Bulldog Insider
188 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 months ago - ★★★★★ - 19 ratingsThe Duluth News Tribune's weekly college hockey podcast hosted by reporter Matt Wellens and My9 commentator Zach Schneider featuring University of Minnesota Duluth hockey players, coaches and alumni.
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Episodes
S2 E2: Heading to Winnipeg with Hermantown's Neal Pionk
September 26, 2019 05:00 - 34 minutes - 47.7 MBThis week on the podcast, we’re joined by another local NHLer, one who had a pretty interesting offseason. Former New York Ranger, current Winnipeg Jet, reigning Da Beauty League champion Neal Pionk of Hermantown, talks about being traded and signing a two-year, $6-million deal with the Jets. Pionk shares what he will miss most about New York and what he looks forward to with the move to Canada. Tune in every Thursday throughout the hockey season to hear Duluth News Tribune college ho...
S2 Bonus Ep1: NCHC Media Day writer's rectangle
September 20, 2019 15:01 - 38 minutes - 52.7 MBMatt Wellens and fellow Forum Communications reporters were at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul for the annual NCHC Media Day Thursday, Sept. 20. The group discusses their five takeaways this season after talking with the league’s eight head coaches and captains, NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton and the league’s director of officiating, Don Adam. Tune in every Thursday throughout the hockey season to hear Duluth News Tribune college hockey reporter Matt Wellens and My9 Sports commentator Zach...
S2 E1: Coming off another playoff season with Karson Kuhlman
September 19, 2019 05:00 - 33 minutes - 45.7 MBDropping the puck for us on season two of the Bulldog Insider is a former national championship captain who grew up in Esko and played for the Stanley Cup as a rookie in the NHL. Karson Kuhlman caught up with us in mid-August before he had to report back to the Boston Bruins. He tells us about the ups and downs of his rookie season, what it was like to play in the Stanley Cup, what his offseason workout regime is like and what his go-to order is at Gordy’s Hi-Hat. Tune in every Thursday ...
Offseason: Big stories of the summer
July 18, 2019 05:00 - 58 minutes - 80.8 MBHappy summer from the Bulldog Insider Podcast. We hope everyone is enjoying the warmth and sunshine in Duluth as much as we have. We felt it was about time to come indoors and check in with everyone. On this offseason episode, Matt Wellens, Bulldogs beat writer at the News Tribune, is joined by the Forum Communications hockey team: Brad Schlossman of the Grand Fork Herald, Austin Monteith of the Bemidji Pioneer and Jess Myers and Mick Hatten of The Rink Live. The reporters go around the...
Episode 33: Season finale
April 18, 2019 05:00 - 47 minutes - 65.4 MBThis week we’re wrapping up UMD’s second-consecutive national championship season with a pair of former Bulldogs who now provide color commentary on radio and television. Kraig Karakas, who was at UMD from 1990-94, and Judd Medak, who played for the Bulldogs from 1998-02, give us one word to describe the season and submit their season MVP and Unsung Hero award nominations. We also talk about the key to coach Scott Sandelin’s success and the expectations for next year. Can we expect a thr...
Episode 32: Championship Saturday
April 13, 2019 11:00 - 21 minutes - 29.4 MBChampionship Saturday has arrived. Today we sit down with fellow hockey reporters Mick Hatten and Jess Myers to give a little pre-game analysis of tonight's championship game between UMD and UMass at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y. The game starts at 7 p.m. Central time on ESPN.
Episode 31: Final practice of the season
April 12, 2019 21:29 - 16 minutes - 23.2 MBFor the last three years, the Bulldogs have had their last practice of the season the day before the national championship game. We caught up with Parker Mackay, Billy Exell, Jade Miller, Nick Deery and Jarod Hilderman after practice today in the Buffalo Sabres locker room to ask them what that experience is like.
Episode 30: NCHC success in Frozen Four
April 11, 2019 16:19 - 23 minutes - 32 MBIt’s game day in Buffalo. This morning we are joined by NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton to talk about the league’s postseason success. In the league’s six-year history, they’ve had a team in the Frozen Four every year, this is the fourth time they’ve had two teams present, and they’ve produced a national champion the last three years in a row. We also learn more about Fenton, a golfer who grew up playing hockey but didn’t play at the college level, and his journey to commissioner.
Episode 29: Live from the Frozen Four
April 10, 2019 18:50 - 12 minutes - 17.2 MBThis week we are on the road in Buffalo, N.Y. for the Frozen Four. The UMD Bulldogs just got off the ice for their first practice at KeyBank Center. On this episode we sit down with UMD alumni Bill Watson and Brant Nicklin to talk about the program's Frozen Four history, of which Bill has been a part of all six appearances.
Episode 28: Loss of CWHL hits pro women athletes hard
April 04, 2019 06:00 - 35 minutes - 48.8 MBOn Sunday, March 31, the six-team Canadian Women’s Hockey League announced it is ceasing operations after 12 seasons. To talk more in depth about this topic, we have a pair of Bulldogs that played in the league. Ashleigh Brykaliuk, who played last season with the league’s franchise in China, the Vanke Rays, is now an assistant coach for the Bulldogs. Also joining us is Demi Crossman, who played this past season with the Worcester Blades. You may have also seen her on My9 broadcasting Bul...
Episode 27: Buffalo bound
April 04, 2019 05:00 - 47 minutes - 64.9 MBHockey continues into April. For the third year in a row. This week Bulldog Insider host Matt Wellens and KDAL radio guest Bruce Ciskie sit down with the News Tribune’s flagship podcast, the Pressroom Podcast, for a primer on the NCAA Frozen Four tournament in Buffalo. N.Y. The Bulldogs are making their third consecutive trip to the tournament in hopes of defending their national championship. We talk about the three other teams, the chances of UMD winning it all again, and what it’s l...
Episode 26: The Afternoon Hockey League
March 28, 2019 05:00 - 29 minutes - 40.6 MBThe Bulldogs are headed to Allentown, Pa., this weekend to take on Bowling Green in the NCAA Midwest Regional, but we aren’t going to be talking about that (well we do around minute 21). We are talking about something bigger. The AHL. The Afternoon Hockey League. UMD assistant coach Adam Krause, captain Parker Mackay and forward Kobe Roth, otherwise known as the “A” team, tell us about the four-on-four pickup game the team plays after practice most days and even during tournament time.
Episode 25: Not your typical fourth line with Jade Miller
March 21, 2019 05:00 - 37 minutes - 52 MBThis week we’re joined by Bulldogs junior center Jade Miller, namesake of what coach Scott Sandelin a few weeks ago dubbed the ‘Miller Line.’ Miller, who makes up the fourth line with teammates Billy Exell and Kobe Roth, says it’s not your typical fourth line. The line is fast and able to put pucks in the back of the net. In this episode, we get to know Miller’s “It doesn’t matter how you help the team as long as you are helping the team” mentality. And because we like to learn about pla...
Episode 24: Target or underdog?
March 14, 2019 05:00 - 34 minutes - 46.9 MBThe postseason gets underway this weekend. As the Bulldogs enter the conference tournament, we ask sophomore defensemen Louie Roehl and Matt Anderson if they still feel like the defending national champions with the giant target on their backs or do they feel like the underdogs again? We relive last year’s Frozen Faceoff, the .0001 moment, and end the episode with the popular “How well do you know your D-partner” game.
Episode 23: Talking the Tourney with Nick Wolff and Peter Krieger
March 07, 2019 06:00 - 31 minutes - 43 MBBecause we know our place in the hockey world this week, we are talking all things Minnesota high school boys state hockey tournament. College hockey takes a backseat this week and our guests know all about that. UMD senior Peter Krieger won two Class A state championships at St. Thomas Academy in 2011 and 2012, while Bulldogs junior defenseman Nick Wolff captained Eagan to third place in the 2014 Class AA tournament. The two reminisce about their high school days, test their Tourney kno...
Episode 22: Engineering and NASCAR with goalie Nick Deery
February 28, 2019 06:00 - 43 minutes - 59.4 MBThis week on the podcast, we are joined by Bulldogs junior goaltender Nick Deery of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Academically he is a senior and will be graduating this spring with a mechanical engineering major. Deery, who already has job interviews lined up, tells us about his career aspirations, his topsy-turvy ride in junior hockey and his role as the backup goalie for the Bulldogs. We also learn about his lead foot grandmother, Jody, 94, who is the owner and operator of Rockford Speedway, ...
Episode 21: Doubling up on goals with Nick Swaney
February 21, 2019 15:16 - 32 minutes - 44.2 MBThis week on the podcast, we are joined by the leading goal scorer for the UMD men’s hockey team, sophomore wing Nick Swaney, a native of Lakeville, Minn. He picked up his team-leading 12th goal of the season last Friday in the win over Denver, which doubles his total from a year ago when he was a freshman. We talk goal scoring, being drafted by the hometown team Minnesota Wild, and playing juniors in Waterloo, a city that a number of Bulldogs have passed through before coming to Duluth.
Episode 20: Senior moments with Bulldog trio
February 14, 2019 06:00 - 42 minutes - 58.6 MBSure the title of this week’s episode is a play on words, but UMD senior forward Emma Yanko actually forgot when and where she was when she scored her first goal. But don’t worry, fellow seniors Reagan Haley and Shelby Brossart chimed in to help her out with the details. From their first day on the ice, to long road trips, singing in Rookie Idol, to plans after school, we take a walk down memory lane with the three seniors before their final regular-season series at Amsoil Arena this weeke...
Episode 19: Growing up around professional hockey with Justin Richards
February 07, 2019 06:00 - 39 minutes - 54.2 MBThis week on the podcast, we are joined by UMD men’s sophomore center and co-leading scorer Justin Richards. He’s got eight goals and 17 assists on the season. Growing up, Justin lived in many places as his father played professional hockey and then became an NHL coach. Justin tells us what it was like to grow up around professional hockey, how hockey in Ohio compares to hockey in Minnesota and what brought him to Duluth.
Episode 18: Offensive powerhouses Naomi Rogge and Gabbie Hughes
January 31, 2019 06:00 - 35 minutes - 48.9 MBThis week on the podcast, we are joined by UMD women’s sophomore forward Naomi Rogge and freshman forward Gabbie Hughes. Rogge led the Bulldogs in scoring a year ago with 16 goals and eight assists. Hughes has taken over that role this year with 13 goals and 12 assists already in 25 games. The two, who grew up as opponents in high school, tell us about their role on the team, how they adjusted their game to play at the college level and what they think of their other teammates with a lit...
Episode 17: Confidence is key with goalie coach Brant Nicklin
January 24, 2019 06:00 - 44 minutes - 61.5 MBThis week we are joined by Brant Nicklin, the former Bulldogs goalie who now serves as the team’s goaltending coach. Unlike the UMD goaltenders he has coached to the NHL the last few years, Nicklin was a four-year starter in net for the Bulldogs from 1996-2000. Still confident as ever, Nicklin shares his approach to coaching, what it takes to start in the net and how he feels about highlight reel saves. And as a challenge to the players he coaches, he would still put himself in net over th...
Episode 16: Steak and potatoes with the Cates brothers
January 17, 2019 06:00 - 32 minutes - 44.4 MBSome 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 blo...
Episode 15: UMD goalie Hunter Shepard makes the right move
January 10, 2019 15:06 - 32 minutes - 44.5 MBAfter 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 ...
Episode 14: Denfeld grad and UMD assistant coach Laura Bellamy
January 03, 2019 06:00 - 36 minutes - 50.6 MBThis 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.
Episode 13: Road trip horror stories
December 27, 2018 06:00 - 39 minutes - 54.3 MBContrary 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...
Episode 12 - Holiday break takes coach Maura Crowell to Japan
December 20, 2018 06:00 - 38 minutes - 53.3 MBThis 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.
Episode 11- 'Egos at the door' for World Juniors
December 13, 2018 06:00 - 35 minutes - 48.2 MBThis 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 the...
Episode 10: Duluth is a second home to Billy Exell
December 06, 2018 06:00 - 31 minutes - 42.9 MBThe 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.
Episode 9: Most likely to (fill in the blank) with Brooklynn Schugel
November 29, 2018 06:00 - 32 minutes - 44.4 MBAfter 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 g...
Happy Thanksgiving
November 22, 2018 06:00 - 2 minutes - 3.07 MBWe 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.
Episode 8: Winning titles at the X with Peter Krieger
November 15, 2018 14:50 - 32 minutes - 45 MBWe 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.
Episode 7: The ‘pressure to be Superman’ with Riley Tufte
November 08, 2018 06:00 - 37 minutes - 51.4 MBWe start off this episode with a tribute to late Bulldogs hockey legend Keith “Huffer” Christiansen, who died Monday, Nov. 5, at the age of 74 after a battle with cancer. Then we dive into our guest 2016 Minnesota Mr. Hockey and UMD junior wing Riley Tufte. We talk about the pressures about being a first-round draft pick, living up to the hype, the death of his friend and former Bulldog Andrew Carroll, playing hockey with diabetes and being a role model for younger players.
Episode 6: Back at No. 1 with UMD’s top defensive pairing
November 01, 2018 05:00 - 37 minutes - 52 MBFresh off a series sweep at Notre Dame, junior assistant captain Nick Wolff of Eagan and sophomore Scott Perunovich of Hibbing tell us what it’s like to be back as the No. 1 ranked team in the country. We talk about the chemistry between the defensive partners, specifically how it has affected their play after a national championship season, and how they play knowing they have a target on their back. We also test how well they know their D-partner with a little game. We may have caused a r...
Episode 5: How well do you know your co-captain?
October 25, 2018 05:00 - 32 minutes - 45 MBMinnesota Duluth women's hockey team co-captains Jalyn Elmes and Sydney Brodt join the podcast this week and we test out how well they know one another. Sort of like the Newlywed Game, we see how well they know each other's taste in music, movies, pre-game meals and more. We also talk Canada vs. U.S. rivalry. Is there on between teammates or do they cheer the Dogs first?
Episode 4: From captains to coaches
October 18, 2018 05:00 - 34 minutes - 46.7 MBThey were former captains and now they are the two newest assistant coaches for the Bulldogs men's and women's hockey programs. Ashleigh Brykaliuk from Brandon, Manitoba, and Adam Krause, a native of nearby Hermantown, are both finding their confidence behind the bench as they transition from being a player to a coach for their alma mater. Both coaches share how the transition is going, what has been the hardest part of the job, how they get past the self-doubt, and what it's like bein...
Episode 3 - Everything you want to know about Irma, Alberta
October 11, 2018 05:00 - 27 minutes - 38 MBThis week we do a deep dive into the town of Irma, Alberta. Population 521. Home to UMD men's hockey captian Parker Mackay and former Bulldog Carson Soucy. Mackay describes what it was like growing up in the small town with Soucy, his cousin, and graduating with a class of 13 people. He also shares what emotions were going through his mind when the 2018 national championship banner was unveiled Saturday at Amsoil Arena.
Episode 2: Bulldog goalie and Olympic gold medalist Maddie Rooney
October 04, 2018 05:00 - 27 minutes - 38.2 MBUMD goaltender Maddie Rooney is back on Bulldog ice after winning an Olympic gold medal for Team USA in PyeongChang, South Korea last winter. Rooney shares her Olympics experience, the victory tour which included stops on Ellen and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and what it's like to be back in Duluth and in net for the Bulldogs.
Episode 1: 2018-19 Preseason Preview
September 27, 2018 20:00 - 34 minutes - 47.8 MBIn our pilot episode, News Tribune college hockey reporter Matt Wellens and My9 commentator Zach Schneider share their NCHC preseason polls and all-conference teams, and breakdown interviews from this week's NCHC Media Day in St. Paul.