North Dakota embraces a road warrior mentality heading into St. Cloud

GRAND FORKS — Fighting Hawks head coach Brad Berry was not too concerned about the last time UND played at St. Cloud State University.

North Dakota was swept in St. Cloud last year, a weekend in which UND held a lead at one point in both games.

 But that was over a year ago.

UND will have the opportunity to surpass SCSU this weekend in the race for the Penrose Cup. The Huskies currently sit atop the standings in the NCHC with 24 points while UND sits at 22. 

They’ll be playing at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, one of the few Olympic-size sheets (200 x 100) that still remain at the college hockey level, as many schools have switched over to the size used by the NHL (200 x 85). Notably, Colorado College and the University of Minnesota made the change most recently.

In a press conference Wednesday morning, Berry spoke about his team practicing on the Olympic sheet for the first time this year. “It’s kind of weird that normally, two or three times a year, we’re up in the Olympic rink, and we’re only up there one time this year, which doesn't break my heart.”

UND has had a lot of success at home this season, and they will look to replicate that at their first away game of 2024.

“It’s refreshing,” Berry said. “Sometimes when you go on the road, you simplify your game. You’re not under the bright lights of the Ralph here, which we love to play here with our fans, but you kind of have that road warrior approach that you know it’s an us against the world mentality.”

UND forward Louis Jamernik expressed his enthusiasm about playing against the Huskies.

“I look back to when we blew that three-goal lead, and I also look back to when they ended our season last year, so I’m excited to play them,” Jamernik said.

 North Dakota has struggled over the last few years in St. Cloud. The Huskies have outscored the Hawks 29 to 15 while playing at home, going 4 - 1 - 1 in the process.

While it may be an away game for UND, many Fighting Hawks fans will make the drive to St. Cloud. 

“We have probably the best fans,” Berry said. “Whether it’s close by three and a half hours away into St. Cloud or you know, going to the East Coast. And that’s the beauty of our program here, and we’re looking forward to a lot of green, white, and black in the stands in a situation where we want to make them proud.”

North Dakota will look to build off the energy brought by the fans, especially to start the game. UND has had trouble over the course of the season in the first period, but lately, things have started to look up for them as UND has scored their first goal in the first period in each of its last three contests.

“I think having a positive start, having a situation where you maximize your time and limiting time in your end of the rink,” Berry said. “You know that's a big ice sheet and that’s why it goes into the fact of the five guys doing a good job to try and build momentum and stack shifts together to help the crowd get into the game.”

The puck drops at 7:30 PM Friday at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

**Note** ND Ice will have live coverage from the Herb on both Friday and Saturday night.