GRAND FORKS UND – Because of my annual winter cold/cough, I decided to stay at my cabin last weekend rather than risk passing along my stuff to others at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
 
Besides, that gave me the opportunity to do something I enjoy, and that is to WATCH the games through my EARS from the comforts of my lake cabin,
 
Say what, you say? Watch a game through my ears? 
 
Yes. I enjoy listening to the calls from veteran broadcaster Tim Hennessy, whom I believe is in his 45th season of handling the calls of UND hockey games. 
 
Hennessy calls the game in a manner in which I can visualize the movement of the puck around rink. From the offensive and defensive zones to neutral ice, I know exactly where the puck is at through his descriptions, and who has it, or is battling for it.
 
Certainly it is a style that Hennessy has honed over the years. It is a way of calling games that I find easy to follow, and me now being in my 55th year or writing about UND hockey, I am a tough critic!
 
That the Fighting Hawks had to struggle both nights to down unranked Robert Morris wasn’t something that pleased the players, coaches or fans. Or media.
 
Another thing I appreciate about Hennessy and his broadcasting is that he does not hesitate to tell it as he sees it, even though his livelihood is dependent on his contract to do so with UND.
 
Take a comment from Hennessy as the games progressed last weekend. “Just some extremely sloppy play from North Dakota,” he said at one point.
 
From what I’ve been told by those who were in the stands, his comment rang true indeed.
 
Even Mike LaMoine, a former UND player and now the color commentator for Hennessy on the broadcast of the games, offer this blunt assessment: “Just an uninspired effort,” he said at one point. “The jump seems to have left the team.”
 
As this current UND team struggles to find footing this season, with a rash of injuries to key players certainly factoring into that, it is hard to put an accurate handle on this team. 
 
At times, the play is good enough to think about this team as a possible title contender once again in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. I certainly would not rule that out this early in the race.
 
UND is in a stretch of six games where it cannot afford losses if it is to remain high enough in the NCAA Pairwise rankings to be in contention for a post-season tournament berth.
 
The two wins over Robert Morris were one step, an uneasy of a one that it was.
 
This weekend’s home-and-home series with another non-conference opponent, Bemidji State, is another weekend where two wins would improve chances down the road for UND. It will not be an easy weekend. Coach Tom Serratore’s Beavers always play hard and tenacious and relish the challenge of knocking off their closest Division I opponent west on Highway 2.
 
An encouraging sign for me last weekend was the play of goaltenders  T.J. Semptimphelter and Hobie Hedquist. Semptimphelter was tested numerous times in Friday’s 4-3 overtime win, while Hedquist came back with his first career shutout in a 1-0 win in the series nightcap. That kind of goaltending will work well for UND as it fights through missing players and inconsistent team play.
 
Then after this weekend, UND swings back into NCHC play at Miami, a series on paper that UND should win. So this weekend with the Beavers, then the following weekend in Ohio, are huge opportunities for this team to gain some traction before a challenging St. Cloud State team rolls into Grand Forks for a key series.
 
So, there’s a lot on the plate this weekend for the Fighting Hawks, more than Thanksgiving turkey.
 
But for all you UND hockey fans out there, Happy Thanksgiving, and Go Hawks!

Photo by Virg Foss