Jordan Kawaguchi Season Review

Overtime Heroics Editorial

1969 days ago

Undrafted collegiate superstar Jordan Kawaguchi had an incredible season with the Penrose-winning Fighting Sioux. However, it wasn’t enough to clinch the Hobey Baker Award.

This season, Jordan Kawaguchi scored 15 goals and tallied 30 assists. To put that into perspective, the player with the next most points was Matt Kiersted with 6 goals and 23 assists. North Dakota completed the regular season with a 26-5-4 record before COVID-19 concerns canceled all playoff games. They started off red hot before losing to #2 Minnesota Mankato in October towards the beginning of the season. They then kept winning until their second loss two months later in January with a 3-6 loss against Omaha. This would be their only loss at home. They would continue their season with one win and one loss against reigning NCAA champion Duluth. Following four wins, the season took a minor tumble against St. Cloud State. They tied the first game 3-3 and lost the second 1-2. After two wins against Western Michigan, they lost against Omaha but finished the season strong, with a 5-0 win.

Hobey Baker

Kawaguchi adds another honor to his breakout junior campaign, being named to the First All-America Team. He was not on the radar of many college hockey experts at the beginning of the season but that certainly was not the case at the end. North Dakota improved from 18-17-2 in 2018-19 to 26-5-4 overall this past season and took number one in the nation table at the season’s abrupt conclusion.

CCM NCAA All-Americans

East	First Team	West
Jeremy Swayman, JR, University of Maine (Anchorage, AK)	Goalie	Dryden McKay, SO, Minnesota State University (Downers Grove, IL)
David Farrance, JR, Boston University (Victor, NY)	Defense	Ian Mitchell, JR, University of Denver (Calahoo, AB)
Jack Rathbone, SO, Harvard University (West Roxbury, MA)	Defense	Scott Perunovich, JR, Univ. of Minnesota Duluth (Hibbing, MN)
Morgan Barron, JR, Cornell University (Halifax, NS)	Forward	Jordan Kawaguchi, JR, University of North Dakota (Abbotsford, BC)
Jack Dugan, SO, Providence College (Rochester, NY)	Forward	Hugh McGing, SR, Western Michigan University (Chicago, IL)
John Leonard, JR, University of Massachusetts (Amherst, MA)	Forward	Marc Michaelis, SR, Minnesota State University (Mannheim, Germany)

The future looks bright for the unsigned Kawaguchi, with many of his teammates already being offered NHL contracts, such as Jasper Weatherby signing with the San Jose Sharks, Grant Mismash signing with the Nashville Predators, and Colton Poolman signing with the Calgary Flames. There is no doubt in the mind of any Sioux fan that Jordan Kawaguchi will someday make his lasting mark in the NHL.