GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- It's been a great week already for this life-long hockey fan and with expectations of more to come, as UND looks to clinch another Penrose Cup this weekend as league champion.

But first things first. The Olympic Games have held special interest for me this year as I have a cousin playing in the Games.

Oliver Bjorkstrand played for Team Denmark. He was born in Denmark where his father played professional hockey, but he grew up in the United States.

Based on being born in Denmark, he had the chance to play for the Danes in the Olympic Games. He did just that, and performed very well.

The Bjorkstrand ties go back to my mother, who was born and raised in the Stockholm and Cokato area of Minnesota, where the Bjorkstrand roots run deep.

I've always been a collector of different items over the years. One prized piece I have is an Oliver Bjorkstrand bobble head doll from when he played with the Seattle Kraken. It came out the year after he played in the NHL All-Star Game.

Dave Hakstol, the former UND coach, was the head coach of the Kraken for part of the time Bjorkstrand played in Seattle. There is that connection for me as well.

So the fact that a cousin of mine was playing in the Olympics is a big deal. In fact, in my view, it is the biggest hockey news in our extended family, far bigger than when I once played goalie for two different teams in the same game in college.

I've told this story before. It happened during my freshman season at NCAA DIII St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. In that time, freshmen were not eligible to play varsity sports, so we had our own freshman team.

We had two goalies on our team, Dave Olson and I. Carleton had just one goalie on its frosh roster.

I started the game against Carleton for St. Olaf and played the first half of the game before Dave Olson came on to play the second half of it.

Shortly after I came out of the game, one of our players slid into the Carelton goalie, slicing his knee badly with his skate blade. Dave Hyduke, the Carleton goalie, was unable to continue.

We only had two games scheduled during my frosh year, I think, both against Carleton.

Wit the Carleton goalie injured, their coach said they would have to forfeit the rest of the game.

We all wanted to play. So I volunteered to put on a Carleton jersey and finish the game playing for them! Rules were pretty loose for freshmen teams in college at that time, so it worked out well.

We all got to play a full game, so we all appreciated that. And I didn't allow my team, St. Olaf, to score on me, so I took great pride in that!

A huge weekend could await this year's UND hockey team as well. The Fighting Hawks, with two wins this weekend at home against St. Cloud State, could clinch at least a share of the Penrose Cup as NCHC regular-season champions.

That would be a big deal for a team that was a bit of an unknown going into the season with a revamped coaching staff and so many new players. UND now is ranked No. 3 nationally with league and national titles very much in the picture.

The NCHC commissioner will be in Grand Forks this weekend to present the Penrose Cup to UND Saturday night if the results this weekend here and with top challenger Western Michigan break right.

So, yes, lots of hockey on my mind, including watching former UND stars Brock Nelson and Jake Sanderson playing for the U.S in the Olympics.

Hockey, hockey, hockey, more, more, more!

Virg Foss covered UND hockey for the Grand Forks Herald from 1969 until his retirement in 2005. He now writes a weekly column for UND during the college season. He can be reached at virgfoss@yahoo.com.