Men’s program welcomes largest freshman class

Even though there is still a feeling of summer in the gusting winds of Grand Forks, it feels like it’s never too early to start talking about UND hockey.

The news spread like wildfire that morning on May 18.

Dave Hakstol is leavingUND to coach the Philadelphia Flyers.

There were definitely “those people” who truly believed that the sky was falling and the hockey program was doomed, but there will always be those people when major change comes to a beloved sports program.

The majority of the fan base appeared to keep a level head as people around Grand Forks seemed to know that in this case, a change at the head coach position does not necessarily mean the world is coming to an end.

After people got over the shock of losing the coach who lead the school to almost 300 regular season victories and six Frozen

Four appearances, they started questioning who would be the school’s next leader.

Enter Brad Berry who knows a thing or two about the game of hockey.

Berry actually started his career at UND long ago as a student and hockey player. The new UND coach logged 122 games as a defensemen during the 1983- 86 seasons and tallied 72 points during that time.

After his time playing for the Green and White, he fulfilled the dream of entering the NHL, playing for the Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota North Stars and Dallas Stars during his eight years in the pros.

After a stint as an NHL scout, Berry returned home to UND as an assistant coach. From there, he would spend nine seasons at the position on and off through the 2000’s until he finally got hired on as the head coach in May of this year.

So with all that experience to draw from, where does that leave UND and it’s hockey program? In pretty good shape actually. Because he has spent the majority of his coaching career in Grand Forks, Berry already has  the trust and confidence of the UND Athletic Department and his players, things that will ease the transition period.

“It’s thrilling for all of us because we know what he brings to the table and what he does for us and how much he cares about us and how much faith we have in him,” UND Captain Gage Ausmus said of Berry, “We all believe in him for sure. Just to hear his name called as your new head coach is a great feeling for all of us and gives us reassurance that we have a good guy leading us.”

Like the coaching position Berry will fill, this year’s hockey team will look a bit different as well. UND lost eight players from the previous season, but will make that up with a very large and talented freshmen class.

Of the 10 new recruits, half of them have already been drafted by pro teams, including standout Brock Boeser, who was drafted 23rd overall in this year’s draft by the Vancouver Canucks.

“I am very excited. First of all it is a very big class and I am very excited to have all ten of them come in. Each player brings in a little something different to the table,” Berry said. “Obviously a player of Brock Boeser’s caliber, a first round pick and what he has done over the past year in the USHL offensively is very exciting… It is a great addition to our program.”

Berry and his young team may usher in the start of a new era at UND, but the expectation set by the team’s former coach will always stay the same.

“There’s one thing we want to try to get to and that’s the national championship game,” Berry said, “and we want to win that. There’s a process to do that and it starts this summer.”

Alex Stadnik is the sports editor for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected]