DULUTH — Of the 89 goals Minnesota Duluth scored in 39 games last season, only 11 came from the blue line, with just four defensemen finding the back of the net in 2023-24.
UMD’s blueliners have already surpassed that total through 14 games of the 2024-25 season, with 12 goals, and six of the seven defensemen have scored going into this weekend’s nonconference series against Vermont. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:01 p.m. Friday and 3:01 p.m. Saturday at Amsoil Arena.
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Leading the way in scoring from the blue line this year is the Bulldogs’ top defensive pairing of junior Tova Henderson and fifth-year senior co-captain Nina Jobst-Smith. A year ago they combined for five goals and 15 assists, with Jobst-Smith accounting for four of the five goals.
This year they already have eight goals and eight assists, with five of the eight goals coming off the stick of Henderson, who had two goals total in her first two seasons at UMD. Henderson is coming off a three-goal weekend against Bemidji State, where she admitted she is no longer shy about taking shots, or scared to make mistakes.
She credited both her coach, Laura Schuler, and linemate for helping her raise her game this season.
“Nina and I are just clicking, doing good together,” said Henderson, a native of Richmond, British Columbia. “I think we’ve grown as a pair this past year and just this first semester as well. What we do off the ice together contributes on the ice. That’s what’s rolling for us.”
Jobst-Smith — who also grew up in the Vancouver area like Henderson — said her defensive partner has always had the skill set to score in college, it has just taken her time to get rolling at this level.
It’s something Jobst-Smith herself experienced, totaling just one goal and 11 assists in her first two seasons as a Bulldog.
“Tova is hitting that point in her career where she is going to be producing for us all night long,” Jobst-Smith, the team leader in shots on goal (61), said after the series with the Beavers. “She just has a wicked shot. She doesn’t have to wind up. She doesn’t have to put much on it and she picks her corners. Every time she gets her shot off, it’s lethal.”
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The Bulldogs' offense overall has seen an uptick in scoring to start the season, averaging 2.9 goals per game through 14 games after averaging 2.28 last year.
The defensemen have combined for 29 points, which is 63% of the way to last year’s point total of 46 having completed just 41% of this year’s schedule.
Olivia Mobley — who shares the team-high of six goals with fellow fifth-year senior forward Olivia Wallin — said the defensemen have been a big part of the offense this season. They have specifically done a nice job moving to find shooting lanes this year.
That has been a big focus for the entire team with how teams in the WCHA — including UMD — defend the front of the net, she said.
“They’ve done a really nice job making the extra (stick) handle to get around people,” Mobley said. “On the offensive side, we (forwards) have tried to move, pop out backdoor, and stuff, to give them options, also. They’ve done a great job moving and finding open spaces.”
Gascon taking on heavy workload
In addition to getting goal support from the blueliners, Wallin — who had a hat trick Friday against the Beavers — credited another member of the back end for helping the offense take a step early this season.
That's sophomore goaltender Eve Gascon.
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A goalie like Gascon allows everyone on the ice to play free, which is key to playing good hockey, Wallin said.
“When you’re playing more loose and you got a bit of leash, you can play more free, which contributes to you feeling good, and you feeling like, ‘If I make a mistake, that’s OK. I got four other players and I got Eve in net,’” Wallin said. “And scoring on Eve is not an easy task at all, or Tindra (Holm). We all know we have the brick wall in the back, and I know the D have my back and we all got each other’s back.”
Gascon has been busy this season. One year after leading the WCHA in saves per game at 29.38 in 21 games, she is leading the WCHA in that category again, but with 30.7 saves per game in her 10 starts.
She’s been the Bulldogs' go-to-goalie, starting seven of UMD’s eight games against ranked opponents (going 3-4) and has had to make 30 or more saves in half her starts (going 2-3).
While UMD is 4-1 in games where Gascon makes 29 or fewer saves, Gascon said the quieter games are harder than the busy one.
“It’s more mental. You have to stay in the game and not let any pucks in. When you have a lot of shots, you’re in the game. You don’t think that much, so you just play hockey. When you don’t have shots, you have to think, ‘OK, I need to be focused.’ Just by ready for the next shot.
“In both of the games, you just want to win. I would rather not have a shot and win a game than have 50 shots and lose a game.”
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Vermont, who is 3-11-2 this season overall, is averaging just 21.9 shots on goal per game this season.
Familiar name returns to Duluth
Shjon Podein played three seasons for the UMD men’s program from 1987-1990 before embarking on a professional career that included 11 seasons in the NHL. He’s one of seven Bulldogs to have their name engraved on the Stanley Cup as a player, winning it in 2001 with the Colorado Avalanche.
Anna Podein, Shjon’s daughter, will be on the ice at Amsoil Arena this weekend playing for the Catamounts. She’s a senior defenseman who has no goals and 10 assists in 82 NCAA games at Vermont.
Shjon Podein was inducted into the UMD Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007 and the community service award for UMD Athletics is also named after him.
Two other names on the Vermont roster will also stand out to Bulldogs fans.
Catamounts fifth-year senior goaltender Jane Gervais played four seasons at Wisconsin before transferring to Vermont for this year.
Another transfer from the WCHA on the Vermont roster is Josie Hemp, who left Minnesota after not getting in a single game for the Gophers last season. Her older sister, Peyton, is a senior at Minnesota, and younger sister, Layla, is committed to play for the Gophers in the future.
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