UMD Men’s Hockey Bid Farewell to the NCHC Pod

The Bulldogs head into winter break and will be back in action New Year's Day against St. Cloud State.

OMAHA, Neb. – Monday, Baxter Arena hosted its 38th and final game for the NCHC pod and what a ride it was for the UMD men’s hockey team.

The Bulldogs finished pod play with a 5-2-2 overall record, good enough for second place behind North Dakota. And after a rocky start of getting acclimated to all of the protocols, head coach Scott Sandelin says the entire experience was a massive success.

“I think as you see with each team, I think everybody has gotten better. The games have gotten tighter. But you can’t say enough about the job that they’ve done here in Omaha with all of the people involved, from our commissioner to Mike Kemp, all the Omaha staff, the medical people, the rink people, it’s been great,” Sandelin said.

But after starting 5-0-1, UMD did not win any of their final three games in the pod. So there will be a lot to work on before the second half of the season begins.

“I think you got to have takeaways, whether it’s wins or losses. With a young team, I think some losses can be very beneficial for us. And with the good start there, not inflating our egos or getting ahead of ourselves,” team captain Noah Cates said.

UMD did drop one spot in the latest USCHO.com polls as the Bulldogs now sit at #4. They now head into winter break and will be back in action New Year’s Day against St. Cloud State.