North Dakota
Bulldogs blast North Dakota to reach NCHC championship
GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Minnesota Duluth will go for its fourth NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship next weekend following a 5-1 victory over regular season champion North Dakota in the league tournament semifinals before a crowd of 9,902 fans at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
The fourth-seeded Bulldogs — who last won an NCHC postseason title in 2022 — will travel to second-seeded Denver, which beat third-seeded Western Michigan 2-1 in overtime Saturday. UMD and the Pioneers will play for the league title at 7 p.m. CDT Saturday at Magness Arena.
“I don’t think there are much bigger feelings,” said sophomore wing and UMD’s leading scorer, Max Plante. “Biggest game we played in yet in college hockey. We got it done, so one more stepping stone to achieve our first goal.”
Sophomore forwards Callum Arnott, Max Plante, Jayson Shaugabay and Harper Bentz scored for the Bulldogs, as did senior center Kyle Gaffney.
Senior wing Dylan James scored for North Dakota’s lone goal less than two minutes into the third period.
Bulldogs sophomore goaltender Adam Gajan made 33 saves — 17 in the opening 20 minutes — while North Dakota freshman Jan Spunar — the NCHC Goaltender of the Year — finished with 17 stops.
“This guy was great,” Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin said, pointing to Gajan in the chair next to him at a news conference Saturday. “All game, but especially in the first period. He made some key saves for us.”
Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald
Scott Sandelin broke up his top line Saturday. He jumbled all the forward lines, and it led to five goals by his forwards.
“We tried it,” Sandelin said. “It’s great when it works.”
Sophomore wing Harper Bentz played alongside the Plante brothers, Zam and Max, while Shaugabay and freshman Luke Bibby were centered by Arnott.
Freshman wing Hunter Anderson took Arnott’s spot on the wing alongside seniors Scout Truman and Kyle Gaffney — a trio UMD has used this season, at times. Freshman Daniel Shlaine returned to the lineup, but at wing with senior center Kyle Kovich.
Redshirt freshman wing Trevor Stachowiak dressed for just his fourth game of the season and sixth game in two years at UMD after missing most of last year to a leg injury.
Sandelin said he wanted to create more balance in the lineup — having a good idea who North Dakota would try and match up against the Plantes — and it’s possible he returns to the usual combinations next weekend.
Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald
“There’s always conversations,” Sandelin said about mixing up the lines, including breaking up the top line of Shaugabay and the Plantes. “How can we make our team better? I think we felt good with Cal in the middle. He played there last year, played there early. Not easy to take Shaugs off the top line — doesn’t mean he can’t go back with them.”
Sandelin broke up his top line one other time in 2025-26 in two losses at Denver, separating Shaugabay and Plantes for the third period of a 4-3 loss on Friday. They started Saturday’s 1-0 loss apart, but were back together by the 10-minute mark that night.
The changes stuck on Saturday, and considering the results, there were no complaints by UMD’s forwards.
“I don’t think it’s much of a change,” Bentz said. “We got a lot of good players who can play with anybody. Obviously that top line’s been special all year, so being able to go up there, is a big slot to fill.
“But Shaugs and that third line, they had a great night, too. Spread it out and get more lines going.”
Bibby got his first two college points and his line got rave reviews. Bibby sprung the attack that led to Shaugabay’s goal in the second period to make it 3-0, and made a pass to Gaffney for the fifth UMD goal of the night.
“I thought Bibby played really well tonight,” Bentz said.
Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald
Bibby, Shaugabay and Arnott finished a combined plus-6 in Saturday’s semifinal.
“Bibbs plays a physical game, it was nice to see him get a couple points there,” Arnott said. “Shaugs is skilled, so you just have to get open to shoot and it makes my life pretty easy.”
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead via goals by Arnott and Max Plante, with Arnott scoring just over two minutes into the game. Gajan said that lead was important after UMD spent both quarterfinal wins over St. Cloud State at Amsoil Arena chasing the Huskies and only leading at the very end of the OT wins.
“It was key to play with the lead the whole game,” Gajan said of Saturday’s win. “They made it 3-1, two goals is kind of tight, and then huge goal by Bentz. That helped us so much. It was a great game.”
Arnott cashed in a rebound created by senior captain and defenseman Joey Pierce, who recorded just his second assist and fifth point to give UMD a 1-0 lead.
Plante was sprung loose for a breakaway by sophomore defenseman Ty Hanson — he’s now got 34 points — to put UMD ahead by two 7:16 into the game. His goal came 13 seconds after the Bulldogs killed off a controversial minor penalty that had been reviewed for a major.
UMD dodged an early major penalty on Bibby for spearing. The referees called for a video review themselves after the blade of Bibby caught the groin region of North Dakota freshman Keaton Verhoeff. They came away with just a minor for slashing. The Bulldogs were able to kill off the penalty and Plante put UMD ahead by two off the kill.
“I was ready to kill Bibby after he took the penalty,” Sandelin said, “especially if it was a major. But he felt bad. As the guys talked about on the bench, we have to kill it off whether it is two or five (minutes). Just dig in and help him out. Our guys did that.”
Two-goal leads are the most dangerous leads in hockey, dontcha know? And that has been the case this season for the Bulldogs against North Dakota.
UMD has now scored the first goal in four of its five games against the Hawks and led by two goals in two of the four regular season contests, winning both, but only in 3-on-3 overtime after North Dakota rallied to tie and force OT.
Shaugabay, of nearby Warroad, gave UMD its first 3-0 lead over the Hawks just 86 seconds into the second period by coming from behind to put away a rebound off the scoring chance of Arnott.
“The tale of the tape was a little different than the first couple times we played them,” Max Plante said. “We got up early this time, so we had to learn to play with a lead. The biggest part of that was blocking shots. Gajan played big in between the pipes.”
It was a good day for Section 8. In addition to Warroad’s Shaugabay — from the current Class A state champion Warriors — Moorhead’s Bentz also gave the Bulldogs a three-goal lead on Saturday, making it a 4-1 lead with 11:51 left in regulation. He tipped through a shot by sophomore defenseman Adam Kleber after North Dakota had pulled within two early in the third period.
“Being an hour away from home, I had a lot of family here,” Bentz said. “Being able to put one in felt great, and it was in a big part of the game.”
Gaffney somehow snuck a puck through the smallest of holes with 7:11 left in the game to make it 5-1, and send the non-sellout crowd in green for the exit early in what wound up being the last game of 2025-26 at The Ralph. North Dakota would have hosted the championship next week with a win.
“It feels amazing,” Arnott said of the win. “They don’t like us, we don’t like them. It’s nice to do it in their home barn.”
Minnesota Duluth 2-1-2—5
North Dakota 0-0-1—1
First period
1. UMD, Callum Arnott (Joey Pierce), 2:14
2. UMD, Max Plante (Ty Hanson), 7:16
Second period
3. UMD, Jayson Shaugabay (Arnott, Luke Bibby), 1:26
Third period
4. ND, Dylan James (Cole Reschny, EJ Emery), 1:59
5. UMD, Harper Bentz (Adam Kleber, Zam Plante), 8:09
6. UMD, Kyle Gaffney (Bibby, Riley Bodnarchuk), 12:49
Saves — Adam Gajan, UMD, 33; Jan Spunar, ND, 17.
Power plays — UMD 0-1; ND 0-3. Penalties — UMD 3-6; ND 1-2.
Submitted Photo
U.S. Air Force veteran Jim Clifford of Minot is shown with the Lincoln Memorial in the background during his trip to the Washington, D.C., area with the Western North Dakota Honor Flight.
U.S. Air Force veteran Jim Clifford of Minot said his recent trip to the Washington, D.C., area with the Western North Dakota Honor Flight was a memorable one.
“The honor is so great,” he said.
Clifford was among more than 100 veterans on the trip from Bismarck, Sunday, April 26, and returning, Monday, April 27. Besides Clifford, several other Minot veterans made the trip.
He said he was very impressed with the N.D. Western Honor Flight organization and the coordination of the trip.
“The coordination is unbelievable. We had a police escort from our hotel room in Arlington, Virginia, to the Capitol. It was right at rush hour,” he said. He said the group of veterans traveled in four buses.
When they arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport, people with signs were standing to the side to greet them.
“It was just unbelievable,” he said. When they left the Bismarck airport, he said, the lobby there was full of people. He said Bismarck comes out really well for the veterans going on these trips and it was the same when the Western N.D. Honor Flight was out of Minot for the first time in April 2025.
Clifford was active duty in the Air Force from 1971-75. For 10 months he served in Taiwan but his Air Force time before and after was at Minot Air Force Base with the fire department.
“My first fire chief was Ken Gillespie,” he said. Gillespie’s son, Ken Gillespie aka Dizzy the Clown, is well known in the Minot area.
After discharge from the Air Force, Clifford continued civil service with the base fire department from 1976-2008, retiring as fire chief.
During the Honor Flight trip, Clifford said, they visited many highlights — veterans’ memorials including World War II, Korean and Vietnam, the U.S. Capitol and the Dulles Air and Space Museum. Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak, R-ND, and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum met with the group during their visit.
The veterans also visited Arlington National Cemetery.
“We got to see the Changing of the Guard and see them laying two wreaths,” he said.
At a banquet held that night for the veterans at their hotel, the Hyatt Regency in Arlington, he said the sentinel, the lead person for the Changing of the Guard, spoke to them.
“It was a very worthwhile trip. If you’re a veteran, you need to sign up for it,” Clifford said of the Honor Flight.
The Western North Dakota Honor Flight will be the grand marshal of the 2026 North Dakota State Parade Saturday, July 18, in Minot.
A celebration of life is being held in Moorhead on Friday for Liz Anne Conmy, who was killed alongside her partner in a plane crash in Brooklyn Park on Saturday.
The celebration of life will take place at RiverHaven Events Center from 4:30 P.M. to 7:30 P.M.
Those paying their respects are asked not to wear black in accordance with Conmy’s wishes, who said that one shouldn’t wear black to a funeral because it should be a celebration, and are asked to wear something colorful instead.
North Dakota State Representative Conmy and her partner, Dr. Joseph Cass, a retired Mayo Clinic orthopedic surgeon, were killed when the Beechcraft F33A they were in crashed near Crystal airport.
At this time, an investigation into what caused the crash is still ongoing.
SEE North Dakota lawmaker 1 of 2 killed in plane crash near Crystal Airport
Commy, a mother of four with ties to Minnesota State University and the University of St. Thomas, was known for her dedication to environmental and educational issues.
Friends say the couple had a passion for flying and traveled together all over the country, including in Minnesota, where Cass had a lake house.
SEE Friends, colleagues remember North Dakota lawmaker and partner killed in plane crash
Conmy’s political colleagues say she was preparing to run for a second term in the North Dakota House of Representatives.
Submitted Photo
Randy Burckhard, right, receives the Commander’s Award for Public Service from Gen. S.L. Davis, left, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command and commander of Air Forces Strategic-Air, U.S. Strategic Command. The award was presented Tuesday, April 28, at the 2026 North Dakota Nuclear Triad Symposium in Minot. Photo from Minot Area Chamber EDC.
Randy Burckhard of Minot was caught by surprise when he was called to the stage to accept an award at the 2026 North Dakota Nuclear Triad Symposium held in Minot Tuesday, April 28.
Gen. S.L. Davis, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command and commander of Air Forces Strategic-Air, U.S. Strategic Command, presented Burckhard with the Commander’s Award for Public Service.
The award is in recognition of Burckhard’s distinguished service as an outstanding Air Force advocate representing Minot and surrounding areas, as part of the Air Force Global Strike Command Civic Leader Program, from Jan. 1, 2010-December 31, 2025.
“Randy has been a great supporter. He was an honorary commander when I was a wing commander (at Minot AFB from June 2011-June 2012). He became an Air Force Global Strike Civic Leader,” Davis said.
He said Burckhard recently asked to be moved to emeritus status but will continue to serve as a mentor for his replacement with the program.
Burckhard said it has been an honor and pleasure for him to serve and gave his appreciation for the award.
Maj. Thomas Barger, chief of Public Affairs at Minot Air Force Base, read the citation accompanying the award to symposium participants.
The citation states that during his tenure in the Air Force Global Strike Command Civic Leader Program, Burckhard represented the communities surrounding Minot AFB and supported the 36,000 airmen and families in Air Force Global Strike Command.
The citation also noted he provided vital advocacy for Spouse Licensure, the Interstate Compact for students, and tax exemptions for military members and retirees in North Dakota.
Burckhard, a state senator for 16 years, will retire at the conclusion of his term in late November.
The citation said that additionally, he advocated for the B-21, Sentinel and MH-139 programs through both his role on the Civic Leader Program, and as a leader with Task Force 21, whose Nuclear Triad Symposiums have served as a vital platform for both education and advocacy for the nuclear mission.
He routinely advised command senior leaders during annual commander’s conferences on matters affecting community partners, and highlighted community issues key to the Command’s mission. He also enhanced public awareness and support for Global Strike issues through engagements with his local, regional, state and national contacts.
“The distinctive accomplishments of Mr. Burckhard reflect great credit upon himself, Air Force Global Strike Command and the United States Air Force,” the citation concludes.
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