NCHC Frozen Face-off championship, two regional tournament championships, two frozen face-off appearances, and one illustrious NCAA National championship is what immediately comes to mind when thinking back on my four years at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
As a student-athlete at UMD I have an incredible opportunity to play the sport that I love while attaining a high level of education, but from the outside looking in there is so much that goes unnoticed when grappling with the concept of what it means to be a student athlete on the UMD Men's Ice Hockey team.
Arriving to Duluth following the story book season in 2018 in which the bulldogs captured their second National title by attaining a spot in the NCAA tournament with .0001 odds meant so much more than just being another freshman on another team.
It meant joining the preeminent powerhouse of college hockey with a culture unlike any other.
As a freshman winning the national championship, on a team that went back-to-back, gave me a baptism by fire into the winning culture of Bulldog hockey. Family, trust, and success were the foundation on which champions were born, and it only made me crave it even more in my years to come.
My sophomore year ignited just as the rest of Bulldog country would have expected, with tenacious victories and eyes set on another title. Then the sporting world, and world as a whole, came to a halt. The COVID-19 pandemic suspended the season the week of the first round of the NCHC playoffs.
What seemed like it was setting up to be another story book run to the Frozen Four simply faded away into the shadows of what could have been, but that feeling of loss quickly turned to inspiration and determination to comeback better and stronger.
The 2020-2021 season was one unlike any other. Playing the full first half of the season in a "pod" in Omaha, Nebraska, taking final exams in hotel lobbies, and getting a cotton swab shoved into your nose every other day became the new normal. As foreign and uncomfortable everything felt it all became well worth it when we found ourselves one game away from being sent to a record-setting eighth Frozen Four appearances, but the Fighting Hawks would not let that be an easy achievement.
What quickly gained traction as one of the most memorable games in college hockey history and the longest game in modern history was the cherry on top of a season filled with every bump in the road imaginable. The 3-2 win over the University of North Dakota in the fifth overtime is a game that I will remember for the rest of my life.
My reflection ends with now, two weeks away from the start of my final playoff run, and if I have learned anything from living and playing on the storied shores of Lake Superior for the last four years it is that the Bulldogs are made for pressure moments.
UMD travels to St. Could State this weekend and begin NCHC post season play on March 11.
