Armed with the nation’s longest current unbeaten streak, the University of Minnesota-Duluth will continue on its Western Collegiate Hockey Association title quest this Friday and Saturday (Feb. 20-21) when the Bulldogs travel to Colorado Springs, CO, for a two-game league series with Colorado College. Opening faceoff time is set for 8:05 p.m. (CST) both nights at the Colorado Springs World Arena (7,343).
THE RECORDS: The Bulldogs, who are unbeaten in 18 of their last 21 games (16-3-2), including the last 12 in a row (11-0-1), are 20-8-3 overall and 16-5-1 in WCHA play (first place). Colorado College, which has won five of its last seven engagements, owns a 16-11-3 record in all contests and a 9-11-2 WCHA mark (sixth place).
NATIONAL RANKINGS: Here is how UMD and the Tigers 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 PairwiseUMD 5th 5th 5th
CC 15th 13th 15th-T
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’s UMD-Colorado College 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.
College Sports Television will carry Friday’s game nationally on select cable and satellite systems as part of its Friday Night Hockey Game of the Week package.
THE COACHES: Scott Sandelin (University of North Dakota, 1987) is in his fourth year at UMD where has compiled a 62-75-15 record -- including a 42-23-7 mark (for a .632 winning percentage) since the start of the 2002-03 season. He is 3-7-1 in his 11 career confrontations with Colorado College. 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).
Scott Owens (Colorado College, 1979) is in his fifth year at Colorado College and has a 118-62-15 record -- 9-5-1 versus UMD -- to show for it. A four-time letterwinner as a goaltender with the Tigers, Owens was as a member of the Colorado College coaching staff from 1991-95, and the Tigers' associate head coach for the final two years of that stay. He left Colorado Springs in 1991 to take on the head coaching and general manager duties of the United States Hockey League's Des Moines Buccaneers and in his four winters with that club, Owens posted an overall record of 179-76-9 for a .695 winning percentage. In 1998-99, his Buccaneers racked up a record-setting 62-12-1 mark and skated off with the USHL's regular-season and playoff titles. They also took runnerup honors at the national Junior A championships after winning that crown the previous year. A native of Madison, WI, Owens spent six years (1984-90) as the general manager of the USHL's Madison Capitols, doubling as the team's head coach the last four seasons.
THE SERIES: This weekend’s series will mark the 144th and 145th meetings ever between the Bulldogs and Colorado College. The Tigers hold a 73-66 lead (with four ties) in the rivalry, which began on Jan. 4, 1961 a the old Duluth Curling Club. Earlier this year, the Bulldogs upended Colorado College twice (4-3 and 4-1 on Jan. 16-17 in Duluth) to snap a five-game home winless skid against the Tigers. Colorado College is 7-1 versus UMD in eight lifetime outings at the World Arena.
LAST WEEKEND: UMD kept its stranglehold on first place in the WCHA standings by sweeping the University of Minnesota at the DECC. Buoyed by junior left wing Tyler Brosz’s four-point night (two goals and two assists) and the 32-save performance of sophomore goaltender Isaac Reichmuth, the Bulldogs rolled to a 6-1 victory Friday night. Ten different Bulldogs marked in the scoring column in UMD’s most lopsided win over Minnesota in 20 years. The following evening, junior left wing Marco Peluso scored twice and senior right wing Junior Lessard added a goal and an assist to spark UMD to a 4-1 triumph and their fifth straight win over the two-time defending NCAA champions.
Colorado College rebounded from a 5-2 setback to the University of North Dakota Friday to upend the host Fighting Sioux 4-1 in the rematch the ensuing night. The Tigers got goals from four different players Saturday while goaltender Matt Zaba finished with 32 saves.
GETTING DEFENSIVE: Sophomore goaltender Isaac Reichmuth was selected the WCHA's Defensive Player of the Week after backstopping the Bulldogs to a pair of convincing home wins over the Minnesota last weekend. It marks the fourth time in 2003-04 he has been so honored. Reichmuth turned aside 60 of 62 shots the Gophers sent his way in the two-game series.
THIS JUNIOR IS QUITE THE SENIOR: With two goals and three assists over the weekend against Minnesota, Hobey Baker Award hopeful Junior Lessard moved into first place on the WCHA scoring charts. Lessard, who will carry a career-high 11-game scoring streak into Friday night’s matchup with Colorado College, has amassed 34 points in WCHA play on a league-leading 17 goals and 17 assists. A three-time recipient of the WCHA’s Offensive Player of the Week this winter, Lessard has racked up a personal-best 43 points in 2003-04, which places him in the No. 4 position among NCAA scorers. The senior right wing and alternate team captain also has two hat tricks (and five multiple-goal nights) to his 2003-04 credit. The last UMD skater to produce more than one three-goal game in a single year was Mike Peluso in 1995-96. Lessard paces the 2003-04 Bulldogs in shots on goal (111) and is second in plus-minus rating (+20).
BYPASSING BLANKINGS: The Bulldogs haven’t been shut out in their last 113 outings -- their longest such streak in nearly 20 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).
THE “REICH†STUFF: Sophomore Isaac Reichmuth, who has patrolled the goal crease throughout the Bulldogs’ entire current 12-game unbeaten streak, maintains the top winning percentage of any netminder against WCHA competition this winter (.912 off a 15-1-1 record). Over the past 12 outings, Reichmuth, the WCHA’s Defensive Player of the Week honoree on four occasions this season, has posted a 1.74 goals against average, a .935 saves percentage and one shutout. Overall, Reichmuth is 17-4-3 in 2003-04 for a .750 winning percentage -- a figure currently surpassed by only four other NCAA puckstoppers. Reichmuth has not been tagged with a loss since a 3-1 setback at Bemidji State University on Nov. 15 and has gone unbeaten (13-0-2) since then.
RANK AND FILE: UMD’s No. 5 standing in both the USCHO and USA Today/American Hockey Magazine polls this week represents its highest ranking in any national poll since the 1992-93 season.
BEAU KNOWS HOCKEY: Just how much does Beau Geisler’s presence mean to the UMD hockey team? Consider this: With the senior defenseman in the lineup this season, the Bulldogs are 17-5-3. Without him, they are a mere 3-3-0. Geisler, who missed the final six games of 2003 with an injury, currently ranks second among all WCHA blueliners in points per game (0.88 points per game in league play) and is third nationally (0.92 gpg overall) in that same statistical category. The 2003-04 team captain has scored six of his career-high eight goals this season while the Bulldogs have had the manpower advantage. Those six power play tallies are the fourth most racked up by any NCAA blueliner this winter. Geisler has moved into a tie for 10th place on UMD’s all-time scoring list for defensemen with 18 goals and 69 assists for 87 points in 145 games.
A STACKED DECC: The Bulldogs are riding the crest of an 11-game home winning streak (the second longest in school history and one victory shy of the team record) and are 13-2-0 this season at the DECC. In the process, they’ve outscored the opposition 71-36.
SCHWABE SIZZLES: Junior center Evan Schwabe, who earlier this season assembled a 14-game scoring streak (the longest by a Bulldog in 11 years), has now collected at least one point in all but one (vs. Michigan Tech University on Jan. 24) of the past 19 outings. Schwabe is tied for second among Bulldogs in scoring with 36 points and holds down a share of No. 1 spot on the NCAA charts with his 26 overall assists. In WCHA play, Schwabe is tied for third in scoring (28 points) and is first in assists (20).
HIGH OCTANE ‘DOGS: The Bulldogs sport the WCHA’s top scoring club (4.59 goals per game) and are second nationally in that same department. (4.29 gpg). In addition, UMD’s power play efficiency (26.6 percent) is without rival among all NCAA I schools at the moment.
BULLDOG BITS: UMD has now clinched a home WCHA playoff berth for the second straight season. The last time the Bulldogs were home to host a league postseason event on back-to-back years was in 1984-85 and 1985-86 ... A win or tie Friday night against Colorado College wouldextend the Bulldogs’ unbeaten streak to 13 games which would equal the club record set three previous times (including twice during the 1984-85 season) ... In its sweep over Minnesota, the Bulldogs cashed in on six of its 10 power play opportunities while holding Minnesota scoreless on all 10 of its chances with the manpower advantage ... Junior left wing Tyler Brosz, who has marked in the scoring column in 17 of the last 20 outings, is third in the NCAA in assists per game (0.86) and first in the WCHA in power play points (14). Brosz, who was credited with a career-high four points, is expected to make his 100th collegiate appearance Friday night in Colorado Springs ... UMD’s remaining two regular season home games (vs. North Dakota on Feb. 27-28) are projected to be sellouts. That would push the Bulldogs’ average attendance at the conclusion of the regular season to 4,743 per game -- or just over 700 more spectators a night than what they drew a year ago ... Junior defenseman Tim Hambly, who paces the 2003-04 Bulldogs in plus-minus rating (+28), has established a career high for points this season (five goals and 12 assists). Over half of that output (nine points) has been registered in the past 12 contests ... UMD has posted eight series sweeps this winter. The 1992-93 Bulldogs (also with eight) were the last UMD club to sweep that many opponents during the regular season ... The Bulldogs are now a perfect 18-0-0 when leading at the second intermission in 2003-04, but are winless (0-4-3) when trailing at that same juncture. UMD has not lost a regular season game in which it has led heading into the third period in almost two years (Feb. 23, 2002 vs. North Dakota at the DECC) ... Five of the WCHA’s top 15 scorers heading into this weekend are Bulldogs -- Junior Lessard, Evan Schwabe, Tyler Brosz (6th), Tim Stapleton (tied for 10th), and T.J. Caig (tied for 15th) ... Although they’re unbeaten in overtime affairs this season (2-0-3), the Bulldogs have still managed to win just three of their last 20 games (3-7-10) which have required an extra session. (Two of victories during that time have come at the expense 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 turned in against MSU-Mankato on Nov. 29) ... UMD has scored first in 17 of its 20 wins thus far ... Junior right wing Nick Anderson commemorated his 100th UMD game Friday night against Minnesota by scoring the Bulldogs’ opening goal ... All but four of UMD’s 23 losses over the past two seasons have been by two or fewer goals ... Junior right wing Luke Stauffacher, one of five Bulldogs who is averaging a point a game or better this winter, tops the UMD with a shooting percentage of .214 (12 goals on 56 shots on net) ... Junior left wing Marco Peluso turned his first multiple-goal outing of his career Saturday when he collected a pair of scores in UMD’s 4-1 defeat of Minnesota ... UMD, which has amassed more first period goals in WCHA play than any other team (37), has outscored their league opponents 32-12 (and 45-23 vs. all foes) in the second period this winter ... The 2003-04 Bulldogs are carrying their fewest number of freshmen (three) since they joined the NCAA I ranks in 1961-62 ... Only three Bulldogs -- Junior Lessard, Evan Schwabe and junior defenseman Neil Petruic -- have taken part in all 31 games to date ... UMD is 18-1-0 this season in games they’ve led following the first period ... Last Saturday’s win enable UMD to post its first-ever 4-game regular season sweep over Minnesota and its first against any opponent in seven years (the University of Alaska Anchorage was the last victim).
UP NEXT: UMD will return to the DECC to host North Dakota on Feb. 27-28 in the Bulldogs’ 2003-04 regular season home finales.
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.
HOW THEY'VE FARED AGAINST COLORADO COLLEGEUMD's current career scoring and goaltending leaders versus the Tigers are:
Player GP G A TP P-PM PP SH GWJunior Lessard 11 5 7 12 2-4 2 0 0
Tim Stapleton 5 1 5 6 0-0 0 0 0
Tyler Brosz 7 4 3 7 3-6 2 0 0
Jesse Unklesbay 5 1 4 5 3-6 0 0 0
Beau Geisler 11 0 5 5 3-6 0 0 0
T.J. Caig 3 1 2 3 3-6 0 0 0
Brett Hammond 5 1 2 3 1-2 0 0 0
Evan Schwabe 6 2 1 3 2-4 0 0 1
Neil Petruic 7 1 1 2 5-10 0 0 0
Justin Williams 2 0 1 1 1-2 0 0 0
Ryan Geris 3 0 1 1 1-2 0 0 0
Todd Smith 3 0 1 1 2-4 0 0 0
Marco Peluso 4 0 1 1 0-0 0 0 0
Nick Anderson 5 1 0 1 1-2 0 0 0
Tim Hambly 6 0 1 1 2-4 0 0 1
Luke Stauffacher 7 0 1 1 4-8 0 0 0
Jay Hardwick 10 0 1 1 1-2 0 0 0
Dan Kronick 1 0 0 0 0-0 0 0 0
Bryan McGregor 2 0 0 0 0-0 0 0 0
Josh Miskovich 4 0 0 0 2-4 0 0 0
Steve Czech 5 0 0 0 1-2 0 0 0
Goaltender GP GS W-L-T GA GAA SVS SVS% SOIsaac Reichmuth 2 2 2-0-0 4 2.00 51 .927 0
