Home ice is there for the taking. The Bulldogs will either take points from Denver, survive North Dakota, and handle their business against Miami and Colorado College — or they’ll finish fifth, look back at a missed weekend or two, and tell themselves they were close.
For Hermantown, the impact is already unmistakable. A high school program in northern Minnesota placed three of its own among the nation’s best college hockey players — simultaneously, on the sport’s biggest individual stage — reinforcing a legacy that now stretches far beyond state lines.
The Detroit Red Wings are watching to see if the Bulldogs sophomore forward is ready to step into a much harsher world. Judging by the way he played this weekend, that question is starting to answer itself.
UMD men's hockey is surrounding its future core with the kind of balance you rarely see in a single signing haul: scoring up front, size and skating on the back end, and a top-flight goaltender to anchor the whole operation.
Imagine if Max Plante chooses Amsoil Arena for one more winter instead of Grand Rapids. Victor arrives. Zam continues his ascent. And all three Plantes share the same sheet of ice, wearing the same sweater, saluted by the same 6,700 who’ve been following this family saga since pee wees.