Ludvig Persson thriving at UND as showdown against old team awaits

Nov. 16—GRAND FORKS — Ludvig Persson's parents, Anders and Ulrika, did not play hockey.

Nobody in his family did.

When he was 5 or 6 years old, they brought him to a Sunday skate in his native Hindas, Sweden to try it out.

At first, Persson had no interest in going on the ice.

"My buddy's dad dragged me on the ice," he said. "Once I got on the ice, I never wanted to get off of it. It's kind of funny how it started. I'm forever grateful for that. After that, I was stuck and I loved it."

Since then, Persson's hockey journey has taken him halfway around the world.

After stops in Gothenberg, Stockholm, Texas and Ohio, Persson is now in Grand Forks as the starting goaltender for the No. 2-ranked college hockey team in the country.

He's already won the National Collegiate Hockey Conference's goaltender of the week honor three times this season, the league's goalie of the month once and he has UND believing it can do big things this season with him in net.

Persson has a 7-2-1 record, a .925 save percentage and a 1.90 goals-against average. He has the same number of shutouts as losses.

"His emotions never get too high or too low," said UND captain Riese Gaber, who lives with Persson. "It's a subtle confidence. You can tell by the way he carries himself he's confident in his abilities and I think that comes from the work he puts in."

This weekend will be special for Persson.

Different parts of his journey will be coming together in Grand Forks for UND's two-game series against Miami University (7:07 p.m. Friday, 6:07 p.m. Saturday, Ralph Engelstad Arena).

Miami is the place where Persson started his college career and spent the last three seasons.

He will be going head-to-head with several close friends, including his old roommates Robby Drazner and Hampus Rydqvist.

"It's going to be a weird situation," Persson said. "I thought about it a little bit. I'm trying to see it as a really cool opportunity to share the ice with some of my best buddies — both my team now and my former team. It will be a really cool experience, so I'm just going to enjoy the moment."

Persson was a bright spot for a RedHawks team that never got out of last place in the NCHC during his time in Oxford, Ohio.

His record at Miami was 19-53-8.

The most wins he posted in a season was eight. He can match that total — already — Friday night.

His longest winning streak at Miami was two. He enters this weekend on a three-game winning streak after shutting out Minnesota Duluth 2-0 last Saturday.

"Winning gives a lot of confidence, obviously," Persson said. "It's a reward for the hard work you put in every day. I have to enjoy it. There's a lot of hockey left, so I've got to keep it going."

Persson's parents, who routinely stay up until 5 a.m. in Sweden to watch his games overnight, are making the trip to Grand Forks for the series.

Persson's father saw him play last season at Miami, but his mother has never seen him play college hockey in person.

The last time she saw one of Ludvig's games in person was in 2019-20, when he played juniors for Texas-based Lone Star in the North American Hockey League.

"I'm very excited," Persson said.

UND entered last spring knowing it needed to grab a goaltender out of the NCAA transfer portal to fill out the roster.

For some netminders, Berry and goalie coach Karl Goehring had to watch a lot of video to make assessments. That wasn't the case for Persson.

"We played against him a lot," Berry said. "We knew he could win games outright, he could steal games. He's a guy who gives you a chance to win. (Our knowledge) came as a direct result of playing against him in the NCHC."

Berry called Persson's old NAHL coach, Dan Wildfong, to get background information.

"The coach in Lone Star pounded his fist on the table and gave a glowing endorsement about his character and work ethic," Berry said. "Now, I see that every day in practice. I see he's one of the first at the rink every day and one of the last to leave. He's a guy that's investing in himself every single day. When your goaltender does that and is having success, that resonates through your group."

This summer, Persson moved in with two of UND's team leaders — Gaber and alternate captain Jake Schmaltz.

"We knew he wasn't going to have a car and we knew our place was really close to the rink, so we thought it would be a good fit to bring him to our place," Gaber said. "It's easy to walk when one of us can't give him a ride. I have a buddy on Miami (Michael Feenstra) who I talk to. He said Ludvig was an unbelievable kid, so we welcomed him with open arms and it's been great."

Gaber has gotten to know Persson off the ice, too.

Persson enjoys playing and watching soccer. His favorite team is West Ham United in the English Premier League.

He enjoys cooking, especially Italian food.

"I'm pretty into learning how that works and how they do stuff and the food culture there," Persson said. "But food in general. . . I'm very interested."

He also is as focused away from the rink as he is inside Ralph Engelstad Arena.

When asked what Persson would likely be doing at 8:30-9 p.m. on a weekday evening, Gaber said: "Probably on his computer, doing homework. He does a lot of homework at home. We're usually sitting on the couch — me, him and Maltz (Jake Schmaltz). Whether we're playing video games or have a movie on, he's usually on his computer doing work. He's a grinder. He puts a lot of work in, for sure. That definitely doesn't go unnoticed."

Persson's teammates see the same thing at The Ralph during practices and in games.

Backup goalie Hobie Hedquist, a freshman, said he's trying to learn from Persson.

"He's always positionally sound," Hedquist said. "That's one of the best things about him. He always gives himself a chance to get hit with pucks. He arrives on time. He's hitting his spots. He always makes those big-time saves when we've needed them this year."

Persson already has notched wins against three teams ranked in this week's top eight — No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 6 Minnesota and No. 8 Boston University.

But he doesn't talk about the success much.

"I don't think he likes to talk about himself," Gaber said. "He's extremely humble. He's a super, super humble kid. We've never really talked about that. We always say, 'Good game, heck of a job.' He just keeps a straight face and says, 'thanks,' and it looks like he's ready for the next opportunity to get out there. He's so dialed in."

Persson says it has been a good fit at UND.

"I love it," Persson said. "We have a great team, a great group of guys. Obviously, the results have been there for us. I think the biggest thing has been how we work together — the process we go through on a regular basis. Every day, we get to work and we put the work in, and the results have been there so far."

When: 7:07 p.m. Friday, 6:07 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Ralph Engelstad Arena.

TV: Midco Sports (GF Ch. 27/622 HD).

Radio: The Fox (96.1 FM).

Stream: NCHChockey.com.