The University of Minnesota Duluth will take a brief break from Western Collegiate Hockey Association warfare this Friday and Saturday (Oct. 29-30) when the Bulldogs host the University of Vermont in a two-game series. Opening faceoff time is set for 7:07 both nights at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center (5,333).

THE RECORDS: The Bulldogs are off to 5-0-1 start in 2004-05 and lead the WCHA with a perfect 4-0-0 mark. Vermont, a member of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Hockey League, is 1-4-0 in all games.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and the Catamounts stack up in the most recent USCHO.com/CSTV and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls



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ON THE AIR: All Bulldog games during the 2004-05 season will be carried live by KDAL-Radio (610 AM). Veteran play-by-play announcer Kerry Rodd and color analyst Mike Sylvester will handle the broadcast responsibilities for the Duluth-based station, which is in its 45th consecutive year of airing UMD hockey. The broadcast can also be heard via the internet at: www.umdbulldogs.com.

THE COACHES: The 2003-04 American College Coaches Association NCAA Division I Coach of the Year (Spencer Penrose Award), Scott Sandelin is in his fifth year at UMD where has compiled a 74-80-17 overall record -- including a 55-28-10 mark (for a .645 winning percentage) since the start of the 2002-03 season. Last winter, Sandelin, 40, turned UMD into a NCAA Frozen Four participant for the first time in nearly a generation while directing 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 the 1992-93 season. 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 Bulldogs went 22-15-5 in all games captured fifth place in the WCHA with a 14-10-4 mark while experiencing the greatest one-season turnaround of any WCHA club. One year earlier, he directed 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 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 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, 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 choice overall). Later this winter, he’ll take on the head coaching duties for the U.S. entry at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Grand Forks, N.D. and Thief River Falls, Minn. Sandelin is 1-0-0 in his only lifetime confrontation with Vermont.

Kevin Sneddon (Harvard University, 1992) is in his second year behind the Vermont bench and has a 10-26-4 record to show for it. He joined the Catamount staff in June of 2003 fresh off a five-year head coaching stint at Union College where he posted a 50-99-18 overall record (including an 0-3-0 mark against UMD). Sneddon, who was an assistant coach with the Skating Dutchmen for five seasons prior to being elevated the head job, was a four-year standout defenseman at Harvard and captained the Crimson as a senior in 1991-92.

THE SERIES: UMD and Vermont have met seven previous times in a series which began on March 10, 1974 when the two clubs squared off in the championship game of short-lived (one year) National Invitational Hockey Tournament in Duluth. The Bulldogs, who defeated Vermont 7-4 in that inaugural meeting, have won six of their seven lifetime games with the Catamounts, including a 7-3 triumph at the Sheraton/Howard Bank Classic in Burlington, Vt., on Nov. 26, 2000.

LAST WEEKEND: UMD was anything but hospitable hosts in its 2004-05 home debuts. Buoyed by a six-goal second period, the Bulldogs blasted WCHA rival Minnesota State University-Mankato 8-3 Friday then got some stellar goaltending from sophomore goaltender Josh Johnson the next night en route to a 4-1 win over the Mavericks. Senior right wing Marco Peluso scored three times during that second period outburst in Game one and added another tally Saturday while his linemate, center Evan Schwabe had four assists on the weekend. Johnson finished with a career-high 43 saves in helping preserve Saturday’s victory and turned aside 31 of the 32 shots the Mavericks sent his way in the opening two periods of play.

Vermont was swept at home by Niagara University in a pair of non-conference clashes, falling 6-1 Friday and 3-2 one night later.

FREAKY FINISHES: The Catamounts’ only victory ever at the expense of UMD came on Dec. 2, 1994 in a game which featured on of the most bizarre endings in Bulldog history. Late in the third period and UMD clinging to a 1-0 lead, Vermont pulled goaltender Tim Thomas for an extra attacker. Then, with a mere 0:00.6 left on the clock and a mad scramble in front of Bulldog net, (panick-stricken) UMD freshman Ken Dzikowski lifted the goal off its moorings with his shoulder. Referee Robin Anderson whistled Dzikowski for delay of game, saying that he had taken away a clear Vermont scoring chance, and awarded Eric Perrin a penalty shot. Perrin beat Bulldog netminder (and current volunteer coach) Taras Lendzyk to send the game to overtime, where current Tampa Bay Lightning star Martin St. Louis won the game for Vermont with 1:30 remaining in the extra session.

TOP DOGS: For the first time in 15 years, the UMD occupies the No. 1 spot in a national men's hockey poll. This past Monday, both the USCHO.com/CSTV Poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll designated the Bulldogs as the top-ranked team in the country. This marks UMD's first No. 1 ranking since Nov. 6, 1989 when the Bulldogs were 8-0-0 -- for their best NCAA I start ever -- after sweeping the University of Alaska Anchorage. Prior to that, the last time a UMD club had risen to the top position in any national poll was Feb. 12, 1986.

TEAM CAPTAINS: Senior center Evan Schwabe, the WCHA’s top returning point producer and reigning NCAA assist leader, is serving as UMD’s team captain in 2004-05 while senior defenseman Neil Petruic and senior right wing Luke Stauffacher are filling the alternate team captain roles.

OFF AND RUNNING: UMD's 5-0-1 start is indeed impressive, but it isn’t the school’s best. That honor belongs to the 1989-90 and 1960-61 Bulldogs, both of whom raced out to 8-0-0 getaways.

A STACKED DECC: The 2004-05 season represents the 39th year the venerable DECC has served as the home of Bulldog hockey. UMD has rolled up a 405-304-36 record (for a .568 winning percentage) in 745 lifetime engagements at that downtown facility. Over the past two years, UMD has rolled up a 17-5-0 home and has outscored the opposition 100-58 in the process.

UMD TABBED AS WCHA FAVORITE: For the first time ever the Bulldogs have been picked to finish first in the Grand Forks Herald WCHA Coaches Poll which has been conducted annually for the past 34 years. The previous high was a second-place prognostication in 1984-85. The entire 2004-05 Grand Forks Herald WCHA Coaches Poll is as follows:

Team (First Place Votes) Points

1. UMD (7) 79

2. North Dakota (1) 66

3. Wisconsin (1) 64

4. Colorado College (1) 61

5. Minnesota 51

6. Denver 45

7. St. Cloud State 30

8. MSU-Mankato 27

9. Michigan Tech 17

10. Alaska Anchorage 10

ROAD TESTED: Since Jan. 9, 2004, the Bulldogs have tasted defeat away from the DECC on just two occasions (vs. the University of Minnesota at the WCHA Final Five semifinals on March 19 and against Denver at the NCAA Frozen Four last April), going 12-2-3 during that 17-game stretch. UMD is in the midst of a school-record 10-game WCHA road unbeaten streak (8-0-2).

PELUSO LANDS WCHA HONOR: The Minnesota State Mavericks weren’t the only ones who took notice of Marco Peluso’s offensive heroics this past weekend. The WCHA also acknowledged his efforts when the league named the senior left winger its Offensive Player of the Week. Peluso scored three times -- for his second collegiate hat trick -- in UMD’s 8-3 triumph over MSU Friday and than followed that up with another goal the next night as the Bulldogs ambushed their WCHA rivals 4-1 at the DECC. The Bovey, Minn. native’s three goals in the series’ opener all came on the power play, which tied the UMD single-game record held by two other players. He became the second straight Bulldog (joining Evan Scwabe) to be so honored by the WCHA.

TOUGH SLEDDING: UMD’s 2004-05 schedule features 14 games with teams which qualified for last year’s NCAA playoffs.

SENIORS O’PLENTY: The 26-man Bulldog roster contains 11 seniors (the largest group in team history), five juniors, four sophomores and six freshmen.

GETTING BETTER WITH AGE: During Scott Sandelin’s maiden head coaching season in 2000-01, the Bulldogs averaged 2.64 goals per game. The following season, that figure increased to 2.97 and, in 2003-04, it improved to 3.64. Last winter, UMD pumped in goals at a 4.11 per outing clip -- the second best figure in the country. Thus far in 2004-05, the Bulldogs are averaging 4.83 tallies per night.

SHUNNING SHUT OUTS: The Bulldogs haven’t been held without a goal in their last 131 outings -- their longest such streak in nearly 20 years (164 games from Jan. 10, 1981-Dec. 15, 1984) and the top active string of any WCHA school. 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).

TOUGH WITH A LEAD: The Bulldogs have now lost only twice (5-3 to Denver in the 2004 NCAA Frozen Four semifinals and 4-3 in overtime to Colorado College in the WCHA Final Five playoff semifinals on March 21, 2003) in the last 51 games they’ve led going into the third period (46-2-3).

BULLDOG BITS: For the first time since 1994-95, UMD opened its regular season home schedule by playing in front of back-to-back sellout crowds. Friday’s affair with MSU drew 5,473 spectators while 5,483 customers passed through the turnstiles the next night ... Marco Peluso, who is one of just two Bulldogs (junior center Tim Stapleton is the other) to mark in the points column in all six outings this season. The six-game scoring streak is a career-best for Peluso ... During its 4-0-0 WCHA start, UMD has averaged 5.75 goals a night and are 10 of 27 (37.0 percent) on the power play ... Senior center Evan Schwabe paces the 2004-05 Bulldogs in scoring with four goals and seven assists for an NCAA-leading 11 points. through six games. Seven of those 11 points have been registered while UMD has had the man advantage. Schwabe has collected at least one point in 12 of his last 13 games going back to last March ... UMD has outscored the opposition 12-2 in the third period of play this season ... Sophomore Josh Johnson established a career high for saves with 43 en route to backstopping UMD to a 4-1 victory over MSU Saturday night. Johnson, who has equally split the UMD goaltending chores this season with two-time All-WCHA pick Isaac Reichmuth, is a perfect 3-0-0 in three overall starts with a 2.00 goals against average and a .945 saves percentage figure. He has won five straight decisions since being saddled with a 6-3 loss at North Dakota on Dec. 13, 2003 ... The Bulldogs are 12-6-2 in non-conference home games during Scott Sandelin’s five-year tenure as head coach and have reeled off five straight wins against non-WCHA foes at the DECC ... Senior defenseman Todd Smith, tops the Bulldogs in plus-minus rating with a +7 in six contests ... After being sidelined with a shoulder injury the previous five games, senior right wing Josh Miskovich returned to the Bulldog lineup Saturday and was credited with his first game-winning goal as a Bulldog (a shorthanded tally) in UMD’s 4-1 triumph. ... Center Tim Stapleton is on the verge of becoming the first junior in eight years to crack the 100-point career mark. Stapleton, one of only four Bulldogs in UMD history (NCAA I era) to score 40 or more points in each his first two seasons, has 34 goals and 57 points in 91 lifetime collegiate outings ... Right wing Mike Curry, one of three UMD rookies to skate in all six games thus far, is currently third in scoring among NCAA freshmen with six points (three goals and three assists) ... All but five of UMD’s 28 losses over the past two seasons have been by two or fewer goals ... The Bulldogs occupy five of the top six spots on the WCHA scoring charts at the moment. The five UMD skaters include Schwabe (first), Peluso (tied for second), Stapleton (fourth), freshman center Matt McKnight and junior right wing Justin Williams (tied for fifth). McKnight’s five points in WCHA play currently leads all league rookies .. UMD has pulled out a win in just three of its last 23 games which have required overtime (3-8-12) ... Senior right wing Nick Anderson, the only remaining Bulldog from head coach Scott Sandelin’s rookie season (2000-01), has gone goal-less in his last 15 games since tallying against the University of Minnesota back on Feb. 13, 2004 ... The Bulldogs will not host a WCHA series at the DECC until Dec. 10-11 when defending league champion North Dakota comes to town. That will mark the start of a club-record eight-game WCHA homestand for UMD ... Senior left wing Tyler Brosz, who skated alongside 2003-04 Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Junior Lessard and Evan Schwabe for nearly half (20 games) of last season and ranked first in the WCHA in power play points (15), has bypassed the opening three weekends of play while recovering from shoulder surgery he underwent last month.



ON TAP: The Bulldogs will head to Alaska Anchorage for a two-game WCHA series with the Seawolves on Nov. 5-6.

THE SCOTT SANDELIN SHOW: The Scott Sandelin Show airs every Wednesday night at 6 p.m. throughout the 2004-05 season on KDAL-Radio. Longtime Bulldog play-by-play announcer Kerry Rodd hosts the one-hour program.