GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- I was in the elevator at Ralph Engelstad Arena last Saturday night with a few other media types, headed down to the interview room in the lowest level of the rink to ask questions of UND coach Dane Jackson and a few select players.

We had just watched Minnesota string together a dominant third period to beat the Fighting Hawks 5-1 a night after UND had won the series opener 5-2.


It is rare when one of those big rivals sweeps the two-game sets they play, so that this weekend ended with a split was not surprising.

One of the fellow media types in the elevator made an interesting comment that hit home with me.

"Both of these teams have a lot of very talented players,'' he said. "But when you look at the rosters, both are very young, too. So you'll see this at times throughout the year as these teams gain experience and grow together.''

It struck me as a valid point. 

By my count, UND had 13 freshmen and sophomores in the lineup for the Saturday game. Minnesota had 12. There were 5 transfer players from other colleges in UND's lineup, 2 for the Gophers.

So not only do these big rivals always battle each other hard in front of sellout crowds, but the youth of the talent on both teams leads to disjointed play at times. That leads to the big win for the home team one night, an equally big win for the visiting team in Game 2 of the series.

In North Dakota and Minnesota, you have two neighboring states with two of the top hockey programs in the nation, every year. The fact that they no longer play in the same conference and have league rights to battle over, takes a slight edge off the series, but not much. It's still Hawks vs. Gophers, a battle the players and fans love, no matter what is at stake.

The fact that each team won a game last weekend is probably more the norm whenever they meet, especially considering the youth of both teams, struggling yet to develop consistency in their play.

That series for this year is behind us now. It'll be interesting to see how the Fighting Hawks move on from that emotional battle with a trip to the East Coast for two games with Clarkson this weekend.

 It is a series of importance as well for UND in that wins against a quality non-conference opponent will carry weight in the selection process for teams later on for the 16-team NCAA tournament.

So as much fun as it was for all -- players, fans, media -- for the Hawks and Gophers to battle it out, while this series at Clarkson won't carry the passion of that series, it can build or hurt the chances for an NCAA berth down the road.

The focus has to shift in a hurry.

Here's hoping the Hawks respond very well.

Virg Foss has covered UND hockey every year except one starting in 1969 either for the Grand Forks Herald (1969-2005) and then for UND Athletic Communications. He can be reached at virgfoss@yahoo.com.