RIVALRY WEEK: No. 8 North Dakota Hosts No. 13 Minnesota
The North Dakota vs. Minnesota rivalry renews this weekend at the Ralph.
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (KVRR) –The ice at the Ralph Engelstad Arena is where North Dakota and Minnesota are set to renew one of college hockey’s most heated rivalries.
UND-Minnesota is a matchup that shaped legends, sparked debates, and this weekend, will cement a new chapter in a story that never cools off.
“A ton of respect for their program,” said head coach Dane Jackson. “Just over the years there’s been so many great battles and we’re excited that our guys are fired up for the challenge and just know what it means to our university, so they’ll be ready to play.”
It’s two programs built on pride, banners and tradition. There’s no point in calling it just another weekend, because for both teams and fan bases, UND-Minnesota is personal.
“I can remember most of them,” said senior forward Ben Strinden on his memories of the rivalry.” That old WCHA was awesome. The rivalries were crazy. I remember Ben Blood fighting someone in the handshake line. Yeah, there’s a lot of great memories for sure.”
Few people understand this rivalry better than UND head coach Dane Jackson. Before he was running the bench for NoDak, he was in the middle of the fire, lacing up for UND from 1988-92, when every shift against Minnesota felt like a war.
“I probably actually remember some of the games more coaching that we’ve had,” said Jackson. “Probably some of the big Final Five games. Some of the big games in their rink really come to mind. I feel extremely privileged and humble to get to walk into this building every day and be part of it. I just want to keep that going.”
Jackson scored in those moments, including a four-goal game, and now, nearly two decades into his coaching career in Grand Forks, he’s the one passing on that passion to a new generation.
“I mentioned that to[General Manager] Chyzyk the other day,” said Jackson on his four-goal game. “He couldn’t believe it, but that was a fun game for me personally, obviously, and I was just kind of a player that was building my book here a little bit, so it was a big chance for me to play well in a big game.”
Jackson added on the rivalry, “we’ve been talking about it a little bit. We’ve been kind of filling in the gaps on some guys. I think they get bits and pieces, but definitely talking to them about the importance of the rivalry and let’s be honest, there’s no question there’s a little extra juice and boys are extra dialed and focused and ready to battle.”
It’s more than just another non-conference series. It’s a border battle that’s been brewing for over 70 years. When North Dakota and Minnesota meet on the ice, records, rankings and conference logos all go out the window.
“It’s the best atmosphere I’ve ever played in,” said junior defenseman Jake Livinavage. “Everybody’s getting up for the entire week leading up to it. You see and hear stuff throughout the town and everything and it’s just big weekend here for us and we just got to focus on ourselves and what we need to do.”
Adding to this matchup is of course both teams being ranked in the top 15. UND is 8th Minnesota 13th in the USCHO poll.
UND is coming off a sweep over St. Thomas last weekend. Head coach Dane Jackson says he wants to see his team take the positives from that series and bring the physicality and toughness into this weekend.
Puck drop set for 7:07 p.m. Friday night, 6:07 p.m. Saturday for game two.
