Bulldog Insider

Duluth News Tribune sports reporter Matt Wellens recaps the action from last weekend and gives a preview of the upcoming Bulldog hockey weekend. The women are part of the WCHA Final Faceoff, as they'll begin with a battle against Ohio State Friday at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. The men wrap up their regular season schedule with a series at St. Cloud State Friday and Saturday. Matt will also discusses what to expect for season 5 episode 21 of Bulldog Insider, which drops Thursday, March 2, 2023.

Bulldog Insider is co-hosted by Matt Wellens and Zach Schneider. Episodes are edited and produced by Duluth News Tribune digital producers Wyatt Buckner and Dan Williamson. You can find more Bulldog hockey coverage at duluthnewstribune.com and more episodes of Bulldog Insider wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes air every Thursday.

This week on the Bulldog Insider Podcast, Minnesota Duluth fifth-year senior forwards Tanner Laderoute and Jesse Jacques reflect on college careers that began with a national championship back in 2018-19 before being interrupted by a global pandemic in the spring of 2020.

The last Bulldogs on the roster with NCAA championship rings, Laderoute and Jacques are now charged with passing down their knowledge and experience to the "kids" on this year's squad. Jacques and Laderoute discuss the dynamic of being 6-7 years older than their freshmen teammates. We also look back on what could have been in 2019-20, if COVID-19 had not ended their sophomore season early.

Bulldog Insider is co-hosted by Matt Wellens and Zach Schneider. Episodes are edited and produced by Duluth News Tribune digital producers Wyatt Buckner and Dan Williamson. You can find more Bulldog hockey coverage at duluthnewstribune.com and more episodes of Bulldog Insider wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes air every Thursday.

Duluth News Tribune sports reporter Matt Wellens recaps the action from last weekend and gives a preview of the upcoming busy Bulldog hockey weekend, with home games on Feb. 24, Feb. 25 and potentially Feb. 26.  He also discusses what to expect for season 5 episode 20 of Bulldog Insider, which drops Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.

Bulldog Insider is co-hosted by Matt Wellens and Zach Schneider. Episodes are edited and produced by Duluth News Tribune digital producers Wyatt Buckner and Dan Williamson. You can find more Bulldog hockey coverage at duluthnewstribune.com and more episodes of Bulldog Insider wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes air every Thursday.

When Ashton Bell arrived on the Minnesota Duluth campus in the fall of 2017, she was a forward. A year later, Emma Soderberg arrived as the Bulldogs backup goaltender. Bell eventually transitioned to defenseman while Soderberg took over the starting role at UMD as a junior. Both were Olympians a year ago in Beijing, with Soderberg starting in net for Sweden and Bell winning a gold medal with Canada.

Now the college careers of Bell and Soderberg are wrapping up as the Bulldogs enter their final series of the regular season this weekend at Bemidji State. On this week's episode of Bulldog Insider, we take a look back at their college careers and discuss the evolution of the UMD women's hockey program during their time. Soderberg and Bell also add their contributions to the News Tribune's upcoming Frozen Four fan guide.

Bulldog Insider is co-hosted by Matt Wellens and Zach Schneider. Episodes are edited and produced by Duluth News Tribune digital producers Wyatt Buckner and Dan Williamson. You can find more Bulldog hockey coverage at duluthnewstribune.com and more episodes of Bulldog Insider wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes air every Thursday.

Duluth News Tribune sports reporter Matt Wellens recaps the action from last weekend and gives a preview of the upcoming Bulldog hockey games weekend on Feb. 17 and Feb. 18. He also discusses what to expect for season 5 episode 19 of Bulldog Insider, which drops Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.

Bulldog Insider is co-hosted by Matt Wellens and Zach Schneider. Episodes are edited and produced by Duluth News Tribune digital producers Wyatt Buckner and Dan Williamson. You can find more Bulldog hockey coverage at duluthnewstribune.com and more episodes of Bulldog Insider wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes air every Thursday.

Bulldogs junior defenseman Wyatt Kaiser joins the podcast this week to talk about his 2022-23 season, and share some of his cooking skills.

Wyatt Kaiser's junior season at Minnesota Duluth has been different from his freshmand and sophomore seasons in many, many ways. It's his first full college season without any pandemic restrictions. It's the first season in which he's the veteran Bulldog on the blue line after playing with a pair of two-time national champion seniors. The 2022-23 season is also the first in which Kaiser and the Bulldogs aren't ranked nationally in the polls.

Kaiser, a defenseman from Andover, joins the Bulldog Insider Podcast this week to discuss all of that, as well as his relationship with the Chicago Blackhawks organization and cooking.

Bulldog Insider is co-hosted by Matt Wellens and Zach Schneider. Episodes are edited and produced by Duluth News Tribune digital producers Wyatt Buckner and Dan Williamson. You can find more Bulldog hockey coverage at duluthnewstribune.com and more episodes of Bulldog Insider wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes air every Thursday.

Duluth News Tribune sports reporter Matt Wellens recaps the action from last weekend and gives a preview of the upcoming Bulldog hockey games weekend on Feb. 10 and Feb. 11. He also discusses what to expect for season 5 episode 18 of Bulldog Insider, which drops Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023.

Bulldog Insider is co-hosted by Matt Wellens and Zach Schneider. Episodes are edited and produced by Duluth News Tribune digital producers Wyatt Buckner and Dan Williamson. You can find more Bulldog hockey coverage at duluthnewstribune.com and more episodes of Bulldog Insider wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes air every Thursday.

A lot of people go to college for seven years. They're called doctors. However, few get to be part of a college hockey program for six years. Around Duluth, that person is known as Naomi Rogge.

Rogge earned the status of sixth-year senior after missing her entire junior season with a knee injury and by playing through the 2021-22 COVID-19 season. She committed to the Bulldogs in the summer of 2015, just a few months into Maura Crowell's tenure as UMD head coach, and stepped on the ice for the first time in the fall of 2017, when the program was rebuilding following its 2016-17 NCAA tournament run.

The medical redshirt and pandemic exemption from the NCAA has allowed Rogge to see through Crowell's rebuild of UMD to its current state as a national championship contender. Rogge shares what she's learned from that experience and what she's learned from living in Duluth the last six years on this week's episode of the Bulldog Insider Podcast. We also get her picks for the 2023 NCAA Frozen Four fan guide, and test her memory of what life was life back in 2017 when she first came to UMD.

Bulldog Insider is co-hosted by Matt Wellens and Zach Schneider. Episodes are edited and produced by Duluth News Tribune digital producers Wyatt Buckner and Dan Williamson. You can find more Bulldog hockey coverage at duluthnewstribune.com and more episodes of Bulldog Insider wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes air every Thursday.

Duluth News Tribune sports reporter Matt Wellens recaps the action from last weekend and gives a preview of the upcoming Bulldog hockey games weekend on Feb. 3 and Feb. 4. He also discusses what to expect for season 5 episode 16 of Bulldog Insider, which drops Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023.

Bulldog Insider is co-hosted by Matt Wellens and Zach Schneider. Episodes are edited and produced by Duluth News Tribune digital producers Wyatt Buckner and Dan Williamson. You can find more Bulldog hockey coverage at duluthnewstribune.com and more episodes of Bulldog Insider wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes air every Thursday.

After appearing in just 21 games over three seasons at Maine, one would expect "playing time" would be at the top of the list for a NHL-drafted goaltender like Matthew Thiessen when it came time to pick a new team for 2022-23. It wasn't.

Informed he was no longer part of the rebuilding Black Bears' plans moving forward, the 2018 seventh-round pick of the Vancouver Canucks told the Bulldog Insider Podcast this week he entered his name in the transfer portal in seek of a program with a championship tradition and academics that aligned with what he'd been studying at Maine. Playing time was far, far down the list for Thiessen.

Thiessen, a senior with another year of eligibility left, has found every he sought and more so far this season at Minnesota Duluth, where he's split time in goal with junior Zach Stejskal. Thiessen joined the Bulldog Insider Podcast this week to share his journey from Maine to Duluth, discuss the dynamic among the Bulldogs goalies this year and break down everything he's learned from working with UMD volunteer goaltending coach Brant Nicklin.

Bulldog Insider is co-hosted by Matt Wellens and Zach Schneider. Episodes are edited and produced by Duluth News Tribune digital producers Wyatt Buckner and Dan Williamson. You can find more Bulldog hockey coverage at duluthnewstribune.com and more episodes of Bulldog Insider wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes air every Thursday.