Thursday's showdown between top-five men's hockey teams UND and Minnesota-Duluth will be missing a bunch of marquee players.
The third-ranked Sioux will play their fifth straight game without top-line forwards Jason Gregoire and Brett Hextall, who are both recovering from upper-body injuries, coach Dave Hakstol said Tuesday.
There is no timetable on their returns yet.
"If I had a date (of their return), I would put it in," he said. "We don't have the luxury of that. Both of those two guys, hopefully, we'll get them back as soon as possible. Obviously they are a big part of our team and what we are going to try to accomplish in the second half. But they are unavailable right now and that means we'll have one game to focus on for the guys that are in the lineup. We'll worry about longterm availability after Thursday.
"Right now, we've got 21 or 22 guys who are available. We're going to go in with a great mentality and get a job done."
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UND (13-5-2) will be missing more than just Gregoire and Hextall. Freshman first-round picks Derek Forbort and Brock Nelson are with the U.S. World Junior Championship team in Buffalo, N.Y. They will return for the Jan. 7-8 home series against Robert Morris.
In their absence, Joe Gleason will play back at his natural position of defense. Hakstol praised the way Gleason played on defense in the Dec. 18 exhibition against the U.S. Under-18 team.
"I thought he played very, very well," Hakstol said. "With the situation we have going into Duluth, I think that's one thing we're taking away. Joe will play back on the blue line and hopefully he can pick up where he left off."
Jake Marto, meanwhile, has seen action both at forward and defense this week in practice.
"Versatility is so important," Hakstol said.
Fourth-ranked Duluth (12-3-3) will be playing without their top two point-producing defensemen. First-round pick Dylan Olsen and second-round pick Justin Faulk are at the World Juniors. The Bulldogs are expecting to get defenseman Wade Bergman back from injury, though.
