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UMD freshman goaltender Hunter Miska somehow came up with the save on Tyson Jost’s point-blank try in the second game. Photo credit: John Gilbert

   This might be the best UMD hockey team that has ever taken the ice as a Division I entity. Think about that. Let it rattle around inside your head for a minute or two, and tell me of a better one.

   Right now, the Bulldogs are the unanimous pick as No. 1 in the nation by the sometimes-reliable U.S. College Hockey Online group. They also rank No. 1 in the Pairwise rating, which focuses on strength of schedule and computerized analyses.
Sometimes, a situation simply calls for superlatives. This is one of those occasions. It is time we recognize the potential of this season’s team, even though coach Scott Sandelin would probably prefer to slap down any such talk so early in the season. Without question, UMD has a tough task this weekend, going to St. Cloud to face the Huskies in an NCHC series, but just as certainly, the Bulldogs earned their status for this stage of the season by cruising into last weekend’s series as the No. 2 team in the land, and whipped No. 1 and previously unbeaten North Dakota by 5-2 and 3-0 counts at AMSOIL Arena.
Before Friday night’s game, I had occasion to visit briefly with Pat Francisco up in his suite at AMSOIL. Pat played at UMD back when the school went up to engage Division I hockey in 1965. He said he likes this year’s team and thinks it could be the best, from top to bottom, that UMD has ever put on the ice.

UMD players surrounded goalie Hunter Miska after his 3-0 shutout over North Dakota assured the No. 1 rank. Photo credit: John Gilbert

   I told former UMD coach Mike Sertich that I thought this team could be the best since the mid-1980s teams he coached, which included the likes of Tom Kurvers, Norm Maciver, Brett Hull, Bill Watson and a roomful of superstars. They  made it to two straight Frozen Fours -- losing to Bowling Green in four overtimes in Lake Placid in a four-overtime 5-4 heartbreaker in the championship game of 1984, and coming right back to lose by the identical 5-4 count in three overtimes to RPI in the 1985 semifinal at Detroit.
“It’s high time we give UMD the credit they deserve for this team,” said Sertich. “They’ve got four balanced lines and a defense that is also balanced and skilled, and they looked good on special teams, and the goaltender played well. They can all skate, and they have high hockey IQs; they can see what’s happening but also anticipate what’s going to happen.”
The fact that North Dakota came roaring in more like the vintage Fighting Sioux than the high-flying, undefeated defending champion Fighting Hawks that they are made UMD’s play more impressive. In the rotating goalie scheme, freshman Hunter Miska go this second turn to seize the job and played well both nights. Senior Alex Iafallo got a hat trick, starting with a first-period power-play deflection of Adam Johnson’s blue line missile.
Johnson, a skilled sophomore center from Hibbing, found himself beating All-America goaltender Cam Johnson on the right of the net, but too far to shoot. Cleverly, he flipped the puck into the crease, where he played the odds and the puck hit the fallen Johnson and dribbled into the goal to make it 2-0. Iafallo made it 3-0 by converting Joey Anderson’s feed on a 3-on-2.
North Dakota came back when Rhett Gardner scored on a power play with 2:43 left in the second period, and Shane Gersich stepped in line to intercept a careless pass up from Willie Raskob, zooming in to score on an unassisted breakaway with 45 seconds to go in the middle session. Suddenly 3-2, the Bulldogs didn’t flinch. “We might have been on our heels the first two shifts of the third,” said coach Scott Sandelin, “but I thought we responded well.”
Sophomore Neal Pionk drilled a power-play goal from left point midway thugh the third, and Iafallo finished his hat trick in an empty net for the 5-2 final. Everybody in the building knew the Fighting Hawks would come storming back Saturday night, however, and they did stifle the Bulldogs with only two shots in the scoreless first period. But they weathered it.
The Dogs even survived some strange calls in the second period in the best possible way. Miska survived two 5-on-3 penalty kills, and sophomore Karson Kuhlman broke the scoreless tie with a shorthanded bullet from the left circle at 11:24. Carson Soucy made it 2-0 on a power-play shot from the right circle at 15:42, then Kyle Osterberg made it 3-0 with another shorthanded goal at 19:01 of the second period after Kuhlman had led a 3-on-2 rush.
Miska made 30 saves for his sparkling shutout, although somehow he was overlooked as player of the game. “The guys competed and let me see the puck pretty well all weekend,” said Miska. “I wasn’t sure, but in practice all week I worked because I wanted to get the start against North Dakota.”
Going to St. Cloud, the Bulldogs risk being full of themselves for their brilliant sweep of North Dakota. But remember St. Cloud State rallied from a 5-2 deficit in the third period to beat Minnesota 6-5 in overtime, then went home the next night and rallied from a 2-0 deficit after one to sweep the Gophers 3-2. But if the Bulldogs stay within their system and everybody plays up to potential, they should do just fine. Same for the whole season. There’s a long, long way to go before the season is done, then high-intensity games get higher for playoffs. So nothing is assured.
But take it from someone who has seen, and written about, every UMD hockey team that has taken the ice since the school went up into the WCHA in 1965, this Bulldog team might be the best. Ever. It’s time to start appreciating their success.