GRAND FORKS -- The hottest team in the country will take the ice tonight without its head coach.
Third-ranked University of North Dakota brings its nine-game unbeaten streak into a key, two-game series against sixth-ranked Denver tonight at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
It's a marquee matchup between a pair of top-10 teams who are fighting for second place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
Sioux coach Dave Hakstol won't be there, though.
Hakstol is serving a school-imposed, two-game suspension this weekend for flipping his middle finger at referee Don Adam two weeks ago in a series at Minnesota.
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The fourth-year coach publicly apologized twice last week for the incident and will sit out against the third-place Pioneers, who are two points behind UND in the WCHA standings.
"I made a mistake and there's a price to pay for that," said Hakstol, who can't be in the arena or have contact with players or coaches two hours before or two hours after each game. "For me personally, how I deal with that, that's a personal issue. I'm preparing our hockey team for (tonight). What my emotions are really doesn't have any relevance.
"Once we get to game time, the coaches on the bench will do a great job and the players are at a point with our leadership where they will be unfazed."
Hakstol declined to say where he will be during the games.
Associate head coach Cary Eades, assistant Dane Jackson and volunteer assistant Scott Koberinski will share coaching duties, Hakstol said.
Sioux players say they don't anticipate Hakstol's absence to be a big deal.
"He's preparing us the best he can," senior goaltender Jean-Philippe Lamoureux said. "We know what our objectives are and we know what our game plan is. We are a focused team and we stand behind our coach 100 percent. We're going to be doing all we can to get a couple wins for him this weekend."
The Grand Forks Herald and The Dickinson Press are both owned by Forum Communications Co.
