MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP, N.J. – Of all of the players to put on a North Iowa Bulls uniform in the last two seasons, few have had quite the impact that Matt Dahlseide has had. 70 regular-season games and 92 points later, Dahlseide is headed east and headed up the junior hockey ladder. The Maplewood, Minnesota native has signed a North American Hockey League tender with the New Jersey Titans, and will join the team ahead of the 2019-20 season.
To be fair, the Bulls weren’t the first team to benefit from Dahlseide’s skills. The future Bulls star dressed twice for the Brookings Blizzard of the NAHL during the 2016-17 season, and three more times during the 2017-18 campaign. He made his first big mark in junior hockey during the latter season, tallying 16 points in a dozen NA3HL games for the Alexandria Blizzard, including three multi-point games.
Dahlseide joined North Iowa just after Thanksgiving in 2017 and immediately made himself at home. A six-point debut weekend against the Wausau RiverWolves was only the beginning as he piled up 32 points in just 26 games in his new digs.
His first full-time run with the Bulls yielded huge results in 2018-19. His 60 points led the team in the regular season, and he would go on to rack up eight more during the postseason. Ironically, his only goal of the West Division playoffs came in the team’s only loss, a 4-3 defeat at Rochester in the division semifinals.
Dahlseide is the seventh North Iowa Bulls player to sign a tender with an NAHL team this season. More than 30 Bulls players have reached the NAHL since the team’s inaugural season in 2011-12. Eight North Iowa alumni have reached the NCAA Division I level in that time, including one alumnus set to make his Division I debut next season.
New Jersey has quickly established itself as a team to watch in the Tier II ranks, reaching the East Division finals for the second time in three years. Both of their Robertson Cup playoff series this past spring went the maximum five games.
The North Iowa Bulls congratulate Matt Dahlseide on his tender with the New Jersey Titans, and wish him all the best in his return to the North American Hockey League.