GRAND FORKS — If all goes according to plan, Cole Reschny will sign with the Calgary Flames at the end of the 2026-27 season and begin his pro career.

But Reschny made it clear to everyone in Calgary that he intends to do one thing this year at UND — win a national championship.

Reschny repeatedly mentioned his desire to bring a national title back to Grand Forks during his media availability at Calgary’s development camp last week.

“I think one more good year at North Dakota to help me develop as a player, as a person, off the ice, with my body in the gym and nutrition-wise,” Reschny said about his timeline to turn pro. “That’s the goal: hopefully win a national championship, then make the jump at the end of the year and hopefully get a couple (NHL) games in and get that experience.”

UND lost 2-1 to Wisconsin in the NCAA Frozen Four semifinals last season in Las Vegas.

After the game, Reschny said the program’s standard should be Frozen Fours, and that he was driven to finish it off in 2027 in Washington, D.C.

“College hockey is getting very strong,” Reschny said. “There are some powerhouse teams. You see Michigan, you see Michigan State, Denver obviously, us, Minnesota Duluth is coming. It’s going to be a grind. Whoever comes out on top, it’s going to be tough. But I think we’ve got the team to do it. It’s always tough in those one-off games but that’s college hockey and you’ve got to play it. But I think we’ve got a very good shot ourselves.”

Reschny had a strong freshman season at UND, scoring six goals and tallying 35 points in 36 games. He was named the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s Rookie of the Year.

Reschny said there were some growing pains early in the season, coming from Victoria of the Western Hockey League.

“The first month was hard,” Reschny said. “You don’t realize how hard college hockey is until you’re playing it. You go from playing 16- to 20-year-olds to… there are 24-year-olds out there. I think the time and space was the biggest thing. No one takes a shift off. Every night is going to be hard. You’ve got to grind it out and find a way. But that was very good for my game. I’m not the biggest guy but I play strong and play hard. So, just learning to play against those bigger guys, putting my time in the gym, nutrition-wise, too. We’re very lucky at North Dakota. I used that to my advantage.

“It was very good having Dane Jackson as my head coach. He’s played pro. He understands. It was a good year, we had a good group around us. We just fell short, so hopefully we can do it this year.

A Calgary media member asked Reschny why players coming out of North Dakota always talk about how special it is.

“We’re so lucky there with the facilities, the people, the environment,” Reschny said. “Every day it’s so fun to go to the rink and just try to get better and push each other on the ice, in the weight room and we’re always battling with little things, too. The ice is always available for us. We’re always going out, playing games, shooting pucks, doing things like that. The environment, the culture, the rich history, the pride of the program and the facilities are second to none. It’s a special place to be. I’m very excited to go back there another year. I think we’ve got an extremely good team again, so it will be good.”

One of the players UND is adding to its roster also was at Calgary Flames development camp.

Carson Carels, the No. 6 overall draft pick, is slated to be a freshman defenseman.

“I think UND is going to shape me to be a more complete player and continue my maturity as a player,” Carels said. “I think it’s going to be a good step and I’m really happy going there.”

Carels was asked if there’s temptation to sign an NHL deal right away and try to make Calgary’s roster.

“There’s obviously temptation to hop in this,” Carels said, “but in the long run, you don’t want a five-year career. You want to get to the 15- or 20-year mark. I think that extra year of college is going to set my body right and set my mind right for a longer career.”

Leighton Chamblee / UND athletics

Carels and Reschny were teammates at the World Junior Championship last year in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

“We’ve played together a lot,” Carels said. “I think we’re going to play together for a long time, just going to North Dakota, and then, obviously, hoping to play on the Flames together as well. We’re going to have a long relationship and hopefully a long career together as well.”

Reschny also had high praise for Carels.

“Very, very, extremely good player but he’s even better off the ice,” Reschny said. “He’s so easy to talk to, to get along with. He understands the game. He understands what it takes. Being around a guy like that is huge. You push each other. Any time you get a chance to add a guy like that to your team, it’s great.

“He’s going to be huge for us. He’s going to play a lot of minutes this year. Just having him come in, alongside (Keaton) Verhoeff, they’re going to be two young D-men, but they’re going to be very big and play a lot of minutes for us. It will be big and it’s exciting. We’ve got a good team this year and I think we can go for it.”

Reschny said he watched the NHL Draft a couple of weeks ago and saw Carels go No. 6 and Verhoeff go No. 9 to the San Jose Sharks.

“It’s exciting,” Reschny said. “You obviously have buddies in the draft. I lived with Verhoeff all year and played with him the last few years. It’s exciting to see guys like that. I know Cars, too. It’s great. You play with guys like that at World Juniors, big tournaments like that. To see him come this way was very exciting. . . a D-man like that, of his caliber, it’s very exciting. This is a group that’s coming up.”

Their next stop is Grand Forks.

Players will begin gathering this week to go through voluntary offseason workouts together.

Carels said there were a few reasons why he chose to spend this season at UND.

“One thing that stands out is how close it is to home,” said Carels, who grew up on a Manitoba farm. “It’s only two-and-a-half hours away and that’s awesome. I haven’t really played that close to home in a long time. Getting family down there would be awesome. But I think it’s more about the people and the organization as well. When I went down there, it felt like home. It felt like it did in Prince George. It’s going to be a second home. That’s what jumped out to me.”

James Doyle / Prince George Cougars

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