GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- For a guy who has written about UND hockey for either the Grand Forks Herald or UND Athletic Communications for 56 years now, I've seen the good and the bad in this program.

Mostly good, obviously, with eight NCAA championship banners hanging from the rafters in Ralph Engelstad Arena.

The fact that the Fighting Hawks won the National Collegiate Hockey Conference regular-season championship this season spoke to the talent on this team.

That the Fighting Hawks would proceed to be stunned 5-1 in the league playoffs at home by Minnesota Duluth didn't sit well with coaches, players or fans.

But the fact that UND is ranked No. 2 nationally in the all-important NPI ratings means that UND will be in the 16-team NCAA tournament field when the teams are announced this Sunday.

So while the loss to the Bulldogs last weekend hurt, it didn't end the season for the Fighting Hawks.

I can go back to 1982, when similar situation happened to UND.

That season, a loaded roster at UND won the Western Collegiate Hockey Association title, including three wins in four games over a very strong Wisconsin Badger team.

But in the league playoffs, a two-game, total goals series, Wisconsin came into Grand Forks and beat UND 12-1 overall, with 9-0 and 3-1 victories.

That was stunning. 

That 1981-82 team was one of the best ever assembled under Coach Gino Gasparini, with 10 skaters and BOTH goalies who went on to play in the NHL.

That included the likes of defensemen James Patrick and Craig Ludwig, who racked up 1,280 and 1,255 NHL games respectively in their long pro careers.

But out of the ashes of the humiliating losses to Wisconsin at home arose the mighty mountain of the school's fourth NCAA championship.

And in the NCAA title game that year in Providence, R.I., UND beat that same Wisconsin team, also loaded with future NHL players, 5-2 in the title game behind the hat trick from Phil Sykes.

So as I look at this year's team, while the setback at the hands of Duluth was surprising and perhaps disturbing, history tells me better days are ahead.

Dane Jackson and staff have assembled a very fine team at UND this season. There is every possibility that the Hawks could put together a great run through the upcoming NCAA playoffs.

Whether that ends up with an NCAA title as in 1982, I am not making that prediction at this time.

I just know I like this coaching staff, I love the team it has cobbled together.

Whether a repeat of that marvelous 1982 run is in the works, I cannot predict at this point.

But the evidence has shown that it can happen.

Stay tuned, right?

Virg Foss has written about UND hockey for 56 years, including 35 for the Grand Forks Herald and now for UND since his retirement from the newspaper in 2005. He can be reached at virgfoss@yahoo.com.