Bulldog Insider

Who has better outdoor rinks? Canada or Minnesota?  Helping us settle this debate is UMD women's junior defensive duo Maggie Flaherty of Lakeville, Minnesota, and Kailee Skinner of Penticton, British Columbia. The Bulldogs were at Portman Square in Duluth's Lakeside neighborhood recently in what has become a tradition for the program to get out and skate on one of the outdoor association rinks.  F...

He grew up a North Dakota fan, his sister is a Minnesota Gopher, but somehow freshman defenseman Wyatt Kaiser found a home in Duluth. Kaiser, who led Andover to the 2020 state tournament, shares what originally drew him to UMD, why he picked the Bulldogs and his thoughts on being compared to other players like Hobey Baker winner Scott Perunovich. We also learn the Chicago Blackhawks draft pick is...

The year started with a four OT playoff game for the UMD women's hockey team and a canceled three-peat attempt by the men due to a pandemic. The year wrapped up with the women's team playing games at an empty Amsoil Arena and the men opening their season in December in a three-week Pod in Omaha, Nebraska. A lot of things happened in between and here to help us dissect what a strange year it was fo...

She's photographed more than 20 games and taken over 50,000 images since entering the NCHC Pod in Omaha a few weeks ago. Photographer Tyler Schank, who is back in her hometown shooting for the News Tribune, Grand Forks Herald and The Rink Live, joins us on the podcast this week to share what her experience has been like. She hasn't been allowed to access certain areas of the arena that she normall...

When all is said and done he will have covered eight teams in 20 games in 16 days.  From the NCHC Pod in Omaha, college hockey analyst and member of the Midco broadcast team Dave Starman joins us on the podcast this week. With so many teams and so many games, Starman talks about the effects of "Pod Fog," how much tea (with honey) he has consumed, the importance of not repeating a tie/shirt combo a...

Play in Omaha is well underway and by now we all know who started in goal for the first game of the post-Hunter Shepard era.  Sophomore Ryan Fanti got the start in the Bulldogs' first three games of the season at Baxter Arena in the NCHC Omaha Pod. The goaltender from Thunder Bay who had an incredible 17 save second period against Denver, and then made some huge saves on Sunday to secure the win o...

The last time we talked to former UMD captain Parker Mackay he was hoisting a national championship trophy over his head at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York.  Now the two-time national champion is living in Graz, Austria where he is playing this season with the Graz 99ers of the ICE Hockey League, the top tier in Austria. Ten games into the season, he and a few of his teammates tested positive...

The still defending national champions are just a few days away from boarding a couple of buses and traveling to Omaha, Nebraska, where they will play 10 games in 19 days as part of the NCHC pod. UMD opens play on December 2 against Denver. This week we preview their season with senior defensemen Louie Roehl and Matt Anderson. "It's definitely going to be fun. There's nothing better than playing h...

The UMD women's hockey team has its first game of the 2020-21 season in reach. We catch up with senior captains McKenzie Revering and Anna Klein to see how the team is feeling knowing their extended preseason is coming to an end and competition against other teams is on the horizon.  And with the NCAA granting all student-athletes this season an extra year of eligibility because of COVID-19, we se...

Former Bulldog and Duluth native Andy Welinski has some recent experience in bubbles, hubs, pods, whatever you want to call them. He was with the Philadelphia Flyers this fall in Toronto during the Flyers' run to the Eastern Conference final.  Welinski, who is back with the Anaheim Ducks organization after signing a one-year deal with them this offseason, shares what his experience was like in a h...

Sidney Morin and Lara Stalder were both seniors on a memorable 2016-17 Bulldogs squad that made a NCAA tournament run. Both are now in their fourth season in the Swedish Women's Hockey League, which has really become a popular destination for UMD alumni as of late.  The Bulldog Insider is co-hosted by Duluth News Tribune sports reporter Matt Wellens and My9 television voice of Bulldog hockey Zach...

In the Season 3 opener of the Bulldog Insider we talk with UMD hockey captains Noah Cates and Ashton Bell about how they've had to adapt to new restrictions and how they're leading their teammates through a 2020-21 season overshadowed by COVID-19. The Bulldog Insider is co-hosted by Duluth News Tribune sports reporter Matt Wellens and My9 television voice of Bulldog hockey Zach Schneider. Episodes...

News Tribune hockey reporter and host of the Bulldog Insider Podcast caught up with UMD freshman forward Blake Biondi of Hermantown, over Zoom on Monday, Oct. 5, to discuss the NHL draft and how his first year of college has been going amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.  While we still don't have a set start date for Season 3 of this podcast, we will be bringing you player interviews and other updates....

Back in November, before a series with Denver, Bulldog Insider co-host Zach Schneider played a harmless prank on CBS 3 sports director Kelly Hinseth. He claims it was a "confidence-building exercise." You can decide for yourself after you listen to both sides of the story in today's bonus episode. You can find the Twitter proof below, as well.   Tweet proof from Kelly on Nov. 8, 2019: https://twit...

In the season finale of Season 2 of the Bulldog Insider we are joined by a nine-year NHL veteran who backstopped the Bulldogs for three seasons from 2006 to 2009.  While grilling dinner in his backyard, Minnesota Wild goaltender Alex Stalock shares what life has been like since the NHL season was shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic. Spoiler: Most of his days have been filled with blocking shots fro...

Joining us quickly as he heads back to his cabin on the Iron Range is two-time national champion and 2020 Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Scott Perunovich. The Hibbing native shares what it was like to win college hockey's most prestigious individual award and become the sixth Bulldog to win the award. 

Locked out of the Xcel Energy Center and back in the greater Irma, Alberta area, former Bulldog and current Minnesota Wild defenseman Carson Soucy joins us this week. We hear what life has been like for him since the NHL season was shut down, how his rehab from an upper-body injury is going, and what he's doing to stay preoccupied while self-quarantining in Alberta.  Hosted over the phone by News...

Joining us this week from the greater Toronto area is UMD redshirt sophomore goaltender Ben Patt. Patt, who packed up for home shortly after it was announced that the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, shares what his role as backup goalie to Hunter Shepard the last few seasons has been like and what he's doing now to earn a spot in the net now that Shepard is graduating.  We also h...

"Bulldog family forever" is the inscription on the tattoo all the mothers of the UMD men's hockey players had drawn up this season.  Fake tattoos.  But their bond isn't fake. It's unbreakable as this week's guests Patty Samberg, mother of junior defenseman Dylan Samberg, and Tammy Anderson, mother of junior defenseman Matt Anderson, tell us.  The moms, who've been to almost every collegiate game (...

It's been a week since the college hockey world, and the entire sports world for that matter, was halted because of the COVID-19 pandemic. There will be no Frozen Faceoff at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul this weekend. No Frozen Four in Detroit in April. And no possibility of a three-peat for the UMD men's hockey team, at least this season. This week, host Matt Wellens joins us from his basement o...

After four seasons, the seniors are all about to play their final games at Amsoil Arena this weekend when the UMD men's hockey team hosts Miami in a best-of-three NCHC quarterfinal series.  This week, we have three of the four Bulldogs' seniors: Nick Wolff, Jade Miller, and Jarod Hilderman. Goalie Hunter Shepard is the fourth senior, we plan to have him on at the end of the season. We take a walk...

March is National Athletic Training Month so this week we are joined by the magicians who keep the Bulldogs men's and women's hockey teams in one piece throughout the season.  Dr. Susan Hoppe, the Bulldogs' Director of Hockey Sports Performance, has been with the Bulldogs for 17 years, and athletic trainer Alyssa Irby is in her first year with the UMD women's hockey team. Hoppe and Irby share what...

This week's guest comes from our favorite Canadian province and is fluent in French, Zed is Z in the French alphabet.  An Edmonton native, Bulldogs sophomore Tanner Laderoute played four years in the AJHL and was verbally committed to Alaska Anchorage before coming to UMD where he's been a timely offensive threat thus far. He takes us through his game-winning goal, as called by Zach, on Saturday,...

Hot pockets, bagels, and granola bars may have gotten them through their freshman year, but the five women who make up this year's senior class have come a long way since they first stepped on the UMD campus. Aside from knowing more about nutrition, seniors Jalyn Elmes and Brooklynn Schugel share what they've learned in their last four years with the Bulldogs.  We take a walk down memory lane and...

Fresh off a sweep against Ohio State last weekend at Amsoil Arena, juniors  Anna Klein and McKenzie Revering walk us through what the UMD women's hockey team is feeling heading into the final weeks of the regular season.  They share what's on their minds as they prepare for the postseason, and show how well they know one another with a little game at the end. They also enlighten Matt and Zach on N...