Paige and Nic Dowd a boy in January; Jenner and Nick Jensen are expecting a boy in March.
"When we all get together now," Dowd says, "we definitely have an automatic conversation starter. It's always nice to be able to share life experiences like that. You couldn't have [scripted] it any better."
As teenagers, Jensen and Dowd entered St. Cloud State as part of the same freshman class in 2010. Both had been selected in the 2009 NHL Draft - Jensen in the fifth round by Detroit; Dowd in the seventh round by L.A. The NHL wasn't exactly around the corner, but both credit their time in college for helping prepare them for the pros.
"I know some guys try to get to the professional levels as quick and as young as they can and it definitely benefits certain guys," Jensen says. "But for me, it was helpful going to college and taking those extra years to develop and get that experience. It took a little bit longer to get to the level that I'm at now, but I think it was a necessary part of the process."
Jensen, a finance major who made the Deans' List as a sophomore, and Dowd, who graduated with a degree in biomedicine, navigated through college together. As freshmen, their dorm rooms were across the hall from each other. For their sophomore and junior seasons, they moved in with two other teammates.
"Nic [Dowd] set the whole thing up, so of course he took it upon it himself to take the nicest room in the house," Jensen says, tongue firmly planted in cheek.
"When you live with four guys, you tend to, over time, get down each other's throats over little tick-tacky things, so we definitely we had a few boxing matches in the living room to relieve that stress, or played a few NHL X-Box games to take out that stress on each other."
Jensen turned pro after his junior season, but not before he and Dowd helped lead St. Cloud State to the 2013 Frozen Four. Along the way, Jensen was named WCHA Defensive Player of the Year. The following season, spent his senior year as team captain and led the Huskies with 22 goals and 40 points in 38 games.