After a five-week absence, the University of Minnesota Duluth will return to its home ice this Friday and Saturday (Feb. 22-23) when the Bulldogs host Colorado College in a two-game Western Collegiate Hockey Association series. Opening faceoff is set for 7:37 p.m. both nights at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center (5,294 capacity).

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UMD Hockey Notes vs. Colorado College


THE RECORDS: The Bulldogs, who are unbeaten in seven of their last 10 games (5-3-2), are 12-10-6 overall and hold down sixth place in the WCHA standings at 8-9-5. Colorado College, which has lost only twice in its last 12 outings (9-2-1), owns a 21-8-1 overall record and a 16-5-1 league mark (tied for first place with the University of North Dakota).



HOW THEY RANK: Here is how the Bulldogs and Tigers stack up in this week’s uscho.com/CSTV and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls and latest Pairwise ratings:



uscho.com USA Today Pairwise

UMD 13th 13th 8th (T)

CC 4th 4th 4th (T)

ON THE AIR: All UMD games during the 2007-08 season are being carried by KDAL-Radio (610 AM) with Bruce Ciskie handling the play-by-play. The Duluth-based station is in its 48th consecutive year of airing the Bulldogs (which is believed to be the longest streak of its kind in college hockey). The broadcast can be heard as well via the internet at: www.umdbulldogs.com.

In addition, both ends of the Bulldog-Tiger series will be webstreamed live and be available on a pay-per-view basis through B2 Networks at: www.b2livetv.com.

THE COACHES: The 2003-04 American Hockey Coaches Association NCAA Division I Coach of the Year (Spencer Penrose Award), Scott Sandelin is in his eighth year at UMD where he has compiled a 121-153-37 overall record in addition to taking the Bulldogs to three of the last five WCHA Final Five tournaments. Four years ago, Sandelin, 43, 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) in 11 seasons. 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 overall and captured fifth place in the WCHA with a 14-10-4 mark while experiencing the greatest one-season turnaround of any league club. 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 as 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 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 current WCHA 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 and directed that club to a fourth-place finish.

The all-time winningest coach in Colorado College hockey history, Scott Owens (Colorado College, 1979) is in his ninth year behind the Tiger bench and has a 216-117--25 record -- 15-10-2 versus UMD -- to show for it. He’s also directed the Tigers to a pair of WCHA regular season championships (2004-05 and 2002-03) and five NCAA post-season appearances (2005-06, 2004-05, 2002-03, 2001-02 and 2000-01). A four-time letterwinner as a Tiger goaltender, Owens was a member of the Colorado College coaching staff from 1991-95 and served as 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, Wis, Owens spent six years (1984-90) as the general manager of the USHL’s Madison Capitols, doubling as the team’s head coach his last four seasons.

THE SERIES: This weekend’s series will mark the 156th and 157th meetings ever between UMD and Colorado College. The Tigers hold a 79-71-5 lead in the rivalry, which began on Jan. 4, 1961 at the old Duluth Curling Club, but are 31-42-2 lifetime in Duluth. Earlier this season (Nov. 9-10), Colorado College used a four-goal second period to fuel a 5-3 victory in the series opener then completed the sweep by blanking UMD 3-0 the next night.



LAST WEEKEND: The Bulldogs split a two-game WCHA set at Michigan Tech University, falling 5-2 on Friday before rebounding with a 3-2 triumph in the rematch. Junior center MacGregor Sharp and freshman defenseman Chad Huttel accounted for UMD’s two scores in Game 1 as the Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead only to see the Huskies strike for three unanswered goals in the second period. Rookie blueliner Evan Oberg propelled UMD to victory Saturday by bagging his first collegiate goal with just one minute remaining in regulation and just 63 seconds after Michigan Tech had drawn even at 2-2.



Colorado College has been idle since trading league wins with St. Cloud State University on Feb. 8-9 in Colorado Springs, Colo. One night after coming out on the short end of a 5-3 decision, the Huskies bested the host club 4-2 to terminate the Tigers’ 14-game home winning streak.

MAKING THE GRADE: A league-leading eight Bulldogs -- senior Matt McKnight, juniors Andrew Carroll, Jason Garrison, Michael Gergen, Matt Greer and MacGregor Sharp and sophomores Trent Palm and Chase Ryan -- have earned WCHA Scholar-Athlete recognition for 2007-08. In all, 78 male and female student-athletes make up the select group. To qualify for this honor, an individual must have compiled a grade point average of 3.50 on 4.0 scale for the previous two semesters/three quarters or cumulative for all terms at his/her school.



A GREAT 2008: Since the start of the New Year, sophomore goalteder Alex Stalock has had few rivals in terms of puckstopping prowess. In 12 appearances (10 of which have been against nationally-ranked clubs), the 2006-07 WCHA All-Rookie Team pick has racked up a 6-4-2 record, a 1.89 goals against average and a .929 saves percentage in addition to posting one shut out. Stalock, a three-time WCHA Defensive Player of the Week honoree this season who has seen more crease time (1,694:15) than all but two WCHA netminders this season (North Dakota’s Jean-Philippe Lamoureux and the University of Wisconsin’s Shane Connelly), has received the starting nod in each of UMD’s 28 engagements to date. The last Bulldog goalie to make more consecutive starts was Brant Nicklin, who answered the call in an NCAA-record 72 games between Oct. 12, 1996 and March 15, 1998. Last month, Stalock set a UMD mark by holding the opposition scoreless for a span of 137:37.

POWER SHORTAGE: This weekend’s series will feature the WCHA’s top two penalty kill leaders in Colorado College (89.7 percent) and UMD (89.6). The two clubs currently rank second and third, respectively, among all NCAA schools in that department. The Bulldogs have given up one power play goal in each of the past four games after their opponents had gone 0-for-25 with the man advantage the previous five outings.

BULLDOG BITS: The Bulldogs, who haven’t been at home since Jan. 19, have lost just twice in their 13 games at the DECC this season (6-2-5) and are unbeaten in 18 of their last 22 engagements in Duluth (12-4-6) going back to the beginning of January 2007 ... Junior center MacGregor Sharp, who scored once in Friday’s 5-2 loss to the Huskies and had an assist the following evening, has assumed the top spot on the 2007-08 Bulldog scoring charts with 16 points on six goals and a team-leading 10 assists ... The 3-2 win over Michigan Tech Saturday was UMD’s sixth road victory of 2007-08 and is one more than it racked up all of last year. The Bulldogs are 6-8-1 away from the DECC this winter ... Chad Huttel scored his first goal as a Bulldog against Michigan Tech Friday -- one night before fellow rookie defenseman Evan Oberg followed suit on his 20th birthday ... Eight of the Bulldogs’ 28 games this winter have gone into overtime where UMD has managed to stay unbeaten at 2-0-6. Those six ties are one short of the school single-season record set in 1990-91 ... Junior defenseman Josh Meyers, who is a team-leading +15 on the season, is currently mired in an eight-game pointless drought, having last marked in the scoring column on Jan. 12 (a goal vs. Minnesota State University-Mankato). Meyers and junior Jason Garrison, who injured his leg at Wisconsin two weeks ago and is out indefinitely, still rank second among WCHA blueliners in goals with five ... Meyers has collected 11 of his 13 points at the DECC this winter while 10 of junior left wing Michael Gergen’s 12 points have also come at home. Gergen tops the 2007-08 Bulldogs in overall shots on goal with 86 ... The Bulldogs are unbeaten in 11 of the 14 games they have struck first in this season (7-3-4) ... Junior center/right wing Nick Kemp, who has established career highs for points (14) and power play goals (four) this winter, is expected to suit up in his 100th Bulldog game this Friday ... UMD has surrendered the second fewest first-period (13) and overall goals (67) of any WCHA club in 2007-08. Moreover, Michigan Tech (last Saturday) and the University of Minnesota (on Jan. 19) are the only clubs to score against the UMD in the opening 20 minutes of play in the last 11 games. The Bulldogs have also allowed more than one first-period goal only twice all season (three to North Dakota on Nov. 23 and two to the University Alaska Anchorage on Dec. 7)... The all-rookie ensemble of left wing Cody Danberg, center Rob Bordson and right wing Kyle Schmidt has skated together a team-leading 14 times in 2007-08 ... The four shutouts Alex Stalock has registered during his one-plus seasons with the Bulldogs already puts him in a tie for third on UMD’s all-time charts, trailing only Brant Nicklin (eight shutouts between 1996-2000) and Taras Lendzyk (six between 1992-96).

MATINEES ON TAP: The Bulldogs will remain at the DECC to host North Dakota in their 2007-08 regular season home finales next Saturday and Sunday afternoon (March 1-2).