How will the 2019-20 University of North Dakota hockey team be remembered?
With the No. 1 position in the Pairwise Rankings-- the system devised to determine NCAA Tournament teams--- UND seemed poised to make a strong run at its ninth national title. Until the COVID-19 pandemic struck and wiped out the rest of the season. No postseason tournament. No chance at closing out what it had started back in October. No way to measure up on equal footing with historic teams of the past which have their legacies hanging from the rafters at Ralph Engelstad Arena. So where does this team stack up? Sure, it will have its legacy emblazoned on a white conference champion banner at its home rink, but was there more in store for this group?

This group that all pledged to return this season to get North Dakota back to its familiar home in the NCAA Tournament. The Fighting Hawks had missed out on the national tournament in each of the last two seasons and that didn't sit well with returning captain Colton Poolman. He was a local product (East Grand Forks, Minn.) and had seen his older brother win an NCAA title just four seasons ago (2016) and he wanted to help lead the organization to its ninth title.

So, he bypassed NHL free agent opportunities to finish what he started. Not only getting the team to the ultimate prize, but finishing his degree in biology. The journey began right after the close of the 2018-19 season, a year that saw the team lose so many tight games and on too many occasions, couldn't find those goals that would close games out.

With new assistant coach and alum Karl Goehring aboard to help kickstart the sluggish power play, UND immediately saw dividends on its offseason work and new additions. Also coming into the mix was graduate transfer Westin Michaud, who would surely add to the power play after 14 career power play goals in his first three seasons at Colorado College. Second-round NHL draft pick Shane Pinto would also add some scoring punch as this duo would wind up leading the Fighting Hawks in goals this past season with 16 as those close losses turned into wins-- and many of them.

This team that donned its black jerseys (their "business suits") during key occasions, in fact, right off the bat in the season opener against Canisius. That very Canisius team that a season before had contributed to UND being left out of the NCAA Tournament with a sweep in Buffalo, N.Y.  That season-opening game served as a tone setter in a 5-0 win for North Dakota, lending some credence to North Dakota refinding its scoring and also providing another season-long storyline: strong goaltending.

Sophomore Adam Scheel was among the best goaltenders in the entire country in the first half of the season, piling up a 14-1-2 record in the first half with a sparkling 1.56 goals against average and a .927 save percentage. When the second half started roughly for Scheel, backup junior Peter Thome stepped in and solidified things to the tune of a 1.37 GAA with a 7-1-2 record in his 11 games. In a season that ended full of question marks, the only question in goal was who the number one-- and there wasn't a wrong answer there.

So, then, how will this season full of the aformentioned question marks and what-ifs be remembered?

Will it be the team that silenced the critics early with that convincing sweep of Canisius to start the season en route to a 14-1-2 first half?
UND's only loss before the calendar year turned came at Minnesota State, a team that finished No. 3 in the PairWise Rankings and had won 11 consecutive games at home until North Dakota tied the Mavericks 4-4 on Oct. 11. MSU had won 23 of its last home 24 games and had not allowed four goals to any opponent in that stretch. In that 17-game first-half, North Dakota outscored its opponents, 71-27.

Will it be the last time they played at home (Feb. 29), scoring an overtime goal to clinch the NCHC's Penrose Cup as the regular season champions?
It looked bleak just moments earlier when Western Michigan scored an apparent goal early in overtime. However, the goal was waved off and North Dakota had another shot to cinch things up in front of its home fans. Shane Pinto delivered, potting home a rebound in front to send the raucous fans at Ralph Engelstad Arena into a tizzy.

Will it be the demolishing of rival Minnesota at Mariucci over the Thanksgiving weekend?
UND feasted early and often on the Gophers on Thanksgiving Day with three first-period goals to jumpstart a 9-3 thrashing. Eight different goal scorers dotted the score sheet for UND led by Jordan Kawaguchi's two as the visitors tied for the most goals in the series with its rival in the 289 all-time games.  The Hawks would piece together another win Friday, 3-2, for a sweep at Mariucci, its first sweep of Minnesota since 2006-07.

Will the national spotlight that shown on Jordan Kawaguchi and his run at a Hobey Baker Award be remembered?
Kawaguchi went from zero preseason all-conference accolades to finishing in the final three for the Hobey Baker Award to go along with a boatload of All-America honors. The junior was second in the country in points (15 goals, 30 assists for 45 points) and was the USCHO.com National Player of the Year and the NCHC's Forward of the Year. He paced the NCAA in game-winning points with 13, scoring five game-winners and assisting on eight more. His highlight-reel, between-the-legs goal thrust him immediately into the Hobey Baker conversation as he spearheaded North Dakota return to national prominence.

Who will remember the key contributions North Dakota got from players that enjoyed career seasons?
*Collin Adams led the NCAA in game-winning goals (6), paced the conference in plus/minus rating (+25) and nearly tripled his career point total this past season alone (12 goals and 16 assists for 28 points).
*Cole Smith and Matt Kiersted more than doubled their career point totals
*Jasper Weatherby tallied 18 points after just five in his freshman season.
*All told, 11 different returners recorded career highs in points in 2019-20.

Who could possibly forget the next-man-up story that gained national attention when Josh Rieger played hero in a win at Denver with his first career goal?
Rieger, who was having dinner over a plate of chicken wings at the time, received the final-hour call that he was needed due to illness, raced to the rink and scored his only career goal to date (the game-winner). The story grew legs nationally with outlets such as ESPN telling the story of Rieger's journey in an Uber in a suit, flying down the tunnel to try to dress in time for warmups and the euphoria of scoring the game winner.

Will all the team accomplishments stand the test of time?
*UND won a series in Denver's Magness Arena for the first time since 2003.
*North Dakota was in the top five in the NCAA in both goals scored per game (3.86, 4th) and goals allowed per game (1.94, 5th).
*The Fighting Hawks were 18-1 at home last season, setting the program mark for best home winning percentage (.947).
*The Penrose Cup (NCHC regular season champions) was its third in the seven years of the NCHC's existence.

And how, then, do we recognize such a season?
It's easy to look up into the rafters at the Ralph and see the nearly dozen-and-a-half white banners signifying conference championships and eight more green national championships to measure how great those teams were. But how do we completely tell the story of 2019-20 properly many years down the road? One that didn't get a chance to measure itself up to the likes of the 1987 Hrkac Circus team, the 1997 and 2000 championship teams under Dean Blais or even Coach Brad Berry's first team (2016) that all of these seniors witnessed winning the year before they got a chance to suit up in Kelly Green.

Only time will tell how 2020 shakes out, both in sports and in life, but this UND hockey team was special, regardless of the finish.   
 
AWARDS FOR NORTH DAKOTA in 2019-20
Jordan Kawaguchi
*Hobey Baker Award Hobey Hat Trick finalist
*USCHO Player of the Year
*AHCA All-America West First Team
*USCHO.com All-America First Team
*College Hockey News All-America First Team
*All-NCHC First Team
*NCHC Forward of the Year
*NCHC Player of the Year finalist
*NCHC 3-Stars Award
*UND's Most Valuable Player
 
Head Coach Brad Berry
*Spencer Penrose AHCA Award co-winner
*College Hockey News National Coach of the Year
*USCHO.com National Coach of the Year
*NCHC Herb Brooks Coach of the Year
*NCHC regular season champions
 
Matt Kiersted
*NCHC Offensive Defenseman of the Year finalist
*All-NCHC Second Team
 
Westin Michaud
*All-NCHC Honorable Mention
 
Andrew Peski
*UND's Most Improved Player
 
Shane Pinto
*NCHC Rookie of the Year finalist
*NCHC All-Rookie Team
*UND Rookie of the Year
 
Colton Poolman
*NCHC Defensive Defenseman of the Year
*NCHC Senior Scholar-Athlete finalist
*All-NCHC Honorable Mention (three-time honoree)
 
Adam Scheel
*All-NCHC Honorable Mention
 
Cole Smith
*NCHC Defensive Forward of the Year finalist
*UND's Fido Purpur Award winner