GRAND FORKS — UND's sixth Penrose Cup championship was celebrated a little different than the others.
After UND clinched the title with a 3-0 win Saturday over Western Michigan, National Collegiate Hockey Conference commissioner Heather Weems presented it to captain Riese Gaber, who could have signed an NHL deal last spring.
Gaber skated off the ice in tears on Senior Night a year ago, thinking he had just played his last game in Ralph Engelstad Arena. But after weighing his options, he decided he wasn't ready to leave UND with a sixth-place finish. He came back and helped deliver another NCHC championship to UND.
Gaber skated the Cup to the southeast corner where his parents, Mike and Krista, were sitting. He held it high over his head and listened to the ovation.
"This is why I came back — to have the success we missed out on last year and being able to experience these moments," Gaber said. "I love Grand Forks. What I just experienced out there, that's everything right there."
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Gaber passed the Penrose Cup to Griffin Ness, a guy who could have entered the transfer portal last spring.
In this day and age, players who aren't often in the lineup usually leave, searching for more playing time. Ness didn't. He said he couldn't imagine playing for another program — no matter how many minutes per game he played. He lifted the Cup for the third time in four years.
Ness then passed it to Ludvig Persson, a guy who spent three years getting shelled as the goaltender of last-place Miami. Persson never won more than eight games in a season with the RedHawks. He transferred in the offseason, took the reins and has won more games at UND than his previous three years combined.
"Lot of thoughts going through your mind," Persson said. "It's been a journey to get there. Obviously, a lot of emotions, too. This night couldn't have gone any better. I'm just happy. It's a lot of happiness."
Persson then passed it to Hunter Johannes, a guy who has been overlooked throughout his career. He started his college career at American International. He transferred to Division-I startup Lindenwood. Then, he went into the transfer portal again last spring and UND coach Brad Berry finally called. Johannes got to UND, his dream school, one attended by his grandparents.
"The first time I went in (the transfer portal), I was hoping to come here," Johannes said. "It didn't work out. I tried to come here in high school. It didn't work out. I said I'm going to give it one more shot. The third time was the charm."
Russell Hons / UND athletics
The four seniors, who were recognized on Senior Night, are representative of the team.
The Fighting Hawks, the first team in college hockey history to not return a single defenseman, reconstructed the roster with a group of players from vastly different backgrounds and re-emerged as the dominant team in college hockey's most dominant conference of the last decade.
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UND returned some star skilled players like Gaber and Jackson Blake, who tied the NCHC single-season conference points record Saturday night with 35.
The Fighting Hawks added a strong freshman class.
They picked up transfers from all sorts of programs — a Frozen Four team in Michigan (Keaton Pehrson), an Atlantic Hockey team in Sacred Heart (Logan Britt), an independent in Alaska (Garrett Pyke), a last-place team in Miami, and, yes, Lindenwood.
"I've been around a lot of teams," Johannes said. "You see a lot of different guys, how they act, how they perform and what they do away from the rink. I came here and I saw a lot of dedicated guys and a lot of guys who are bought in. They all love this team. Right now I got here, I knew this team was special."
Russell Hons / UND athletics
UND has now won the Penrose Cup in more than half of the league's seasons, including four of the last five.
The Fighting Hawks will carry the No. 1 seed into the NCHC tournament and host Miami in a best-of-three series in two weeks.
UND (24-8-2) clinched the title with 35-save shutout from Persson in front of 11,776 on Saturday. Louis Jamernik V scored in the first period, Blake scored a highlight-reel goal in the third and Owen McLaughlin iced it with a breakaway goal.
"You couldn't script it any better," Berry said, "winning it on your home ice in front of your loyal fans, winning it for your seniors when their parents are here this weekend.
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"Last night, our execution wasn't the greatest. We didn't play to our standards. We played to our standards tonight. That was championship hockey. Our guys, from the drop of the puck to the end of the game, they did what they had to do to play for their teammates beside them."
And when the night was over, they got to lift the Penrose Cup again.
"It was a big deal tonight," Johannes said. "But obviously, it was just one box we're trying to check. Today, we're going to soak it in. But then, we're going to get back to work. We want to bring this town what it deserves."
Russell Hons / UND athletics
