The University of Minnesota Duluth will put its four-game home winning streak on the line this Friday and Saturday (Nov. 13-14) when the Bulldogs play host to Michigan Tech University in a two-game Western Collegiate Hockey Association series. The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. both nights at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center (5,303).
Complete Release (pdf)
The defending WCHA playoff champion Bulldogs are 6-3-1 overall and 3-2-1 in league play (tied for fourth place with the University of Minnesota). Michigan Tech owns a 2-8-0 record in all games and occupies 10th place in the WCHA standings at 1-5-0.
HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and Michigan Tech stack up in the latest uscho.com/CBS College Sports and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls:
uscho.com USA Today
UMD 18th RV
MTU NR NR
ON THE AIR: This weekend's series will be carried locally on 1490 The Fan (KQDS-AM) with Bruce Ciskie handling the play-by-play assignment. 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 Radio Network and is available on the internet at: www.fan1490.com.
In addition, both Bulldog-Husky games will be webstreamed live and be available on a pay-per-view basis through B2Networks 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 10th season behind the UMD bench where he has compiled a 150-176-46 overall record -- including a 28-16-9 mark the past two seasons. His Bulldogs have advanced to four of the past seven WCHA Final Five tournaments and last March became the first play-in game participant to win it all in the 17-year history of that event. UMD also strung together a school-record six-game postseason winning streak in 2008-09 until it fell to Miami University 2-1 in the NCAA West Regional final. Six years ago, Sandelin, 45, 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 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 as a member of the Bulldog staff on March 31, 2000 after six years of assistant coaching deployment 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.
Jamie Russell (Michigan Tech, 1989) is in his sixth season of head coaching at his alma mater and has a 63-143-32 overall record to show for it (7-12-5 vs. UMD). He was selected the WCHA Co-Coach of the Year in 2006-07 after his Huskies posted their highest league finish (sixth place) since 1992-93 and their most wins (they were 18-17-5) in 11 seasons. Russell joined the Husky staff in 2003 after serving the previous four years as a Cornell University assistant coach. Prior to that, he spent five seasons in that same capacity at Ferris State University. A two-year letterwinner as a defenseman with the Huskies (1987-89), Russell played one season of professional hockey each in Sweden (Larjeveelan), the East Coast Hockey League (Winston-Salem) and the American Hockey League (Binghamton) before entering the coaching arena.
THE SERIES: This weekend's series will mark the 207th and 208th meetings ever between UMD and Michigan Tech. The Huskies hold a 116-72-18 lead in the rivalry, which began back on Dec. 31, 1952 at the old Duluth Curling Club. The Bulldogs took three of four points from the Huskies in each of the two club's two regular season series one year ago.
LAST WEEKEND: The Bulldogs split a two-game set at then-No. 12 Colorado College, taking the opener 4-3 before dropping a 6-2 decision Saturday night. UMD got goals from four different players Friday, including sophomore left winger Travis Oleksuk, Freshman right winger Mike Seidel tallied for the second straight night in Saturday's loss as UMD gave up a season-high six goals, four of which came on the power play.
Michigan Tech was upended twice at home by North Dakota, falling 4-2 Friday and 4-1 the ensuing evening.
THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING: Senior center Drew Akins has been entrusted with team captaincy responsibilities for the 2009-10 Bulldogs while senior left winger Jordan Fulton and junior defenseman Mike Montgomery are serving as alternate captains.
TOP 'DOGS: Sophomore center Jack Connolly continues to lead the nation in scoring (he and Michigan State University's Corey Troop share that honor) with six goals and nine assists for 15 points. Checking in at the No. 6 spot on the NCAA offensive charts are a pair of UMD juniors -- left winger/center Rob Bordson and right winger Justin Fontaine. Bordson has racked up three goals and an NCAA-leading 10 assists in 10 games after coming into year having scored seven points in 42 career outings. Ten of his 13 points this winter have come on the power play -- a figure unsurpassed by all WCHA skaters at the moment. Fontaine, meanwhile, paces the NCAA ranks in both goals (seven) and power play scores (6). The 2008-09 All-WCHA second team pick is a UMD-best plus-3 on the year and has put more shots on goal (43) than any other Bulldog.
THEY'VE HAD THEIR NUMBER: UMD has lost just one of its last 10 matchups with Michigan Tech (6-1-3) and will take a five-game unbeaten streak against its long-time WCHA rival into this Friday night's clash. In addition, since being derailed 3-1 on Jan. 14, 2005, the Bulldogs have not tasted defeat at the hands of Michigan Tech in Duluth in six straight outings (4-0-2).
A STACKED DECC: UMD owns a 5-1-0 home record in 2009-10 and has won four straight at the DECC, having swept Clarkson University (4-1 and 4-2 on Oct. 30-31) and Minnesota State-Mankato (5-2 and 3-2 on Oct. 16-17) in its most recent outings. The Bulldogs have amassed a 15-5-3 mark at the DECC since the start of the 2008-09 season.
BULLDOG BITS: Sophomore netminder Kenny Reiter picked up his first collegiate road win last Friday night by making 30 saves -- including one on a penalty shot -- in a 4-3 triumph over Colorado College ... The Bulldogs are 30-0-3 when they've held a lead heading into the third period since falling 3-2 at St. Cloud State in three overtimes in the third, and decisive, game of the 2007 WCHA playoffs (March 11) ... This weekend's series will feature the two top scoring rookie defensemen in the nation in UMD's Dylan Olsen and Michigan Tech's Steve Seigo. That pair has each racked up six points (all assists) in eight games thus far for a 0.75 points per night average. Those six points are bettered by only two WCHA freshmen (Colorado College forward Rylan Schwartz and North Dakota forward Danny Kristo) ... Scott Sandelin has amassed more lifetime wins against Michigan Tech (he is 16-12-6) than any other opponent ... The 2009-10 Bulldogs are currently averaging 24.6 minutes of penalty box time a game, which tops all NCAA I schools. Michigan Tech, meanwhile, is not far behind, accruing 22.4 minutes per outing to rank fifth nationally in that dubious department ... UMD is unbeaten (4-0-1) in weekend openers this year and own that same record when it has scored first ... Talk about a couple of good luck charms: UMD is 21-5-1 in games in which Jack Connolly has picked up a point during the past two seasons and 12-1-1 when senior left wing Jordan Fulton has done so ... After being sidelined for seven games with a knee injury, sophomore right winger Travis Oleksuk returned to the UMD lineup last Friday in Colorado Springs, Colo. and proceeded to collect his first goal as a Bulldog and add an assist ... UMD will come into this Friday night's clash against Michigan Tech armed with the WCHA third most efficient power play. The Bulldogs have cashed in on 22.5 percent (16 of 71) of their man advantage opportunities and trail only Colorado College (34.0) and North Dakota (25.5) in that department. UMD, which led the WCHA in overall power play efficiency one year ago (21.5 percent), has tallied at least one goal with the man advantage in six of its eight games to date (it went 0-of-8 against Northern Michigan on Oct. 11 and 0-of-5 versus Clarkson on Oct. 30 -- both at home) ... Freshman right winger Mike Seidel currently owns the longest scoring streak of any Bulldog as he has collected a goal in each of the last three outings ... Twenty of the Bulldogs' 89 games (22.5 percent) since the beginning of the 2007-08 season have required overtime. UMD has lost just one of those extra sessions affairs during that stretch, going 4-1-15 with the lone setback being inflicted by North Dakota on March 2, 2008 ... UMD has scored more first-period goals (12) than any other WCHA contingent ... This marks the final full season the Bulldogs will call the DECC home as they will move to a new $70 million, 6,800-seat facility a few hundred feet away next December. Michigan Tech is scheduled to play one more regular season series at the DECC (Nov. 12-13, 2010).
COACHES LUNCHEON: The Bulldog Coaches' Luncheon will be held this Friday at 12 p.m. at Grandma's Sports Bar. The public is welcome to the event, which costs $8.00 for an all-you-can eat buffet and features a live radio show on The FAN 1490 with UMD head coach Scott Sandelin
UP NEXT: UMD will hit the road on Nov. 20-21 to renew its intrastate rivalry with the University of Minnesota -- the Bulldogs' first trip to Mariucci Arena since they saw their historic postseason run come to an end at the West Regional championship last March.
