Bulldog Insider

Duluth News Tribune sports reporter Matt Wellens gives a preview of the Bulldog hockey games this weekend of Jan. 27 through Jan. 29.

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 and Amsoil Arena will be hosting the 2023 NCAA Women's Frozen Four in March, bringing hockey fans from across the country to the Twin Ports. The last time Minnesota Duluth hosted the Frozen Four was in 2012, so this week on the Bulldog Insider Podcast, we began work on a fan guide with two veteran Bulldogs.

UMD fifth-year senior forwards Kylie Hanley and Anneke Linser — who hope to be participants, not fans March 17-19 at Amsoil Arena — gave us their recommendations for food, drinks and entertainment around Duluth. They shared the places they've enjoyed the most during their five seasons as Bulldogs.

We also talked hockey ahead of UMD's series with St. Thomas. Linser has a team-high of 13 goals, while Hanley has become the most versatile player in UMD's lineup the last two seasons. Linser and Hanley have both received tremendous praise from the coaching staff this season.

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 gives a preview of the Bulldog hockey games this weekend of Jan. 20 through Jan. 22.

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.

The Minnesota Duluth men's hockey team will be spending a significant time on the road the next two weeks, literally, busing to Omaha this week and North Dakota the following week. The Bulldogs already made one jaunt down U.S. Highway 2 to Bemidji State and back last weekend.

One Bulldog who is used to long bus rides is freshman wing Ben Steeves, who played the previous two seasons in the United States Hockey League. Before that, he spent time playing AAA hockey in Michigan and his home state of New Hampshire. Steeves, who played his senior year of high school at Eden Prairie after his family moved to Minnesota, was this week's guest on the Bulldog Insider Podcast. He's leading the Bulldogs in goals and points as NCHC play resumes this week.

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 gives a preview of the Bulldog hockey games this weekend of Jan. 13 through Jan. 15. He also discusses what to expect in season 5 episode 14 of Bulldog Insider, which drops Thursday, Jan. 12, 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.

Bob Nygaard was the sports information director at Minnesota Duluth for over three decades, helping the Bulldogs men's hockey program win a historic six Hobey Baker Memorial Awards during his time.

Prior to the men's series finale against Bemidji State at 6:07 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 7, the press box at Amsoil Arena will be named in Nygaard's honor. Nygaard joined the Bulldog Insider Podcast this week to talk about the honor. He also takes listeners behind the scenes of what it took then and what it takes now to promote a team's top players for honors such as the Hobey Baker.

Nygaard shares the story of the founding of UMD's Shjon Podein Community Service Award, and we get the backstory on the most infamous jersey ever worn by a Bulldogs hockey team for one night only against the Wisconsin Badgers at the DECC.

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.

The Bulldog Insider Podcast returns this week from its holiday hiatus to preview the second half of the 2022-23 season, while also looking back at the first half of the year.

Duluth News Tribune sports reporter Matt Wellens and My9 television voice of Bulldog hockey Zach Schneider are joined by the radio voice of UMD hockey on KDAL, Bruce Ciskie, to answer questions, such as:

• Have the Bulldogs met your expectations, exceeded them or underperformed to date?

• Who is your first half MVP?

• Will the Bulldogs make the NCAA tournament?

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 Scott Sandelin had an opening on his staff back in 2020, former Ferris State Bulldogs captain Cody Chupp jumped at the chance to interview to become an assistant coach for the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs.

The job went to Derek Plante, but four years later, Chupp got another crack at the job after Plante left to rejoin the Chicago Blackhawks organization. Chupp joined Sandelin's staff in August and is now entering his fourth full month as a UMD assistant coach. Chupp spent the previous eight seasons coaching junior hockey in the United States Hockey League, and it was there that Chupp said he developed an admiration for how the Sandelin and his staff went about their business recruiting players.

Chupp joined the Bulldog Insider Podcast this week to share his experiences coaching in the USHL, from what it was like to work with associate head coach Adam Krause and others at UMD, to what he saw going on with other NCAA Division I men's programs during the recruiting process. He also dives into what the past few months have been like at UMD, and offers some solid advice for players who are going through the recruiting process today.

Bulldog Insider is co-hosted by Duluth News Tribune sports reporter Matt Wellens and My9 television voice of Bulldog hockey 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 missing much of the second half of the 2021-22 season — including the NCAA tournament, Frozen Four and national championship game — with a season-ending knee injury, Minnesota Duluth fifth-year senior defenseman Maggie Flaherty has done the exact opposite of easing back into the Bulldogs' lineup.

Flaherty is having herself a career-season at UMD with seven goals in 16 games. That's tied with fellow fifth-year players Anneke Linser and Ashton Bell for the team-high. The seven goals also matches the total goals scored by Flaherty in the 114 games she played at UMD over the previous four seasons. Flaherty joins the Bulldog Insider Podcast this week to talk about her transition from dishing out "apples" to sniping goaltenders. We also cover a wide-range of topics from this weekend's series against Ohio State, last year's national championship game, the holidays and who is the "old soul" of this veteran Bulldogs squad.

Bulldog Insider is co-hosted by Duluth News Tribune sports reporter Matt Wellens and My9 television voice of Bulldog hockey 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 retiring from professional hockey early in his career due to injuries, former Minnesota Duluth captain Parker Mackay was looking to get into coaching. He even landed a job in the Alberta Junior Hockey League before getting a call asking if he'd be interesting in scouting for an NHL team.

Now Mackay — who led the Bulldogs to back-to-back national championships in 2018 and 2019 — is in his second season as an amateur and college scout for the Boston Bruins, covering Western Canada and the United States. He's part of a growing group of recent UMD graduates from both the men's and women's programs who have joined the NHL scouting ranks along with Brigette Lacquette and Sidney Morin. Both are pro scouts with Lacquette working for the Chicago Blackhawks and Morin with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Mackay joins this week's episode of Bulldog Insider to share how he got into scouting for an NHL team and what life is like on the road for a young scout like him.

Bulldog Insider is co-hosted by Duluth News Tribune sports reporter Matt Wellens and My9 television voice of Bulldog hockey 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.