Coming into his sophomore season at the University of North Dakota, Mac Swanson was facing more uncertainty than at any point in his young hockey career.

By his own admission, Swanson, 20, struggled at times on the ice as a freshman. And after the 2024-25 season, the Fighting Hawks had replaced their head coach, introducing another variable.

But first-year coach Dane Jackson has now led UND to a 29-9-1 record, and Swanson has added multiple dimensions to his game in his second year of college hockey.

Now Swanson and UND are among the final quartet of teams playing for a national championship this weekend at the Frozen Four in Las Vegas.

The Hawks take on Wisconsin on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. Alaska time with a chance to advance to the championship. That game will be preceded at 1 p.m. by the first semifinal, pitting Michigan against Denver, which is coached by Anchorage’s David Carle. Both games are scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN2.

A mainstay on UND’s second line, Swanson has added strength, improved his scoring and taken on more responsibility on defense.

“I felt confident throughout the year,” Swanson said. “My goal-scoring has improve and obviously we have a great team this year. It’s easy to play with those guys.”

When UND announced it was replacing longtime coach Brad Berry, Swanson said players were in a holding pattern. But Jackson, who was on the UND staff for nearly two decades before taking the head coaching role, helped maintain continuity for the players after a couple weeks of wondering who would lead the team.

“There was a lot of uncertainty in the program for the first time in a while,” Swanson said. “It was definitely a weird time for all of us that were kind of deciding whether to stay or transfer out. But when coach Jackson got the job, we all felt pretty confident in him and his abilities, so we really did think that we would have a good team this year.”

Swanson described Jackson as a “hard but fair coach” and said the announcement secured his future with UND.

“I love my time here,” he said. “I love playing at The Ralph (Engelstad Arena), and I didn’t really want to leave at all. So I’m happy with where I’m at.”

Swanson’s production this season has been consistent. He’s seventh on the team in scoring, with 11 goals and 17 assists in 39 games. He showed a major uptick in his goal-scoring ability, after notching just two as a freshman.

Swanson believes his progression at UND is similar to what he was able to accomplish with the Fargo Force, where he played before signing with the Fighting Hawks. There he developed into a much more dynamic offensive player in his second season with the USHL team. Swanson has been especially effective the last half of the season with 13 points in his last 15 games.

“I think (my game) has evolved a little bit,” he said. “I’ve really tried to round out my two-way game. I started penalty killing this year too, which just adds another dimension to my game and makes me more valuable to the team.”

Mac’s dad, Brian, had a standout hockey career at Colorado College and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award in 1999. Having his dad as a sounding board has been invaluable as he’s progressed through his college career.

“He’s always there for me,” Swanson said. “But he never forces anything upon me, which I think is a good thing. He obviously is there for me whenever I need to talk or just a quick text before or after a game. … It’s great to have someone who’s been through everything I’m going through.”

Part of Swanson’s offseason mandate was to add strength. In Alaska over last summer, he worked out independently as well as at Mac’s Strength & Power in Eagle River, operated by his cousin.

“It gave me a good opportunity to grow in some areas I needed to,” he said.

The Frozen Four is shaping up to be one of the most interesting in recent history. The four teams have the four most NCAA championships in history, led by Denver’s 10 and followed by Michigan (9), UND (8) and Wisconsin (6).

“It’s really cool it’s kind of all these blue-blood programs,” he said. “Obviously we’ll try not to focus on too much of the stuff going on in Vegas and just focus on us.”

UND was dominant in reaching the Frozen Four, winning a pair of games by a combined 8-0 score in the Regional at Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He had family in attendance for those games and in the week and a half since has received plenty of messages from friends and family.

“Obviously you feel that support being from Alaska,” he said. “When someone is doing well, everyone is happy for them, which I think’s pretty cool about the hockey community back home.”