Feb. 11—GRAND FORKS — UND head coach Dane Jackson isn't sure if rookie forward Cole Reschny will play this weekend against Miami University.
Whether he does or not, UND has
confirmed what it suspected Saturday
night — the lower-body injury Reschny suffered against Minnesota Duluth is not longterm.
Reschny has already resumed skating in Ralph Engelstad Arena.
"He's been on the ice some," Jackson said. "He's still questionable. We'll see. I think there's a decent chance he plays. We'll have to continue to see how he recovers throughout the week."
Reschny was injured crashing into the end wall after being taken down by Minnesota Duluth defenseman Brady Cleveland to prevent a breakaway. Cleveland was called for a minor penalty on the play. Reschny left the ice without putting weight on his left leg. He was hobbling after the game, but moving on his own power.
No. 3 UND hosts No. 20 Miami at 7:07 p.m. Friday and 6:07 p.m. Saturday in Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Reschny, a first-round pick of the Calgary Flames, is likely the frontrunner to win National Collegiate Hockey Conference Rookie of the Year. He has 25 points in 24 games for the Fighting Hawks, including 17 points in 16 league games. He's also winning 55% of his faceoffs.
Reschny has centered a line with seniors Dylan James and Ben Strinden on the wings.
Two other injured UND players are making progress.
Josh Zakreski, who hasn't played since suffering a lower-body injury at practice on Oct. 30, re-joined UND's practices last week with a non-contact jersey. This week, he ditched the non-contact jersey.
"He's coming along," Jackson said. "He's been in full contact drills in practice, so that's good. Whether or not he'll play this week, I'm not sure, but he's definitely starting to round out and look like he's close to getting back into competition."
Jackson said forward David Klee also is making progress. Klee is practicing with contact this week.
"David is in that same boat," Jackson said. "I think he's still recovering, but quite healthy, and he's been battling in practice as well. How all that fits together, we're still uncertain. It's nice to see those guys are out there practicing pretty much a full go."
UND also played without captain Bennett Zmolek last Saturday.
Jackson indicated UND was going to manage Zmolek's reps down the stretch to try to keep him healthy for the NCAA tournament.
"We're trying to take the long-view approach," Jackson said. "He goes through a lot just to get ready to play a game on a weekend. He hasn't practiced that much, actually. We want him available for, hopefully, down the stretch here. So, we're just trying to be smart about it and manage him. He battles through a lot of pain to play every night."
Miami has three questionable players entering the weekend — forward Ethan Hay, forward Nicholas Mikan and defenseman Vladislav Lukashevich.
Hay and Lukashevich, a Florida Panthers draft pick, were injured during last weekend's split against Western Michigan.