Brian Faison - University of North Dakota

2008-09 SEASON RECAP
After four consecutive trips to the NCAA
Frozen Four, the Fighting Sioux made
the 2008-09 season one to remember
for a di� erent reason: a stirring MacNaughton
Cup championship as Western Collegiate
Hockey Association regular season champions.
For UND, which � nished 24-15-4 overall and
17-7-4 in WCHA play, it was a league-record
14th MacNaugton Cup and � rst since 2002-03.
The road to the title, however, was a hardly
a smooth one. UND opened the season with
three straight losses for the � rst time in 1994-
95 and at one point were 5-8-1 and seemingly
out of the MacNaughton Cup race.
However, the Sioux came � ying out of the
gates once the calendar turned to 2009, rattling
o� a 13-2-3 tear to close out the regular
season.
On March 1 against Colorado College, in
UND’s � nal regular season home game, junior
forward Darcy Zajac (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
scored at 3:25 of overtime to give the Sioux a
4-3 win and, most importantly, vaulted UND
into � rst place in the WCHA for the � rst time
all season.
The following Friday at Wisconsin, in the
penultimate game of the regular season, junior
forward Chris VandeVelde (Moorhead,
Minn.) scored late in the third period to secure
a 2-1 win for the Sioux, a victory that clinched
the MacNaughton Cup championship.
UND would celebrate with the Cup in front of
its home fans following a two-game sweep of
Michigan Tech in the � rst round of the WCHA
playo� s the following weekend.
Although the Sioux would have their season
ended by New Hampshire in the � rst round of
the NCAA playo� s, the 2008-09 season will always
be remembered for an amazing secondhalf
turnaround that climaxed with a Cup celebration
in front of the home fans.
WITH HONORS
Junior D Chay Genoway (Morden, Manitoba)
was named a second-team All-American by
the American Hockey Coaches Association. He
was also named WCHA Defensive Player of the
Year, joining Matt Henderson (1997-98) and
Brad Williamson (1998-99) as the only players
in Sioux history to win the award. Genoway
was also named to the All-College Hockey
News second team for the second straight
year and was an All-WCHA � rst team selection.
Genoway was also named to the ESPN the
Magazine Academic All-America third team,
joining former goalie Karl Goehring as the
only Academic All-Americans in team history.
For the third straight season, senior F Ryan
Duncan (Calgary, Alberta) was named to the
All-WCHA team, earning second team honors
after leading the Fighting Sioux in nearly
every o� ensive category this season. Duncan
was also named to the Inside College Hockey
All-America third team.
Freshman G Brad Eidsness (Chestermere,
Alberta) was named to both the All-WCHA
third team and the All-WCHA rookie team. He
became UND’s � rst all-rookie selection since
2005-06 and joined Karl Goehring (1997-98)
and Toby Kvalevog (1993-94) as the only Sioux
goalies ever to be named to the squad.
Head coach Dave Hakstol was named WCHA
Coach of the Year for the � rst time in his career,
the � rst Sioux coach to win the award since
Dean Blais in 2000-01.
Additionally, for the � fth time in his � ve
seasons as UND head coach, Hakstol was
named a � nalist for the Spencer Penrose
84 2009-10 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA MEN’S HOCKEY MEDIA GUIDE
Award as national coach of the year after
guiding the Sioux to a WCHA regular season
title and a berth in the NCAA tournament.
Hakstol won his 200th game as Sioux head
coach when UND defeated Minnesota 6-3
on Jan. 10 and will enter the 2009-10 season
with 130 career wins, fourth-most in program
history.
POLL POSITION
UND was ranked No. 7 in the � nal USCHO.com/
CBS College Sports Poll, which was released
prior to the NCAA tournament.
The Sioux were ranked 13th in both the USA
Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll and the
Inside College Hockey power rankings, both
of which were released following the NCAA
Frozen Four.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Fighting Sioux set a team record by
averaging 11,719 fans in the 11,634-seat Ralph
Engelstad Arena, surpassing the previous
record of 11,709 set in 2007-08.
UND sold out 16 of its 19 home games in
2008-09, including every home WCHA game,
and won its 100th game in the new Engelstad
Arena when it defeated Minnesota 6-3 on
Friday, Jan. 10.
UND � nished 14-3-2 at home and went
unbeaten in their last 13 games (11-0-2) at
Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Since January 2008, the Sioux are 24-4-4 (.813)
in the friendly con� nes of “The Ralph.”
Forward Ryan Duncan, the 2007 Hobey Baker
Award winner, led the Sioux in scoring in 2008-
09 and earned his third straight All-WCHA nod.