Category: North Dakota Fighting Hawks

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Posted on Posted in Big Ten, Denver Pioneers, Michigan Wolverines, NCHC, North Dakota Fighting Hawks, WCHA, Wisconsin Badgers
First-ever WCHA game for Wisconsin men's hockey as Wisconsin beat North Dakota in Grand Forks. First-ever WCHA game for Wisconsin men’s hockey as Wisconsin beat North Dakota in Grand Forks. Nov 15, 1969 Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, North Dakota) Newspapers.com

The semifinals for the 2026 men’s Frozen Four will feature two games that will pit Big Ten Hockey against the NCHC. But if you flip back far enough through the history books, you’ll see that these four teams were once a part of the same conference for more than a decade: all were WCHA division foes throughout the 1970s.

The WCHA has a long and storied history; many of the nation’s top programs called it home for extended stretches of time. By the time Wisconsin joined the conference for the 1969-70 season, the WCHA had already produced 16 NCAA championship teams in the first 22 years of the tournament. The addition of Wisconsin proved to be the right choice as that program became the most decorated team in the conference in the 1970s.

In the 12 seasons that Denver, Michigan, North Dakota, and Wisconsin were in the WCHA together between 1969 to 1981, the teams produced nine WCHA champions, four NCAA champions, three NCAA runners-up, and three NCAA third place finishes:

  • Denver:
    • 3-time WCHA champion (1971, 1972, 1973)
    • 1973 NCAA runner-up
    • 1971 NCAA third place
  • Michigan:
    • 1977 NCAA runner-up
  • North Dakota:
    • 2-time WCHA champion (1979, 1980)
    • 1980 NCAA champion
    • 1979 NCAA runner-up
  • Wisconsin:
    • 4-time WCHA champion (1972, 1973, 1977, 1978)
    • 3-time NCAA champion (1973, 1977, 1981)
    • 2-time NCAA third place (1970, 1972)

The early semifinal game in 2026 will see Wisconsin go up against North Dakota. The primetime game will be Denver versus Michigan. Let’s look into the history between these two matchups.

Wisconsin versus North Dakota

  • All-time series: Wisconsin leads 87-73-13.
  • First-ever meeting: December 13, 1968. Wisconsin won 7-5 in Madison.
  • First-ever conference game: November 14, 1969. Wisconsin won 8-4 in Grand Forks.
  • Most recent NCAA tournament game: March 29, 2014. North Dakota won the Midwest Region Semifinal 5-2 in Cincinnati.
First-ever hockey game between Wisconsin Badgers and North Dakota Fighting Sioux. First-ever hockey game between Wisconsin Badgers and North Dakota Fighting Sioux. Dec 14, 1968 The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin) Newspapers.com

The first hockey game between Wisconsin and North Dakota took place at Dane County Coliseum in Madison in 1968. The top-ranked team in the nation was in town and was sporting an undefeated record. A crowd of 4,120 spectators saw the home team defeat North Dakota 7-5 in a surprising upset. Legendary Badger coach Bob Johnson’s team was 5-3-1 heading into the weekend series. By the time the number one team left Madison, the Badgers had won two more games after scoring a total of 18 goals.

The very first WCHA conference game the Badgers ever played in was at the Winter Sports Building in Grand Forks against North Dakota. The Fighting Sioux started out strong with a 3-1 lead but Wisconsin bounced back and won a lopsided game 8-4. It was a high scoring affair with a lot of offense on both sides. Wisconsin put up a staggering 62 shots on goal while North Dakota had 47 of its own.

First-ever WCHA game for Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey. First-ever WCHA game for Wisconsin Badgers men’s hockey. Nov 15, 1969 The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin) Newspapers.com

Fun Fact: The University of North Dakota isn’t the first hockey opponent the Badgers faced from that state. Wisconsin hosted North Dakota State (known at the time as North Dakota Agricultural College) in January 1929 and swept the visitors.

Denver versus Michigan

  • All-time series: Denver leads 47-36-1.
  • First-ever meeting: February 6, 1951. Michigan won 5-4 in Denver.
  • First-ever conference game: December 20, 1951. Michigan won 7-5 in Ann Arbor.
  • Most recent NCAA tournament game: April 7, 2022. Denver won the Frozen Four Semifinal 3-2 in overtime in Boston.
Michigan looks to shoot on net during the first-ever game between Michigan and Denver in 1951. A black and white photo but it appears to be a color-on-color game.

Denver hosted Michigan for a two-game series in the Pioneers second season of existence during the 1950-51 season. The Wolverines came to town in early February. The independent Denver program had already held its own that season against established NCAA programs such as Princeton and Minnesota. Defending champion Colorado College had swept Denver earlier in Colorado Springs. Denver was not one to shy away from competition as Michigan was fresh off an NCAA third place finish. The Wolverines defeated Denver 5-4 in that first-ever hockey game between the schools. However, Denver evened the score the following night with a 5-3 win. The Wolverines would later go on to win its second NCAA championship trophy at the end of the season.

1950-51 Denver Pioneers hockey team photo.
1950-51 Denver Pioneers hockey team photo.
1950-51 Michigan Wolverines hockey team photo.
1950-51 Michigan Wolverines hockey team photo.

The following season, both programs were invited to be founding members of the Midwest Collegiate Hockey League along with Colorado College, Michigan State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota, and North Dakota. The MCHL later changed its name to the Western Intercollegiate Hockey League and then again to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association that is still in use today in women’s hockey. Denver traveled to Ann Arbor for the first time in December 1951. It was the first intra-conference game between the two schools. Once again, the teams would split. The home team won the first conference game 7-5 while the Pioneers won 5-4 the following night. And again, Michigan would later go on to win the NCAA championship at the end of the season – securing the first national championship trophy for the WCHA. It would also be the middle title for Michigan in what would ultimately be NCAA hockey’s first – and still only – three-peat champion.

1951-52 Michigan Wolverines hockey team photo.
1951-52 Michigan Wolverines hockey team photo.

2026 Frozen Four

This year’s Frozen Four is truly a field of college hockey blue bloods. There are 33 NCAA titles between the four teams. In fact, the four teams left standing all hold the top four spots for most NCAA Division I men’s hockey championships.

As we like to highlight each season prior to the Frozen Four, there are a lot of historical implications this weekend. Denver is looking to add to its NCAA-leading 10 titles while Michigan is looking to win one for the first time since 1998. North Dakota last won a title a decade ago in Tampa. It’s the first Frozen Four appearance for the Fighting Hawks since then after having gone to six in the ten years leading up to 2016. This is the first Frozen Four for the Badgers since 2010 and only its second since it’s last championship trophy twenty years ago. Another wrinkle is that the Badgers women’s hockey team won another NCAA championship this season. If the men’s team wins it all this weekend, it’ll only be the second time that both the men and women’s hockey teams from the same school won hockey titles in the same season. The only other time that happened? The Wisconsin Badgers in 2006. The last storyline is Big Ten versus NCHC. Big Ten Hockey is looking for its first-ever champion while the NCHC is looking to add another name to the wall in its Colorado Springs headquarters. The conference has boasted 7 national champions in 11 seasons. With all of these historical implications and storylines intertwined throughout the remainder of the tournament, only one thing is certain: an NCAA hockey powerhouse will add yet another trophy to its case.

Posted on Posted in Hockey East, Merrimack Warriors, NCHC, North Dakota Fighting Hawks, WCHA
First-ever hockey game between North Dakota and Merrimack. First-ever hockey game between North Dakota and Merrimack. Oct 10, 2009 Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, North Dakota) Newspapers.com
CHH Relevant Rewind Header

Merrimack traveled to Grand Forks for the first series of the 2009-10 hockey season for both the Warriors and Fighting Sioux. North Dakota held a WCHA Regular Season Champion banner raising prior to the initial puck drop. The Sioux kept the atmosphere high by scoring five times with five different players scoring the goals. Eleven North Dakota players scored at least one point in the 5 to 2 win. All four lines contributed to the scoring. The following night was a closer game. Mike Cichy broke a 1-1 tie a little more than seven minutes into the second period that proved to be the game winner. North Dakota hung on to a 3 to 2 win and earned a season-opening sweep.

Jump ahead nearly seventeen years and Merrimack just won the Hockey East tournament for the first time. It was also the first time an eight seed won the tournament. Merrimack is slated to face North Dakota in the opening round of the tournament. The game in the Sioux Falls Regional will be just the third one between the programs and first since that early-season October series in 2009. Merrimack is looking to win its first game against North Dakota, but it will be worth the wait if it happens on the big stage.

Photo Credit: Grand Forks Herald, Oct. 10, 2009

Posted on Posted in Alaska Nanooks, Atlantic Hockey, Bentley Falcons, Big Ten, CCHA, ECAC, Hockey East, Independents, Michigan State Spartans, Minnesota State Mavericks, NCHC, North Dakota Fighting Hawks, Providence Friars, Quinnipiac Bobcats

The regular season is in the books so let’s take a look at this season’s Division I men’s conference champions and the history behind these regular season titles.

  • Atlantic Hockey America: for the first time ever, Bentley won a Division I regular season title. The Falcons had two Division III regular season titles but this is a first since moving up to top tier hockey in 1999. Last season, Bentley won the conference tournament and earned a trip to the national tournament for the first time. The program looks to repeat that feat for the second year in a row.
  • Big Ten: Three regular season titles in a row for Michigan State. It’s the first three-peat for a program that dates back to 1921. The Spartans finished two points ahead of rival Michigan; ensuring the Wolverines remain the only Big Ten hockey program yet to win a regular season title.
  • CCHA: Minnesota State won the McNaughton Cup for the second year in a row and 10th time in the past 12 seasons dating back to the Mavericks’ WCHA days. The CCHA crown came down to the last weekend when the tightest race in hockey saw five teams finish within two points of one another.
  • ECAC: Quinnipiac won an impressive sixth regular season title in a row after finishing three points ahead of both Dartmouth and Cornell. The Bobcats have now won 10 ECAC regular season titles with all of them taking place since 2013. The Cleary Cup has set up an almost-permanent residence in Hamden, Connecticut, yet the Bobcats are still looking for the program’s first conference tournament championship during this six-peat.
  • Hockey East: Providence College earned its first outright regular season title within Hockey East. The Friars were co-champions with Boston College in 2016. Providence won a program-record 18 Hockey East games this season and are looking to win its first Hockey East tournament since 1996.
  • NCHC: For the seventh time in 13 years of NCHC play, North Dakota is the regular season champion. The Penrose Cup is a common sight for the team from Grand Forks as the Fighting Hawks have won more NCHC regular season titles than the rest of the NCHC teams combined.
  • Independents: It’s also worth noting that the five Independent Division I men’s teams pooled together this year to host the first-ever United Collegiate Hockey Cup in Maryland Heights, Missouri. Alaska was awarded the only bye as the team had the best record throughout the regular season. The Nanooks went on to win the weekend tournament after defeating Lindenwood 4-3 in overtime to be crowned the first-ever United Collegiate Hockey Cup champion.

Posted on Posted in Denver Pioneers, Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, NCHC, North Dakota Fighting Hawks, On Location, Western Michigan Broncos

This is the next installment in our On Location series where we live tweet a college game (or games) that we attend in person and then later post an article here on the site. If you missed our first installment, you can read it here.

Teams (seed): Denver Pioneers (1), North Dakota Fighting Hawks (2), Western Michigan Broncos (3), Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (5)

Where: Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota

When: March 18/19, 2022

National Anthem before the Minnesota Duluth and Denver NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinal game March 18, 2022.
Minnesota Duluth and Denver opened up the 2022 NCHC Frozen Faceoff March 18, 2022.

Denver came into the weekend as the number one seed in the conference tournament and started the weekend against the only team to win an opening-round upset: Minnesota Duluth. It was the first time back at Xcel Energy Center for both teams since a previous Frozen Faceoff tournament March 23, 2019.

The Bulldogs scored first in the opening period. There was no scoring in the middle frame and for the majority of the third period. UMD scored an empty-net goal with 20 seconds left to defeat the top-seed Pioneers 2-0. The Bulldogs were set to play in the conference’s championship game for a fourth time the following night.

A Bulldog shoots the puck on net in the UMD vs Denver 2022 NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinal game.
Early action during the UMD vs Denver NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinal game March 18, 2022.

The two NCHC trophies were on display. The Penrose Cup on the left is awarded to the top team during the regular season. Denver and North Dakota were co-champions this season. The NCHC Tournament Trophy is on the right and was on hand to be presented to the winner on the ice after the championship game March 19, 2022.

Penrose Cup and NCHC Tournament Trophy
Penrose Cup and NCHC Tournament Trophy

The second semifinal game was second seed North Dakota against third seed Western Michigan. The Fighting Hawks were looking to become the first repeat Frozen Faceoff champion in conference history. The Broncos were looking for the program’s first Frozen Faceoff win. This was Western Michigan’s first game at the X since losing an opening round NCAA tournament game to North Dakota March 24, 2012. This was North Dakota’s first game in the venue since a 4-1 victory over UMD in the 2018 Frozen Faceoff consolation game. It’s worth noting the consolation game for this season was cancelled due to the Minnesota Wild hosting a hockey game during the day on Saturday prior to the NCHC championship game.

North Dakota got off to a fast start by scoring first but Western Michigan answered back less than two minutes later. The first period ended 1-1. The Broncos went up 2-1 in the second period and then scored again with less than a minute remaining. The Fighting Hawks answered back by cutting the lead back to one with less than eight seconds remaining in the period. The third period remained scoreless until an empty-net goal from Western Michigan clinched the program’s first Frozen Faceoff win. It would be Western Michigan versus Minnesota Duluth in the title game the following night.

Western Michigan celebrates a second period goal against North Dakota in the 2022 NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinal game.
Western Michigan celebrates a second period goal against North Dakota in the 2022 NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinal game.

There’s an area in the Xcel Energy Center that is dedicated to the Patty Kazmaier and Hobey Baker Memorial Awards. It includes a list of past winners, jerseys, a replica award, and information about the trophies and players they are named after.

Wing of the Xcel Energy Center dedicated to Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award.
Wing of the Xcel Energy Center dedicated to Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award that showcases Aerin Frankel.
Photos of all Hobey Baker Award winners from 1981 to 2021.
Hobey Baker Award winners from 1981 to 2021.
Hobey Baker showcase at the Xcel Energy Center
The Xcel Energy Center’s Hobey Baker showcase was updated with Cole Caufield’s photo and jersey.

The 2022 NCHC championship game took place the evening of Saturday, March 19, 2022. The Western Michigan Broncos were looking for the program’s first NCHC tournament title and were facing two-time winners Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. Following the blueprint from the first game of the weekend, the Bulldogs jumped on the board first in the opening period. UMD scored in the middle frame to take a 2-0 lead on a power play goal from Casey Gilling. Ryan Fanti continued his hot streak and made some fantastic saves to prevent the Broncos from getting momentum. Wyatt Kaiser’s goal in the third period iced the game.

The UMD Bulldogs won the program’s third Frozen Faceoff title. Noah Cates accepted the trophy at center ice after the game and Ryan Fanti was awarded the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award. He did not allow a goal throughout the last six periods of play. By the end of the tournament Fanti was sitting at an active shutout streak of 145:21 dating back to the St. Cloud State series. With this win, UMD broke the two-way tie with Denver for the lead in number of NCHC tournament championships.

Noah Cates of UMD hoists the 2022 NCHC Tournament Trophy
The UMD Bulldogs celebrate the 2022 NCHC Frozen Faceoff title after defeating Western Michigan March 19, 2022.

Posted on Posted in ECAC, NCHC, North Dakota Fighting Hawks, Quinnipiac Bobcats
Embed from Getty Images

The date: April 9, 2016. The location: Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. The teams: number one overall seed Quinnipiac Bobcats versus number three overall seed North Dakota. The stakes: 2016 Division I men’s national champion.

Quinnipiac entered the game as the ECAC regular season and tournament champion with a 32-3-7 record. North Dakota entered the game as an at-large bid after losing in the NCHC semifinals to UMD 4-2. However, the Fighting Hawks won the NCHC regular season crown and were heading into the title game with a 33-6-4 record. This was a heavyweight battle for the title and a packed house of 19,358 were there to take in every moment of it.

The championship game was scoreless for the first half of the opening period until freshman Shane Gersich put North Dakota on the board first. Several minutes later fellow freshman Brock Boeser scored a short-handed goal for the Fighting Hawks to make it 2-0. Quinnipiac would get on the board at the end of the period on a 5-on-3 power-play goal from Tim Clifton. There was no scoring in the second frame. North Dakota senior Drake Caggiula scored two goals in the third period to put the game out of reach for the Bobcats. Austin Poganski put the final stamp on the game and sealed it for the Fighting Hawks halfway through the third period. The final score was 5-1. This was North Dakota’s eighth national championship for the men’s team and first since 2000.

This weekend, these same two teams will meet on the ice for the first time since this championship tilt. Quinnipiac will host North Dakota on Friday and Saturday at the team’s home arena in Hamden, Connecticut. Not only will it be a rematch of the championship game from five years ago, it will also be a top ten battle. North Dakota travels east as the number 6 team in the nation with Quinnipiac as the number 7 team. As it stands, the Fighting Hawks own a 4-0 record against the Bobcats and it will be the first time North Dakota has played in Hamden. There are no longer any Quinnipiac Bobcats on the team from the 2016 title game but head coach Rand Pecknold surely remembers it well. He will look to avenge that loss this weekend with a win or two in yet another heavyweight battle between these two programs.