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Top Columns

  1. Howie: Duluth schools want $103 million, but voters deserve an accounting first
  2. Howie: Hermantown football has the enthusiasm. Now comes the evidence.
  3. Hermantown girls soccer turns section final disappointment into early-season motivation
  4. Scott Sandelin remains the foundation of Bulldog hockey
  5. Howie: Duluth Schools’ referendum will rise or fall on trust
  6. City of Duluth labor deals collide with 1% growth, squeezing the 2027 budget
  7. My latest book: Minnesota 2050
  8. Duluth searches for budget ‘bloat,’ but labor costs dominate projected shortfall
  9. Howie: The Monsters have unfinished business
  10. The newspaper that started it all
  11. The AI detector economy is chasing the wrong story
  12. Howie: Downtown Duluth's next chapter will be built with trust.
  13. Don Ness and the reinvention of Duluth
  14. Duluth's civic theatre at 6 and 10 p.m.

Zam Plante

Howie: Hobey in hand, unfinished business ahead for Plante and Bulldogs

A group that could have fragmented chose to remain intact, and that continuity alters expectations in a meaningful way. Teams that stay together tend to become harder to play against, not just because of talent, but because of familiarity and shared understanding.

Members Public
5 MIN READ
Howie: Adversity isn’t the issue for Bulldogs. Execution and points are.
Bulldogs men's hockey coach Scott Sandelin. Howie / HowieHanson.com

Howie: Adversity isn’t the issue for Bulldogs. Execution and points are.

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.

Members Public
4 MIN READ
Plante brothers, Hanson on Hobey Baker fan ballot

Plante brothers, Hanson on Hobey Baker fan ballot

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.

Members Public
3 MIN READ
Howie: Bulldogs, Prep Hockey Notebook

Howie: Bulldogs, Prep Hockey Notebook

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.

Members Public
7 MIN READ

Howie: The Plante pipeline rolls on, with one big question left hanging

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.

Members Public
5 MIN READ

Howie: Bulldogs, Viktor Plante, Mirage, Jason Watt

There’s something quietly magnetic about Jason Watt on a Bulldogs hockey broadcast. He’s not trying to sound like anyone else. He doesn’t force energy or jargon. He just explains the game — clearly, comfortably, and with the kind of authenticity that comes only from having lived it.

Members Public
4 MIN READ
Quote Me, Howie: Scott Sandelin, Zam Plante
Scott Sandelin. Howie / Quote Me, Howie (archives)

Quote Me, Howie: Scott Sandelin, Zam Plante

Note: Quote Me, Howie is powered by Perrault Construction, the trusted roofing, siding and window company in Duluth. Bulldogs men’s hockey coach Scott Sandelin on facing North Dakota in NCHC season openers Friday and Saturday night at Amsoil (UMD is 3-4-0 overall and riding a two-game

Members Public
5 MIN READ
Quote Me, Howie: John Gilbert
Bulldogs men's hockey head coach Scott Sandelin. Howie / HowieHanson.com (file, 2023-24 season)

Quote Me, Howie: John Gilbert

Veteran pro, college, junior and prep hockey writer John Gilbert on the 2024-25 Bulldogs men's and women's hockey teams – "UMD hockey fans should prepare for one of the most exciting teams in the history of the men’s program. The arrival of a highly

Members Public
1 MIN READ
2024-25 Bulldogs Men’s Hockey Roster, Schedule
Six-foot-4 junior defenseman Riley Bodnarchuk is expected to have a breakout season for the Bulldogs in 2024-25. Howie / HowieHanson.com

2024-25 Bulldogs Men’s Hockey Roster, Schedule

ROSTER Forward – 5th Year Sr. Joe Molenaar, Sr. Dominic James, Sr. Carter Loney, Jr. Cole Spicer, Jr. Jack Smith, Jr. Kyle Bettens, So. Anthony Menghini, So. Matthew Perkins, So. Braden Fischer, Fr. Jayson Shaugabay, Fr. Callum Arnott, Fr. Max Plante, Fr. Zam Plante,    Defense – Sr. Owen Gallatin, Sr. Will Francis,

Members Public
1 MIN READ

Former Hermantown hockey alumns enjoying solid seasons

Catching up with former Hawks hockey legends: ■ Zam Plante – Has 58 points, including 21 goals, for the Fargo Force of the United States Hockey League. The 5-foot-9, 170 pound forward from Hermantown will join the Bulldogs next season. ■ Max Plante – Has 45 points (11 goals) in 34 games

Members Public
1 MIN READ