1996–97 North Dakota Fighting Sioux men's ice hockey season

March 2026 August 2023 color:black; background:#009A44; a #000000 2px black black North Dakota Fighting Sioux black 1996–97 University of North Dakota logo - interlocking ND.svg North Dakota Fighting Sioux men Western Collegiate Hockey Association WCHA T–1st 31–10–2 21–10–1 16–2–2 10–8–0 5–0–0 Dean Blais Mark Osiecki Scott Sandelin Dane Litke Kevin HoogsteenMark Pivetz Ralph Engelstad Arena National championWCHA, co-championWCHA tournament, champion NCAA tournament champion 1995–96 1997–98 North Dakota Fighting Sioux #000000 background:#eeeeee; The 1996–97 North Dakota Fighting Sioux men's ice hockey team represented the University of North Dakota in college ice hockey during the 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. In its 3rd year under head coach Dean Blais the team compiled a 31–10–2 record and reached the NCAA tournament for the thirteenth time.North Dakota Men's Hockey Team History https://www.uscho.com/stats/history/north-dakota/mens-hockey/ USCHO.com February 14, 2019 The Fighting Sioux defeated Boston University 6–4 to win the championship game at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Season North Dakota entered the year with very few expectations. The team had only one winning season in the previous five years, had only two NHL draft picks on the roster, and was seven years removed from its last NCAA tournament appearance. They had been improving under 3rd-year coach Dean Blais, but the team had yet to regain the prominence that the Fighting Sioux once possessed.North Dakota Hockey 2018-19 Media Guide https://s3.amazonaws.com/undsports.com/documents/2018/11/15/2018_19_HKY_Media_Guide_for_web.pdf North Dakota Fighting Hawks May 23, 2019 Fast start While they were picked to finish 5th in the WCHA by the preseason coaches poll,Unheralded 1997 North Dakota title team springboarded two-decade run https://www.ncaa.com/news/icehockey-men/article/2016-10-14/ncaa-hockey-unheralded-1997-north-dakota-team-springboarded NCAA.org October 14, 2016 May 9, 2020 the Sioux open with a six-game winning streak, albeit against fairly weak competition. Their progress was stymied when they headed to Minneapolis and lost both games to the Golden Gophers. UND split the following two weekends before finally recovering with a pair of wins over Minnesota–Duluth. Mid-season stumble The Fighting Sioux won most of their games around the winter break, but when they returned to their conference schedule, they couldn't find any consistency. North Dakota split three consecutive weekends in January and headed into the final weekend of the month, hoping to recover their defensive game. League-leading Minnesota was hardly the ideal opponent for North Dakota, but two wins over the Gophers tied the season series and set up the possibility that UND could win the WCHA title. North Dakota went 5–1 over the next three weeks, extending their lead over Minnesota to 4 points.Minnesota Golden Gophers https://s3.amazonaws.com/gophersports.com/documents/2018/12/31/MHK_Guide_2019.pdf Minnesota Men's Hockey 2018-19 Media Guide April 2, 2019 All the Fighting Sioux had to do in the final weekend was earn a single point against Denver, and they would guarantee the regular season title for themselves. The Pioneers, however, had other ideas. North Dakota lost both games while Minnesota won both of theirs, leaving the two teams tied with identical conference records. While North Dakota had to share the conference title with the Gophers, they won the tie-breaker between the two and were awarded the top seed in the WCHA tournament. Conference tournament North Dakota opened with two relatively easy home wins over Michigan Tech and advanced to the semifinals at the St. Paul Civic Center. After another comfortable win over Colorado College, North Dakota met Minnesota in the championship, and the two teams fought a pitched battle for conference supremacy. The two teams fought back and forth all night, ending regulation knotted at 3–3. It didn't take long to end the game once overtime began when 4th-liner Peter Armbrust fired a rebound into the net at 2:17 to win the championship.1997 WCHA Final - Sioux vs. Gophers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig-mxYjtl3o YouTube May 9, 2020 NCAA tournament The conference title gave North Dakota the second western seed, allowing them to bypass the first round and begin the tournament in the quarterfinal round. They promptly took out ECAC champion Cornell and advanced to the Frozen Four. In the national semifinal, North Dakota swiftly built a 3–0 lead on Colorado College. The Tigers responded with two goals to get back into the game, but a pair of Fighting Sioux markers 43 seconds apart ended CC's hopes, and UND was heading to the championship game.North Dakota 6, Colorado College 2 https://apnews.com/7712dd5ceeb8bb25474f048e024b4e54 Associated Press March 27, 1997 May 9, 2020 In the final, Boston University got the jump early, scoring twice in the first. North Dakota was able to turn the game into a track meet in the second and tie the game by the mid-way point. In the 12th minute, Peter Donatelli drew a controversial penalty, giving BU a power play, but it was UND's Matt Henderson who was able to score on the disadvantage. The Terriers tied the game on a separate power play shortly thereafter. UND regained the lead with their own extra-man goal two minutes later and added a fifth goal just before the period ended. With a two-goal lead, North Dakota played a much more defensive-minded game in the third period. They were able to hold the Terriers off the scoresheet until the final minute but a goal by Jon Coleman cut the lead to one with less than a minute to play. BU attempted to gain control of the puck inside the Sioux end for a chance to tie the game but UND was able to clear the zone and Adam Calder sent the puck into an empty net for the final goal of North Dakota's championship season.1997 NCAA Final - Sioux vs Terriers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9kf0SchnvY YouTube May 9, 2020 Awards and honors Matt Henderson's five points in the Frozen Four earned him the Tournament MOP as well as a place on the All-Tournament team with teammates David Hoogsteen, Curtis Murphy and Aaron Schweitzer.NCAA Frozen Four Records http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/frozen_4/2009/f4recs.pdf NCAA.org 2013-06-19 https://web.archive.org/web/20120817163005/http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/frozen_4/2009/f4recs.pdf 2012-08-17 live Hoogsteen and Murphy were also named to the AHCA All-American West Second Team.Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_icehockey_rb/2013/MIH%20awards%20for%202013.pdf NCAA.org June 11, 2013 Both players were joined by Jason Blake on the All-WCHA First TeamWCHA All-Teams http://www.augenblick.org/chha/wcha_all.html College Hockey Historical Archives May 19, 2013 while Dean Blais was awarded both the WCHA Coach of the YearWCHA Awards http://www.augenblick.org/chha/wcha_awd.html College Hockey Historical Archives May 19, 2013 and the Spencer Penrose Award as the national coach of the year.NCAA Division I Awards http://www.augenblick.org/chha/ncaa_awd.html College Hockey Historical Archives June 11, 2013 The surprise win by North Dakota in 1997 marked the beginning of a nearly unbroken 20-year stretch where the program reached the NCAA tournament. In that time, they appeared in 10 Frozen Fours and won an additional two National championships. Standings UND Schedule |- !colspan=12 style="North Dakota Fighting Sioux #000000;" | Exhibition October 11 l yes no 1996 men Alberta Golden Bears Alberta Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota Exhibition 1–2 |- !colspan=12 style="North Dakota Fighting Sioux #000000;" | Regular season October 18 w no 1996 men Denver Pioneers Denver Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota 3–2 OT 1–0 1–0 October 19 w no 1996 men Denver Pioneers Denver Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota 6–2 2–0 2–0 October 25 w yes 1996 men Michigan Tech Huskies Michigan Tech MacInnes Student Ice Arena Houghton, Michigan 7–3 3–0 3–0 October 26 w yes 1996 men Michigan Tech Huskies Michigan Tech MacInnes Student Ice Arena Houghton, Michigan 4–3 4–0 4–0 November 1 w no 1996 men Northern Michigan Wildcats Northern Michigan Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota 3–2 5–0 5–0 November 2 w no 1996 men Northern Michigan Wildcats Northern Michigan Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota 5–0 6–0 6–0 November 8 l yes 1996 men Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Mariucci Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 2–3 6–1 6–1 November 9 l yes 1996 men Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Mariucci Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 6–10 6–2 6–2 November 15 l no 1996 men St. Cloud State Huskies St. Cloud State Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota 2–5 6–3 6–3 November 16 w no 1996 men St. Cloud State Huskies St. Cloud State Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota 5–3 7–3 7–3 November 22 l yes 1996 men Alaska Anchorage Seawolves Alaska–Anchorage Sullivan Arena Anchorage, Alaska 2–3 7–4 7–4 November 23 w yes 1996 men Alaska Anchorage Seawolves Alaska–Anchorage Sullivan Arena Anchorage, Alaska 5–3 8–4 8–4 November 29 w yes 1996 men Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs Minnesota–Duluth Duluth Arena Auditorium Duluth, Minnesota 8–4 9–4 9–4 November 30 w yes 1996 men Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs Minnesota–Duluth Duluth Arena Auditorium Duluth, Minnesota 4–3 10–4 10–4 December 6 t no 1996 men Colorado College Tigers Colorado College Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota 5–5 OT 10–4–1 10–4–1 December 7 w no 1996 men Colorado College Tigers Colorado College Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota 7–3 11–4–1 11–4–1 December 27 w yes no 1996 men Boston University Terriers Boston University Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota 6–4 12–4–1 10–4–1 December 28 t yes no 1996 men Boston University Terriers Boston University Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota 2–2 OT 12–4–2 11–4–1 January 3 w yes yes 1996 men Western Michigan Broncos Western Michigan Lawson Arena Kalamazoo, Michigan 6–3 13–4–2 11–4–1 January 4 w yes yes 1996 men Western Michigan Broncos Western Michigan Lawson Arena Kalamazoo, Michigan 5–3 14–4–2 11–4–1 January 10 l yes 1996 men St. Cloud State Huskies St. Cloud State National Hockey Center St. Cloud, Minnesota 3–5 14–5–2 11–5–1 January 11 w yes 1996 men St. Cloud State Huskies St. Cloud State National Hockey Center St. Cloud, Minnesota 6–1 15–5–2 12–5–1 January 17 l no 1996 men Wisconsin Badgers Wisconsin Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota 2–5 15–6–2 12–6–1 January 18 w no 1996 men Wisconsin Badgers Wisconsin Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota 8–6 16–6–2 13–6–1 January 25 w yes 1996 men Colorado College Tigers Colorado College Cadet Ice Arena Colorado Springs, Colorado 3–0 17–6–2 14–6–1 January 26 l yes 1996 men Colorado College Tigers Colorado College Cadet Ice Arena Colorado Springs, Colorado 3–8 17–7–2 14–7–1 January 31 w no 1996 men Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota 6–4 18–7–2 15–7–1 February 1 w no 1996 men Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota 6–2 19–7–2 16–7–1 February 7 w no 1996 men Michigan Tech Huskies Michigan Tech Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota 4–2 20–7–2 17–7–1 February 8 w no 1996 men Michigan Tech Huskies Michigan Tech Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota 7–2 21–7–2 18–7–1 February 14 l yes 1996 men Northern Michigan Wildcats Northern Michigan Lakeview Arena Marquette, Michigan 1–2 21–8–2 18–8–1 February 15 w yes 1996 men Northern Michigan Wildcats Northern Michigan Lakeview Arena Marquette, Michigan 5–3 22–8–2 19–8–1 February 21 w no 1996 men Alaska Anchorage Seawolves Alaska–Anchorage Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota 2–0 23–8–2 20–8–1 February 22 w no 1996 men Alaska Anchorage Seawolves Alaska–Anchorage Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota 4–0 24–8–2 21–8–1 February 28 l yes 1996 men Denver Pioneers Denver DU Arena Denver, Colorado 3–6 24–9–2 21–9–1 March 1 l yes 1996 men Denver Pioneers Denver DU Arena Denver, Colorado 0–5 24–10–2 21–10–1 |- !colspan=11 style="North Dakota Fighting Sioux #000000;" | #000000 WCHA tournament March 7 w yes no 1996 men Michigan Tech Huskies Michigan Tech Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota WCHA Quarterfinal Game 1 4–1 25–10–2 21–10–1 March 8 w yes no 1996 men Michigan Tech Huskies Michigan Tech Ralph Engelstad Arena Grand Forks, North Dakota WCHA Quarterfinal Game 2 3–0 26–10–2 21–10–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" |colspan=11|North Dakota Won Series 2-0 March 14 w yes yes 1996 men Colorado College Tigers Colorado College St. Paul Civic Center Saint Paul, Minnesota WCHA Semifinal 5–1 27–10–2 21–10–1 March 15 w yes yes 1996 men Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota St. Paul Civic Center Saint Paul, Minnesota WCHA championship 4–3 OT 28–10–2 21–10–1 |- !colspan=11 style="North Dakota Fighting Sioux #000000;" | #000000 NCAA tournament March 23 w yes yes 1996 men Cornell Big Red Cornell Van Andel Arena Grand Rapids, Michigan Regional semifinal 6–2 29–10–2 21–10–1 March 27 w yes yes 1996 men Colorado College Tigers Colorado College Bradley Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin National semifinal 6–2 30–10–2 21–10–1 March 29 w yes yes 1996 men Boston University Terriers Boston University Bradley Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin National championship 6–4 31–10–2 21–10–1 Source: North Dakota Hockey 2018-19 Media Guide https://s3.amazonaws.com/undsports.com/documents/2018/11/15/2018_19_HKY_Media_Guide_for_web.pdf North Dakota Fighting Hawks May 23, 2019 Roster yes 1 Aaron Vickar so G 6 1 190 1976 1 1 Missouri St. Louis, Missouri Omaha Lancers USHL 2 Curtis Murphy jr D 5 8 195 1975 12 3 Saskatchewan Kerrobert, Saskatchewan Nipawin Hawks SJHL 3 Mark Pivetz sr D 6 4 215 1973 12 9 Alberta Edmonton, Alberta Saskatoon Titans SJHL Quebec 257 1993 A 4 Dane Litke sr D 5 10 180 1972 8 11 Manitoba Beausejour, Manitoba Winkler Flyers MJHL C 5 Jason Blake so C 5 10 180 1973 9 2 Minnesota Moorhead, Minnesota Ferris State Bulldogs CCHA 6 Tim O'Connell fr D 6 4 210 1977 10 26 North Dakota Grand Forks, North Dakota Fargo-Moorhead Bears USHL 7 Mitch Vig jr D 6 3 200 1974 5 18 North Dakota Bismarck, North Dakota Dubuque Fighting Saints USHL 8 Kevin Hoogsteen sr RW 5 11 175 1972 12 17 Ontario Thunder Bay, Ontario Thunder Bay Flyers USHL A 9 Jason Ulmer fr C/LW 5 10 185 1978 12 20 Saskatchewan Wilcox, Saskatchewan Notre Dame Hounds SJHL 10 Ian Kallay so LW 5 10 195 1974 3 21 Alberta Calgary, Alberta Langley Thunder BCJHL 11 Peter Armbrust fr RW 5 11 195 1977 12 3 Minnesota Edina, Minnesota Edina High School USHS-MN 15 Jesse Bull so F 5 9 170 1975 4 14 Alberta Faribault, Minnesota St. Paul Vulcans USHL 16 Jay Panzer so F 5 10 170 1975 12 29 North Dakota Grand Forks, North Dakota Sioux City Musketeers USHL 18 David Hoogsteen so LW 5 7 140 1974 11 10 Ontario Thunder Bay, Ontario Thunder Bay Flyers USHL 19 Jeff Ulmer so RW 5 11 195 1977 4 27 Saskatchewan Regina, Saskatchewan Notre Dame Hounds SJHL 20 Brad DeFauw fr LW 6 2 225 1977 11 10 Minnesota Edina, Minnesota Apple Valley High School USHS-MN 21 Brad Williamson so D 5 10 185 1977 3 9 Ontario Thunder Bay, Ontario Thunder Bay Flyers USHL 22 Matt Henderson jr LW 6 1 210 1974 3 1 Minnesota White Bear Lake, Minnesota St. Paul Vulcans USHL 25 Adam Calder so LW 5 11 185 1976 3 28 Manitoba Portage La Prairie, Manitoba Portage Terriers MJHL 26 Tom Philion so C 5 6 160 1974 12 11 North Dakota Minot, North Dakota Rochester Mustangs USHL 27 Tyler Rice jr F 6 1 210 1973 6 4 Manitoba Winnipeg, Manitoba Notre Dame Hounds SJHL 28 Joe Blake fr D 6 0 210 1976 12 3 Minnesota Champlin, Minnesota Des Moines Buccaneers USHL 30 Aaron Schweitzer so G 5 10 175 1978 12 1 Saskatchewan Regina, Saskatchewan 35 Toby Kvalevog sr G 5 11 170 1974 12 22 Minnesota Bemidji, Minnesota Bemidji High School USHS-MN Ottawa 209 1993 36 Erin McAleer Fr F 6 0 198 1979 8 26 Washington Republic, Washington Surrey Eagles BCJHL Scoring statistics 2 #000000 North Dakota Fighting Sioux Name Position Games Goals Assists Points #000000 PIM David Hoogsteen LW 43 27 27 54 16 Jason Blake Jason Blake (ice hockey) C 43 19 30 49 44 Curtis Murphy D 43 12 30 42 36 Ian Kallay 1 LW 43 16 23 39 20 Jay Panzer F 41 16 23 39 20 Kevin Hoogsteen 1 RW 39 18 20 38 54 Adam Calder 1 LW 42 10 22 32 48 Matt Henderson Matt Henderson (ice hockey) LW 42 14 17 31 71 Dane Litke 1 D 39 3 27 30 14 Jesse Bull 1 F 37 15 7 22 20 Brad Williamson Brad Williamson (ice hockey) D 43 4 15 19 38 Jeff Ulmer F 36 6 11 17 16 Peter Armbrust 1 RW 40 10 6 16 26 Mark Pivetz 1 D 42 2 13 15 53 Brad DeFauw LW 37 7 6 13 39 Tyler Rice 1 F 24 6 5 11 107 Mitch Vig 1 D 43 1 9 10 44 Jason Ulmer C/LW 32 3 5 8 12 Tom Philion 1 C 17 1 3 4 14 Tim O'Connell 1 D 24 0 1 1 31 Aaron Vickar 1 G 7 0 0 0 0 Joe Blake 1 D 25 0 0 0 4 Aaron Schweitzer 1 G 24 0 0 0 0 Toby Kvalevog 1 G 22 0 0 0 2 Erin McAleer 1 F 31000 14 Total Univ. of North Dakota 1996-97 Skater Stats https://www.eliteprospects.com/team/1137/univ.-of-north-dakota/1996-1997?tab=stats Elite Prospects May 8, 2020 Goaltending statistics 2 #000000 North Dakota Fighting Sioux Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals against Saves Shut outs #000000 SV % #000000 GAA Aaron Schweitzer 1 23 1170 17 3 0 45 4 .908 2.31 Toby Kvalevog 1 22 1132 12 5 2 61 1 .866 3.23 Aaron Vickar 1 7 287 2 2 0 19 0 .824 3.97 Total 43 31 10 2 5 1997 national championship (W2) North Dakota vs. (E2) Boston University North Dakota Boston University Bradley Center March 29 6 – 4 1 Scoring summary2017-18 UND Hockey Media Guide http://www.undsports.com/pdf9/5459709.pdf UNDSports.com 2018-05-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20180228041601/http://www.undsports.com/pdf9/5459709.pdf 2018-02-28 dead Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st BUPeter DonatelliPoti 8:44 1–0 BU BUChris Drury – PPPoti and O'Connell 15:08 2–0 BU 2nd UNDCurtis MurphyPanzer and Henderson 27:06 2–1 BU UNDDavid Hoogsteenunassisted 28:38 2–2 UNDMatt Henderson – SHunassisted 32:35 3–2 UND BUChris Kelleher – PPunassisted 33:56 3–3 UNDMatt Henderson – PPCalder and Litke 35:49 4–3 UND UNDDavid Hoogsteen – GWMurphy 39:54 5–3 UND 3rd BUJon ColemanKelleher and Sylvia 59:24 5–4 UND UNDAdam Calder – ENunassisted 59:41 6–4 UND Shots by period Team 1 2 3 T Boston University 11 18 8 29 North Dakota 10 16 4 30 Goaltenders Team Name Saves Goals against Time on ice BU Michel Larocque 24 5 58:28 UND Aaron Schweitzer 25 4 60:00 Players drafted into the NHL 1997 NHL entry draft = NHL All-Star team= NHL All-StarPlayers are identified as an All-Star if they were selected for the All-Star game at any time in their career. = NHL All-Star and NHL All-Star team= Did not play in the NHL 2 #000000 North Dakota Fighting Sioux Round Pick Player NHL team 2 28 Brad DeFauw Carolina Hurricanes 3 63 Lee Goren Boston Bruins 1997 NHL Entry Draft http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl1997e.html Hockey DB August 18, 2019 References 50em Category:North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's ice hockey seasons North Dakota North Dakota North Dakota North Dakota North Dakota North Dakota