Bulldog Insider

Some teams might mistake them for twins.

Jackson and Noah Cates are both freshmen forwards for the UMD men's hockey team. They both played on the same line before head coach Scott Sandelin switched things up recently. And they both like steak and potatoes.

This week we get to know Jackson and his younger brother Noah, who grew up playing hockey on rollerblades in their basement, with a quick brother vs. brother game. Although the final score was a blowout, the brothers didn't come to blows. That's good sportsmanship there.

After playing just about every game in youth, high school and junior hockey, Minnesota Duluth goalie Hunter Shepard found himself sitting on the bench his freshman season as a Bulldog.

With a roster stacked with strong goaltending, Shepard was questioned for his decision to go to a school where might get very little playing time. He brushed that talk aside, bought his time, put in the work and now he has a National Championship to show for it. Although he is quick to admit he didn't do it himself.

This week we get to know the Cohasset native who doesn't come from a hockey family but began his career by taking shots in the net as a 2-year-old at daycare.

This week on the podcast, we catch up with UMD women's hockey assistant coach Laura Bellamy, a graduate of Duluth Denfeld High School, as she takes over the reins while Maura Crowell is in Japan coaching the U.S. Under-18 Women's National Team.

Bellamy, a former News Tribune Girls Hockey Player of the Year for the Northern Stars, is in her fourth season back home with the Bulldogs.

Contrary to popular belief, the life of covering Division I hockey for local newspaper, television and radio is not as glamorous as it may seem. On this week's episode we share our road trip horror stories with guests News Tribune photographer Clint Austin and KDAL radio host Bruce Ciskie.

From hitting a deer in the middle of the night to lengthy flight delays, broken down cars and ice-covered roads, these guys have seen it all. Well three out of the four anyway.

Are you a former Bulldog hockey player, family member, or fan who has a road trip horror story? We'd like to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] and we might share your story on the next episode.

This week, we continue talking USA Hockey during the Bulldogs holiday break. Maura Crowell, head coach of the UMD women's hockey team, is headed to Japan next month to coach the U.S. Under-18 Women's National Team.

Crowell tells us why coaching the national team is so important to her and what it is like to be the head coach of two teams at the same time. She also gives us an update on her 4th ranked WCHA Bulldogs and the pressure that is placed on her Olympic gold medalist goalie.

This week we are joined by Bulldogs sophomore defensemen Mikey Anderson and Dylan Samberg, who later this week will be heading out to Everett, Washington to begin preparations for their second World Junior Championship tournament. This year's tournament is in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia. A year ago both were part of the bronze-medal winning U.S. National Junior Team in Buffalo.

They tell us what they learned from the tournament last year and how it improved their game when they returned to Duluth.

We also test how well they know one another with a game we played earlier this season with D-partners Scott Perunovich and Nick Wolff.

The Duluth area is a home away from home for UMD senior forward Billy Exell.

The Thunder Bay native grew up playing tournaments down here. Then he played juniors in Cloquet with the Minnesota Wilderness for two years before playing for the Bulldogs. So for the last 6 years he has called the Twin Ports area home.

On this week's episode we get to know Billy, who is the 9th man in the family to bear that name, with the yearbook game and some rapid fire questions.

After a knee injury cost her all of last season, Brooklynn Schugel is back on the ice and has a new appreciation for the sport.

"Not being able to play for a year and a half was awful," Brooklynn says. "And now every practice I'm super stoked to go to. I'm always in the gym because I want to get faster sprinting again like I was before. I want to get this back. That back. So I'm always looking to improve now. Never take a day for granted anymore."

Brooklynn, who led all of Minnesota in goals as a junior and senior in high school for New Ulm, gives us insight into her teammates with a yearbook superlatives game. She tells us who is most likely to win a karaoke competition, land a spot on "So You Think You Can Dance," be the WCHA commissioner someday, join Zach in the TV booth, etc.

We are taking the week off for the Thanksgiving holiday.

If you are just joining us now, be sure to go back and listen to previous episodes.

We will be back with a new episode on Thursday, Nov. 29.

We haven't looked too deep into it but this week's guest has completed a rare feat. Bulldogs senior center Peter Krieger, has won two high school state championships at Xcel Energy Center and now a NCAA national championship at the same arena.

The senior center from Oakdale, Minn., has taken quite the road to get to where he is today. The "old man" on the team, Krieger shares what drew him to transfer to Duluth from Alaska, how he fits on the team, and what his plans are for after hockey.