GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- With Christmas season fast approaching and winter weather settling in around the Red River Valley, it didn't shock me to run into Santa Claus on a shopping trip around town.
Jolly old St. Nick had just six words for me as I perched on his knee. I told him my story of retirement from newspapers 20 years ago and my continuing with my passion by writing a column for UND during the season since then.
Santa had these six words for me.
First, he said "Ho-Ho-Ho" in his usual jolly old way.
Then, relating to our brief hockey conversation, he said: "Beware the Beavers.''
This weekend, of course, North Dakota's nearest hockey rival, the Bemidi State Beavers, play their annual home-and-home series with the Fighting Hawks, each team hosting a game.
UND holds a healthy record of 37-6-8 over BSU since the two teams first met in 1970. But in the last 10 meetings, UND has won 6 of them, lost two and tied two, showing the balance that signifies the rivalry now.
Bemidji State sits atop the Central Collegiate Hockey Association at present time while UND is currently in fourth place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. Yet UND is just two points out of first while playing two less league games than two of the teams ahead of it.
In national rankings, UND has the upper hand at this time, placing 10th in the NCAA Pairwise Rankings (NPI) while Bemidji State comes in at 26th going into this weekend.
There are several good reasons while this has become a friendly but intense rivalry other than being an easy trip by car or bus for the fans and teams.
The BSU program took root and became a national power at the lower classifications of college hockey under the direction of Bob Peters, former assistant and then head coach at UND. He left UND to build the Beavers into a genuine Division I team, and he certainly did that.
Under the coaching of Tom Serratore, the Beavers just are a tough team to beat. They play a disciplined brand of hockey, tough defense and always have solid goaltending, If you are going to beat them, you will have to earn it.
And if you are going to beat the Beavers, better do it in regulation play. BSU has played six overtime games already, winning five.
They certainly have a flair for the dramatic.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Virg Foss covered UND hockey for the Grand Forks Herald from 1969 through 2005. He has since written on UND hockey for UND Athletic Communications. He can be reached at virgfoss@yahoo.com.
