Daily Skate: Riese Gaber has a shot at an uncommon feat
Mar. 22—GRAND FORKS — UND received some big news for its 2023-24 season.
Riese Gaber informed head coach Brad Berry on Tuesday afternoon that
he's coming back to school
for his senior season.
Gaber, a second-team all-National Collegiate Hockey Conference pick, scored 20 goals as a junior. He became the first UND player to hit the 20-goal mark since Shane Gersich in 2016-17.
As a senior, he'll have a shot at joining even more select company.
Since Ralph Engelstad Arena opened in 2001, only four UND players have hit the 20-goal mark multiple times (a byproduct of scoring dropping in college hockey in recent decades).
Jason Gregoire is the last to do it. He scored 20 as a sophomore in 2009-10 and 25 as a junior in 2010-11.
Prior to that, Ryan Duncan did it as a sophomore (31) and a senior (20), Zach Parise did it as a freshman (26) and a sophomore (23), and Brandon Bochenski did it as a sophomore (35) and junior (27).
There will be no shortage of players to get Gaber the puck.
NCHC rookie of the year Jackson Blake, incoming freshman Jayden Perron and Flyers draft pick Owen McLaughlin are all skilled players who prefer to pass first.
"Knowing the group we're going to have was definitely very appealing," Gaber said. "Obviously, with the amount of firepower we have, that's something that's very exciting."
Heading into the NCAA regionals, there are only players in college hockey who have scored 20 goals in the last two seasons. Both of them have signed pro deals — American International's Blake Bennett and Northeastern's Aidan McDonough.
UND is looking to add a goaltender out of the NCAA transfer portal and some high-profile players have started to enter.
Miami's Ludvig Persson, who has backstopped the RedHawks for the last three seasons, entered on Tuesday.
Clarkson's Ethan Haider, who has backstopped the Golden Knights for the last three seasons, entered on Wednesday. So did Jared Moe, who played two years at Minnesota and two at Wisconsin.
Persson, a 6-foot-1 Swede, has played behind a porous Miami defense the last three years. He posted save percentages of .925, .894 and .891. At times, he showed the ability to steal games.
Haider, a 6-foot-3 Twin Cities native, is a fifth-round pick of the Nashville Predators. He's played in 80 games across three seasons, posting save percentages of .921, .908 and .906.
Moe, a 6-foot-4 Winnipeg Jets draft pick, posted a .917 as a junior at Wisconsin and a .898 as a senior. Moe is a right-handed catching goalie.
Other primary starters in the portal are UMass's Luke Pavicich (.920), American International's Jarrett Fiske (.923), Niagara's Chad Veltri (.906) and Sacred Heart's Luke Lush (.899).
UND goalie commit Hobie Hedquist, who plays for Alberni Valley in the British Columbia Hockey League, was run over by Chilliwack Chiefs forward Sasha Teleguine at the end of a game Saturday.
Both Chilliwack head coach Brian Maloney and Teleguine himself
released statements apologizing
for the incident.
Hedquist will likely come to UND in the fall as the No. 2 goaltender, filling in the spot left open with Jakob Hellsten's departure to the NCAA transfer portal. Teleguine, who started his career at UConn, will transfer to Lake Superior State in the fall.
Teleguine was suspended for five games.
NCAA men's hockey regional practices will begin in Fargo and Manchester on Wednesday.
Practices are closed to the public and media in Fargo.
If it's the same in Manchester, we may not know until Thursday whether everything is, indeed, all right with Denver goalie Magnus Chrona, who backstopped the Pioneers to an NCAA national championship last season.
Chrona did not play the final week of the regular season or during the NCHC quarterfinals. He started the NCHC semifinal game against Colorado College, but skated to the bench in the third period, went down the tunnel briefly and watched the final 10 minutes from the end of the bench.
Denver coach David Carle said Chrona was not pulled for injury reasons.
"He's fine," Carle said after the game. "I pulled him. I wanted (Matt Davis) in there — be able to play the puck a little more. (Chrona) had gotten the touches of the pucks that he needed and Magnus is just fine."
* Former UND defenseman Troy Stecher scored his first goal as a Calgary Flame on Tuesday night.
