Matthew Semisch

NCHC ColumnistMatthew Semisch joined USCHO in 2007 as a arena reporter covering Omaha. He later became a WCHA columnist for USCHO before taking a similar role covering the NCHC. He currently works as the sports editor at the Bottineau Courant in Bottineau, N.D.

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Departing commissioner Fenton proud of how ‘we created a conference and built it into what we think is one of the best conferences across all of college hockey’

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NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton is always busy at this time of year, with the college hockey season nearing its halfway point. Now, though, he has even more on his plate as he transitions from leading a conference with one sport to another with 19. Fenton was announced Friday as the next commissioner of the Summit … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: North Dakota YouTube series still delivering fresh content after 200 episodes, with more in production

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“Through These Doors,” North Dakota’s in-house digital series chronicling life inside the university’s men’s hockey program, reached a major milestone Thursday when the show’s 200th episode premiered on YouTube. The show, aired weekly during the hockey season, is now in its 10th year. That’s six years on top of what David Folske, one of the … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: After sweeping then-No. 2 St. Cloud State, Western Michigan looking to ‘try to be as consistent as possible’

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When Western Michigan’s players gathered Tuesday to continue a tradition created last year in which they bonded over a Thanksgiving-week team meal they cooked themselves, the Broncos knew they had plenty for which to be thankful. The Broncos had every reason to celebrate, not only for the holiday but also the team’s recent success. WMU … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Minnesota Duluth leaning on ‘Swiss Army knife’ Laderoute to fill multiple roles this season

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Minnesota Duluth is the No. 4 team in the county and has reached the last four Frozen Fours, winning two of them. Seldom do the Bulldogs see scoring as a huge chore. Neither do other teams of that caliber, so what sets them apart from the rest are players who can do a bit of … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Getting bounces, Miami earns split at Omaha as RedHawks developing winning mentality

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Miami coach Chris Bergeron on Tuesday approached the dais at his weekly press conference appearing to have a point to make to his team. The good news for the RedHawks out of last weekend’s series at No. 9 Omaha was that Miami (2-5-1) earned a road split against a top-10 team. Still, Bergeron wasn’t exactly … Read more

Monday 10: North Dakota sweeps on home ice, Minnesota State settles for split, Northeastern finds consistency

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Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature. 1. North Dakota sweeps rival Pioneers Eleventh-ranked Denver entered last weekend having won just two of the Pioneers’ last 17 games at long-time rival North Dakota’s Ralph Engelstad Arena. Make it two of 19, after UND swept … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Western Michigan recognizing campus land sitting on Indigenous grounds

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Fans of several NHL teams may have been noticing the creation of land acknowledgements, in which teams publicly recognize that their facilities sit on land stewarded by Indigenous peoples since time immemorial. Western Michigan is one of a growing list of universities also participating in this practice. In September 2019, the university’s trustees approved an … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: North Dakota off to neutral-site game Saturday in Nashville, finding ways to navigate around COVID logistics

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For Ralph Engelstad Arena general manager Jody Hodgson, looking back three years to North Dakota’s last destination game sometimes feels like it happened a decade ago. The world has changed immensely since the COVID-19 pandemic started, let alone since UND beat Minnesota 3-1 in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game three years ago this … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: After false positive during 2021 NCAA tournament, St. Cloud State doing ‘everything we possibly could to make sure we can play’ this season

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Plenty of talk surrounded Michigan and St. Lawrence earlier this year, when COVID-19 cases saw those teams withdraw from the 2021 NCAA tournament before it began. Those moves soon became public information. What wasn’t public at the time of the Frozen Four in Pittsburgh, though, was that St. Cloud State briefly worried over a false … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Away from the rink, North Dakota’s Driscoll finding pickleball a rewarding, humbling experience

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We can’t all be the Tom Brady of our sport, but North Dakota goaltender Zach Driscoll feels he has a couple of irons in the fire. A graduate student who played the last three hockey seasons at Bemidji State, Driscoll in the summer of 2020 was introduced to the sport of pickleball by fellow Twin … Read more

NCHC 2021-22 Season Preview: With ‘hopefully a normal season to come,’ conference seeing balance throughout teams

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October is basically hockey’s spring. Hope abounds for each new season, and this time around, that extends to what’s going on amid a pandemic that has affected all of us for a year and a half. NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton knows all about that. Lucky guy. When the conference began play eight years ago, he … Read more

Frozen Four College Hockey Team Preview: St. Cloud State without Brodzinski, but still hungry to win two more games in Pittsburgh

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This is the second of four team previews for the teams that have reached the Frozen Four this week in Pittsburgh. ST. CLOUD STATE Season record: 16-9-0 How they got to Pittsburgh: Beat Boston University 6-2, beat Boston College 4-1 in the Northeast regional Top players: Freshman forward Veeti Miettinen (11-13-24), sophomore forward Jami Krannila … Read more

Hockey Humanitarian Award finalist spotlight: Saint Mary’s women’s captain Wolf ‘going to accomplish whatever she wants to do’

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Volunteerism has taken on a different look during the COVID-19 pandemic, but one thing hasn’t changed for Saint Mary’s women’s hockey coach Sarah Murray: She doesn’t know how her captain gets enough sleep.

It’s no surprise that Cardinals senior defenseman Delaney Wolf is a Hockey Humanitarian Award finalist for the second year running.

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Conference embracing involvement with College Hockey for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

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More and more, athletes and coaches around the sports world are increasing their commitment to positive cultural changes while making their spheres more welcoming.

The same goes for college hockey, including in the NCHC.

League commissioner Josh Fenton, Omaha assistant coach Paul Jerrard and North Dakota forward Jasper Weatherby are each involved in College Hockey for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, a task force that was unveiled earlier this month but has been meeting since last summer.

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Nebraska product, Western Michigan senior Frank takes in pod on native turf

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The city of Ethen Frank’s birth and the metro area in which he spent much of his youth both have NCHC teams, but the Western Michigan senior forward plays for neither of them. More and more, Denver and Omaha’s loss has been the Broncos’ gain. Frank just finished a nearly month-long stay between Omaha, Neb., … Read more