One Historic Season, One Month With the C: Cole Reschny's Ascent at North Dakota

Cole Reschny was named captain of the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks a month ago.

The Macklin, Saskatchewan, native, a 19-year-old sophomore, is the youngest captain in UND history.

But why him? It’s a pretty simple answer.

“He just embodies everything we want in a North Dakota player,” UND head coach Dane Jackson explained. “His professionalism, his team-first attitude, and his work ethic. All those things he brings day to day. There’s no waver in him, and he’s got a lot of grit. He shows up all the time and brings it.”

Season one

Reschny impressed on the ice for the Fighting Hawks last season.

Expectations were high for the former Victoria Royal, who was arguably the most prolific signing North Dakota made under Jackson, the program’s former associate head coach.

Jackson and his staff received commitments from Reschny and his Royals teammate Keaton Verhoeff a month after being appointed, signaling a new direction for the team after former head coach Brad Berry’s unceremonious departure in April 2025.

For Jackson, there was a lot to like about Reschny’s play in the WHL, and those qualities carried into the then-freshman’s NCAA play, where he played a big role in North Dakota’s offense last season.

“I think one of the first things that really made an impact on our staff was just what a strong two-way player he was,” said Jackson. “Obviously, playing center is tough, and it’s an impactful position. The maturity and the depth of how Cole plays the game is really impressive. Obviously, he had good stat totals, but how mature he was in his game (stuck out). He seemed like a veteran at times with how he played the game with so much poise and detail.”

As the season progressed, Jackson started to take notice of the forward’s steady leadership. Reschny became noticeably more comfortable in college hockey, particularly after returning from the World Junior Championship.

“Cole’s actually fairly reserved,” Jackson explained. “I think I noticed, as the year progressed, he got more and more comfortable, saying things and standing up in practice. I feel like when he came back from World Juniors, he had another level of confidence and poise and felt good about his ability on the team to stand up, and support our older players by making comments and leading in his own way.”

Making history

Reschny started the season centering one of North Dakota’s top two lines. As North Dakota’s 2025-26 campaign went on, he continued to gain the coaching staff’s trust, spending an average of just over 18 minutes on the ice every night.

Last season, the young center helped North Dakota to its first NCAA Regional Championship win in a decade, setting up the team’s first Frozen Four appearance since North Dakota’s last national title in 2016. The Fighting Hawks also won the NCHC regular-season trophy, the Penrose Cup, in the campaign.

After being voted captain, Reschny’s name was etched in North Dakota’s history once again.

The sophomore is one of three underclassmen to ever captain the storied program, beating out former UND head coach Dave Hakstol as the youngest player to wear the “C.”

Hakstol texted Reschny after he found out, as did Reschny’s captain last season, Bennett Zmolek. Their conversations gave him something to aspire to.

“(Hakstol) was nice enough to send a text to congratulate me and give me a few words of wisdom,” he said. “It’s special. Even talking with our captain last year, Bennett Zmolek means a lot. I learned a lot from him. All (of our) former captains mean a lot to this program and left the program in a better spot when they left. I’m trying to do the same thing. I want to carry myself with a lot of respect, be my best version every day, and leave the program in a better place.”

Higher aspirations

There was a lot to celebrate in Reschny’s first season at North Dakota, but it ended with a loss to Wisconsin in the national semifinal, and he wanted to go all the way. He said as much over the summer, and on media day, the very same determination was evident.

“There’s a sour taste in our mouths,” said Reschny. “It’s frustrating. It sucks, but I think we’ve got a good group of guys coming back. I think we have a special team here. We’re a little younger, but we have that experience from going to the Frozen Four, winning the Penrose last year, and going to regionals and winning that. I think we’re all going to use that (loss) and use it as fuel. (We’ll) use it as a building block to learn from, and hopefully we’ll be back in that situation this year and take it to the next level.”

The season so far

While Reschny did many things well last season, he still has room for growth. As he matures as a leader at North Dakota, Jackson’s staff are continuing to hone his offensive ability.

“Cole wants to work on his goal scoring aspect,” explained Jackson. “He’s an elite playmaker, but we’ve talked with him about having more of a shot first mentality, to get to the inside of the ice in those critical areas where you have to go to score and to have a mindset to be a balanced player as far (as) not just always passing first, but having a shoot-first mentality as well, so that he has a dual threat to make plays or score.”

Last season, Reschny became a player the staff could rely on in clutch situations, both in offensive creation and defensively. Notably, he featured in high stakes late-game faceoffs, backing up Ellis Rickwood. This season, he’ll likely be North Dakota’s go-to man.

“We trust Cole to take big draws in our own end,” Jackson said. “He was really reliable in the faceoff dots. We could put him out in defensive situations as well as offensive situations, which allowed him to impact the game even more. Building off that, Ellis Rickwood is gone this season, so he’s going to be thrust into that role and take a lot more faceoffs. We know he can, whether he’s on his forehand or backhand, find a way to either tie guys up or get wins. He understands the nuances of his own faceoffs. We think we’ll have other good players to support him (this season), but we trust Cole in those big moments.”

So far this season, Reschny has taken 50 faceoffs and won 60 percent of them, ranking behind fellow sophomore center Ollie Josephson in both draws taken and win rate. Josephson has seen increased play in early games for the Hawks, featuring in a similarly versatile manner to Rickwood.

Through four games, the Flames prospect has tallied five points, including two goals in the series opener. This season, Reschny has totaled 21 shot attempts, including nine on the power play, where he features heavily for the Hawks.

Regardless of metrics, Jackson and his staff have been happy with their captain’s performance so far. The head coach spoke to Reschny’s quality after the second game against Bentley University last week, explaining just what he’s seen out of the Flames pick so far.

“Cole’s always reliable,” he said. “He’s helping us out with killing those five on threes, and in a lot of other situations. He’s always a reliable guy on the bench. He has a lot of energy. I always appreciate that when things aren’t going as some guys would want, they’re still cheering for the team. That’s a big deal.”