud State come from behind to beat the Tigers and the fifth time was no exception.

After spotting CC a lead midway through the first period, the Huskies (30-4-3) answered quickly and pulled away to a 5-2 win to advance to Saturday’s Frozen Faceoff championship game for the fourth time in five years.  SCSU awaits the winner of the evening matchup between Minnesota Duluth and Denver University.

“You can tell that they’ve been battle tested and playing really tough games and fighting for their life,” St. Cloud State coach Brett Larson said. “Give CC full credit because I really liked their team, I liked their game and they were certainly tough to play against tonight.”

Patrick Newell scored a huge first-period goal and added an assist, Robby Jackson scored a highlight-reel goal in the second while Blake Lizotte and Kevin Fitzgerald chipped in a pair of assists each. SCSU goaltender David Hrenak made 31 saves, including 13 in the third period when Colorado College employed an unusual power play strategy in an effort to get back in the game.

Larsson said the word Hrenak’s performance brought to mind was sharp.

“Sometimes when goalies are sharp, in a way they almost make it look easy because they’re not flying all over the place,” Larson said. “They’re just in the right positions and making the right save and that’s how I thought he played tonight.”

The Tigers (17-19-4) struck first in the opening period when Cloquet’s Westin Michaud fired a left circle shot that beat Hrenak at the 9:47 mark just 19 seconds after SCSU’s Robby Jackson went off for interference. Jackson’s release from the penalty box was short-lived as he was assessed a 10-minute misconduct before the ensuing faceoff, presumably over something he said to an official.

But back-to-back goals by Newell and Nolan Walker 24 seconds apart put the Huskies up for good three minutes later. St. Cloud state defenseman Jimmy Schuldt said what was clear from the first four meetings with CC is the Tigers are a team that really plays off momentum.

“They wanted to get a lead right away and they did and then they were going,” Schuldt said. “We made a couple good plays to get a lead and that’s definitely a turning point in the game and then and then I think we started rolling from there.”

A scary incident occurred between Michaud and Newell’s goals when St. Cloud State’s Ryan Poehling lost an edge and tumbled awkwardly into the end boards to the right of the Colorado College net. The brunt of the impact was taken by Poehling’s facemask and the former Lakeville North star was tended to for several minutes on the ice before skating off mostly under his own power but he did not return. 

Larson said it was too soon to know the severity of Poehling’s condition, revealed only as an upper body injury, with further evaluation of one of his top scorers (8 goals and 31 points) to come on Saturday.

“Obviously, it doesn’t matter who it is that was a scary moment,” Larson said. “I know everyone’s holding their breath on the bench, but I can tell you he is going to be okay; we’ll just see how bad the injury is by the morning.”

Another Poehling went down hard and was slow to get up at the 15:54 mark when Ryan’s brother Jack absorbed a huge hit from Colorado College’s Trevor Gooch. The high hit earned Gooch a major penalty for contact to the head and a game misconduct. 

Leading 2-1 halfway through the second period, St. Cloud State struck again when Spencer Meier lofted a puck toward Tigers’ net before Jackson re-directed it out of midair and past stunned CC goaltender Alex Leclerc for a 3-1 lead.

“Spencer Meier made a great play, didn’t take any time, threw it at the net and Robbie obviously made an incredible play batting out of the air,” Lizotte said. “That’s just a credit to Robbie and his talent and ability.”

The Huskies carried that lead into the third period and extended it to 4-1 on defenseman Jack Achan’s 6th of the year with just 12:39 remaining in regulation. The final period was not without its drama, however, as Colorado College had a golden opportunity to chip away at lead.

With the Tigers already on a power play and trailing 4-1, St. Cloud State’s Jon Lizotte hit Michaud into the boards from behind in the left corner. The hit drew a major checking from behind penalty and a game misconduct on the senior defenseman and gave CC a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:25 with just over nine minutes to play. 

Colorado College coach Mike Haviland wasn’t satisfied with the two-man advantage and made the aggressive move of pulling Leclerc for a 6-on-3 edge. The tactic proved unsuccessful and Leclerc returned to the crease 1:21 later.

Schuldt said he found the rare situation to be “really fun.”

“If you’re killing a 5-on-3 you have certain set lanes are to cover but a 6-on-3 is a whole different animal,” Schuldt said. “It just kind of comes down to being in the right place at the right time, I think.”

The Tigers did cut the deficit to 4-2 on Brian Yoon’s goal with 58 seconds left on Lizotte’s penalty but Nick Poehling scored two minutes later to restore the three-goal cushion.

Photo Gallery by Rick Olson for Minnesota Hockey Magazine. Follow Rick on Twitter at @rickolson77.

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Nathan Burke heats up as Gophers earn split

Nathan Burke addresses the media. (Photo by Declan Goff)

MINNEAPOLIS — Its gold paint may be chipping away revealing its all-white origins and its maroon “M” logos may have seen better days, but the hard hat, emblematic of the University of Minnesota men’s hockey team’s Player of the Game, fit Nathan Burke perfectly on Saturday night.

Burke, the first Arizona native to ever suit up for the Gophers, had just scored scored the first two Minnesota goals — the first points of his collegiate career — in a 3-0 win over St. Lawrence at Mariucci Arena. The freshman’s performance helped  Minnesota salvage a split with the Saints after a devastating 4-3 overtime loss in Friday night’s series’ opener.

“After last night it was definitely cool to bounce back and help my team out,” Burke said. “I have great linemates, (Sammy) Walker and (Blake) McLaughlin, and they did all the work. I just happened to go to the right places.”

The all-freshman line’s six-point night included Walker’s second of the season and a pair of assists by McLaughlin.

“It’s a good statement for him,” Motzko said of Burke who played just his third game of the season after sitting out Friday night. The Gopher coaching staff has been cautious with Burke’s recovery from a bout with mononucleosis which cost him much of the preseason and the beginning of the regular season.

“We can see Burkie’s skill in practice and he got a shot and did his thing,” said goaltender Eric Schierhorn who shut out the Saints with 12 saves. “His second one should probably be on SportsCenter.”

(Brace Hemmelgarn/University of Minnesota Athletics)

Schierhorn was referring to the play in which Burke received a pass from Walker toward the bottom of the right circle, spun away from a St. Lawrence defender, drove to the net and buried his second career goal behind Saints netminder Emul Zetterquist at the the 7:43 mark of the second period.

“I don’t know about that,” Burke said when told of Schierhorn’s SportsCenter suggestion. “But I mean, if it happens, it happens, that’d be cool for sure.”

The well-traveled Burke grew up in Scottsdale, Ariz.where he sandwiched two stints with the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes around stops with the Los Angeles Jr. Kings and the Cleveland Barons before moving on to the North American Hockey League’s Aberdeen Wings for the 2017-18 season.

“It’s definitely cool to represent my state a little bit,” Burke said. “I know (Toronto Maple Leafs star) Auston Matthews is doing a great job at the pro level so I’ll do what I can at the collegiate level.”

When a reporter playfully asked if he was crowning himself the Auston Matthews of college hockey, Burke was quick to refute that assertion.

“No, definitely not,” Burke said with a laugh. “Don’t put those words in my mouth.”

In Aberdeen, Burke led his team and the NAHL in goal scoring with 32 goals in 60 games last season and his 56 points ranked first on the Wings and seventh in the league. The All-NAHL Second Team and All-NAHL Rookie First Team honoree’s 16 power-play goals in the regular season also led the league.

“He’s a hard worker, loves to play around the net,” Motzko said. “That’s where he’s best, right around the goaltender.”

Burke, who originally committed to St. Cloud State back in February, decommitted from the Huskies when coach Bob Motzko departed for Minnesota at the end of last season and brought assistant coach Garret Raboin with him.

“Rabs recruited me really hard and I just felt comfortable,” Burke said. “My mom always said when you know you’d know and I just felt right with them. Frankly, if they went anywhere else, I think I’d follow them there too.”

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When the Minnesota Wild selected the 19-year-old Nick Swaney in the seventh round of the 2017 NHL Draft with the 209th overall pick last June, the former Lakeville South forward became the first player in school history to be drafted by an NHL team.

The long wait did not faze Swaney, who had been there before.

“It was my third year (of eligibility) so I was going in kind of just whatever happens, happens. If it wasn’t going to happen it wasn’t the end of the world and if it was it was pretty awesome. Obviously getting drafted by your hometown team is a pretty surreal moment for me and my family.”

Nick Swaney (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

Although Swaney’s reign as the lone Cougar draft pick lasted just six picks, when fellow Lakeville South alum Joshua Ess was snatched up by the Chicago Blackhawks, no one can take No. 1 from him.

The humble Swaney, however, does not concern himself with those things. Instead, the now 20-year-old University of Minnesota Duluth freshman prefers to pay homage to those who came before him.

“I know I’m the first drafted but I think of guys that I looked up to like Justin Kloos, for instance, who didn’t get drafted but got a game with the Wild this year and is playing with the Iowa Wild,” Swaney said. “Growing up watching Justin and (former Bulldog) Kyle Osterberg play high school hockey really pushed me to where I am and hopefully I can do that for kids coming up right now too.”

This week, Swaney is once again following his fellow former Cougars once, this time to the Frozen Four, an event both Kloos (2014 with Minnesota) and Osterberg (2017) helped their teams reach.

“As a kid you dream of getting to the Frozen Four and, making it even better, playing at the ‘X’ in front of a big crowd is going to be something special,” Swaney said of playing for a national championship in the arena he one day hopes to call home.

Swaney grew up playing youth hockey in Lakeville and by the time he reached high school he was a player in high demand, especially after a strong showing in the Upper Midwest High School Elite League.

That’s where UMD coach Scott Sandelin took notice.

“I saw a kid that, obviously, could skate, he’s got good speed, but he could score,” Sandelin said. “Everybody’s looking for guys that can score.”

Shortly after the UMHSEL season concluded, Swaney announced his commitment to Sandelin and the Bulldogs.

I’m proud and excited to announce I’ve committed to play college hockey at the University of Minnesota Duluth! #Bulldogs

— Nick Swaney (@swaneshow) October 28, 2013

After finishing his sophomore season at Lakeville South, Swaney joined the United States Hockey League’s Waterloo Black Hawks and, in his junior hockey debut on March 15, 2014, scored his first USHL goal with 40 seconds left in a 7-3 win over the Dubuque Fighting Saints.

Swaney returned to the Cougars as a junior, scoring 25 goals and 57 points in just 25 games before rejoining the Black Hawks and contributing nine goals and 13 points their final 15 games.

Sandelin said the original plan when Swaney was recruited was for him to play two years of junior with the possibility of joining the Bulldogs sooner.

Swaney decided to forgo his senior season at Lakeville South and hone his game in Waterloo the next two seasons, scoring 115 points on 66 goals and 49 assists in 120 games, including 30 goals in his first full season.

“He had a really good first year in junior hockey but we felt he was a top-six forward for us,” Sandelin said. “I didn’t really want him playing maybe a third or fourth line role.

“There was some consideration of bringing him in after his first year of junior but we didn’t lose anybody that year and we were pretty much set.”

On one hand, that cost Swaney a chance to play in the Frozen Four with the Bulldogs a year earlier but, on the other, it gave NHL representatives more opportunity to watch him play consistently in a top-six role.

“For us, he’s your typical late bloomer,” Wild Assistant GM Brent Flahr said. “Last year,we spent a lot of time watching Waterloo and he’s guy that kind of caught everybody’s eye. At the same time, he’s not the biggest body so he needs to get stronger and gain a step and get quicker.”

Flahr added Swaney is a smart offensive player who can make plays and play in most situations. “Sandy does a great job with those kids up there, him and his staff,” Flahr said. “So we’re hopeful he continues to get better and so far, so good.”

Swaney wouldn’t disagree with that assessment, saying college hockey has been exactly as he expected and, overall, his rookie season has been a good one.

“I’ve had a couple injuries this year which kind of set me back a little bit and put some hiccups in the road,” Swaney said. “Just getting back that confidence here at the end of the season and knowing my linemates are going to be picking me up no matter what happens.”

Swaney comes to St. Paul playing on a line with seniors Jared Thomas and Karson Kuhlman, the team’s captain. The pair are the first players in school history to make four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.

“Playing with them you get their best every single night and you feed off of it and makes you want to play up to their level,” Swaney said.

Swaney and Nick Deery celebrate a UMD goal. (MHM Photo / Jonny Watkins)

With its roster pillaged by graduation and the NHL,  2017 NCAA runner-up Minnesota Duluth was not expected to make another Frozen Four run this season. Yet the Bulldogs find themselves in St. Paul, site of the school’s first and only national championship and two wins away from another.

Swaney said resiliency has been key to the Bulldogs’ season, pointing to UMD’s poor showing in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff putting its NCAA tournament hopes in peril.

“We lost both of those games and kind of barely snuck into the NCAA tournament,” Swaney said. “We knew that’s all we needed; once we got in anything could happen.”

The Bulldogs bounced back in the West Regional in Sioux Falls, S.D., storming back from a two-goal deficit to eliminate Minnesota State in overtime and defeating Air Force 4-1 in the region final.

Swaney scored the tying goal against the Mavericks with 4:08 left in regulation and scored again 55 seconds into overtime but the goal was reversed when the officials ruled teammate Dylan Samberg had interfered with the MSU goaltender. Parker Mackay’s goal 1:33 later, however, officially sent UMD back to St. Paul.

While the Bulldogs are the underdogs among Notre Dame, Ohio State and Michigan, Swaney says UMD cannot be counted out this weekend.

“Obviously, it’s going to be kind of a different stage — more emotion and everything — but if we can just stick to what we know and just live in the moment and play period-by-period, things are going to go in our favor.”

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