St. Thomas head coach Rico Blasi and sophomore forward Lucas Van Vliet
By Bridget (Weide) Brooks
The National Collegiate Hockey Conference hosted its annual Media Day this week (Sept. 22-23), bringing together coaches and players representing every team from across the conference. Over two days on Zoom, programs reflected on the past season and looked ahead to a newly expanded conference with the addition of St. Thomas.
Day 1 featured Minnesota Duluth, St. Thomas, St. Cloud State, and Omaha, along with NCHC Commissioner Heather Weems’ state of the conference address and media availability. Our recap of Weems’ address is here:
Minnesota Duluth returns 19 players from last year's 24-win NCAA Tournament team, including Hobey Baker winner Max Plante and a veteran leadership group, giving the Bulldogs plenty of continuity heading into the season.
“They’re very motivated to maybe go a step further or more this year,” head coach Scott Sandelin said.
Sandelin said the Bulldogs may have more flexibility and depth up front this season, with newcomers including Victor Plante and St. Cloud State transfer Barrett Hall. Sandelin said Max, Zam, and Victor Plante will likely start the season on a line together.
UMD will have a new look in goal following Adam Gajan's departure. Sandelin said Ethan Dahlmeir, who went 5-1-1 when given an opportunity last season, freshman Karl Axelsson, and sophomore Cole Sheffield are all competing for playing time. He called it “a really healthy situation,” with the opening-weekend assignments still to be determined. In front of them, UMD returns five experienced defensemen, a group Sandelin expects to “carry us.”
Plante, meanwhile, said winning the Hobey Baker hasn't changed what he wants to accomplish at UMD.
St. Thomas: Five Years of Change — and a Big Step
St. Thomas enters its first season in the NCHC after the most successful year of its brief Division I history. The Tommies finished 21-12-5 last season, placed second in the CCHA, and advanced to the Mason Cup championship game for the second straight year.
It’s the latest step in a remarkable five-year stretch for a program that made the jump directly from Division III to Division I in 2021.
When Rico Blasi took the job, he knew he would be overseeing that transition. What he didn’t know was everything else that would follow.
“We didn't have a building in place yet. So that came along the third year,” Blasi said. “Oh, and by the way, we're going to join the NCHC. How about that?”
Blasi said joining the NCHC wasn’t part of the original plan, but the conference fits St. Thomas’ geographic footprint. After years of adding scholarships, opening Lee & Penny Anderson Arena, reaching two conference championship games, and navigating changes throughout college hockey, Blasi joked that he’s ready for a little less change.
“Hopefully, we can settle down a little bit now and just play games and continue to develop these guys to play at the next level.”
Sophomore forward Lucas Van Vliet is coming off a strong freshman season. The Vegas Golden Knights draft pick was named CCHA Rookie of the Year after recording 14 goals and 21 assists for 35 points in 37 games as a freshman.
Van Vliet said his focus this offseason wasn’t on adding more offense. It was becoming more physical.
“I want to be a little bit more physical and show these teams that I'm not just all about getting points,” Van Vliet said. “I want to be able to get in their head with physicality and forechecking and backchecking.”
Van Vliet also acknowledged that the Tommies will face a different challenge in their new conference, calling the NCHC a top conference in college hockey and pointing specifically to the increased skill level they expect to see.
Blasi, meanwhile, said the conference change won’t alter St. Thomas’ approach. Every member of the Tommies’ coaching staff has either played or coached in the NCHC, giving the program familiarity with its new opponents even if many of the players will be seeing them for the first time.
“We prepare like we're focused on winning championships,” Blasi said. “And so for us, from what we do, it really doesn't change.”
St. Cloud State: 17 New Players, But Plenty of Familiar Faces
St. Cloud State enters the 2026-27 season with a new head coach, 17 new players, and a newly renovated Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.
Head coach Nick Oliver, however, has plenty of history with the Huskies.
Oliver played at St. Cloud State from 2011-15, serving as captain his senior season, and was an assistant coach with the Huskies from 2018-22. He returned to St. Cloud State in April after three seasons as an assistant coach at Wisconsin.
He also brought back several former Huskies to join him on the coaching staff. Four of the five members of the staff are St. Cloud State alumni.
“If our experience wasn't as good as it was when we played here, none of us would be back,” Oliver said. “And I think it shows, hopefully, our players and represents our program in the sense that this place matters to us. And that's why we're back.”
Oliver was hired the day before the transfer portal opened, leaving him very little time to rebuild the roster. Nine players returned, while 17 new players joined the program.
“We didn't have time to sit and feel sorry for ourselves in any way,” Oliver said.
Oliver said the returning players stayed because they believed in the program and wanted to continue playing with their teammates.
“It wasn't because of me, it wasn't because of who their head coach was going to be,” Oliver said. “It's because they love this program and they believe in this program and they love their teammates.”
Senior forward Jack Reimann is one of those returners. His father, Dan, played for St. Cloud State from 1992-96, and Reimann grew up watching the Huskies.
“I like to say I bleed red and black,” Reimann said. “I've always been connected, I always want to be connected, and that's partly why I'm still here.”
With so many new players, Oliver said there is plenty of competition for spots in the lineup and for different roles.
“We're going to let our players dictate what that lineup looks like,” Oliver said. “The first few weeks of practice have been very competitive, and we're going to keep letting these guys kind of sort that out for us.”
Among the newcomers Oliver mentioned were transfers William Ahlrik, Jake Southgate, Charlie Lurie, Jacob Napier, and Finn McLaughlin, along with freshmen Brock Souch, Hayden Paupanekis, and Carson Pilgrim.
St. Cloud State was picked eighth in the NCHC preseason media poll. Oliver also noted that 37 teams received votes in the first USCHO poll of the season, and the Huskies weren't one of them.
But neither Oliver nor Reimann seemed particularly concerned about where the Huskies were picked.
“We haven't even talked about it once,” Oliver said. “We haven't even brought it up.”
Reimann said the Huskies are focused on taking the season one day at a time.
“I don't think there's really anything to talk about,” Reimann said. “All you can really do is focus on today and get better today.”
Oliver did acknowledge one possible benefit of being overlooked.
“I imagine it's a nice little chip to put on these guys' shoulder for sure.”
“I’m still only a 20-year-old kid,” he said. “Still haven’t won either a conference championship or a national championship, which is really the goal of playing hockey.”
Despite UMD entering the year fifth nationally and third in the NCHC preseason poll, Plante said the Bulldogs are trying to tune out those expectations.
“The outside noise, hopefully, doesn’t play any factors into what we know we have in the room,” he said, adding, “Fifth is pretty high and third in the conference is pretty high without really winning anything last year.”
St. Thomas: Five Years of Change — and a Big Step
St. Thomas enters its first season in the NCHC after the most successful year of its brief Division I history. The Tommies finished 21-12-5 last season, placed second in the CCHA, and advanced to the Mason Cup championship game for the second straight year.
It’s the latest step in a remarkable five-year stretch for a program that made the jump directly from Division III to Division I in 2021.
When Rico Blasi took the job, he knew he would be overseeing that transition. What he didn’t know was everything else that would follow.
“We didn't have a building in place yet. So that came along the third year,” Blasi said. “Oh, and by the way, we're going to join the NCHC. How about that?”
Blasi said joining the NCHC wasn’t part of the original plan, but the conference fits St. Thomas’ geographic footprint. After years of adding scholarships, opening Lee & Penny Anderson Arena, reaching two conference championship games, and navigating changes throughout college hockey, Blasi joked that he’s ready for a little less change.
“Hopefully, we can settle down a little bit now and just play games and continue to develop these guys to play at the next level.”
Sophomore forward Lucas Van Vliet is coming off a strong freshman season. The Vegas Golden Knights draft pick was named CCHA Rookie of the Year after recording 14 goals and 21 assists for 35 points in 37 games as a freshman.
Van Vliet said his focus this offseason wasn’t on adding more offense. It was becoming more physical.
“I want to be a little bit more physical and show these teams that I'm not just all about getting points,” Van Vliet said. “I want to be able to get in their head with physicality and forechecking and backchecking.”
Van Vliet also acknowledged that the Tommies will face a different challenge in their new conference, calling the NCHC a top conference in college hockey and pointing specifically to the increased skill level they expect to see.
Blasi, meanwhile, said the conference change won’t alter St. Thomas’ approach. Every member of the Tommies’ coaching staff has either played or coached in the NCHC, giving the program familiarity with its new opponents even if many of the players will be seeing them for the first time.
“We prepare like we're focused on winning championships,” Blasi said. “And so for us, from what we do, it really doesn't change.”
St. Cloud State: 17 New Players, But Plenty of Familiar Faces
St. Cloud State enters the 2026-27 season with a new head coach, 17 new players, and a newly renovated Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.
Head coach Nick Oliver, however, has plenty of history with the Huskies.
Oliver played at St. Cloud State from 2011-15, serving as captain his senior season, and was an assistant coach with the Huskies from 2018-22. He returned to St. Cloud State in April after three seasons as an assistant coach at Wisconsin.
He also brought back several former Huskies to join him on the coaching staff. Four of the five members of the staff are St. Cloud State alumni.
“If our experience wasn't as good as it was when we played here, none of us would be back,” Oliver said. “And I think it shows, hopefully, our players and represents our program in the sense that this place matters to us. And that's why we're back.”
Oliver was hired the day before the transfer portal opened, leaving him very little time to rebuild the roster. Nine players returned, while 17 new players joined the program.
“We didn't have time to sit and feel sorry for ourselves in any way,” Oliver said.
Oliver said the returning players stayed because they believed in the program and wanted to continue playing with their teammates.
“It wasn't because of me, it wasn't because of who their head coach was going to be,” Oliver said. “It's because they love this program and they believe in this program and they love their teammates.”
Senior forward Jack Reimann is one of those returners. His father, Dan, played for St. Cloud State from 1992-96, and Reimann grew up watching the Huskies.
“I like to say I bleed red and black,” Reimann said. “I've always been connected, I always want to be connected, and that's partly why I'm still here.”
With so many new players, Oliver said there is plenty of competition for spots in the lineup and for different roles.
“We're going to let our players dictate what that lineup looks like,” Oliver said. “The first few weeks of practice have been very competitive, and we're going to keep letting these guys kind of sort that out for us.”
Among the newcomers Oliver mentioned were transfers William Ahlrik, Jake Southgate, Charlie Lurie, Jacob Napier, and Finn McLaughlin, along with freshmen Brock Souch, Hayden Paupanekis, and Carson Pilgrim.
St. Cloud State was picked eighth in the NCHC preseason media poll. Oliver also noted that 37 teams received votes in the first USCHO poll of the season, and the Huskies weren't one of them.
But neither Oliver nor Reimann seemed particularly concerned about where the Huskies were picked.
“We haven't even talked about it once,” Oliver said. “We haven't even brought it up.”
Reimann said the Huskies are focused on taking the season one day at a time.
“I don't think there's really anything to talk about,” Reimann said. “All you can really do is focus on today and get better today.”
Oliver did acknowledge one possible benefit of being overlooked.
“I imagine it's a nice little chip to put on these guys' shoulder for sure.”
And Then There’s Omaha
Omaha Hockey closed out Day 1 of NCHC Media Day. We have a separate recap of the Maverick’s session with head coach Mike Gabinet and junior defenseman Marc Lajoie here:
Day 2 of NCHC Media Day featured Miami, Western Michigan, North Dakota, Colorado College, Arizona State, and Denver. Look for our recap of those sessions next.
