With so many changes to the team's lineup, North Dakota was a complete mystery at the start of the season. Senior transfer Ludvig Persson was the only goaltender on the roster with any experience but his performance over the last two years had been less than stellar. However, how much of that was a result of his own shortcomings rather than his team's poor defense was unknown. To help out their new goaltender, North Dakota's entire defense had to be replaced. Not a single blueliner from '23 returned to the team but the revamped group was not completely devoid of experience. Four incoming defenders were transfers who had already seen their fare share of college action. Up front, the situation wasn't quite as desperate but North Dakota still had several new forwards for '24.
North Dakota debuted their new team by hosting the Ice Breaker Tournament and demonstrated that their training camp had been put to good use. The team won the tournament with many of the new players performing well, particularly Hunter Johannes who finished with 3 goals (2 on the penalty kill). The Fighting Hawks suffered their first defeat of the year the following week but they did manage to earn a split with #1 Minnesota in a continuation of their long-standing rivalry. By the beginning of November, The team was being supplied with goals from several players but had yet to find the heart of their offense. Jackson Blake took matters into his own hands and went of a tear that lasted the rest of the season. The sophomore had led the team in scoring the year before but now took his offense to a new level. Blake sparked the offense in November, scoring in seven of eight games and guiding the team on an eight-game winning streak. As the victories piled up, North Dakota rose to #1 in the nation and looked strong even when they lost to #3 Denver at the beginning of December.
Just before the winter break, the Hawks ran into a hot goalie and lost consecutive games against Colorado College. For the first time all season, the team showed a weakness and lost three 2–3 decisions (all in overtime). TO make matters worse, Persson suffered an injury over Christmas and the team had to turn to untested Hobie Hedquist when they began the second half of the season.[1] Despite some jitters in the first few games, Hedquist played well in relief and helped to the Fighting Hawks back on track and Persson eventually was able to work himself back into the lineup. With the offense continuing to fire on all cylinders, the team remained atop the conference standings and got back up to #2 in the national polls by the beginning of February.
In the middle of the month, North Dakota suffered its worst weekend of the season and were swept by Colorado College for a second time. The lopsided losses called Persson's health into question but he answered with two shutouts over the next four weeks to quell any worries.[2] As the team entered the final week of the season, North Dakota had already wrapped up the top seed for the NCHC tournament and were eyeing one of the four 1-seeds for the NCAA tournament. While losing the season finale to Omaha didn't help their case, North Dakota suffered a bigger loss during the week when Persson went down to injury for a second time.
At the opening of the tournament, UND hosted the worst team in the conference, Miami, and had a relatively easy time dispatching the RedHawks. The offense was on full display while Hedquist got to work himself back into game condition with his first action in almost a month. Unfortunately, Persson was still unable to play when the team headed to Saint Paul so the Hawks had to rely on Hedquist to get them over the hump against Omaha. Despite scoring first, North Dakota was unable to get on track offensively and eventually the Maverick offense took over. UND Found itself down 1–3 near the end of the second and, though they were able to score twice more, Omaha kept up the pressure and pumped three more into the goal in the third. The loss dropped North Dakota to 2–7 in NCHC semifinals and prevented any chance of the Hawks getting a 1-seed.[3]
The Hawks slipped down to 6th in the PairWise ranking which caused them to be sent to the Midwest Regional where they faced Michigan in the opening round. While North Dakota had one of the top offenses in the nation, their opponents were even better on offense. North Dakota would have to hope the return of Persson would allow their defense to rise to the challenge. At the start, at least, thing looked to be going in North Dakota's favor. Johannes opened the scoring less than 5 minutes into the game while Persson only had to stop 4 shots in the first period. Michigan picked up the pace in the second, tying the score in the opening minutes but Blake was able to get his team back into the lead before the midway point. Unfortunately, while North Dakota had the lead, they were unable to add to their advantage. The Hawks entered the final period with their narrow lead but soon found themselves in trouble. Less than a minute into the period, Persson tried to kick a slow-rolling puck away from the crease but it rebounded off of Keaton Pehrson's skate and into the cage. 90 seconds later, Persson was unable to control a rebound and Michigan pounced on it to grab their first lead of the game. The Wolverines continued to press and with less than 10 minutes to play, they increased their lead when Persson was unable to stop a one-timer on a rush. North Dakota fought desperately to tie the game and Jackson Kunz did his part by firing a rebound short-side. In the final 5 minutes, however, the Hawks were unable to solve Michigan's goaltender and North Dakota's season came to a close.[4]
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