by Adam Wodon/Managing Editor (@chn-adam-wodon)
A year ago at this time, North Dakota was at a crossroads. Not having made the NCAA Tournament, and not having been to the Frozen Four since 2016, it decided to fire head coach Brad Berry.
Things took an ugly turn, too, when Berry released a statement to the Grand Forks Herald urging the school to do a thorough national search for a new coach. The implication was clear — Berry didn’t really want his long-time assistant, Dane Jackson, to get the job.
Jackson is a proud alum, too, and becoming the head coach was a dream. So he was disheartened at first, and sure he wouldn’t get the job.
Except that, he did, at the urging of numerous alums who backed him.
And then there was a lot of work to do.
Three prominent names immediately transferred out — Owen McLaughlin, Jayden Perron (who is in this year’s Frozen Four with Michigan), and Sacha Boisvert. Dylan James and Jake Livanavage were close to signing pro deals.
With all of that going on, the idea that North Dakota would make the next season’s Frozen Four at that point, would be considered ludicrous.
Yet here we are.
North Dakota has gone 29-9-1 this season, and is set to face Wisconsin in Thursday’s NCAA semifinal. Those 29 wins are, again, the most since 2015-16.
How did it happen? Jackson simply got down to work. With the roster in the balance, he had heartfelt meetings with James and Livanavage. At the end of the day, they decided not to sign. Things started falling into place.
“It was a challenge. A lot of people pulling at them with agents and different teams calling guys,” Jackson said .”The guys that stayed were guys that believe in the program, guys that believe we have a lot to offer. … It would’ve been easy to take the path of least resistance and transferred or leave and went to a place with more certainty. But I have a ton of respect and appreciation for the guys that stuck with our staff.”
The opening of Major Junior players to college hockey was a godsend. No one knew exactly what it would all mean when that rule was changed the previous November. Would it take time for Major Junior players to get used to the idea? Would it just be older players that aged out of juniors?
All of a sudden, though, the blue chippers started coming this way. North Dakota pounced — landing two huge prizes in one fell swoop, Cole Reschny and Keaton Verhoeff. Then the transfer portal fell into place. Anthony Menghini from Minnesota Duluth and Ellis Rickwood from Clarkson became crucial forward pieces. Finally, late in the summer, another Major Junior player — Ollie Josephson. Will Zellers was already a “traditional” recruit, and had a fantastic freshman year.
“The guys who stay are the ones who are really dialed in here and all about North Dakota,” Jackson said. “So you’re left with the guys dying to be here. And sometimes that change can be good. It was real stressful at the time for myself and probably a lot of people around me and the players, but everyone’s feeling real positive now.”
Jackson did a great job getting this pieces on the roster, but he still had to coach them in actual games. With a roster constructed in such a way that he wanted the team to play — fast, big, physical, in your face — the Fighting Hawks had success.
“A lot of culture building and getting guys to know each other and getting on the same page,” Jackson said. “We were dialed in to getting the right players.”
Still, there were early bumps, as there always are.
An early win over Minnesota was followed the next night by a 5-1 loss to their rivals, at The Ralph. That was followed by a 5-2 loss at Clarkson a week later.
The next night, Jackson inserted freshman Jan Špunar into his first game. He shut out the Golden Knights. The goalies traded starts for a while, but Špunar was the one that kept winning. Eventually, it was all Špunar . He went on to go 20-4-1 for the season.
Špunar is one of four freshman starters at the Frozen Four, unprecedented.
“The level these guys are playing at before they get to college, they seem to come in with a lot of game experience from really good leagues. The professionalism for those big moments have been groomed by those battles,” Jackson said. “The competition and big moments haven’t fazed (Špunar) at all.”
No one knows what happens from here. Vegas is a city of hopes and dreams, and of dreams getting crushed. But they got there.
In a bit of fate, the Las Vegas NHL team is now, all of a sudden in the last week, coached by John Tortorella, who was Jackson’s coach once upon a time when Jackson was playing in the AHL.
“Torts made me his captain in Rochester. We went through some hard battles, won a Calder Cup in Game 7,” Jackson said. “I learned a lot from Torts. … He was hard on us but you knew he cared about us, and he was a really sharp coach.
“I texted him. He has a lot going on. But I always kept in touch with Torts over the years. I’ve met him near his lake place. He spends time talking about culture building, and being a leader of men.”
Sounds familiar.