UND gets first extended look at Hobie Hedquist in exhibition

Dec. 30—GRAND FORKS — UND senior Ludvig Persson was one of six goaltenders in college hockey who played every minute for his team in the first half of the season.

So, it was a bit startling that Persson wasn't dressed for UND's exhibition against the U.S. Under-18 Team on Saturday due to an injury he sustained in practice this week.

The good news: Persson's injury isn't significant.

UND coach Brad Berry said "he will play" when the Fighting Hawks resume regular-season action next weekend against Alaska (Fairbanks) in Ralph Engelstad Arena.

The other good news: UND finally got an extended look at freshman backup Hobie Hedquist.

Hedquist, a 6-foot-2, 191-pound rookie from Heron Lake, Minn., started and played all of UND's 4-3 overtime loss to the U.S. Under-18 Team.

"I thought he made some good saves," UND coach Brad Berry said. "He didn't have a lot of workload early. Later on, he did. I thought he made some good saves. For his first game in, I thought he did a good job."

There were bright spots.

Hedquist made back-to-back saves in overtime on USA's leading goal-scorer, Cole Eiserman, a projected top-five pick in next summer's NHL Draft. He also stopped Brodie Ziemer on a partial breakaway and Shane Vansaghi, who was alone on top of the crease in the first period.

Hedquist finished with 19 saves.

There were some plays he'd want back, too.

USA's third goal came when Kamil Bednarik walked a puck from behind the net to the side of the crease, then stuffed it five-hole.

The other goals Hedquist allowed were more standard.

One was a snipe from James Hagens, a projected top-five pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. Another was a tap-in from an unmarked Lucas Van Vliet on top of the crease. And the overtime winner was a snipe from Cole Hutson, whose brother, Lane, had a hat trick against the Fighting Hawks for Boston University on Nov. 4.

"It was awesome to see him get some action," UND captain Riese Gaber said. "Obviously, we wanted to play really hard for him. He's a great kid. He works hard all year. I was really happy to see him get some action and play really well."

This was Hedquist's second time stepping on the ice in Ralph Engelstad Arena for live action. He played 25:52 during UND's preseason exhibition against the University of Manitoba, but Hedquist only saw three shots.

Saturday's exhibition was a lot different.

"There's nothing like playing a real game," Berry said. "In practice, you can do as much as you want, but it's not a game. Playing in front of a packed house and playing against a pretty good team, you can't replace that experience that he got tonight. I hope he can keep building on it."

Three other UND regulars sat out of the exhibition due to injuries — defenseman Jake Livanavage, defenseman Bennett Zmolek and forward Carson Albrecht. Berry said he expects to get some of them back next weekend. None of the injuries are expected to be longterm.

U.S. Under-18 Team goaltender Nick Kempf, who is committed to Notre Dame, spoiled what was mostly a strong effort from UND.

The Fighting Hawks outshot the American team, comprised of top 2006-born players in the country, 39-19 through three periods and received goals from Jackson Blake, Logan Britt and Hunter Johannes.

"It felt good to be on the ice, at the rink and around the group, back with the boys, back playing," Johannes said. "I thought overall we played a pretty good game. Their goalie played pretty good. I thought we should have had more there. But it was just good to be back here and get the start to the second half."

UND again struggled in overtime.

The Fighting Hawks (12-5-1) entered Christmas break with three-straight 3-2 overtime losses. They returned to lose in the extra session again.

UND wasted its possessions without getting a shot on net, while the Americans put four shots on Hedquist — all quality chances.

"Puck possession is a huge, huge deal," Berry said. "If you don't have a great look, just hold onto it and make the other team miss coverage when you have it. It's tough. The last four games haven't been the result we wanted going into the overtime. But from a five-on-five standpoint, the way we played, I thought we did a good job tonight."

UND will conclude nonconference play at 7:07 p.m. Friday and 6:07 p.m. Saturday against Alaska (Fairbanks).

The Nanooks are No. 20 in the Pairwise Rankings — within striking distance of reaching the NCAA tournament as an at-large team. They were the first team out of the NCAA tournament a season ago.

"We didn't get the result (Saturday)," Gaber said. "We hold ourselves to a really high standard. If we're intense in practice, it will go a long way. That makes everyone else better. That's a key to this weekend."