GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- It's time to say goodbye to a very enjoyable and outstanding season for the UND Fighting Hawks hockey team.

While it fell two wins shy of adding a 9th NCAA championship banner to the rafters of Ralph Engelstad Arena, in every other category, it was a successful season.

For starters, first-year head coach Dane Jackson had to assemble a coaching staff, and he did that with outstanding additions in Matt Smaby, Dillon Simpson and Bryn Chyzyk.

Then he rebuilt the roster with a talented group of freshmen and key additions through the transfer portal. Then Jackson and staff put it all together to win the regular-season championship of the toughest league in the land, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.

While UND did not come away with the national championship, league member Denver did, attesting again the quality depth and strength of the NCHC.

Hockey programs the caliber of North Dakota's are judged at a high standard, so anything less than a national title means the ultimate goal each season for UND wasn't met by this team.

But it would be silly to overlook the great success this team had, and the masterful job Jackson and staff did in assembling and coaching this team.

The offseason brings new challenges to the front. Some outstanding players had the chance to move up to pro hockey. as did junior defensemen Jake Livanavage and Abram Wiebe did, forgoing their final year of college eligibility.

A few others left the program for different reasons, often to seek more playing time at other colleges. 

But if UND can retain the players still on board and add in the incoming additions of freshmen or transfer portal players, there's much to look forward to in 2026-27.

Take freshman goalie Jan Spunar, for example. He played in his first three NCAA tourney games this season and posted shutouts in two of them. He gave up just two goals in the loss, so all told, he gave up less than a goal a game in his three outings. That's pretty special. He's someone to build a team around.

All we can do now is hang tight over the coming months and hope that all returning players, along with the new additions, show up on campus next fall. 

So in summary, an excellent season for the Fighting Hawks, for the reasons outlined above, but no new NCAA banner when it finished.

See you around the rink next season!

Virg Foss covered UND hockey for the Grand Forks Herald for 35 seasons until his retirement from the newspaper in 2005. Since then, he has written on UND hockey every season for UND Athletic Communications. He can be reached at virgfoss@yahoo.com.