Feb. 13—GRAND FORKS — Dylan James committed to UND way back in 2019.
He was only 15 years old. It was before the new recruiting rules kicked in to prevent early recruiting.
James had been to Ralph Engelstad Arena, and he had been to the home of the Brandon Wheat Kings, who held his Western Hockey League rights.
He chose UND.
Soon after his commitment, James played in the Alberta provincial championship. A woman approached his mother, Michelle, in the stands.
"This lady comes up to me," Michelle recalled. "She said, 'Your son is going to North Dakota, right? My son played there for a year. It's so awesome. The parents are awesome. You're going to love it. It's so great. He wished he stayed longer.'"
It was Laura Jost, Tyson's mother.
Michelle never forgot that conversation.
Last spring, chaos hit the UND hockey program.
The Fighting Hawks missed the NCAA tournament. Two days after the season ended, athletic director Bill Chaves fired head coach Brad Berry.
While UND worked to expedite the coaching search, rival teams swooped in, trying to get UND's best remaining players into the transfer portal.
James was one.
Not only that, the Detroit Red Wings were interested in signing James, a second-round draft pick who was coming off of a 14-goal junior season.
Michelle knew what she wanted. She thought back to that conversation with Laura Jost six years earlier and hoped her son would return for one last year.
But it was ultimately up to him.
Although the roster was bare — six forwards graduated and three others entered the portal — James told new head coach Dane Jackson, on the second day of his tenure, that he was coming back.
"It was just trusting in Jax and the coaching staff to make a good roster," James said. "I trusted that they could. They showed up and did it."
James and defenseman Jake Livanavage announced their returns, halting what could have been a mass exodus that set the program back for years.
After their announcements, others like Abram Wiebe, Ben Strinden, Mac Swanson and E.J. Emery followed. The recruiting class stayed intact. And the new staff lived up to their promise, putting together a strong roster.
Now, UND is 21-7 overall and ranked No. 3 in the country. The Fighting Hawks are in the driver's seat to win the Penrose Cup as National Collegiate Hockey Conference champions and are setting their sights beyond that.
"It definitely gives you confidence that you made the right decision when you come back and your team is great," James said.
Jackson said the coaching staff sometimes brings up the challenging spring.
"We have a lot of appreciation for guys who stuck with us when things were not looking great," Jackson said. "Some guys packed up and left, which is fine. But guys that showed that character and belief in why they came to North Dakota, and belief in the new staff, it means a lot to our staff."
James has followed up his decision with the best year of his career.
He's scored a career-high 17 goals, ranking 11th in the country. He has nine goals in his last nine games.
Since the calendar turned to 2026, only two players in the country have more goals — Bentley's Jake Black (11) and Quinnipiac's Ethan Wyttenbach (10).
With his next goal, he will tie the total of last year's team leader, Sacha Boisvert. If he gets three more, he will enter the 20-goal club, a somewhat rare occurrence these days with lower-scoring, structured hockey games.
In the last decade, only four UND players have reached that mark — Jackson Blake, Cameron Berg, Riese Gaber and Shane Gersich.
Prior to that, the list of 20-goal scorers at UND is big name after big name: Brock Boeser, Drake Caggiula, Danny Kristo, Brock Nelson, Matt Frattin, Jason Gregoire, Drew Stafford, T.J. Oshie, Jonathan Toews, Travis Zajac, Brandon Bochenski and Zach Parise, who will be honored Saturday night.
"It's impressive," Jackson said. "You don't really look at Dylan and say he's got high-level offensive instincts or high-level stick skills. He's doing a good job around the net, but he also scores on those quick-strike plays where he just beats a guy with a step and gets those half breakaways or full breakaways. I think his release has gotten better. He's figured out how to have a little bit of deception in his shot."
James finished second on the team last season in goals with 14, but he was never put on the power play.
This season, he's on that unit and has scored six times with the advantage. Only Will Zellers (seven) has more power-play goals.
"I've been net-front my whole career," James said. "I seem to be good around the net and figuring out where the goalies are trying to look through. I try to find a way to get in front of them. It's nice to be on the power play. It gives you more confidence offensively. That's probably the biggest change from last year to this year."
Defense has always been the hallmark of James' game, though.
His blazing speed and tenacity make him a menace in the defensive zone and on the penalty kill. He will likely be a top candidate to win the NCHC's Defensive Forward of the Year award next month.
James has scored more career shorthanded goals (six) than anyone at UND in the last 20 years. The last UND player to do it was Stafford, who had seven.
"He has really good defensive instincts," Jackson said. "Obviously, he works. He's a fast skater. There are a lot of guys who are fast skaters that are not great defensive players, though. Dylan really anticipates well. He really works hard away from the puck to turn pucks over. He's great on the forecheck. He's a great penalty killer. He tracks all the time. He's always moving, so he has a real sense for danger and isn't standing around very often. He's covering ice and supporting 'D' or tracking back. He has a good stick defensively."
James is the youngest of three brothers. His oldest brother, Justen, is five years older. His middle brother, Kyle, is two years older.
Dylan had to learn to keep up with them — and he was a quick learner.
He began riding a bike — without training wheels — at age 3. When he started playing Timbits hockey at age 4, he was so good that he was moved up to play with 6-year-olds.
"He was so excited to be on a team with his buddies," said Michelle, who played college basketball at Lethbridge College. "When he got moved up, he was upset. But he was still the best player on that (older) team. It was funny. He got used to it. But he wasn't happy at first."
His brothers pushed him on the backyard rink, where Dylan usually wound up playing goalie. Sometimes, he'd end up getting checked into a snowbank.
Off the ice, James has a low-key personality.
His father, Robin, remembers driving with a 6- or 7-year-old Dylan in the car. As they scanned Sirius XM stations, Dylan told him to stop at 40s on 4, a station that played music from the 1940s.
"He doesn't watch a lot of TV or movies or play video games," Robin said. "He's kind of an old soul."
He has that same easygoing personality around his teammates.
"He really leads by example," defenseman Abram Wiebe said. "He's a great leader. He leads by the way he treats his body, the way he works out and how hard he pushes himself to get better every day."
James' time at UND is winding down.
The Fighting Hawks host Miami University this weekend. Next week, it's Senior Weekend when UND hosts St. Cloud State. James and Strinden are the only players remaining from their rookie class.
James has reflected a little bit on his time at UND. But he spends more time thinking about what this team could do in the next two months.
"I'm definitely glad I came back," James said. "Besides the success personally, just to experience another year of North Dakota hockey is something you can't really get more of once you're gone. So, I'm happy I came back in that regard. And this team is unbelievable.
"I've had good teams here the past three years, but nothing quite this good and this tight. It's just so much fun to come to the rink every day."