Bulldog Men’s Hockey Open Desert Hockey Classic Against Mavericks

The UMD men's hockey team defeated MSU-Mankato in the regional playoffs last season.

DULUTH, Minn. – The UMD men’s hockey team will take on Minnesota State-Mankato in the opening round of the Desert Hockey Classic tournament.

It is a team that the Bulldogs are very familiar with as UMD knocked off the Mavericks in the first round of last season’s NCAA West Regionals.

“They just work hard. That’s one thing I think they’re always known for, playing physical and playing a hard game. Every single night they’re going to come and bring their hardest so we just got to be prepared and obviously try and outwork them,” forward Nick Swaney said.

“I think that’s probably the major focus right now. It’s getting these two wins. At least the first one on Friday against Mankato, we know they’re a good team. We respect them. We played them last year a couple times and had good games with them so it’s going to be fun,” said forward Parker Mackay.

“The whole staff is very good friends of ours. Obviously, there’s no friends when it comes down to dropping the puck. But I’m sure we’ll talk before and after the game and continue to do our thing. I’m sure the kids know a lot of their kids, too. I think it’s fun. I think that’s a great part of college athletics. It’s great fun for the coaching staff and hopefully for the administrations, too,” associate head coach Jason Herter said.

Puck drop for Friday’s game is set for 5:30 p.m. central time. The winner will face either Arizona State or Clarkson in the championship game on Saturday.