Chris Wilkie stepped off the Ralph Engelstad Arena ice Thursday night looking relaxed.

After all, he's done this before.

The Colorado College senior forward, who spent his first two seasons of college hockey at UND, will play in his old home, perhaps, one final time at 7:37 p.m. Friday and 7:07 p.m. Saturday.

Last season, Wilkie returned to Ralph Engelstad Arena for the first time since transferring to CC and scored a goal in a pair of down-to-the-wire games that ended in UND overtime victories.

"It's not as nerve-wracking as last time," Wilkie said after Thursday's practice. "Going through it last year, being the first time, it was a little different. Most of the guys (I played with) are graduated now. I'm not as familiar with the guys and stuff like that. But it's always fun to be back and I'm excited to see the guys I did play with that last year."

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Wilkie also will be back in a much different spot.

He's emerged as one of the top players in the country. He has 17 goals, which ranks second nationally, only behind Northern Michigan's Griffin Loughran (19). Wilkie's 25 points in 22 games ranks third in the NCHC in points per game, only behind UND's Jordan Kawaguchi and Minnesota Duluth's Scott Perunovich.

Wilkie already has more goals than he did in his first three college seasons combined (12).

Wilkie's time at UND

The Omaha product had five goals and nine points in 32 games as a freshman at UND, helping the Fighting Hawks win the program's eighth NCAA national championship. The following year, he had one goal and 10 points in 30 games before opting to transfer.

Wilkie sat out the 2017-18 season per NCAA transfer rules and had his 2018-19 cut short due to two separate injuries.

"After two kind of frustrating years here and then the redshirt year and then being up-and-down health-wise last year was kind of tough," Wilkie said. "I think taking the summer to regroup and get healthy and get as ready as possible was big. Obviously, it took a little longer than I would have liked, but it's always nice to be rewarded. I just want to keep it going and finish strong here for my college career."

What's going well this season for Wilkie?

"Obviously, Nick Halloran does an unbelievable job getting me the puck and seeing the ice," Wilkie said. "I think just getting open and getting my shot off is kind of my greatest attribute, I think. It's something I can bring to the table. Fortunately, pucks have been finding their way in, where in the past, maybe not. I just want to keep it rolling as long as possible."

The only current UND players who were teammates with Wilkie in Grand Forks are seniors Cole Smith, Colton Poolman, Dixon Bowen, Andrew Peski, Zach Yon and Casey Johnson.

Perhaps the player he knows best on UND's team is Westin Michaud, who transferred from Colorado College to UND in the offseason. Michaud and Wilkie were teammates for two seasons in Colorado Springs.

"We talk a good amount," Wilkie said. "We lived together last year. I think that heightens the expectations and the excitement of the weekend with us facing off against each other's old teams.

"I know how I felt last year coming back here to play them for the first time, so I know he's going to be feeling that and he's going to come out really excited and ready to play hard. He always plays well and plays hard. It will be exciting to play against him and it would be nice to steal one or two from him here, too."

Here are 10 other things to know about Colorado College ahead of this weekend's series against UND:

1. Wilkie will shoot the puck -- A LOT

Wilkie is going to shoot the puck this weekend and he's going to shoot it a lot.

He leads the nation, averaging 5.55 shots on goal per game. Nobody in the entire country is within a shot per game of him. The next closest is Minnesota Duluth's Nick Swaney at 4.52 shots on goal per game.

Since the NCHC was formed in 2013, the highest shots-on-goal per game total by any NCHC player has been Miami's Riley Barber at 4.74 in 2014-15. Wilkie is on pace to shatter that record.

In fact, only two college hockey players in the past seven years have averaged more than 5.55 shots on goal per game -- Harvard's Ryan Donato (6.03) in 2017-18 and Penn State's Casey Bailey (5.70) in 2014-15.

NCHC playerShots on goalShot attempts
Chris Wilkie, CC122216
Karch Bachman, MIA101167
Cole Koepke, DUL99180
Nick Swaney, DUL95168
Emilio Pettersen, DEN76142

2. Another Slavin comes to Grand Forks

Colorado College's top freshman is forward Josiah Slavin, a name that may ring a bell to hockey fans in the area.

Slavin is the younger brother of former UND women's hockey standout Jordan Slavin and former Colorado College star and current Carolina Hurricanes alternate captain Jaccob Slavin.

Jordan played at UND from 2009-13, tallying 12 goals and 41 points in 113 career games.

Josiah is a bit different than Jaccob and Jordan, though. He's a forward. His siblings are defensemen.

Josiah, a seventh-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks, starred in the United States Hockey League for the Lincoln Stars and the Chicago Steel. He has four goals and nine points in 22 games this season for the Tigers.

Slavin played on a line with UND's Shane Pinto for the first half of last season in Lincoln.

3. Matt Vernon has NHL bloodlines

Colorado College's top goalie is freshman Matt Vernon.

That name also may ring a bell for longtime hockey fans.

Matt's father is Mike Vernon, the legendary goaltender who backstopped the Calgary Flames to the Stanley Cup in 1989 and the Detroit Red Wings to the Stanley Cup in 1997. Mike won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP in 1997.

Mike spent 19 years in the NHL, mostly playing for the Flames but also with stops in Detroit, San Jose and Florida.

Matt already has a pretty good resume himself.

He led the Aberdeen Wings to the Robertson Cup as North American Hockey League champions a year ago. Following in his father's footsteps, Matt was the MVP of the playoffs. He also was named the NAHL's goalie of the year for posting a 1.94 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage.

So far this season, Matt has played in 17 of 22 games for the Tigers, posting a .901 save percentage and a 3.56 goals-against average.

4. More strong bloodlines

Speaking of good bloodlines, Tiger sophomore Grant Cruikshank also has them.

His mother is Bonnie Blair, who famously won five Olympic gold medals and one bronze in speedskating. Blair won one gold at the 1988 Calgary Games, two at the 1992 Albertville Games and two more at the 1994 Lillehammer Games.

His father is Dave Cruikshank, who competed in four Olympics in speedskating.

Cruikshank's best attribute? You guessed it. His skating.

5. Remember Nick Halloran?

The day Colorado College arrived in Grand Forks last January was the same day it announced forward Nick Halloran would be out for the rest of the season.

So, UND never saw the star forward from Draper, Utah, last season.

But nobody at UND should forget Halloran.

Two seasons ago, Halloran haunted UND. He scored in three of the four meetings between the teams and finished with five points in those four games.

This season, Halloran is healthy and back to his normal self. He has 22 points in 21 games.

He's just 11 shy of hitting the 100 mark for his career. The only Tiger players to hit the Century Club in the last decade are Mason Bergh (105, 2018-19), Alexander Krushelnyski (101, 2013-14), Rylan Schwartz (159, 2012-13) and Bill Sweatt (109, 2009-10).

6. Defense comes in wins

Colorado College has not been great defensively this season.

The Tigers rank 58th of 60 teams nationally, allowing 3.68 goals per game. However, it has been team defense that has keyed Colorado College's wins.

In the Tigers' eight wins (sweeps over St. Cloud State and Princeton and single wins over Minnesota, Michigan State, St. Lawrence and Miami), they've allowed an average of 1.88 goals per game. In their 13 losses, they've given up an average of 4.77 goals per game.

7. What's on their helmets?

Colorado College has more than just the Tiger logo on its helmets.

The Tigers also have other stickers that are handed out for good play. Each player organizes the stickers differently on their helmets.

It's a theme that a few college hockey teams have picked up from football programs like Ohio State and Michigan.

8. An updated Tiger logo is coming

Colorado College is set to unveil what it calls a "refreshed" athletics logo next week.

The Tigers will debut the logo on their jerseys for next Friday's game against St. Cloud State in World Arena. That game will be nationally televised by CBS Sports Network.

9. An updated rink is coming, too

It will be a busy February for the Tigers.

They will break ground on their new on-campus venue, Robson Arena, on Saturday, Feb. 15. The arena is scheduled to open for the 2021-22 season.

UND does not travel to Colorado College this season, so its last trip to World Arena will be next season.

Robson Arena is being designed by Grand Forks-based JLG Architects.

10. Outdoor game on the horizon

Speaking of new venues, the Tigers are set to play against intracity rival Air Force on Feb. 17 in an outdoor game at Falcon Stadium, home of Air Force's football team.

The game will come two days after the 2020 NHL Stadium Series game between the Colorado Avalanche and the Los Angeles Kings.

It won't be the first outdoor game for Colorado College. The Tigers played against rival Denver outdoors at Coors Field in 2016 in conjunction with an NHL Stadium Series game between the Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings.