Area fans of University of Minnesota Duluth hockey player Koby Bender, who is from Cloquet and is a former Lumberjack, came out in force in St. Paul last weekend as the Bulldogs won the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Frozen Faceoff tournament at Xcel Energy Center, taking two games Friday and Saturday.

Bender scored a hat trick the week before to propel UMD into the "final four" weekend and the conference tournament win. The team began NCAA tournament play Thursday afternoon in Colorado.

Jamie Halverson

Bender flicked pucks and gave fist bumps through the glass Saturday as a group of kids in Lumberjacks jerseys, and a large Lumberjacks banner, clamored for his attention. Bender acknowledges the support in warmups Saturday from Sam Midge, Ethan Kvitek, Brennan Gerard, and Nikolas Lehto.