For three years, one of the hottest rivalries in college hockey has been on hold.
The Midwestern realignment that split the old WCHA into three conferences in 2013 and ushered in the Big Ten has kept Minnesota and North Dakota separated for the better part of three seasons.
They've met just once since then, at the 2014 Frozen Four in Philadelphia, where the Gophers edged UND in a last-second thriller, the latest salvo in a rivalry that dates back to the 1930s.
North Dakota returns to Mariucci Arena on Friday for a two-game series, the beginning of a new scheduling agreement that will keep the rivalry rolling uninterrupted for the next seven years.
Ask anyone involved, and, well, it's about time.
"It's an unbelievable rivalry," Gophers senior Justin Kloos said."It's intense and mean and hard-fought every time we touch the ice."
Kloos is one of just four active Gophers to have experienced the rivalry first-hand, joining teammates Vinni Lettieri, Connor Reilly and Taylor Cammarata.
North Dakota seniors Gage Ausmus and Taylor Hrynkiw were freshmen last time around, but didn't play.
For Kloos, that doesn't seem to matter.
"I'm sure I played a million knee-hockey games being I was a Gopher and then my buddies were the Sioux, or, I mean, the Fighting Hawks," Kloos said.
Up in Grand Forks, the feeling is mutual.
"We want to lend some experience to our younger players, because it's something that's very near and dear to our hearts," UND coach Brad Berry said. "It goes back to the old WCHA. That was a long and storied rivalry. It's just about getting our guys up to speed."
Berry played for UND in the mid-'80s, while assistant coach Dane Jackson and volunteer goaltending coach Karl Goehring are former players as well.
They're familiar with the stakes, even if first place and conference titles are no longer on the line.
Gophers coach Don Lucia also has a long memory when it comes to the Fighting Hawks.
"There's a lot of memories, some good and some kind of nightmarish," he said, rattling off a series of big goals and old hits. "Some unpleasantries in handshake lines."
The team Lucia and the Gophers will be facing Friday and Saturday looks a little different this time around.
Berry succeeded longtime head coach Dave Hakstol last summer, immediately guiding UND to its first national championship since 2000.
The old "Fighting Sioux" moniker is gone, replaced with "Fighting Hawks" following UND's lengthy search for a new identity.
But for everything that's changed, Lucia says North Dakota is still North Dakota.
"You don't really need to put in a video of North Dakota to know how they're gonna play," he said. "They're gonna play through you. They're gonna play with pace. They're gonna be strong on the puck."
