UND Hockey Set for Season Opener

NORTH DAKOTA HOSTS ST. THOMAS FRIDAY NIGHT AND PLAYS IN ST. PAUL SUNDAY.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (KVRR) –There are two big firsts are on the horizon this weekend for North Dakota hockey: The head coaching debut of Dane Jackson and a new opponent…the Tommies of St. Thomas.

The Tommies are entering their final year in the CCHA before joining the NCHC next season. While it is game one of the season for NoDak, it will be game two for St. Thomas coming off a 4-3 road win over St. Cloud State.

“You can tell they are well coached and defend it hard,” said Jackson. “There was not a lot of time and space, even with that big rink. They did a nice job defending, but really impressed with their transition game and how quickly they created chances after they were defending.”

Over half the roster for NoDak will be playing their first career game in Kelly Green this weekend. After an exhibition and the countless practices, Coach Jackson is confident the team is ready to go.

“The biggest thing I think we want to put into guys is just go play. Trust your instincts. We’ve had lots of practice. We’re prepared. Go play and play to your abilities. We have good players. We have sharp young guys. We’re going to make mistakes, but we want to play to win. We want to be aggressive. We want to be forcing the issue and taking away time and space. We like our team, but we understand there’s going to be that coming together.”

It’s the norm for UND to begin the season with a flurry of ranked opponents and St. Thomas is no different. They are ranked number 19 in the USCHO poll. After a .500 record a year ago for UND in the non conference slate, the team says they need to be better this season.

“I just want to see us come out hard and heavy,” said graduate defenseman Bennett Zmolek. “With it being a non conference game, it is very important. We saw last year when we kind of struggled with that, it kind of hurt us in the end. So, just kind of want to come out and play our game.”

Puck drop Friday night set for 7:07 P.M. at The Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks. Game two is Sunday night at 5:07 P.M. at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul (formerly known as the Xcel Energy Center- The home of the Minnesota Wild.)

Graduate Bennett Zmolek will be making his return to the ice. He missed all but one game a season ago.

Sophomore EJ Emery did practice Wednesday, but Coach Jackson says he will be a game-time decision Friday night.