A Few Thoughts from Saturday's Exhibition Against Manitoba
On Saturday night, the University of North Dakota Hockey team made their 2023-24 season debut against the Manitoba Bisons.
First, the exhibition game against Manitoba was a good warm-up to get in-game action against other players who aren’t your teammates. The Hawks outshot the Bisons 59-6. Freshman forward Jayden Perron had more shots on net, than the entire Bisons team, 7 > 6.
Two, the UND coaching staff didn’t get a very good sample of what the goalies bring to the table. All three UND goalies played and faced a combined total of six shots. At no time, did they face any sustained pressure. After the game, head coach Brad Berry was asked how he could evaluate his goaltenders.
“In the previous couple of years, we'd have 10 shots on the clock and not score a goal, and then the first shot on the (our) net would go in,” Berry said. The first shot on Ludvig Persson was a pretty tough shot. I think Hobie (Hedquist) did a good job too.
What else can you say? You turn the page and move on. I think there’s a decent chance we could see Persson one game and Hedquist the next.
Jayden Perron Shines
Saturday night, UND fans finally got a chance to see freshman forward Jayden Perron play. He was as good as previously billed. Against Manitoba, he scored a hat trick. Perron is a skilled, fast skater with very good hands and doesn’t need much space to score. I told @CeciliaMaeve that he could score in a phone booth.
Here are the goals that Perron scored against Manitoba. Substack doesn’t allow you to embed the tweets like other blogging platforms. Here’s the third goal by Perron. Here’s the second goal from Perron, Here's the second goal from the top of the faceoff circle. Here’s the first of many goals for Perron.
Jake Livanavage Impresses
If you have been listening to the UND hockey Podcast, UND hockey Grand Forks Herald beat writer Brad Schlossman has been giving a scouting report on the new players. Schlossman was very accurate in his assessment of the young defenseman, Livanavage. I was impressed with his poise and skating. He’s played three seasons of junior hockey, and it shows. He had an assist on Jackson Blake’s second goal of the game. Picking up the other assist was his D partner Keaton Pehrson.