The Lawn Chairs: Carson Carels and Cole Reschny at UND Media Day

The hour before the NHL Draft was the worst part, Carson Carels said. He skated that morning, on the family farm near Cypress River, Manitoba, and tried to treat it like any other day. Then he saw the lawn chairs.

“When I kind of seen all the lawn chairs set up to watch, then it kind of started feeling more real,” Carels told Anthony Dillett of the Dakota Student at North Dakota’s media day on Sept. 30.

Calgary took him sixth overall that night. Three months later he is a freshman defenceman at North Dakota, and his captain is the other Flames first-round pick in the room: Cole Reschny, the sophomore his teammates voted captain on Sept. 16, the youngest in program history. Dillett carried our questions to both of them, and to head coach Dane Jackson.

Answers are lightly edited for length and clarity.

Interviews by Anthony Dillett, The Dakota Student.

UND hockey media day, Sept. 30, via Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald on X

Dane Jackson

Jackson is in his second season as North Dakota’s head coach. His first ended in the Frozen Four, a 2-1 semifinal loss to Wisconsin in Las Vegas. In May, when Carels committed, he told the Grand Forks Herald that Carels was a player who could “play big minutes on the penalty kill, run a power play, defend against top players.”

Your associate head coach, Matt Smaby, described Carels as a player who’s not afraid to take your head off. How does the staff plan to use that physical edge, with an 18-year-old against older players?

Dane Jackson, head coach: Even though Carson’s younger, he’s still physically pretty mature, and his skating is so elite that it allows him, I think, to close on guys quickly and maybe catch them before they’re ready. He has a competitive mindset to how he plays the game. His skating and that mindset combined allow him to put himself into good situations, where he can close hard and be competitive around his net, physical and hard there. Those are the things that are going to help him be a good player for us, and allow him to go on and play in the National Hockey League.

What does the jump from the WHL to college hockey ask of a defenceman that junior doesn’t?

Jackson: He’s going to be challenged more defensively. At the Western League level, he probably had a little more time and space to make plays, and was going against guys that aren’t as physically developed. Here, he’s going to be going against guys that are as big or bigger than him in some cases. He has to be able to shut down the cycle, to box a guy out by the net. He’s going to have to be really dialed in and ready to go, because it’s another notch up. No doubt that he can meet that. Being ready for the physical confrontations, and a little less time and space to make plays with the puck: those will be the two things he’ll have to deal with at this level.

What does Cole bring as a captain, and what does it mean that his teammates voted for him?

Jackson: It’s a special honor to be that young of a guy. But his mental maturity, and the presence he carries himself with, has really earned that respect from his teammates. So I think age becomes a non-factor. You’re dealing with a guy who has a ton of presence and a ton of respect from the guys, because of how he goes about his day to day, how he speaks to guys, how he treats guys, how he embodies our culture, and how he goes about his business every day.

Carson Carels

You stayed on the family farm for the draft instead of going to it. What was that day like, and would you do it the same way again?

Carson Carels, freshman defenceman: It was a pretty good day, obviously, with how it panned out. But I had a lot of nerves going into it. That hour before was the most crazy. I had to get away from everything and just sit there for a while. I skated in the morning and treated it like a regular day. When I kind of seen all the lawn chairs set up to watch, then it started feeling more real. And when that moment hit, I didn’t really know what to think and was kind of stunned. I didn’t really have too much of a reaction. I finally felt it after a couple hours, after all the media was done.

I would do it the same way for sure. Being around all those people, and surrounding yourself with the people you want to be around, is what I want to do and who I am. It makes me want to do it again if I can.

You graduated high school a year early to get here. How has the adjustment been, to college and to a bigger city?

Carels: It’s been really good. I was playing in Prince George, B.C., before this, and it was kind of a smaller-town vibe as well, so it made the transition here a lot easier. It’s been fun to be here. When you play hockey in any city, it helps a lot with the transition.

You arrive knowing your captain. What’s it been like coming into this team with Cole?

Carels: It’s been good. I’ve known him for a bit, since playing U18 Worlds when I was an underager with Keaton, and we’ve been growing our bond since then. It’s been pretty surreal knowing that we might be teammates for a long time, and it starts here. He’s obviously a really special player, a special guy. It was a pretty easy decision to make him the captain, because he’s always there for you. And on the ice too, he’s a guy you want to play for.

Reschny and Keaton Verhoeff were on the Canada team that won the 2025 U18 World Championship in Texas, 7-0 over Sweden in the final; Reschny had five goals and eight points in five games.

On Oct. 31 you play Michigan State in Texas, a game with a lot of first-round picks in it. How are you feeling about it?

Carels: There’s going to be a lot of special players on the ice at the same time. In a game like that, a lot of guys can either be really good or have an off game, so being ready for whatever hits us is what we want to do. We have a lot of special players on our team that could be first-round picks too. How we play, and how everybody does, is what we need to do. It’s a pretty historic game for sure.

Cole Reschny

North Dakota won the Penrose Cup, won a regional and reached the Frozen Four for the first time in a decade. What does it mean that your teammates trusted you to be their captain?

Cole Reschny, sophomore forward and captain: It means a lot. It’s pretty special. It’s such an honor to wear this C for a program like UND, with the rich history this program has and all the former captains. It’s honestly special, and a dream come true. It means a lot that they have the trust in me, and want to go to battle with me every day. It’s something I will cherish and be humble about, but I will do my best to lead this team back to the Frozen Four, and the national championship.

Does a 19-year-old’s life as captain look any different from a 23-year-old’s?

Reschny: Everyone asks us, but honestly, I think the way I carry myself and what I do with my day-to-day life is a reason I am where I am today. So I’m just trying not to change anything or look into it too much. Obviously there are a few more responsibilities off the ice and around the room, but at the end of the day, when I’m playing hockey, I’m playing hockey with my team. So no, I don’t think anything’s really different. I just try to carry myself the way I did before, get better every day and become a better person. That’s what I try to do as captain now.

You talked last year about wanting to win the national championship. Having seen this team on the ice for a few weeks, how does it look?

Reschny: Like I said at the end of last year and in the summer, there’s a sour taste in our mouths. Everyone coming back knows how close we were, and the team we had, to fall just short. It’s frustrating. It sucks. But I think we’ve got a special team here. We’re a little younger, but we do have that experience, from going to the Frozen Four and winning the Penrose last year, going to regionals and winning that. As much as it sucked losing in the Frozen Four, we’re all going to use it as fuel, and as a building block to learn from. Hopefully we’re back in that situation this year, and take it to the next level and win a national championship.

What comes next

North Dakota plays exhibitions against Augustana on Saturday and Manitoba on Sunday, then opens at Bemidji State on Friday, Oct. 9, with the home opener against the same team the next night. Anthony’s piece on Reschny’s first month as captain ran here on Thursday, Oct. 22. Then, on Oct. 31, Carels and Reschny play Michigan State in Texas, with two more Flames first-rounders on the other bench.