The question wasn’t how they’re handling adversity. The real question is whether they can turn good hockey into points — starting now. Because in the NCHC, effort keeps you competitive. Execution keeps you home in the first round of the playoffs.
A veteran emphasis may define the Monsters’ identity more than anything else. Clark said he deliberately avoided inexperienced arena players, opting instead to load camp with proven winners. At least 16 players on the current roster, he said, have won arena championships.
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.
I’m not handing Hermantown a boys hockey state trophy in January. I’ve been around too long for that. But when the Section 7A tournament begins and the pressure turns real, I know who I’m riding with. I’ve seen this movie before. It usually ends with everyone else wondering how they missed it.
Howie Hanson is editor & publisher of 50-Yard Football, which covers arena/indoor football leagues.
While every arena football team operates with slightly
Top-ranked Hermantown is 12-1-3 and No. 2 Hibbing-Chisholm 13-1-1 in boys hockey; super-sophomore Chloe Johnson scores career-high 45 points at Stevens Point
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.
National Scouting Combine has released its player roster for 2026.
Draft-eligible athletes and free agents from across the country will compete Tuesday through
The Hermantown girls basketball team has found its rhythm — and its confidence — heading into January.
After navigating an early stretch that tested the Hawks
McCarthy didn’t just remove himself from a game. He removed himself from a moment. And moments like that don’t come back. Not in January. Not in training camp. Not with a clean injury report.
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.
For the broader community, Northstar Ford Arena is a gathering place — the kind that small towns understand better than anyone. Rinks aren’t just buildings here. They’re living rooms. Story banks. Time machines. They hold memories whether they’re supposed to or not.