News & Articles

Brothers Zam Plante (taking faceoff) and Max Plante were reunited for UMD against Western Michigan. Zam scored both goals in 5-2 loss. Photos by John Gilbert.

It’s been a tough start to the NCHC season for the UMD men’s hockey team, and after being swept by Western Michigan last weekend, I was the last media person sitting in the interview room when coach Scott Sandelin had finished expressing his frustration at how little repetitive mistakes continued to haunt the Bulldogs by turning into opposing goals.

Scott caught me off-guard when he paused in his departure and said: “What do you think we should do?”
I said, “Well, I’ve been waiting until your frustration reached the point where you would put Jason Shaugabay back on the line with the two Plante brothers, Zam and Max.”

Sandelin’s spirits seemed to lighten up at the topic, and he said, “We could do that, but Dominic James needs somebody who can score on his wings, and Jason fits that role.”

My reaction was: “That’s true, but Dominic James is a fantastic player, and he is a threat no matter who plays with him, while Jason Shaugabay has been just OK the last few games, because he doesn’t get the puck much. And when he played with Zam and Max, he was spectacular.”

Sandelin took it further. “Zam and Max are on a wave-length that is something special,” he said, and I cut in to say, “Yes, but when you played them together in the first exhibition game against Bemidji State, Shaugabay looked like he was also on that wave-length.”

Owen Michaels scored with a power-play rebound to give Western Michigan a 1-1 tie in Game 2.

Scott agreed, but he has a week off now to plan for a post-Thanksgiving road trip to Arizona State and to concoct any changes he might make.

But going back to re-examine that Bemidji State exhibition, when the Beavers beat UMD 4-3 in overtime, the record shows UMD got a 1-1 tie with two seconds left in the first period when Shaugabay scored with assists from both Plantes, and they tied it 2-2 in the second when Shaugabay scored from Max Plante, and they tied it again 3-3 late in the third when Zam Plante scored.

Without question, that line was electrifying to watch, and Sandelin admitted he enjoyed watching them as well. In fact, so did Bemidji State coach Tom Serratore, who commented after the game how much fun it is going to be to watch that line develop. But Max Plante suffered a cracked wrist when he got jammed into the boards late in that game, and was sideline for the next 11 games, during which the Bulldogs went 6-5.

All of this is not a criticism of the rest of the Bulldogs players, just a hunch I’ve had since last summer, when I predicted this UMD team may or may not contend for the NCHC title, but the line of Plante-Plante-Shaugabay might be UMD most-exciting line in a decade or two. My feeling is that when you have the potential for a combination that spectacular, you go with it.

When Max returned to the lineup, still unable to  shoot as forcibly as he’d like, he joined Zam at center with Harper Bentz, another promising freshman, at the other wing. Zam scored for a 1-1 tie in the first period, with Max assisting, and after the Broncos scored three straight goals in the second period, Max scored in a scramble at the crease, but one of the officials had blown his whistle before Max jammed the puck in and his goal was disallowed. Zam scored with a one-timer off a Bentz pass to open the third period, but the Bulldogs went down 5-2.

The victory boosted Western Michigan into first place in the NCHC, because newcomer Arizona State went to Denver and stunned the league-leading and defending champion Pioneers 3-2 on Friday, then had the audacity to beat Denver 5-2 on Saturday, while Western Michigan solidified its grasp on first place by beating UMD again, 4-1.

Broncos Ethan Wolthers batted the rebound of a Grant Slukynsky shot into the UMD goal for a 3-1 lead in Game 1.

Western jumped the Bulldogs Friday for a short-handed goal early in the first period, and after pulling ahead 2-1 to open the second, the Broncos made it 3-1 when junior Ethan Wolthers, who had once played for the Minnesota Wilderness, stationed himself at the left edge of the goal-mouth, and when goalie Adam Gajan blocked a shot from Grant Slukynsky, Wolthers whacked the rebound out of the air and in for a 3-1 cushion. Tim Wade scored twice after that for the Broncos.

Slukynsky, a sophomore, transferred in from Northern Michigan to play with his brother, freshman goaltender Hampton Slukynsky. “We grew up in Warroad,” Grant told me after the game. I told him how much I enjoyed going to Warroad for hockey and walleye fishing in past years, and the legacy of Cal Marvin. “He was my grandfather,” Grant said. I never got around to asking him if he knew Shaugabay because everybody in Warroad knows everybody else.

The UMD women moved up in the WCHA standings by sweeping Bemidji State 8-1 and 2-0, also at AMSOIL Arena. In the 8-1 game, UMD outshot the Beavers 45-21 and got three goals from Olivia Wallin, one in each period, while Tova Henderson scored twice. In the second game, coach Laura Schuler switched from star goaltender Eve Gascon to give Swedish senior Tindra Holm a start. She responded with a 12-shot shutout and the Bulldogs got goals from Henderson again and Olivia Mobley in the second period.

UMD captain Clara Van Wieren was stopped at the crease by Bemidji State goalie Eva Filippova in Game 2 of the women's sweep.

The sweep pushed UMD up in the WCHA scramble, because both first-place Ohio State and third-place Minnesota suffered surprising upsets. Ohio State beat Minnesota State Mankato in overtime Friday but was shocked 4-1 by the Mavericks Saturday. Minnesota beat St. Cloud State with ease, 5-2 on Friday, but had to go to St. Cloud for the rematch and got ambushed 3-1 by the Huskies. Wisconsin still leads at 11-1, with Ohio State 8-4-2, followed by UMD at 7-4-1 with 23 points to Minnesota’s 7-4-1 with 21 points.

While the men take a week off and won’t play at AMSOIL again until January, the women stay right at home and face Vermont from Hockey East in a non conference series Friday and Saturday.

Last weekend, UMD paid tribute to Adam Johnson, the former Hibbing star who played two years at UMD before signing a pro contract, and later going to Europe to play. He was playing in England’s top pro league when a fluke collision resulted in an opponent’s skate catching Johnson in the throat, and he died before he could be sped to an area hospital. The shock hit home to Sandelin, who is also from Hibbing, and it was extra meaningful to longtime UMD fans, who also remember Adam’s dad, Davey Johnson, who played at UMD earlier. Dave, who was among many family members in attendance at AMSOIL Arena for the tribute, said he is getting along as best he can, and appreciated the memorial proceedings from UMD.