GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Ten former University of North Dakota men's hockey players will begin their pursuit of hockey's holy grail when the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup Playoffs start on Wednesday evening.

All but two of the eight first-round series matchups feature at least one North Dakota product, including a pair of head-to-head showdowns: Minnesota (Zach Parise) vs. St. Louis (Jordan Schmaltz) and Edmonton (Drake Caggiula) vs. San Jose (Aaron Dell).

UND's other playoff participants include Chicago's Nick Schmaltz and Jonathan Toews, Boston's Drew Stafford, Washington's Taylor Chorney and T.J. Oshie, and Pittsburgh's Carter Rowney.

Fifteen different UND products have had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup, most recently Toews in 2015:

REGULAR SEASON RECAP:
A school-record 22 UND alums played in the National Hockey League in 2016-17, including 11 players who made their NHL debuts. Of those 11, four played for the Fighting Hawks' NCAA championship team one season earlier: Drake Caggiula, Paul LaDue, Nick Schmaltz and Troy Stecher.

The previous school record for most NHLers in a season was 21, which was established in 1991-92 and matched in 1993-94.

UND's 22 NHLers were easily the most of any National Collegiate Hockey Conference program, topping Miami (13), Denver (12), Colorado College (7), St. Cloud State (7), Western Michigan (7), Minnesota Duluth (6) and Omaha (5):

In addition to those 22 players, nine other UND alums serve in either NHL coaching or executive capacities: Philadelphia head coach Dave Hakstol, Arizona head coach Dave Tippett, Dallas assistant coach James Patrick, St. Louis assistant Rick Wilson, Arizona video coach Steve Peters, Calgary assistant general manager Brad Pascall, Minnesota director of player development Brad Bombardir, Vancouver director of player development Ryan Johnson and New York Rangers director of professional scouting Kevin Maxwell.

Additionally, UND football alum Mark Chipman is the chairman of True North Sports & Entertainment, the group that owns the Winnipeg Jets.

HONOR ROLL:
Three defenseman were recently bestowed with team honors, including a pair of rookies.

Vancouver's Troy Stecher was voted by fans as winner of the team's Walter (Babe) Pratt Best Defenseman Award after leading Canucks rearguards with 24 points in 69 games.

Fellow rookie Derek Forbort received the Los Angeles Kings' Mark Bavis Memorial Award as the team's best newcomer. He had 18 points and was a plus-8 while playing in all 82 games. Forbort's Los Angeles teammate and fellow defenseman, Matt Greene, won his second straight Ace Bailey Memorial Award as the Kings' most inspirational player.

Also, San Jose goaltender Aaron Dell was the team's nominee for the NHL's Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, annually given to the player “who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.”

Dell established himself on the NHL scene this season after the undrafted free agent had first spent stints in the CHL, ECHL and AHL. The former All-American led NHL goalies (minimum 20 GP) in goals against average (2.00) and tied for the league lead in save percentage (.931).

MILESTONES:
Several UND alums reached notable NHL milestones in 2016-17.

Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews joined Dave Christian, Zach Parise and James Patrick as UND's only players to score 600 NHL points. Toews also reached the 20-goal plateau for the 10th time in as many seasons.

Forwards T.J. Oshie, Drew Stafford and Travis Zajac each surpassed the 400-career point milestone, becoming UND's ninth, 10th and 11th players to do so. Zajac also eclipsed 700 career games played.

Zach Parise of the Minnesota Wild became just UND's second 300 goal scorer. He has 318 in his career, a number topped only by Christian's 340.

On the bench, longtime Arizona Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett cracked the NHL's all-time top 20 for coaching victories. He ranks 19th with 553 career wins.

ALSO OF NOTE:
Oshie racked up a career-high 33 goals in only 68 games, tying for the team lead with the Washington Capitals … Fourth-year New York Islander Brock Nelson hit the 20-goal plateau for the third straight season and established a new career high with 45 points … Zajac and Toews both ranked among the NHL's top 10 in faceoff wins. Zajac ranked seventh with 884 and Toews was right behind in eighth with 852 … Stecher and Forbort both ranked inside the NHL's top 10 among rookie defensemen in scoring and ice time. Stecher's 24 points ranked fifth while Forbort's 18 tied for eighth. Forbort and Stecher were seventh and eighth, respectively, in ice time with both averaging more than 20 minutes per game.