A couple of former Western Collegiate Hockey Association adversaries will renew their long-standing intrastate rivalry this weekend when the University of Minnesota Duluth pays a visit to Minneapolis for a two-game set with the University of Minnesota. The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 22nd) and 4:07 on Sunday at Mariucci Arena (10,000) on the Minnesota campus.

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THE RECORDS: UMD is 5-4-1 overall and 2-2-0 in National Collegiate Hockey Conference play this season while Minnesota sports a 8-1-1 overall record and has yet to make its Big Ten debut.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and Minnesota stacked up in the latest USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls:

        USCHO.com    USA Today    
UMD        No. 19    RV
UM        No. 1    No. 1

ON THE AIR: The two UMD-Minnesota outings will be carried locally on 94X (94.1/104.3 FM) with Bruce Ciskie handling the play-by-play. The broadcast can also be heard on KQ 105.5 in Grand Rapids/Hibbing and KQ 106.7 in Ely/Virginia as part of the Bulldog Sports Radio Network and is available on the internet at: 94xrocks.com.

Friday's game will be televised by Fox Sports North PLUS and the series rematch by Fox Sports North. Both telecasts this weekend will be videostreammed as well and can be viewed for a fee at: BTN2Go.

THE COACHES: The runnerup for the 2010-11 Spencer Penrose Award (American Hockey Coaches Association NCAA Division I Coach of the Year) and recipient of that honor in 2003-04, Scott Sandelin is in his 14th season behind the UMD bench where he has compiled a 236-233-64 overall record -- including a 114-73-27 mark (for a .596 winning percentage) since the 2008-08 opener. Besides capturing the school's first NCAA championship three years ago, his Bulldogs have won 22 or more games in four of the last five seasons while advancing to four NCAA tournaments (2004, 2009, 2011 and 2012), two Frozen Fours (2004 and 2011) and seven of the past 11 WCHA Final Five playoff events. He has also helped produce a pair of Hobey Baker Memorial Award winners (Jack Connolly in 2011-12 and Junior Lessard in 2003-04), six NCAA All-Americans and 17 different All-WCHA selections. Sandelin has also seen 16 of his UMD pupils go on to do time in the National Hockey League, with the latest being winger Justin Fontaine earlier this month (Minnesota Wild). During the course of the 2011-12 season, the Bulldogs set a club record by going unbeaten in 17 straight games and were ranked first in both major weekly polls (USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine for a program-best nine consecutive weeks. In March 2009, UMD became the first play-in game participant to ever claim the Final Five title and, later that spring, strung together a school-record six-game postseason winning streak before it fell to Miami University 2-1 in the NCAA West Regional final. Nine years ago, Sandelin, 49, turned UMD into a NCAA Frozen Four participant for the first time in nearly a generation, marshaling his troops to their most victories (they were 28-13-4 overall) and highest WCHA finish (second place on a 19-7-2 mark) since 1992-93. For his efforts, the Hibbing, Minn., native was chosen the WCHA Coach of the Year as well as the national coach of the year by both insidecollegehockey.com and uscho.com. In 2002-03, Sandelin's charges went 22-15-5 overall and captured fifth place in the WCHA with a 14-10-4 mark while experiencing the greatest one-season turnaround of any league member that winter. One year earlier, he guided UMD to a 13-24-1 record in all games -- nearly doubling the number of victories from the previous season (7-28-4). Sandelin officially signed on with the Bulldogs on March 31, 2000 following six years of assistant coaching deployment at North Dakota (which won two NCAA titles during his tenure). Prior to that, Sandelin spent the 1993-94 season as the head coach of the Fargo-Moorhead Junior Kings of the Junior Elite Hockey League after working in that same capacity (and doubling as general manager) the previous winter with the American Hockey Association's Fargo-Moorhead Express. He capped off his four-year playing career at North Dakota in 1985-86 by being named one of 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. An All-WCHA first team pick and an All-American second team selection as a senior, Sandelin went on to play seven years of professional hockey, which included National Hockey League stints with the Montreal Canadiens (1986-88), Philadelphia Flyers (1990-91) and Minnesota North Stars (1991-92). Sandelin, one of just two active National Collegiate Hockey Conference coaches to do time in the NHL, was the Montreal Canadiens' second-round pick in the 1982 NHL draft (40th choice overall). He served as Team USA's head coach at the 2005 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championships, directing that club to a fourth-place finish, and was an assistant coach for the U.S. entry at that same event in 2011-12.

Don Lucia (University of Notre Dame, 1981) is 352-183-60 in his 15 seasons at the Minnesota helm and directed the Gophers to a pair of NCAA championships (2002 and 2003), four WCHA regular season championships and three WCHA playoff titles. Prior to his appointment with the Gophers, Lucia served a six-year head coaching stint at Colorado College where his Tigers laid claim to three WCHA regular season crowns (1993-96) and posted a 166-68-18 mark. The Grand Rapids, Minn., native also was employed for six additional seasons (1987-93) as head coach at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. He fashions a 631-338-88 collegiate coaching record and is 35-22-6 all-time against UMD (25-16-6 at Minnesota, 10-4-0 at Colorado College and 0-2-0 while with the Alaska-Fairbanks program).

THE SERIES: This weekend's series will mark the 221st and 222nd meetings ever between the Bulldogs and Gophers. Minnesota holds a 132-72-16 lead in the rivalry, which began back on Dec. 1, 1952 at the Hippodrome in Eveleth, Minn., and took three of four WCHA points in the two clubs' only matchups one year ago (a 5-3 triumph and 2-2 tie on Feb. 22-23 in Minneapolis). The Gophers are 3-0-1 against the Bulldogs since suffering a 6-4 setback in Duluth on Feb. 5, 2011.  

LAST WEEK: UMD traded National Collegiate Hockey Conference wins with North Dakota, falling 4-2 to the hosts on Friday (in a game which was tied at 2-2 midway through the third period), before rebounding with a convincing 6-3 victory the next night. Sophomore Alex Iafallo scored once and assisted on junior right winger Adam Krause's power play goal in the opener for the Bulldogs, who outshot North Dakota 36-23. Krause pumped in a pair of goals on Saturday while Iafallo turned in another two-point evening (one goal and one assist). Sophomore center Tony Cameranesi and rookie defenseman Willie Raskob were each credited with three assists in the victory.

Minnesota launched a six-game homestand by sweeping Minnesota State University-Mankato last Friday and Saturday night (4-1 and 3-0). Sam Warning led all Gopher scorers over the weekend with three points (all assists).

NCHC FORECAST: In the inaugural NCHC Preseason Media Poll, UMD was projected for a sixth-place finish in the upstart league this winter while Miami University received top billing among the conference's eight schools with 115 points and seven first-place votes. The RedHawks were followed by North Dakota (109 pts., and five first-place votes), St. Cloud State University (99 and the remaining four first-place votes) the University of Denver (66 pts.), Western Michigan University (61 pts.), UMD (43), Colorado College (42 pts.) and the University of Nebraska-Omaha (41 pts.).

AYE, AYE CAPTAIN: Senior right winger Joe Basaraba and junior right winger Adam Krause have both been entrusted with team captaincy responsibilities for the Bulldogs in this, their 70th season of intercollegiate hockey. Krause is the first non-senior to serve as a UMD team captain since 2006-07.

TWICE AS NICE: For his spirited performance last weekend in Grand Forks, Alex Iafallo was chosen the NCHC Rookie of the Week -- the second time he has been so honored already this season. The Eden, N.Y,. native figured in on half of the Bulldogs' eight goals against North Dakota (he generated one goal and one assist each night) to extend his personal scoring streak to five games. Iafallo is currently tied for ninth nationally in rookie scoring with a Bulldog-best 10 points and ranks first among NCHC newcomers in that same department. His five goals are bettered by only three other NCAA freshmen at the moment.

ROOKIES ON THE RISE: UMD's seven-member freshmen class are collectively averaging 3.20 points per game (12 goals and 20 assists in 10 outings -- the fifth best figure in the country. Of UMD's top eight scoring leaders, four are rookies -- Iafallo, defenseman Willie Raskob (0-6=6), center Dominic Toninato (2-3=5) and left winger Kyle Osterberg (3-2=5), the NCHC Rookie of the Month for October.
 
YOU'RE KILLING ME: After surrendering three power play goals (in 10 opportunities) to North Dakota over the weekend, the Bulldogs dropped from first to fifth on the NCAA penalty killing efficiency charts (it now stands at 89.5 percent).

BREAKOUT WEEKEND: Junior right winger Adam Krause, who came into last Friday night's bout at North Dakota with two collegiate goals to his name (in 74 outings), scored three times during the weekend.

MONEY IN THE BANK: Going back to a 5-4 home loss to the University of Minnesota on Oct. 15, 2011, the Bulldogs are unbeaten (32-0-4) when they've scored four or more goals. That includes a 9-0-2 mark last winter and a 3-0-0 record in 2013-14.

AND DON'T FORGET TO WRITE: UMD hasn't played at home since Oct. 25-26 and won't return to AMSOIL Arena until Dec. 6. The Bulldogs still have this weekend's series at Minnesota along with a bye weekend (Nov. 29-30) before then.

MAKING YOUR SHOTS COUNT: Rookie right winger Sammy Spurrell has scored on two of his four shots on net this season and both of those goals have turned out to be game winners.

GIVING IT YOUR BEST SHOT: UMD ranks fourth nationally in shot margin (+8.80), having put an average of 32.20 pucks on goal per night while surrendering 23.40 shots to the opposition. That's the second fewest in NCAA I hockey, taking a backseat only to Quinnipiac University (20.15 spg) and Union College (20.82 spg).

TIME TO RALLY THE TROOPS: The last time the Bulldogs overcame a second-intermission deficit to win was on Nov. 10, 2010 when they erased a 2-1 Michigan Tech University advantage by scoring four goals in the final 20 minutes to upend the Huskies 5-3 at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center. UMD is 0-30-3 in that situation since then (0-4-0 in 2013-14).

COMING UP SHORT: The Bulldogs have produced only two shorthanded goals over the past three seasons with both coming on the road against Michigan Tech (by Adam Krause on Nov. 30, 2012 -- his first tally at UMD -- and by Keegan Flaherty on Dec. 2, 2011). During that same stretch, UMD has been scored on seven times while a man up. Krause is the only 2013-14 Bulldog with a shorthanded goal to his collegiate credit. UMD has also yet to score on the penalty kill at AMSOIL Arena, its home for 53 games since opening on Dec. 30, 2011.

BULLDOG BITS: It's been almost a half century since UMD and Minnesota last collided in a non-conference series. On Feb. 5-6, 1965, the host Gophers swept the Bulldogs (9-3 and 5-2), who were competing in their fourth, and final, year as a NCAA I independent. UMD joined the WCHA the following season (as its first expansion team) and became league partners with Minnesota.

• The six goals the Bulldogs rolled up last Saturday night were their most against North Dakota since a 7-0 blanking on Feb. 28, 1998 at the DECC. The last time North Dakota gave up that many goals to a visiting UMD team was on Feb. 12, 1965 (7-5).

• All but one of Alex Iafallo's team-leading 10 points this season have been registered on the road.

• UMD has butted heads with Minnesota on more occasions (220) than all but two opponents -- Michigan Tech (224) and North Dakota (222) -- during its 70-year history. In addition, the Bulldogs have also met both the Gophers and Michigan Tech at least once on an annual basis since the 1961-62 season, making each UMD's longest continuous rivalry.

• After being kept off the scoresheet in the first four games of his collegiate career, rookie defenseman Willie Raskob has accumulated six points (all assists) in the five outings since. The former Shattuck-St. Mary's standout will bring a three-game scoring streak into this weekend's series with Minnesota.

• The Bulldogs blocked a season-high 23 shots last Friday in their 4-2 setback at North Dakota and six of those blocks (another 2013-14 UMD best) were recorded by sophomore defenseman Willie Corrin.

• Junior co-captain Adam Krause has now played in 64 straight games -- the top ironman streak on the club.

• Rookie center Dominic Toninato is part of the 10th father-son combination to skate for the Bulldogs. Dominic's dad, Jim Toninato, was a four-year winger/center (1982-86) at UMD. Junior defenseman Derik Johnson's father, Jim Johnson, is also a UMD hockey alumnus (1981-85) and now an assistant coach with the San Jose Sharks.

• The Bulldogs are 3-1-1 in rematch games this season and have averaged 3.6 goals per outing. In contrast, they are 2-3-0 on Friday nights while scoring at a 2.0 goals a game clip.

• Senior defenseman Tim Smith leads all 2013-14 Bulldogs in plus-minus rating (+8) and is a team-leading +17 for his career.

• UMD's last shutout against Minneapolis came on Feb. 23, 1973. Goaltender Jerome Mrazek stopped a whopping 52 shots in backstopping the Bulldogs to an 8-0 win that night.

• Senior goaltender Aaron Crandall has now made seven consecutive starts -- a career high -- after sophomore Matt McNeely filled the starting role during the first three games of 2013-14.

• UMD is unbeaten in 42 of its last 48 overtime games (15-6-27; 0-1-5 in 2012-13 and 0-0-1 this season) dating back to the 2008-09 season opener, but hasn't won an extra session outing since the 2012 WCHA playoffs against Minnesota State-Mankato (3-2 in double overtime on March 10 in Duluth). No current Bulldog has ever scored in overtime as a collegian. North Dakota inflicted UMD's last overtime loss -- a 4-3 decision in the most recent meeting between the two teams (Nov. 17, 2012).

• Senior winger Max Tardy has not picked up a point since Jan. 12, 2013. That 11-game pointless drought is the longest of any active Bulldog.

ON DECK: The Bulldogs will be idle until they make their first-ever NCHC home appearances on Dec. 6-7 against St. Cloud State.