How a small branch school became Minnesota’s premier college hockey program this decade
Lake Superior has a shoreline of over 1,800 miles. Off the shore in the port city of Duluth, Minn. lies a couple of hockey rinks that only occupy 400 feet of that shoreline. UMD — a branch campus of the University of Minnesota — has a student population of just about 11,000 students and is the second biggest school in the system just about 150 miles north of the flagship campus in Minneapolis, Minn.
Since 1966, the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center and AMSOIL Arena has been the home to the University of Minnesota Duluth hockey programs, a school that has claimed eight national championships between their men’s and women’s hockey programs since the 2000s. AMSOIL, seating about 6,700 fans, has been rated the best rink in college hockey by Stadium Journey. This past January, the arena set an attendance record of 7,711 for a single game and a series high of 14,727 for the weekend when the Bulldogs played the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks.
The Old Place
In 76 seasons of UMD men’s hockey, the Bulldogs have faced off against numerous rivals at the DECC complex, from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and now, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. Some of these teams include the Minnesota Golden Gophers, North Dakota Fighting Hawks, Denver Pioneers and the St. Cloud State Huskies. Bob Nygaard, the former Sports Information Director at UMD, called the DECC Arena the place opponents never liked to play.
“When you saw opponent polls of favorite and least favorite rinks to visit, (opponents) wanted to hate the DECC … from the pink locker rooms to having the crowd right on top of you, it made the opponent feel like they were playing in a lion’s den,” Nygaard said. “The atmosphere in the late ’70s and ’80s was really something, probably with the smaller packed in size of the area.” The DECC only held 5,300 fans, which was pretty small compared to some other opponents, which helped contribute to the rowdy atmosphere.
A unique feature of the arena is that the rink was only 190 feet long, compared to the standard 200 foot NHL sized rink. “It really made for action-packed hockey,” Nygaard said.
Kevin Pates, the Bulldog Hockey beat writer for the Duluth News Tribune at the time, wrote about his memories from the DECC — including his last trip up the “36 concrete steps from the concourse to the press box.” A couple of things that Pates notes is that he could watch “the Maroon Loon walk on stilts, UMD’s old mascot, Brett Hull, an offensive-minded player who went on to dominate in the NHL, crush the puck, Curt Giles apply a hip-check and Norm Maciver finesse a defender.” Both Giles and Maciver were defensemen for UMD who lived up to one of the school's nicknames often referred to by the media as “Defensemen University” as the program has been a powerhouse on the blueline, which is where defensemen hang out during the hockey game. All these icons and players are long gone from UMD but are reminisced within Bulldog Hockey history. After 862 games, the DECC Arena would officially close for UMD games on December 5, 2010, as the Bulldogs would move next door to the new $80 million AMSOIL Arena.
On to the championships
In 2011, UMD claimed its first national title in front of a crowd of 19,000 at the Xcel Energy Center in St, Paul, Minn. It was essentially a “home game,” as the Bulldogs were the only team from Minnesota competing in the Frozen Four, although they would wear their maroon and gold (away) sweaters as they were the underdogs. This championship was what put this team on the college hockey map. In 2018, UMD Head Coach Scott Sandelin brought the Bulldogs back to the “X” — hockey talk for the Xcel Energy Center — and won the program a second title. On April 9, 2019, UMD would travel to Buffalo, NY in hopes of capturing another title. The Bulldogs, the #2 seeded team in the tournament had a target on their back as they had to defend their 2018 title. En route to the back-to-back title, UMD would defeat Providence 4–1, then shut out Massachusetts 3–0.
Top ‘Dogs of their class
Following every season, the Hobey Baker Memorial Award Committee awards the most outstanding player on the men’s side of college hockey with the Hobey Baker. Typically, the award loves players who score goals. On April 11, 2020, in the age of social distancing and remote events, UMD’s Scott Perunovich received the award live on ESPN’s Sports Center, on the night of when the 2020 Frozen Four would have taken place in Detroit, Mich, at Little Caesars Arena. What is different about Perunovich is that he has the hockey vision to make plays that lead to goals. The Bulldogs currently hold the record of the most recipients of this award in the country out of any school. Tom Kurvers, the Assistant General Manager of the Minnesota Wild; Bill Watson, operations assistant at UMD for the men’s hockey program; Chris Marinucci; Junior Lessard and Jack Connolly all welcomed UMD offensive defenseman Perunovich into this exclusive club this past April. Perunovich, with six goals and 34 assists is the sixth Bulldog to accept the award. At the start of the 2020–21 National Hockey League season, Perunovich will join the St Louis Blues.
How about those banners?
On October 6, 2018, as a UMD Sports Information Student Assistant, I traveled from the suburbs of Minneapolis to Duluth to see the Bulldogs lift their second national championship banner. They would play the Minnesota Golden Gophers to open their season at AMSOIL Arena. The two Minnesota rivals would skate to a tie … something that would only happen in non-conference play these days after one period of overtime. Around a year later, I would find myself sitting in the AMSOIL Arena Pressbox watching the Bulldogs lift another banner as they won the 2019 Frozen Four.
A global pandemic ends the chance at the 3-peat
No one could have ever predicted that the 2019–20 season would come to halt. After the regular season came to a close, the Bulldogs were set to be at least the number fifth seed in the national tournament, according to the pairwise rankings. As the push for the playoffs began in early March 2020, the unexpected happened. Four days after the Bulldogs exited the ice after their first time they ever swept St. Cloud State at Amsoil Arena, a global pandemic would sideline sports worldwide and shatter the hopes of winning the national championship for the third year in a row. Even though the Bulldogs didn’t get a chance to compete for a National Championship in 2020, they now have another Hobey Baker winner, and still hold their three national championships and their seven NCAA Frozen Four appearances. We will get to see the day again when captain Noah Cates plays the puck, Nick Swaney deliver a goal or see a goaltender backstop another team to the Frozen Four. It’s all just a matter of when.
And that’s how a small branch school became Minnesota’s premier college hockey program this decade.
