Massive Hallock contingent expected to watch the Hennen brothers play UND
· Yahoo Sports
Oct. 2—GRAND FORKS — It wasn't easy for the Hennen family to gather enough tickets for Saturday's exhibition between UND and Augustana at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Hayden and Tyler Hennen, Augustana teammates, are from Hallock, Minn., and played prep hockey at Kittson County Central.
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"It's the closest game to home for us," said Hayden, a senior defenseman.
What was the final ticket count?
"It was 178, I believe," Hayden said. "That's the total we know of, the ones my mom tried to set up for everyone."
Hallock's population is a little over 800.
"Pretty much a quarter of the town," Hayden said.
UND and Augustana will play a preseason exhibition at 6:07 p.m. Saturday in Ralph Engelstad Arena.
"We came to a lot of these games growing up," Hayden said. "So, it's kind of cool to be playing against North Dakota, growing up and watching them. It should be good, one last time together on this ice sheet. Then, we'll have the rest of the year as well."
Tyler, a junior forward, got his first taste of college hockey in Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Two seasons ago, Augustana played a preseason exhibition game against UND. The Vikings won 4-1. Tyler had an assist.
"I definitely thought I played pretty well the first game here," Tyler said. "Hopefully, I can do the same."
Hallock doesn't have a reputation as a hockey town, but the Hennen brothers say Hallock has deep roots.
"The first indoor hockey rink in Minnesota was in Hallock way back in 1894," Hayden said. "It's a bigger hockey town than most people think — a lot of rink rats up there, kind of similar to Warroad."
Hayden and Tyler both played prep hockey through their senior seasons. After high school, they played for the Anchorage Wolverines in the North American Hockey League.
Hayden, 24, arrived at Augustana a year before Tyler, 22.
As a 6-foot-4, right-handed defenseman, Hayden has started to attract interest from NHL personnel as an undrafted free agent.
Last season, Hayden led Augustana in time on ice (25:24 per game). He scored three goals and tallied 12 points in 37 games.
Tyler, who is 6-foot, 169 pounds, had a goal and five points in 27 games last season.
"A lot of the kids back home are seeing you don't have to leave early if you don't want to," Hayden said. "We both stayed for our senior years to play in high school. I'm just glad we could make it out of there and show the kids they don't have to leave to make it to college."
Augustana went 22-11-4 last season, narrowly missing the NCAA tournament.
The Vikings were the one spot in the Pairwise Rankings from making it. Had UConn beaten Merrimack in the Hockey East final, the Vikings would have been in.
Augustana returns 12 of its top 13 scorers and every defenseman from last season's team.
"I'm definitely excited for this year," Tyler said. "I was in Sioux Falls with most of the guys this summer. That was all the talk. . . about how we just missed out, we were one spot away. That's what we worked for all summer. I think all the returners are super excited and the newcomers know, too, as well."