Chronology

• Sep., 1946 -- The University of North Dakota hired John C. (Jamie) Jamieson as hockey coach. Jamieson, a student at the university, led the first post-war team to a 7-6-0 overall record, playing area town and college teams. Jamieson's squad, made up of 19 players, opened the season at home, Jan. 6, 1947 losing to St. Cloud Teachers, 8-1.
• Jan. 10, 1948 -- UND crashes into the big-time of college hockey when it stuns the Michigan Wolverines 6-5 in Ann Arbor. Strong defense and a pair of goals each from John Noah, Gordon (Ginny) Christian and Tom Medved key the big win. Noah scores the winning goal at 19:14 of the third period. Bob Murray stops 34 Michigan shots in the UND net.
• Jan. 14-15, 28-29, 1954 -- Gerald "Spike" Schultz stones Michigan Tech with four consecutive shutouts 5-0-, 5-0, at Tech and 4-0, 7-0 at UND, in Western Intercollegiate Hockey League action. The WIHL, forerunner of the WCHA, was formed in 1951-52.
• Mar. 15-16, 1958 -- Seven different Sioux score as UND routs Harvard, 9-1, at Minneapolis, in its first ever trip to the NCAA semifinals. Denver, however, tops the Sioux, 6-2, in the championship game.
• Mar. 12-14, 1959 -- UND wins its first national championship by virtue of two action-packed 4-3 overtime thrillers at RPI in Troy, N.Y. Guy LaFrance's goal at 4:22 of sudden death overtime eliminates St. Lawrence in the semifinal game. Reg Morelli tallies a pair of goals, and Art Miller and Ed Thomlinson one each in the St. Lawrence game. Morelli duplicates LaFrance's OT heroics when he scores at 4:18 of the first overtime period in the championship game against Michigan State, giving the Sioux a 4-3 win. The Spartans lead 1-0 after on period, but the Sioux go up 3-1 in the second on goals by Ralphy Lyndon, Jerry Walford and Stan Paschke. State ties it late in the third, setting the stage for Morelli's dramatic shot over the sprawling Spartan goalie Joe Selinger, who records 26 saves. George Gratton stops 21 MSU shots. Morelli is tourney MVP.
• Dec. 30, 1960 -- UND drops a hard-fought 4-3 decision to the touring USSR All-Star team, the top players in the Soviet Union, when the Soviets score at 7:38 of the third period. The game marks the first time UND has met a European team and is played before 3,000 spectators. Dave Merrifield and Bill Colpitts give UND a 2-1 first period lead. Whitey White sends UND ahead 3-2 midway through the second period. George Gratton records 24 saves in the Sioux nets. The USSR goalie has 21 stops.
• Mar. 14-16, 1963 -- UND tops host Boston College 8-2 in the semifinal round of the NCAA tournament. Don Stokaluk and Pete Stasiuk each notch a pair of goals, while Dave Merrifield, John Sutherland, Al McLean and Ernie Dyda each tally once. Joe Lech makes 18 saves, while two BC goalies record 43. UND races to a 5-2 first period lead to win its second NCAA title on goals by Don Stokaluk, Al McLean, Ernie Dyda, Stokaluk and Jack Matheson. McLean, who is named tourney MVP, scores the winning goal at 5:01 of the second period to make the final score 6-5. UND's Joe Lech makes only 11 saves in the game, while Rudy Unis of Denver has 32.
• Mar. 18-20, 1965 -- UND loses to Boston College 4-3 at Brown University in Providence, R.I., in the first round of the NCAA tournament and then defeats host Brown 9-5 for third place.
• Mar. 15-16, 1968 -- UND topples Cornell 3-1 in the first round off the NCAA tournament in Duluth, Minn., but falls to Denver 4-0 in the title game. UND had advanced to the NCAA tournament by beating home-standing Michigan Tech 3-2 in total goals. The first game is a 0-0 deadlock, the only scoreless tie in UND history.
• Dec. 21, 1968 -- UND edges Minnesota 5-4 in five overtimes in the final of the St. Paul Classic tourney on Buzz Christiansen's goal at 2:09 of the fifth OT. The game, which is one of the longest in collegiate history, lasts 4 hours, 54 minutes.
• Nov. 10, 1972 -- UND dedicates its new $2 million Winter Sports Center by topping Colorado College 5-4 before a capacity crowd.
• Mar. 7, 1978 -- John "Gino" Gasparini, a North Dakota assistant coach since 1971, is named head hockey coach. He replaces Rube Bjorkman, who had announced his resignation on Jan. 4, 1978.
• Mar. 3, 1979 -- UND wins its first WCHA championship in 12 years by beating Minnesota on the road 4-2 under the guidance of first-year head coach John "Gino" Gasparini.
• Mar. 23-24, 1979 -- UND defeats Dartmouth 4-2 in Detroit's Olympia Stadium in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament. UND uses goals from Howard Walker, Erwin Martins, Mark Taylor and Cary Eades in the triumph. Minnesota edges the Sioux 4-3 in the title game. Sioux goals are scored by Bill Himmelright, Kevin Maxwell, and Marc Chorney.
• Mar. 27-28, 1980 -- The Sioux top Dartmouth 4-1 at Providence, R.I., on four third-period goals -- including two by Phil Sykes. The Sioux ride four goals by Doug Smail to a 5-2 win over Northern Michigan to win their third national championship.
• Mar. 27, 1982 -- The Sioux win their fourth national title by a 5-2 margin over Wisconsin after third-period goals by Phil Sykes (2) and Cary Eades snap a 2-2 tie. Darren Jensen records 23 saves and Terry Kleisinger has 33 in the Wisconsin nets. The Sioux beat Northeastern 6-2 in the semifinal, taking a 6-0 lead on goals by Glen White, Phil Sykes, Jim Archibald, Cary Eades, Troy Murray and Dusty Carroll. Jensen makes 24 stops whil Northeastern goalies make 26 stops.
• Dec. 26, 1982 - Jan. 2, 1983 -- The Fighting Sioux make their first trip to Europe to play in the prestigious Spengler Cup tournament in Davos, Switzerland. UND registers a 1-4-1 record against older teams from the USSR, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland and West Germany.
• Mar. 16-17, 22-23, 1984 -- The Sioux edge RPI at Troy, N.Y., 5-4 and 4-2, to advance to the NCAA semifinals in Lake Placid, N.Y., where they lose 2-1 in OT to Minnesota-Duluth and edge Michigan State 6-5 in OT on a goal by wing Dean Barsness to gain third place.
• Jan. 11, 1986 -- In one of the most amazing comebacks in UND hockey history, the Sioux defeat Minnesota-Duluth 8-7 in OT in Duluth. UND trails 7-3 with 2:56 left in the third period before scoring four goals in 2:41 to force the OT. Scott Koberinski scores at 17:05, Brian Williams tallies twice at 17:58 and 19:10, and Chris Jensen ties it at 19:46. Ian Kidd's deflection of Glen Klotz's shot, only 50 seconds into OT, is the winner.
• Mar. 26-28, 1987 -- North Dakota wins its fifth NCAA crown and third in just nine years with Gasparini behind the bench. UND gains entry into the title match by virtue of a 5-2 victory over Harvard in the semifinals at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena. Freshman Brent Bobyck, junior Bob Joyce, sophmore Tony Hrkac, senior Mickey Krampotich and junior Steve Johnson nothc Sioux goals in the triumph over the Crimson, while Ed Belfour makes 37 saves in goal. In the title contest on Saturday evening, UND takes a 3-0 first-period lead over Michigan State on goals by sophomore defenseman Ian Kidd, freshman Murray Barron and Joyce. The Spartans score midway through the second period before Sioux senior Malcolm Parks makes it 4-1. MSU cuts it to 4-2 at the end of two periods. Bobyck scores at 7:54 and MSU tallies a late goal to make the final a 5-3 North Dakota decision. Belfour has only 15 saves in the tight-checking games played before an NCAA tournament record crowd of 17,644. Hrkac is named winner of the Hobey Baker Memorial AWard as the top player in college hockey.
• Mar. 16-18, 1990 -- The Sioux travel to Boston for an NCAA tournament first-round series at Boston University where, after winning Game 1 by an 8-5 score, they drop two straight to the Terriers (5-3 and 5-0) and are eliminated from the tournament.
• Nov. 27, 1992 -- Greg Johnson records his 169th assist to become UND's all-time assists leader as the Sioux defeat St. Cloud State 4-3 in Grand Forks.
• Feb. 26, 1993 -- Greg Johnson assists on Brad Bombardir's goal at 0:19 of the third period in a 5-1 win at Michigan Tech. The assist makes Johnson the WCHA's all-time assists leader and UND's all-time leading scorer. He also ties the WCHA record for career assists in league games when he assists on Marty Schriner's goal later in the period.
• Mar. 31 - Apr. 2, 1993 -- Greg Johnson is named a first team All-American for the second time in his career and finishes as runner-up to Maine's Paul Kariya in the voting for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as college hockey's top player.
• Jun. 26, 1993 -- Incoming freshman Landon Wilson, son of former Sioux Rick Wilson, becomes UND's fifth first-round NHL draft choice when the Toronto Maple Leafs select him 19th overall.
• Apr. 9, 1994 -- John "Gino" Gasparini resigns as head coach of the Sioux hockey program after 16 years in the position. He leaves with three NCAA titles and a 392-248-24 record to his credit.
• May 21, 1994 -- Dean Blais, a Sioux hockey assistant coach from 1980-89, is named UND's 14th head hockey coach.
• Mar. 10-11, 1995 -- Under rookie head coach Dean Blais, the Sioux win their first playoff series in four years when they sweep St. Cloud State 3-2 and 5-2 at the National Hockey Center. UND advances to the WCHA Final Five for the first time and drops a tight-checking, 3-2 decision to Minnesota.
• 1996-97 UND celebrates fifty years of Sioux hockey.
• Mar. 27-29, 1997 -- A 6-2 win over Cornell in the NCAA West Regional tournament sends the Fighting Sioux to the NCAA final four championship tournament for the first time in 10 years. After defeating Colorado College 6-2 in the Semifinals in Milwaukee, the Sioux advance to the NCAA title game. In the championship game, Boston University jumps out to a 2-0 lead after the first period. The Sioux storm back in the second period scoring a total of five goals by Curtis Murphy, David Hoogsteen (2), and Matt Henderson (2) to finished the second with a 5-3 lead. B.U. scores a goal late in the third period to close the gap but Adam Calder ices the victory with an empty-net goal at 19:47. Freshman netminder Aaron Schweitzer turnsaway 25 Terrier shots. Jason Blake becomes UND's tenth Hobey Baker Award finalist while Dean Blais is honored as the American Hockey Coaches Association Coach of the Year.
• Feb. 27, 1998 -- The Sioux clinch their second-straight WCHA regular season title with a 6-3 win over Minnesota-Duluth.
• Feb. 20, 1999 -- History is made as UND wins its third straight WCHA regular season title with a 4-3 win over Alaska Anchorage, becoming just the second team in league history to win three straight.
• Apr. 6, 2000 -- UND defeats Maine, 2-0, in the first round of the national NCAA Division I tournament in Providence, R.I. The final is an exhilarating 4-2 win over Boston College for the seventh national Division I championship for the Sioux.
• Nov. 30, 2000 -- For the first time in history, a UND hockey team visits the White House as 2000 national champions are congratulated by President Bill Clinton.