duluthnewstribune
DULUTH How will the NCAAs new age-based eligibility rules impact the way Minnesota Duluth recruits players and builds its roster moving forward? Thats a question Ive been wanting to ask Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin this summer after the NCAA granted every student-athletes five years of eligibility beginning upon full-time enrollment in college or the academic year following the student-athletes 19th birthday, whichever comes first.
ADVERTISEMENT The answer is quite boring, and that should be reassuring to UMD hockey fans.
I dont know if it will change too much, Sandelin said.
Like everything, youre going to adapt to whatever rules are in place.
Things will get a little bit younger, which is good.
The Bulldogs' average age of 21.8 years old in 2026-27 ranked in the bottom third of the NCAA, meaning they were among the 20 youngest teams last season.
Thats traditionally where the Bulldogs have been, with all three national championship teams in 2011, 2018 and 2019 between 21.5-21.6 years old on average.
Under the new now current rules, Riley Bodnarchuk would have been the only Bulldog ineligible due to his age in 2025-26.
Sandelin called the NCAAs final wording a great compromise compared to the original proposal that started a players eligibility upon high school graduation or the academic year after they turned 19, whichever came first.
He credited college hockeys conference commissioners for staying on it and coming up with a proposal that other sports also found to be beneficial.
UMD athletic director Forrest Karr, who also serves as president of the American Hockey Coaches Association, credited ECAC commissioner Doug Christiansen for his work behind the scenes coordinating all the governing bodies and other organizations in hockey, including the NHL, USA Hockey and junior hockey leagues.
Christiansen was deputy commissioner of the United States Hockey League prior to taking over ECAC Hockey in 2023.
He and Karr also grew up playing high school hockey against each other in Wisconsin.
ADVERTISEMENT Hockey was able to present a sensible solution.
It turns out it benefited a lot of other sports as well.
I think it landed in a great place, Karr said.
It probably demonstrated the strength of the NCAA at its best.
The membership had a voice, had an opportunity to provide input in the process.
The outcome was very reasonable and accomplished the goals everyone was trying to accomplish.
Sandelin and Karr both noted that it is unfortunate that some future student-athletes will not be getting four years of eligibility anymore because of the rule change.
That includes some Bulldogs recruits who are now scheduled to arrive in the fall of 2027.
Sandelin has been sympathetic to the impact the rule change has had on kids and their families from the start of this sage.
At least there is some clarity and some direction.
There was no clarity before and no direction.
At least with some of those kids, there are things you can do, Sandelin said.
Nobody knew what was going on and there was a lot of anxiety.
There was a lot of unknowns.
Now at least, with where it is at, kids can still formulate some plans.
Longtime staffer leaves UMD Scott Sandelins longtime director of hockey operations, Christian Koelling, has left the Bulldogs after 18 seasons to pursue his own business opportunities.
Koelling, a 2004 UMD graduate, was one of Sandelins longest tenured staff members, along with equipment manager Chris Garner and Dr.
Susan Hoppe, now UMDs assistant athletic director of sports medicine and performance.
As college sports grew, so did all of Koellings duties at UMD, but his primary focus was on video, organizing the teams travel and community outreach through programs such as Little Wild.
Im happy for him to be able to go out and start something, get out on his own and try something different, said Sandelin, who has coached the Bulldogs now for 26 seasons.
ADVERTISEMENT He was pretty much my right-hand man.
Ive got assistant coaches, but the things that he did that helped our program whether it was the travel, the relationships with the players, the relationships he had with their parents, a lot of the administrative things, the video.
There was a lot on his plate.
Hes very organized.
It grew into more than when he started, for sure.
When you realize you dont have that person, its a little scary, but we feel were going to be in a really good spot with who were hiring.
Bulldog Bites A contract extension for Sandelin is expected in July.
His current deal, signed in the summer of 2022, expires after the upcoming 2026-27 season.
Sandelin turns 62 in August.
A new contract or extension would need to be approved by the University of Minnesota Board of Regents, which is scheduled to meet next on July 22-24.
The Bulldogs have added a second exhibition game to their 2026-27 schedule.
UMD will host the USA Hockey National Team Development Programs Under-18 squad at 7 p.m.
on Saturday, Dec.
5 at Amsoil Arena.
That game comes between the Bulldogs trip to the Friendship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and an NCHC series at North Dakota.
The UMD women are also home that weekend against St.
Cloud State.
UMDs other exhibition in 2026-27 is scheduled for Jan.
2 at home against Manitoba coming out of the holiday break.
The NCHC wants to lock in Friday, March 19 for its postseason championship game.
The Grand Forks Herald first reported about this last month.
Its a move that makes sense, and comes after the Bulldogs faced the possibility of a very quick turnaround between the 2026 NCHC championship at Denver on Saturday and the NCAA tournament the following week.
The issue in 2027 is Amsoil Arena would not be able to host an NCHC title game on March 19 if the Bulldogs were the top remaining seed.
The NCAA Womens Frozen Four semifinals are scheduled for that day.
The NCHC currently has Saturday, March 20 as an option, but wants to nix that.
Could the NCAA Womens Frozen Four change its dates in Duluth? Potentially, but only if the NCAA or ESPN demand it.
It wont change because of the NCHC.
ADVERTISEMENT Denver athletic director Josh Berlo will be Sandelins replacement on the NCAA Division I Mens Ice Hockey Oversight Committee.
Sandelins four-year term on what started out as the NCAA Division I Mens Ice Hockey Championship committee ends in August, as does the term of retiring Mercyhurst coach Rick Gotkin.
Berlo was AD at UMD from 2013-2022.
Two former Bulldogs have new NHL contracts to start free agency.
Both helped UMD win back-to-back national championships on 2018 and 2019.
Forward Riley Tufte has signed a one-year, one-way contract with the New Jersey Devils worth $850,000.
Defenseman Scott Perunovich the Hibbing native who won the Hobey Baker Memorial Award in 2020 signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Los Angeles Kings.
Tufte spent the previous two seasons with the Boston Bruins organization, mostly playing in Providence in the American Hockey League.
Perunovich played all of last season in the AHL with the Tucson Roadrunners, who are the top affiliate of the Utah Mammoth.