North Dakota was picked to capture a third straight Penrose Cup as National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) regular-season champion in the league's preseason media poll released Wednesday.
The Fighting Hawks won a second straight league title last season en route to the program's eighth NCAA Division I men's hockey championship.
They return 18 letter winners under second-year head coach Brad Berry, including two NCHC preseason all-conference selections in junior goalie Cam Johnson and sophomore forward Brock Boeser of Burnsville.
UND got 25 of a possible 30 first-place votes, totaling 235 points. Denver, which fell to UND in last year's Frozen Four semifinals, was second and grabbed three first-place nods. Minnesota Duluth got the remaining two first-place votes and was chosen third, St. Cloud State fourth.
Scouting in Europe
With an eye on building a Major League Soccer roster for next season, Minnesota United FC Sporting Director Manny Lagos will spend Friday to Oct. 2 in northern Europe scouting players.
Lagos will see multiple teams in Norway and Sweden plus one in Denmark on his first international scouting trip representing the MLS-bound club.
"I do look at a trip like this — and there will be more during this offseason — as incredibly important on a lot of levels for the club to start building a base of players," Lagos said. "We've put together a good trip that can give us a good base of players that we're interested in from this part of the world."
Etc.
• Rob Harris of Detroit Country Club and John Hawkinson of Chisago Lakes Golf Course won the MGA Senior Four-Ball Championship on Wednesday at Oak Glen Golf Course in Stillwater. They shot a 12-under 132 to win by one shot over John Anderson and Bill Tadewald of Bunker Hills Golf Course.
