Third-ranked North Dakota’s 3-0 home win Saturday over No. 12 Western Michigan saw the Fighting Hawks capture their fourth Penrose Cup title in five years, as the NCHC’s regular-season champion.
That kind of regular success always looks a little bit different from one year to the next, and this season has been no exception. Seven freshmen and seven transfers make up a hefty chunk of UND’s roster, and to hear Hawks coach Brad Berry say it, his returning players were more important to their program’s 21st conference crown than outsiders might know.
“Our leadership has included showing those 14 players what our culture is about, what our expectations are here and what our standards are each and every day that you walk into the Ralph (Engelstad Arena),” Berry said. “That comes from continuity of returning players passing all that onto the new faces in our lineup.
“This year’s team found a way to find some chemistry early. It was a situation where they got together in the summer and trained together in off-ice workouts and got to meld together as a team to get close, and that transferred over into when they got here in late August to start our academic year, and then into our games in October. It comes from good leadership in the locker room, and we’ve got very skilled players here who have accepted their roles on the team. It’s a situation where the players have really driven the bus this year.”
Berry also pointed to UND’s play this season at the back end of the ice. Senior goaltender Ludvig Persson has been good, posting a .908 save percentage and continuing to be the reliable option that he had been prior to this season for Miami, but the defense in front of him has been another reason why UND (24-8-2) has six more wins than it did at the end of last season.
“We have very high-skilled players and we have players who play and compete hard, and we call it heart skill. Those guys have had an opportunity to showcase their talent through the air, but the other part for me is that I feel we’ve been strong in goal this year,” Berry said. “Having Ludvig come in here was a big deal for us.
“Last year, our play away from the puck and our goals-against wasn’t great, and it led to us falling short of where we needed to go. It’s been very consistent and strong for us this year in goal, and it has given us a chance, and our guys have played very well without the puck, as far as a lot better defensively in front of our goaltender. That’s the biggest difference for us this year.”
UND finishes its regular-season slate this weekend on the road against Omaha, where the Hawks had to claw out of a one-game hole to win in three last March in the first round of the NCHC playoffs. The Mavericks currently find themselves fifth in the conference but could jump into the top half just in time with good results against UND, and if fourth-place Colorado College struggles in its home-and-home series against Denver.
“Omaha’s going to be a hard-working team, and they’re going to play with a lot of energy this week, because they’re playing for a lot,” Berry said. “They’re playing for moving up in the PairWise (Rankings) to get into the national tournament, and there’s still a home-ice spot available for the playoffs.
“They’re going to be playing for a lot, but so are we. We want to stay as a No. 1 seed for regionals, and we want to move up from where we are in the PairWise, and we want to keep moving forward here with the momentum that we’ve got.”
