Three University of Minnesota Duluth men's hockey players – Max Plante, Ty Hanson and Zam Plante – were named to National Collegiate Hockey Conference All-Conference teams Tuesday. Sophomore Max Plante earned First Team All-NCHC honors, while sophomore defenseman Ty Hanson earned Second Team All-NCHC honors. Zam Plante rounded out the trio of Bulldog award winners with a spot on the All-NCHC Third Team.
Max Plante -- the lone unanimous selection to the All-NCHC First-Team, receiving all 17 possible first-team votes -- becomes UMD's first player selected since goaltender Ryan Fanti landed on the team in 2021-22, and the first forward to make the top team since Nick Swaney earned a nod in 2020-21. Plante has 47 points this season, the third most in the NCAA and leads the NCHC. His 22 goals also leads the league (and ranks sixth in the nation), and 14 times the Hermantown, Minn. native had multiple point games, including five games with three or more points. Plante had eight power play goals on the nation's top-power play most of the season and five game-winning goals.The UMD alternate captain was the NCHC's October Forward of the Month, and was also named the HCA's Forward of the Month for October, and in addition to earning a NCHC Forward of the Week nod back on Oct. 7, 2025, was also named to the NCHC Preseason All-Conference Team.
This is Plante's second NCHC year end award – he was selected to the All-Rookie NCHC Team in 2024-25 as a freshman. He is also currently a finalist for NCHC Forward of the Year and NCHC Player of the Year.
Hanson -- a finalists for the NCHC's Offensive Defenseman of the Year -- earns a spot on the second team after spending most of the season as one of the most offensive-defenseman in the NCAA with 32 points (8g, 24a) – currently the fourth most. Hanson has a team-high on ice time average of 25:16 (also the ninth most ice time average in the nation), the Hermantown, Minn. has had seven multiple point games, including four contests with three points. On Nov. 14 against Omaha, Hanson became the first Bulldog defenseman in 25 years to score a hat trick, and he has three games with three or more assists and six games with two or more blocks. Also a critical part of UMD's NCAA-best power play, he has 10 assists on the power play to pair with one power play goal for 11 power play points. A three-time NCHC Defenseman of the Week award winner this season (Jan. 13, Nov. 11 and Oct. 7), Hanson was also named the NCHC Defenseman of the Month for October. An alternate captain, Hanson has never missed a game in two seasons at UMD, now having played in 72 consecutive games.
Hanson becomes the first UMD defenseman to land on an All-NCHC Team since Wyatt Kaiser was named Second Team All-NCHC in 2022-23.
Zam Plante picks up Third Team All-NCHC honors, and fittingly, the sophomore from Hermantown, Minn. has been on an unbelievable offensive heater his last three games, scoring six goals – three of which were game-tying goals and two of them – in back-to-back skates - were overtime game winners. Plante has 45 points – the seventh most in the NCAA and third most in the NCHC – and 20 goals to pair with 25 assists. His five game-winning goals tie him for the sixth-most nationally, and his 23:08 time on ice average leads all forwards across the NCAA. Plante has a UMD team-high 15 multiple point games so far this season, including six games with two goals and five games with three or more points.
This marks the first time UMD has had three or more players on the All-NCHC Teams since 2020-21, when Nick Swaney (First Team), Noah Cates (Second Team) and Wyatt Kaiser (Rookie) all earned honors. It also is the first time since 2019-20 that the Bulldogs had three or more players on one of the first three teams – UMD had four on the First Team that season – forwards Noah Cates and Cole Koepke, defenseman Scott Perunovich and goaltender Hunter Shepard.
The All-Conference Teams were voted on by the NCHC's nine head coaches and one media member covering each team (18 voters total). Coaches and media voted for nine forwards, six defensemen and three goaltenders, awarding first-team, second-team and third-team votes for six players (three forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender) for each team. A first-team vote was worth 5 points while a second-team vote was worth 3 points and a third-team vote worth 1 point. Coaches could not vote for their own players, making 17 first-team votes and 85 points a unanimous selection. The highest point totals earned all-conference honors.
2025-26 All-NCHC First Team
F: Max Plante, Minnesota Duluth, So. – 85 points (17 first-team votes) – unanimous
F: Tyson Gross, St. Cloud State, Jr. – 81 (15)
F: Cruz Lucius, Arizona State, Sr. – 57 (8)
D: #Eric Pohlkamp, Denver, Jr. – 83 (16)
D: *Jake Livanavage, North Dakota, Jr. – 60 (8)
G: Jan Špunar, North Dakota, Fr. – 60 (8)
2025-26 All-NCHC Second Team
F: Bennett Schimek, Arizona State, Sr. – 56 points (6 first-team votes)
F: Ben Strinden, North Dakota, Sr. – 34 (2)
F: Austin Burnevik, St. Cloud State, So. – 34 (1)
D: Abram Wiebe, North Dakota, Jr. – 55 (6)
D: Ty Hanson, Minnesota Duluth, So. – 49 (3)
G: ^Hampton Slukynsky, Western Michigan, So. – 59 (8)
2025-26 All-NCHC Third Team
F: Zam Plante, Minnesota Duluth, So. – 29 points (1 first-team vote)
F: Grant Slukynsky, Western Michigan, Jr. – 28 (2)
F: Ellis Rickwood, North Dakota, Sr. – 21 (1)
D: Boston Buckberger, Denver, Jr. – 39 (2)
D: Samuel Sjolund, Western Michigan, Sr. – 19 (1)
G: Matteo Drobac, Miami, So. – 12
* 2024-25 First-Team All-NCHC
^ 2024-25 Second-Team All-NCHC
# 2024-25 Third-Team All-NCHC
To see all of UMD's all-time conference selections, click here.
