LAS VEGAS — Ben Strinden sat three rows up from the ice at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., for UND’s 2016 national championship game against Quinnipiac.
As the on-ice celebrations wound down after the Fighting Hawks’ 5-1 victory, Troy Stecher skated over with a piece of the net and pointed to Strinden in the stands.
Stecher tossed the piece to Strinden, but it was promptly snatched up by another fan.
“I was just so pissed,” Strinden said. “That’s why we’ve got to win one ourselves, so I can have a little bit of the net.”
Strinden’s path to securing his own piece of national-championship netting will begin Thursday at 4 p.m. when the Hawks take on Wisconsin in the Frozen Four semifinals at T-Mobile Arena.
Strinden and the Hawks arrived in Las Vegas on Tuesday and practiced Wednesday afternoon.
Traveling to the program’s first Frozen Four since 2016 has already been a surreal experience for the senior forward, who was inducted into the UND hockey fandom practically at birth.
Strinden’s grandfather, Earl, was a UND alum and a close friend of Ralph Engelstad.
Earl was the executive director of the UND Alumni Association for 31 years and was the founder and CEO of the UND Foundation, which merged to become the UND Alumni Association and Foundation in 2014.
Ben Strinden’s mother, North Dakota Lt. Gov. Michelle Strinden, is also an alum. His father, Tom, earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from UND in 1988. Tom
after a battle with Glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer.
“This program has been a part of my blood ever since I was born,” Strinden said. “It means that much more, it’s everything to me. … Sometimes you’ve just got to pinch yourself. For sure I’m doing that. I’m trying to take it all in, ultimately just go play as hard as I can.”
Other than the net thief, Strinden’s trip to the 2016 Frozen Four is one of the fondest memories of his lifelong hockey fandom.
Strinden, 13 years old at the time, attended UND’s semifinal and championship games with friends and family.
“The most fun games I’ve been to,” Strinden said of the 2016 Frozen Four. “UND fans just travel so great. Seeing that personally in 2016, it was incredible.”
Ben Strinden, fourth from left, celebrates outside of Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., with friends and family after UND’s national championship victory in 2016.
Contributed
Strinden attended some of the fan festivities in Tampa beyond the games, including the red carpet.
The red carpet is a Frozen Four tradition in which participating teams are welcomed upon arrival at the host arena.
“It was unbelievable just seeing all the guys walk in that you idolize,” Strinden said.
Ten years later, Strinden is one of the guys walking the red carpet. It’s been a fitting way to wind down what has been his best season of collegiate hockey.
Strinden, one of the Hawks’ captains, has 15 goals and 19 assists in 37 games.
Previously, Strinden’s most productive season was in 2024-25, when he tallied eight goals and eight assists.
“Ben is one of my closer friends,” redshirt junior goaltender Zach Sandy, a longtime friend of Strinden, said. “To have what he had to go through this year and now to have this kind of year, it’s just picture perfect. It’s been so fun to be around.”
Alex Faber is a sports reporter for the Grand Forks Herald. A Michigan transplant, he graduated from Michigan State University in 2024 with a degree in journalism and minors in history and environmental studies.