The University of Minnesota-Duluth will attempt to keep its unblemished 2004 record intact this Friday and Saturday (Jan. 23-24) when the Bulldogs host Michigan Tech University in a two-game Western Collegiate Hockey Association series. Opening faceoff time is set for 7:05 p.m. both nights at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center (5,333).

THE RECORDS: The Bulldogs, who are unbeaten in 12 of their last 15 games (11-3-1) and are riding a six-game winning streak, are 15-8-2 overall and 11-5-0 in WCHA play (second place) while Michigan Tech is armed with a 4-14-4 record in all contests and a 2-10-2 WCHA mark (10th place).

NATIONAL RANKINGS: Here is how UMD and the Huskies stack up in this week’s USCHO.com and USA Today/American Hockey Magazine polls as well as the Pairwise Rankings:



Team USCHO.com USA Today Pairwise

UMD 9th 9th 4th(T)

MTU NR NR NR



ON THE AIR: For the 44th consecutive year, all Bulldog home and away games are being carried live by KDAL-Radio (610 AM). Kerry Rodd handles the station's play-by-play duties with Rik Jordan providing color commentary. The broadcast can also be heard via the internet at: www.umdbulldogs.com.

Saturday evening's UMD-MTU clash will be televised live by WDIO-TV (Channels 10 and 13). Veteran WDIO-TV sports anchor Steve LePage and former Bulldog All-American wing and 1984-85 Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Bill Watson will provide the on-air talent for the ABC-TV affiliate, which is slated to broadcast 12 Bulldog regular season games this year.

THE COACHES: Scott Sandelin (University of North Dakota, 1987) is in his fourth year at UMD where has compiled a 57-75-14 record -- including a 37-23-16 mark since the beginning of the 2002-03 season. He is 5-6-1 in his 12 lifetime confrontations with MTU. Last winter, Sandelin's Bulldogs racked up their best overall mark (22-15-5) and WCHA finish (fifth place on a 14-10-4 record) in a decade while experiencing the greatest one-season turnaround of any WCHA club. One year earlier, he directed the Bulldogs to a 13-24-1 record in all games-- nearly doubling the number of victories from the previous season (7-28-4) -- while going 6-19-3 in the WCHA. Sandelin officially became a member of the Bulldog staff on March 31, 2000 after six years of assistant coaching duty at North Dakota. Prior to joining the Fighting Sioux (who won two NCAA titles during his tenure), Sandelin, 39, 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. A native of Hibbing, MN, Sandelin 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, 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 current WCHA coaches to do time in the NHL, was the second round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in the 1982 NHL draft (40th selection overall).

Jamie Russell (MTU, 1989) is in his first season of head coaching responsibilities at his alma mater after serving the previous four years as an assistant coach at Cornell University. Prior to that, he spent five years in that same capacity at Ferris State University. A two-year letterwinner (defenseman) with the Huskies (1987-89), Russell played one year of professional hockey each in Sweden (Larjeveelan), the East Coast Hockey League (Winston-Salem) and the American Hockey League (Binghamton) before entering the coaching ranks.

THE SERIES: This weekend’s series will mark the 185th and 186th meetings ever between UMD and Michigan Tech. The Huskies hold a 110-61 lead (with 13 ties) in the rivalry, which began on Dec. 31, 1952 at the old Duluth Curling Club. Earlier this season (Dec. 5-6), the two clubs split a two-game set with MTU taking a 6-5 win in the opener before UMD came back in to blank the host Huskies 4-0 in the rematch.



LAST WEEKEND: UMD remained in the thick of the WCHA title chase by sweeping Colorado College at the DECC. The Bulldogs got the weekend off with a bang Friday when they scored all the goals it would need in the first period of play and held on for a 4-3 win over the defending regular season league champions. Four different skaters scored for the Bulldogs -- junior left wing Tyler Brosz, junior right wing Nick Anderson, senior right wing Junior Lessard and junior defenseman Tim Hambly --- while senior left wing Jesse Unklesbay and T.J. Caig each added a pair of assists. Buoyed by a three-point (two goals and one assist) night from senior right wing Junior Lessard and a 30-save performance from sophomore goaltender Isaac Reichmuth, the Bulldogs completed the sweep by besting the Tigers 4-1 Saturday before a sellout crowd of 5,405.

Michigan Tech was ambushed twice by visitng North Dakota, falling 8-4 on Friday to the No. 1 ranked Fighting Sioux and 4-0 the next night.

RANK AND FILE: This week marks the second time the Bulldogs have climbed to the No. 9 spot in the USCHO and/or USA Today American Hockey Magazine polls (they held that position back on Nov. 3). That represents UMD’s highest ranking in any national poll since the 1992-93 season.

REICHMUTH REPEATS AS WCHA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: For the third time this season, and second time in as many weeks, sophomore goaltender Isaac Reichmuth was selected the WCHA’s Defensive Player of the Week. Reichmuth stopped 51 of 55 shots in the two-game sweep of Colorado College and played a key part in limiting the Tigers to just one power play goal in 10 opportunities.

THIS JUNIOR IS QUITE A SENIOR: Junior Lessard continued to solidify his standing as a legitimate Hobey Baker Award candidate by having a hand in half of the Bulldogs’ offensive production over the weekend against Colorado College. The senior right wing scored three times and added an assist in the two-game sweep to push his team-high goal total to 18 (the second highest figure in the nation at the moment). Lessard, who has already been named the WCHA’s Offensive Player of the Week on three occasions this season, is currently tied for the league goal scoring lead (14 in conference play) and is second in points (21). Lessard, who will take a six-game scoring streak into Friday night’s encounter with Michigan Tech, has two hat tricks (and five multiple-goal nights) to his 2003-04 credit. The last Bulldog to produce more than one three-goal game in a single year was Mike Peluso in 1995-96.

A STACKED DECC: The 2003-04 season represents the 38th year the venerable DECC has served as the home of Bulldog hockey. UMD has rolled up a 397-300-36 record (for a .566 winning percentage) at that downtown facility, including an 11-8-3 mark one year ago -- its first winning home record in five seasons. UMD is off to a 9-2-0 start at the DECC in 2003-04 and has swept four visiting opponents -- the University of Alaska Anchorage (8-1 and 5-1 on Oct. 31-Nov. 1) and Minnesota State University-Mankato (8-5 and 5-4 in overtime on Nov. 28-29), Bowling Green State University (5-4 and 6-1 on Jan. 2-3) and Colorado College (4-3 and 4-1 Jan. 16-17) -- in the process.

STREAK CONTINUES FOR SCHWABE: Junior center Evan Schwabe extended his scoring streak to a career-high 13 games with an assist Friday and a goal (the eventual game-winner) the ensuing night against Colorado College. The last Bulldog to collect at least one point in more consecutive contests was All-American center and 1993-94 Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Chris Marinucci, who pieced together a 15-game scoring string to close out the 1992-93 season. Schwabe, who has been credited with four goals and 15 assists during that 13-outing stretch, is second among Bulldogs in scoring with 28 points (which exceeds his entire offensive harvest from his first two seasons at UMD by four points). One of just three UMD skaters to participate in all 25 games to date, Schwabe is first in assists (15) and is fifth in scoring (21 points) in the WCHA. His 20 overall assists are currently the third most accumulated by any NCAA I player.

SEASONED VETERANS: The 26-man Bulldog roster contains four seniors, 12 juniors, seven sophomores and just three freshmen. UMD lost only four players to graduation from a year ago, including two individuals (center Jon Francisco and wing Drew Otten) who played in more than half of the club’s games last winter. The 2003-04 Bulldogs are carrying their fewest number of freshmen since they joined the NCAA I ranks in 1961-62

AVOIDING THE GOOSE EGG: The Bulldogs haven’t been shut out in their last 107 outings -- their longest such streak in nearly 17 years (164 games from Jan. 10, 1981-Dec. 15, 1984). The last time UMD came up empty on the scoreboard was on March 11, 2001 (a 4-0 setback to North Dakota in the opening round of the WCHA playoffs in Grand Forks).

HIGH OCTANE ‘DOGS: The Bulldogs, who currently sport the NCAA’s third highest scoring offense at the moment (4.08 goals per game), have pumped in at least four goals in 11 of their past 13 outings. In addition, UMD’s power play efficiency against WCHA competition (26.3 percent) is second only to Minnesota while its overall percentage (24.4) is the third best in the nation.

BULLDOG BITS: UMD’s current seven-game winning home streak is its longest in 11 years ... Of the Bulldogs’ eight WCHA series to date this winter, the two-game set at Michigan Tech last month is the only one which didn’t end in a sweep. (UMD has swept five WCHA foes this winter and was defeated twice in two other series by St. Cloud State and North Dakota) ... Sophomore Isaac Reichmuth, who has manned the pipes during the Bulldogs’ entire six-game winning streak, maintains the top winning percentage of any netminder against WCHA competition this winter (.909 off a 10-1-0 record). Over the past six outings, Reichmuth has registered a 2.00 goals against average and a .929 saves percentage ... The 4-1 victory over Colorado College this past Saturday sealed UMD’s sixth series sweep of the season (the most by a Bulldog club since 1992-93). The back-to-back wins also jacked UMD’s 2003-04 home record to 9-2-0 ... Junior left wing Tyler Brosz is tied for 11th in the NCAA in assists per game (0.86) and has marked in the scoring column in 12 of the last 15 games ... The Bulldogs are now a perfect 13-0-0 when leading at the second intermission in 2003-04, but are winless (0-4-2) when trailing at that same juncture. UMD has not lost a regular season game in which it has led heading into the third period since Feb. 23, 2002 versus North Dakota at the DECC ... During their six-game winning streak, the Bulldogs have allowed just one third period goal ... Center Tim Stapleton, who one year ago became the just the third freshmen ever (NCAA I era), and first in 26 years, to top UMD in scoring, is second among his WCHA colleagues in both power play goals (four) and power play points (9). Stapleton and junior center T.J. Caig are the only two Bulldogs who are currently averaging a point a better a game for their careers (both are scoring at a 1.00 ppg clip). Caig has generated 10 points (three goals and 7 assists) in six lifetime games against Michigan Tech ... Although they’re unbeaten in overtime outings this season (2-0-2), the Bulldogs have still managed to win just three of their last 19 games (3-7-9) which have required an extra session. (Two of victories during that time have come at the expense of the University of Minnesota -- 5-4 on Feb. 22, 2003 at the DECC and 4-3 on Oct. 24, 2003 in Minneapolis, MN -- while the other was registered against MSU-Mankato on Nov. 29). UMD remains the only team to win a WCHA engagement in overtime this season (it has done so twice) ... Senior defenseman Beau Geisler has scored five of his career-high seven goals this season while the Bulldogs have had the manpower advantage. Those five power play goal rank third among all NCAA blueliners .... UMD has drawn first blood in 12 of its 15 wins to date ... Junior defenseman Tim Hambly, who paces the Bulldogs in plus-minus rating (+20), has established a career high for scoring this season (four goals and 10 assists for 14 points). Nearly half that total (six points) has been registered in the past six games ... All but four of UMD’s 23 losses over the past two seasons have been by two or fewer goals ... Despite putting up some commendable numbers (a 2.59 goals against average and a .911 saves percentage figure), freshman goaltender Josh Johnson has mustered a 1-4-0 record in his five WCHA appearances so far. The last time UMD and Michigan Tech collided (Dec. 6), Johnson turned aside all 21 Husky shots while notching his first collegiate shut out in a 4-1 Bulldog win ... UMD, which has racked up more first period goals in WCHA play than any other team (25), have outscored their league opponents 21-10 in the second period this winter. ... Junior right wing Luke Stauffacher has racked up six goals and three assists over the last three weekends. Included in that scoring harvest is a hat trick (his first in a Bulldog uniform) he corralled against Bowling Green on Jan. 2. That, incidentally, was the fourth three-goal night by a Bulldog this winter -- the most since the 1995-96 season ... Only three Bulldogs -- Lessard, Schwabe and junior defenseman Neil Petruic -- have taken part in all 23 games to date.

UP NEXT: Following this weekend’s activity with Michigan Tech, UMD will be off until Feb. 6-7 hen it heads to Mankato, MN, for a pair of WCHA engagements with Minnesota State-Mankato.

THE SCOTT SANDELIN SHOW: The Scott Sandelin Show airs every Wednesday night at 6 p.m. throughout the 2003-04 season on KDAL-Radio (610 AM). Longtime Bulldog play-by-play announcer Kerry Rodd hosts the one-hour program.