Feb. 19—GRAND FORKS — UND has taken the long view with Bennett Zmolek from the start of this season.
Early in the year, Zmolek took at least one day off from practice per week.
Now, he's only practicing sporadically. Some weeks, he doesn't practice at all.
Zmolek has missed two of the last four seasons due to hip surgeries and he's fighting another lower-body injury — one that UND coach Dane Jackson says is painful to play through and has indicated is unlikely to go away any time soon.
The Fighting Hawks have turned to carefully managing Zmolek as the postseason nears.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound defenseman from Rochester, Minn., has only played in one game in each of the last two weekend series. While there's no specific usage plan going forward, Jackson said decisions are made with the big picture in mind.
The Fighting Hawks want their captain available for the NCAA tournament as they chase the program's ninth NCAA national championship.
That means sometimes holding Zmolek out of the lineup — even if he's healthy enough to play.
"He can play," Jackson said. "He wants to play. So it's a balance of saying, 'Hey, what's right for Bennett to make sure he's healthy down the stretch?' Obviously, he's a captain and a leader for us, and a really good defenseman, so we'd love him in there. But we're just trying to be prudent about how we manage his health."
How do they assess Zmolek on a week-to-week basis?
"We're just talking to Bennett a lot, talking with (athletic trainer) Mark Poolman and figuring out what we think will give him the best chance to play," Jackson said. "We want to be smart about having him available for our biggest games down the stretch."
Zmolek has stayed remarkably sharp, despite his lack of practice reps.
The 6-foot-2, physically punishing defender has a goal and three points in 24 games this season. He has a plus-15 rating, which is second on the team to Jake Livanavage's plus-20.
He's averaging 17:07 of ice time and is often called upon in defensive situations like penalty killing. Zmolek played nearly 20 minutes last Friday as UND worked to close out a 1-0 win over Miami.
"He's known so much as a shot blocker and a defender," Jackson said. "But I think if you really watch him closely, he's one of our best guys breaking out pucks. He's a really good passer. He's really cerebral. He's smart. He has good hockey sense. On the breakouts, he hits the middle a lot. On the offensive blue line, he's not doing anything fancy, but he keeps plays alive by extending plays with little, short passes.
"He has really good hockey sense. He's valuable both defending and offensively. How does he stay so sharp? I'm not sure. I just think he has such a good feel for the game that he knows what's around him. The game seems slow for him, because he always knows what the next play is."
Zmolek watches practices from an aisle seat in Section 113 or Section 114 when he's unable to participate. He also uses video sessions to aid his preparations.
"That's why he's our captain," UND senior forward Dylan James said. "He battles through all his pain and never complains. It's the kind of leadership we thrive off of. He's been great about it. Obviously, I feel bad for him. He can't really practice with us. But we're just glad he can still play."
Zmolek is one of six UND players who will be recognized during Senior Night on Saturday. The others are James, forward Ben Strinden, forward Ellis Rickwood, forward Tyler Young and goaltender Gibson Homer.
"A lot of different emotions," Zmolek said. "It's been a long ride, but it's definitely been a fast one. I'm kind of sad to see it's already here."
Zmolek said he hasn't given much thought yet to whether his hockey career will extend beyond this season. He's more focused on a team that's 23-7 and ranked No. 3 nationally.
"Obviously, we have a lot of freshmen that came in," Zmolek said. "We have a lot of very good players with them. But I would say the biggest thing, especially with the new coaching staff as well, is all the players buying into their roles. No one is being too selfish or anything like that."
UND instituted a new process for its captain vote this season.
Instead of merely submitting votes, the coaching staff had the players come in and explain their votes. Zmolek was selected to wear the captain's "C."
"His presence," Jackson said as one of the main reasons listed by his teammates, "who he is, how he handles himself day to day, how he's truly team-first, his toughness, his commitment to the program. A lot of those things are the key reasons I heard."
Zmolek is showing those qualities this season, especially down the stretch.
"He's a warrior, for sure," Strinden said. "I admire him a ton. We've seen what he can do when he's fully healthy, and the fact that he can still go impact the game (despite his injury) says a lot about how he is on the ice and his character off the ice, which is going to take him a lot further than just hockey."
Zmolek started his collegiate career at Minnesota State. He tallied two goals and seven points as a freshman, but missed his second year with his first hip surgery. After that year, he transferred to UND.
In 2023-24, Zmolek registered eight assists and a team-best plus-17 rating as the Fighting Hawks won the Penrose Cup as National Collegiate Hockey Conference champions. But he suffered a season-ending hip injury in UND's season opener last year.
Without Zmolek, UND went 21-15-2 and missed the NCAA tournament.
Zmolek is back this season and UND is in the hunt for another Penrose Cup. The Fighting Hawks need six points to secure at least a share of the league championship. They're also No. 3 in the NPI rankings and will make a return to the NCAA tournament.
"It's been very good, but with that said, we haven't accomplished anything," Zmolek said. "It's been a fun year. Hopefully, we can keep that going."