UND's CHL alums revel in opportunity to play in NCAA Frozen Four
· Yahoo Sports
Apr. 7—GRAND FORKS — Cole Reschny watched the NCAA Frozen Four last season.
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"I vividly remember being in Spokane for the playoffs, watching the Penn State vs. BU game," Reschny said. "I didn't catch the DU-Western Michigan game. We were going out for dinner when the national championship game was on."
At that point, the idea of playing in the Frozen Four was a distant thought.
When Reschny signed with Victoria in the Western Hockey League at age 15, he thought he was giving up his NCAA eligibility. It wasn't until the middle of last season that an NCAA rules change allowed Canadian major junior players to retain college eligibility.
But Reschny was focused on making a run with Victoria. And once they were eliminated, he went straight to the IIHF World Under-18 Championships in Texas to represent Canada.
"It was after that when it all hit me," Reschny said. "Everyone was trying to talk to me. Luckily enough, North Dakota and Dane Jackson reached out."
Reschny and his Victoria teammate, Keaton Verhoeff, made back-to-back calls to Jackson in late May to commit to UND. They were the two most prominent CHL players to announce their college commitments at the time.
Things have turned out pretty well for UND's inaugural class of CHL alums.
Reschny, Verhoeff, Ollie Josephson, Josh Zakreski and Jan Špunar are headed to the NCAA Frozen Four.
"It's the last thing I ever thought I'd be doing," Josephson said. "But here I am. I'm super happy I made the switch. I did love my time in Red Deer in the WHL. It was awesome. They were great to me and have an awesome program. This year has been a lot of fun. Hopefully, we keep it going and get a national championship."
UND has put together an impressive season under Jackson, a first-year head coach.
The Fighting Hawks are 29-9-1. They won the National Collegiate Hockey Conference's Penrose Cup as regular-season champions, and now, they're back in the NCAA Frozen Four for the first time in a decade.
Reschny said he wasn't sure exactly how good they'd be at the start of the season.
"It's hard, at the start of the year, to think about where you're going to end up, because you just take it day by day," Reschny said. "Now, looking back, I'm like, it's hard not to think we've had a great team from the start. I look at our team now and think, 'How didn't I know?'
"But you take it week by week, practice by practice, game by game. That's what we did. We stuck with that the whole year and ended up here. Obviously, we have two big games in front of us here to get it done. But it's a pretty special situation to be in."
They all say they've enjoyed different aspects of the college experience.
"The camaraderie in the room," Zakreski said. "Seeing the guys every day, just making jokes, laughing. . . even when I was injured, I still felt like I was part of the team. It's just the brotherhood and bonding with the guys. These are going to be my best friends for life."
Josephson said: "We have a great group of guys, probably the closest group I've ever been on. The coaches are next level. The facilities. . . playing in all these awesome arenas with awesome crowds. I've enjoyed pretty much every aspect of college."
Reschny added: "It's so much fun to come to the rink every day and soak this in, get to grow as a person and player every day, work out, push each other in the gym, on the ice. We put in so much work here during the week that when the weekend comes around, it comes naturally for us. We go out and have fun."
Verhoeff said: "This year has been filled with ups and downs — for the team and personally as well. I think you go through those every year. Being around the guys here every day has been super awesome. To have these guys to lean on, and learn from, has been important for me and my development this year."
The next step is taking on Wisconsin in a semifinal game at 4 p.m. Central on Thursday (2 p.m. Las Vegas time) in T-Mobile Arena, home of the Vegas Golden Knights.
"I'm very proud of this team and what we've accomplished so far," Zakreski said. "But we're not quite done yet."