The 2020–21 North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's ice hockey season was the 81st season of play for the program and the 8th in the NCHC conference. The Fighting Hawks represented the University of North Dakota and were coached by Brad Berry, in his 6th season. The first ten regular season games were played in a "pod" in Omaha, Nebraska at Baxter Arena during the COVID-19 pandemic. North Dakota won its 4th Penrose Cup as regular season champions of the NCHC. UND won the NCHC tournament for the first time in program history.
Season As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the entire college ice hockey season was delayed. Because the NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of North Dakota's players would lose a season of play. However, the NCAA also approved a change in its transfer regulations that would allow players to transfer and play immediately rather than having to sit out a season, as the rules previously required.
Departures Dixon Bowen Forward Graduation (Signed with HK Spišská Nová Ves) Casey Johnson Defenseman Graduation (Signed with Macon Mayhem) Wes Michaud Forward Graduation (Signed with Manitoba Moose) Andrew Peski Defenseman Graduation (Signed with Providence Bruins) Colton Poolman Defenseman Graduation (Signed with Calgary Flames) Cole Smith Forward Graduation (Signed with Nashville Predators) Jonny Tychonick Defenseman Transferred to Omaha Zach Yon Forward Graduation
Recruiting Brendan Budy Forward 20 Langley, BC; transfer from Denver Riese Gaber Forward 20 Gilbert Plains, MB Louis Jamernik Forward 20 Calgary, AB Tyler Kleven Defenseman 18 Fargo, ND; selected 44th overall in 2020 Cooper Moore Defenseman 19 Cos Cob, CT; selected 128th overall in 2019 Griffin Ness Forward 20 Wayzata, MN Jake Sanderson Defenseman 18 Whitefish, MT; selected 5th overall in 2020
Roster As of December 31, 2020.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular season
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Scoring statistics C 10 3 10 13 16 D 10 2 7 9 12 C 10 5 8 13 0 F 10 7 2 9 10 LW 10 4 5 9 4 D 10 1 4 5 6 C/LW 10 4 6 10 8 LW 10 2 2 4 17 C/LW 10 3 3 6 2 D 3 1 2 3 0 F 7 0 0 0 0 C 3 0 0 0 2 C 10 1 4 5 4 D 8 0 2 2 2 C/RW 9 0 2 2 2 F 10 2 1 3 2 D 3 1 0 1 2 D 9 1 2 3 6 C 8 0 0 0 0 D 8 2 3 5 4 LW 8 0 0 0 2 G 9 0 1 1 0 D 8 0 0 0 11 G 1 0 0 0 0 G 2 0 0 0 0 Bench - - - - - 10 Total 39 64 103 112
Goaltending statistics 18 1024 13 3 1 32 397 4 .925 1.88 6 172 2 1 0 8 58 0 .879 2.79 2 4 0 0 0 0 3 0 1.000 0.00 Empty Net - 0 - - - 0 - - - - Total 20 1200 15 4 1 40 458 4 .920 2.00
Rankings
PollWeekPre123456789101112131415161718192021 (Final) USCHO.com11111433323232221221-5 USA Today1111143332333111122145 USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.
Awards and honors Jordan Kawaguchi Lowes' Senior CLASS Award Shane Pinto AHCA West First Team All-American Matt Kiersted AHCA West Second Team All-American Jordan Kawaguchi Shane Pinto NCHC Player of the Year Adam Scheel NCHC Goaltender of the Year Shane Pinto NCHC Forward of the Year Jacob Bernard-Docker NCHC Defensive Defenseman of the Year Shane Pinto NCHC Defensive Forward of the Year Brad Berry Herb Brooks Coach of the Year Riese Gaber Frozen Faceoff MVP Adam Scheel NCHC First Team Matt Kiersted Shane Pinto Jordan Kawaguchi Jacob Bernard-Docker NCHC Second Team Collin Adams NCHC Third Team Jake Sanderson NCHC Rookie Team Riese Gaber Collin Adams Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament Team Gavin Hain Riese Gaber Jake Sanderson Adam Scheel
Players drafted into the NHL 2021 NHL entry draft 3 80 Brent Johnson† Washington Capitals 4 109 Jackson Blake† Carolina Hurricanes 6 182 Nate Benoit† Minnesota Wild † incoming freshman
References