Apr. 4—GRAND FORKS — Corban Knight's group chat with former UND teammates was buzzing this week.
The hot topic: Dane Jackson.
Jackson, the longtime assistant, was named UND's 17th head coach last Saturday night and introduced at a press conference Thursday.
"We all said North Dakota is not going to be a team you want to play against when they're coached by Dane Jackson," said Knight, a 2013 Hobey Baker Award finalist. "The intensity, passion and grit that will be demanded of them, it will be what people think of when they think North Dakota hockey.
"That was always the Sioux mentality. Teams will have a little fear of playing against those guys, because they know they're not going to give an inch."
Former UND players — some of whom urged athletic director Bill Chaves to hire Jackson — discussed his coaching style with the Herald this week.
Jackson has been at UND for the last 19 seasons.
"Throughout my career, I've come across dozens of coaches and assistant coaches," said Knight, who played 11 years of pro hockey and had stints with three NHL teams. "They've struggled to find that fine line of being a players' coach and having that respect and healthy fear. It's amazing how Jax had that.
"He's such a personable, caring guy. But you also knew if you weren't playing up to expectations or doing the right things, he was the first guy to bark at you. The ability for him to be such an awesome human being and coach, know the Xs and Os of the game, but demand that respect and instill a healthy fear is what it takes to be a really good coach."
Vancouver Canucks star forward Brock Boeser, who played two seasons at UND, said Jackson emphasized development.
"He's a great coach," Boeser said. "Any time a guy asks to go do some extra work on the ice 1-on-1, he's always there. He's always pushing guys to get better. He's a guy with a ton of passion for what he does. I think his teams will be super hard-working and have that North Dakota culture and mentality."
What style will UND play?
"Hard skill," said Drake Caggiula, the 2016 NCAA Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player. "He's always loved guys that play the game the right way — 200-foot players that are responsible on both ends of the rink, guys that are physical. That doesn't mean he doesn't want skill. He wants skill players to play with jam, intensity and responsibility. That was a big piece of my game he helped develop.
"When I came out of juniors, it was offense, offense, offense. He taught me to play a 200-foot game with intensity. When you combine skill with work ethic and jam, it's a hard combination to beat."
That's what happened in 2015-16 when the UND coaching staff put Caggiula with Boeser and Nick Schmaltz.
"We were responsible in our own zone," Caggiula said. That was something we had to learn. 'You guys are going to play together, but you can't just play offense. We need you to be good and responsible defensively.' Us three took that as a challenge. As the season went on, our plus-minuses were quite high. We didn't just do it offensively, we did it defensively as well."
Caggiula, Boeser and Schmaltz finished a combined plus-135 that season. They scored 63 goals, tallied 157 points and led UND to its eighth NCAA national championship. Caggiula scored four goals in the Frozen Four. Boeser had four points in the national title game.
"The combination of skill and work ethic among the three of us was undeniable," Caggiula said. "It was some of the most fun I've ever had playing the game, if not the most fun. It was a treat to go to the rink every single ...