GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- The older I get, the easier life can be for me if I follow one of the staples of AA: One day at a time, or in this case, one step at a time.
That applies to this current UND hockey team in that the temptation for me is to jump ahead and look at the final two weeks of the regular season and try to figure out what it will take for the Fighting Hawks to eventually make it into the NCAA Tournament.
That muddies up my brain and my life more than I choose to handle at this stage, so I will leave that jigsaw puzzle of what ifs to those who know far more about it than I do. I will hand that over to the Gand Forks Herald's Brad Elliott Schlossman, who is an expert at that game.
Take a look at his article in the Herald the other day and you'll see how he breaks it all done with the fantastic scientific mind and attention to detail that he possesses and displays. UND hockey fans are blessed to have him covering their team. He is the best in the game, I can say from years of experience in that field.
And at present time, UND has even bigger problems than trying to play the what-if game, what happens if this team wins, that team loses, etc.
As it stands now, UND will be fortunate, perhaps, to even be able to field a full lineup for this weekend's series at NCHC's No. 1 team, the Western Michigan Broncos, chasing their first league title.
Right now, UND has had 13 players miss games this season, totaling 110 combined games between them all. That is an absurd number and a big factor as to why this team is scrambling to earn home ice for the playoffs in the NCHC with four games remaining.
And if team captain
Louis Jamernik V is unable to play this weekend with his injuries, UND won't be able to field a full roster.
So to look ahead a couple of weeks down the road as to where UND may finish in the final standings is way beyond my pay grade. It would be an exercise in speculation that would do nothing more than fuzzy up my mind.
Instead, my comfort zone lies is feeling good how this team is playing at this time, riding a 3-game winning streak and being backstopped by the best play of the season from goalie
T.J. Semptimphelter. As we all have seen, a hot goalie can win games for you, and Semptimphelter is sizzling at the right time.
Another encouraging sign for me was that in last Saturday's 6-1 win over Minnesota Duluth, it wasn't some usual offensive leaders like
Dylan James,
Ben Strinden or
Mac Swanson who fueled the attack.
None of those three had a goal or an assist in that victory, but a 5-point game from
Owen McLaughlin led the way with help from the defensive pairing of Jake Livanage (3 assists) an
Abram Wiebe (2 assists) who had five points between them.
UND has a lot of play for this weekend, besides positioning in the standings with the playoffs a couple of weeks away.
Western Michigan came to Grand Forks in mid-January and beat the Fighting Hawks twice to set up its title run, winning in OT the first game, by four goals in the second game.
UND can spoil the fun for Western Michigan a bit this weekend by depriving the Broncos the chance to hoist the trophy as league champion, at least not at the expense of the Hawks.
So. small steps for this team, like the continued solid team play and great goaltending we have seen the past few games.
They've given me hope -- us hope -- as the season grinds closer to playoff time.
And for me, one step at a time, one game at a time.
Virg Foss was the beat writer covering UND hockey for the Grand Forks Herald from 1969 through 2005. He now writes a weekly hockey column for UND Athletic Communications during the college season. He can be contacted at virgfoss@yahoo.com.
