UMD men's hockey: Bulldogs' experience goes head-to-head with Wolverines' NHL pedigree in NCAA regional

Mar. 26—In the spring of 2011 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, a Minnesota Duluth men's hockey program that was still seeking its first NCAA Division I title found itself in the ultimate David vs. Goliath matchup against the nine-time national champions from Michigan.

And we all know how that ended.

Ten years and three NCAA titles later for the Bulldogs, a showdown against the Wolverines at 3 p.m. Friday in an NCAA regional semifinal at Scheels Arena in Fargo, North Dakota is now being billed as a "matchup of two blueblood programs."

And rightfully so.

"We're obviously really excited," said Bulldogs junior captain Noah Cates about Friday's game. "Last year for everyone was kind of a drag. But we're the last team to do this. We got that swagger and we got that experience. We're excited to get back into it and play tourney hockey."

Because COVID-19 wiped out the 2020 NCAA tournament, the third-seeded Bulldogs are "the last team to do this." They're still the defending back-to-back national champions, who have appeared in the last three Frozen Fours and the last three NCAA title games. UMD has won eight straight at the NCAA tournament and 11 of its last 12 national tourney games, including three straight regionals in Fargo (2017), Sioux Falls, South Dakota (2018), and Allentown, Pennsylvania (2019).

So while the No. 2 Wolverines may be the higher seed in Friday's tussle, don't be surprised if they're the ones feeling like underdogs in the first meeting between the two schools since UMD's 3-2 overtime win in St. Paul.

"He's proved he's a great coach and has built a program, and that's the beauty of it," Michigan coach Mel Pearson said of Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin. "They are in the conversation with the North Dakotas and the Denvers and the Michigans and the Boston Colleges and the (Boston Universitys) and so on and so forth. It's really because of Scott and his staff and the administration there. Obviously they've had really good players, but they know what it takes to win. He has a formula and they just stick to it."

The 2011 NCAA tournament was the 21st-straight appearance for the Wolverines. They'd extend the record for consecutive NCAA tournament appearance to 22 in 2012, but no further after missing the tournament in 2013.

The Bulldogs now hold the longest active streak of NCAA tournament appearances with six after Denver's run of 12 straight NCAA tournament berths came to an end this year.

Pearson was an assistant and later associate head coach under Red Berenson at Michigan during 21 of the school's 22 straight NCAA tournament appearances, leaving after the 2011 championship game to become head coach at his alma mater, Michigan Tech.

The experience Michigan's players gained from each appearance and then passed on played factored into the Wolverines reaching 11 Frozen Fours and winning two NCAA titles during that 22-year run, Pearson said.

"The hard part about experience is you can't go down to the 7-Eleven and buy a pint, a quart of experience," Pearson said. "You can't put a price tag on that, but having said that, that was with a team that won a national championship (in 1998) with 10 freshmen. They were an integral part of the team, but we had a few key guys who had been to the tournament."

The Bulldogs boast more experience than any team in this year's tournament, with 13 members of the 2018-19 national championship squad — including nine who played in the Frozen Four in Buffalo — still on the roster. Of those 13, six were part of the 2017-18 national championship team from St. Paul, including four — Nick Swaney, Kobe Roth, Louie Roehl, Matt Anderson — who played at Xcel Energy Center.

With a perfect record in the last two NCAA tournaments, the Bulldogs have the players that know what it takes to win at this time of year, but that doesn't mean anything, Sandelin said.

"There's maybe a little bit more of that understanding of what it's about and what it takes to get to the finish line," Sandelin said. "Everyone at this time of the year wants to play their best hockey and sometimes that's hard to do because of your opponent. You've got to live with the momentum swings, the ups and downs, and you just got to stay with the game. That's probably the biggest thing our guys have learned."

The Wolverines were also part of that 2018 NCAA Frozen Four in St. Paul and were on track to face the Bulldogs again in a national championship game, leading Notre Dame 2-0 in the semifinals. The Fighting Irish rallied to not only tie the game, but scored the game-winner with 5.2 seconds left on the clock for the 4-3 win.

Senior forwards Jack Becker, Michael Pastujov and Dakota Raabe are the only three Wolverines who remain from the 2017-18 Frozen Four team, which is the most recent Michigan squad to make the NCAA tournament after missing in 2018-19. Becker is now Michigan's captain. He and Pastujov — who Pearson said played on the team's best line in 2018 against Notre Dame — are the players Pearson is expecting to lead a group of 10 freshmen, six sophomores and eight juniors who have never played in an NCAA tournament before.

"Coming in freshman year, you're just excited and I don't think you really realize how hard it is to really get good," Becker said. "We're grateful for this opportunity and trying to use that experience we have as a senior class and give that knowledge to the young guys."

Draft picks galore

Becker is one of eight NHL draft picks on this year's Wolverines' roster — with three more likely to go early in the 2021 draft, including 6-foot-5 All-Big Ten second-team defenseman Owen Power possibly at No. 1 overall — but likely the least talked about outside of Ann Arbor because he's a seventh-rounder of Boston's from 2015.

Three of eight are first-round picks, including co-leading goal scorer Brendan Brisson. The freshman forward who went No. 29 overall to Vegas in 2020 has 10 goals and 11 assists this year. Freshman forward Matt Beniers, a potential first-rounder in 2021 like Power, also had 10 goals this season, with 14 assists.

Five of the Wolverines' top six scorers — including the top four — are all freshmen, with forward Thomas Bordeleau leading the way with eight goals and 22 assists. The 2020 second-round draft pick of the San Jose Sharks was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

Sophomore defenseman Cam York, the 14th overall pick in 2019 by Philadelphia, is the only non-freshman among the top six in scoring. The Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year has four goals and 16 assists.

"Those kids are talented," Sandelin said of the Wolverines. "I don't look at age. A good hockey player is a good hockey player and they've got some really good hockey players. They got some guys that can make plays with the puck, they've got really good poise, they've got good hockey instincts, they can play the game with pace. I know their young guys are getting a lot of attention, but they've got some older guys there, too, that can make a difference."

The Bulldogs also have eight NHL draft picks on their roster, but no first- or second-rounders, just a trio of third-round picks in freshman Wyatt Kaiser (2020, Chicago), sophomore Quinn Olson (2019, Boston) and senior graduate transfer Matt Cairns (2016, Edmonton).

UMD only had five draft picks on its 2018 national championship team, plus a future second-rounder in Scott Perunovich. The following year en route to the 2019 title in Buffalo, UMD had seven.

Neither time did one of those NHL prospects lead the Bulldogs in scoring during the NCAA tournament, however. Instead the program has relied on those the NHL initially passed over.

In 2018, it was Karson Kuhlman, an undrafted free agent who signed with Boston after the season, pacing the Bulldogs in scoring with four goals and two assists. Parker Mackay, an undrafted free agent who would sign an AHL deal with the Texas Stars after college, led the Bulldogs in scoring during the 2019 tournament with four goals — including two game-winners — and two assists.

Swaney, Roehl and Jared Thomas also had key goals during the 2018 championship run, while Justin Richards, Peter Krieger, Billy Exell and Roth scored big goals in 2019. Of that group, only Swaney was an NHL draft pick, going in the seventh round in 2017 — No. 209 overall — to the Minnesota Wild.

"Parker and Karson, they were captains of our team, they were leaders for a reason, and they just played their best hockey at that time," Sandelin said. "When you're a leader of a team, guys look up to that. They set that example and everyone follows it. And sometimes you have the guys that are the unsuspecting guys. For example, Billy Exell scored some big goals for us (in 2019). Billy doesn't get a lot of attention, but he was a key part of our team."

COVID-19 drops field to 15 teams

Notre Dame was forced to withdraw from the NCAA tournament on Thursday due to multiple positive COVID-19 test results and subsequent contact tracing. The Fighting Irish were a No. 4 seed scheduled to play No. 1 Boston College on Saturday in Albany, New York, in the regional semifinals. Per the NCAA's COVID-19 protocols, the game is declared a no contest and the Eagles advance to the regional final.

Notre Dame was the last team in the tournament and snuck in after St. Lawrence had to withdraw due a positive COVID-19 test result in its program. Providence was the last team out of the field, and had the positive test results at Notre Dame occurred less than 24 hours after the bracket was released Sunday night, the Friars could have taken the Irish's spot. The NCAA is not allowing any replacement teams this late in the process.