It may have came up one game short of its ultimate destination -- the NCAA Frozen Four -- but the University of Minnesota Duluth nevertheless had plenty of reasons to celebrate in 2008-09. The Bulldogs officially closed the books on their 65th season of intercollegiate men's hockey on March 28 with a 2-1 loss to Miami University in the NCAA West Regional final in Minneapolis. That put the wraps on a year which included a plethora of highlights, memorable moments and Bulldog bits such as:
•UMD became the first play-in game participant to capture the WCHA Final Five title in the 17-year history of that event. The WCHA playoff crown was the Bulldogs' third ever, but first since 1984-85.
• The Bulldogs closed out the year with a 22-13-8 overall record -- their best mark since 2003-04 when they went 28-13-4 and advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four. The 22 wins were the second most amassed by a UMD club under the nine-year coaching reign of Scott Sandelin (tying the 2002-03 Bulldogs) while the .605 winning percentage was exceeded only by his 2003-04 team (.667).
•The loss to Miami snapped UMD's school-record six-game postseason winning streak (it defeated five straight Top 15 clubs during that stretch in Colorado College, Minnesota, North Dakota, Denver and Princeton)
•UMD has now taken part in six NCAA tournaments and has made it to at least the quarterfinal round in all six.
•Junior goaltender Alex Stalock, the reigning Final Five Most Valuable Player and a 2008-09 All-WCHA first team selection, enjoyed a record breaking junior year as he set Bulldog single-season marks for both goals against average (2.13) and saves percentage (.924). Stalock, who became the second Bulldog ever -- and first since 1983-84 (All-American Rick Kosti) -- to finish as the WCHA's goals against average leader (a 2.39 GAA in league play), also established another club record by holding the opposition scoreless for 147:45 -- just over 10 minutes more than the record he previously set last year. A starter in 78 of 79 games over the past two seasons (including all 56 league engagements), Stalock is UMD's all-time shutout leader with nine while his five blankings this winter equal the team mark held by Brant Nicklin (1997-98) The four-time WCHA Defensive Player of the Week award recipient became the first UMD goaltender (NCAA-era) to ever post back-to-back shutouts this winter when he turned the trick against North Dakota (3-0) and Denver (4-0) in the final two rounds of the WCHA Final Five. In addition his career goals against average (2.48) and saves percentage (.910) are both the best figures ever registered by a Bulldog.
•Senior center MacGregor Sharp, who signed with the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks a couple of days after calling it a career at UMD, finished atop the Bulldog scoring charts for the second straight season -- the first Bulldog to do so in 11 years (Mike Peluso). Sharp, a member of the Final Five All-Tournament Team, racked up 26 goals (the second most by a UMD skater since the 1994-95 season and the second most in the nation this winter) and 24 assists for 50 points. The 26 overall goals and 50 points as well as the six game winners were all tops among WCHA players. The Red Deer, Alberta product collected a team-best 12 points (seven goals and five assists) during UMD's seven-game postseason run. Sharp, who skated in all but one of the 158 outings since joining the Bulldogs, including the last 115 in row, closed out his collegiate playing days riding a personal-high 11-game scoring streak. He rolled up 21 points (12 goals and nine assists) and two hat tricks during that stretch.
•The Bulldogs were 16-0-2 when they took a lead into the final period of play this season and 25-0-3 over the past two years. UMD hasn't lost in that situation since falling 3-2 in three overtimes at St. Cloud State in the third, and decisive game of the 2007 WCHA playoffs (March 11).
•Sophomore right winger Justin Fontaine placed second to MacGregor Sharp for team scoring honors with 48 points --a hefty 36-point increase from his rookie year output. That one-season scoring improvement was the second largest by a Bulldog in 16 years (Evan Schwabe went from 10 to 57 points between 2002-04). Fontaine, a 2008-09 All-WCHA second team honoree, ranked first in power play points (27) and is second in power play goals (11). Fontaine, one of nine Bulldogs to take part in all 43 outings this winter, also came within two points of claiming the WCHA scoring title (he collected 34 points in 28 league contests).
UMD was 12-9-5 away from the DECC this season -- the most wins by a Bulldog club since 2003-04 (13).
•Senior Josh Meyers, who attained 2008-09 All-WCHA third team recognition and was a member of the Final Five All-Tournament Team, certainly took full advantage of the man advantage this season. The 2008-09 team tri-captain collected all but five of his career-high 28 points -- including each of his 10 goals -- on the power play this season. Meyers' 23 power play points placed him fourth among his WCHA brethren while his 10 overall goals were the second most accumulated by any league blueliner. In all, he potted 30 goals as a Bulldog and 23 of those are of the power play variety.
•Right winger and 2008-09 WCHA All-Rookie Team pick Mike Connolly concluded his debut season with a bang by accumulating eight points in the final four games. That pushed his season scoring harvest to 42 points -- the second most by any NCAA freshman and most by a Bulldog newcomer since 2002-03 when Tim Stapleton paced UMD with that same total. Connolly, UMD's plus-minus leader in 2008-09 (plus-11) earned a spot on both the Final Five All-Tournament Team and NCAA West Regional All-Team. Center Jack Connolly, meanwhile, had 29 points to freshman-year credit meaning the two Connollys rolled up the most points of any UMD rookie tandem (71) since Dan Lempe (64) and future US Olympian Mark Pavelich (19) combined for 83 points in 1976-77.
•UMD sported the WCHA's best overall power play unit (21.5 percent) and team defense (2.28 goals per game) this winter.
•Sophomore Evan Oberg, who scored the memorable game-tying goal (with 0.8 seconds left in regulation) in UMD's 5-4 overtime victory over Princeton University in the NCAA West Regional semifinals en route to attaining All-Tournament Team recognition, came away with 27 points this winter to place second to Josh Meyers in scoring among UMD blueliners.
•This winter, junior Alex Stalock logged more crease time (2,533:39) than any netminder in the nation.
•Nineteen of the Bulldogs' 79 games (24.0 percent) since the beginning of last season have required overtime. UMD has lost just one of those extra sessions affairs during that stretch, going 4-1-14 (2-0-8 in 2008-09) with the lone setback being inflicted by North Dakota on March 2, 2008.
•All but one (a goal against Alaska Anchorage on March 6) of junior left winger Jordan Fulton's career-high 17 points (12 goals and five assists) were registered in UMD victories in 2008-09
•The Bulldogs posted eight ties this season, one more than the previous club record set back in 1990-01. The seven league deadlocks UMD accrued this winter matched a WCHA standard as well. That record is shared by eight other teams, including both the 2008-09 Michigan Tech Huskies and Colorado College Tigers.
•UMD was 18-4-3 when it scored first this winter and went unbeaten in 13 of its 17 home games (10-4-3). The .676 winning percentage the Bulldogs compiled at the DECC was their second best in the past 16 seasons.
•The March 28 setback to Miami marked the end of the line for seven UMD seniors -- forwards Andrew Carroll, Michael Gergen, Matt Greer, Nick Kemp, and MacGregor Sharp and defensemen Jay Cascalenda and Josh Meyers. That group was part of the Bulldogs' highly-touted 2005-06 freshmen class, which Red Line Report listed as the nation's fourth best, and included three early professional hockey defectors in Mason Raymond, Matt Niskanen and Jason Garrison.
2008-09 BULLDOG SUPERLATIVES AND HONORS:
All-WCHA
Alex Stalock (First Team)
Justin Fontaine (Second Team)
Josh Meyers (Third Team)
WCHA All-Rookie Team
Mike Connolly
WCHA Goals Against Average Champion
Alex Stalock
WCHA Final Five Most Valuable Player
Alex Stalock
WCHA Final Five All-Tournament Team
Mike Connolly
Josh Meyers
MacGregor Sharp
Alex Stalock
NCAA West Regional All-Tournament Team
Mike Connolly
Evan Oberg
All-College Hockey News Team
MacGregor Sharp (Second Team)
insidecollegehockey.com Freshman All-American Team
Mike Connolly
WCHA Scholar-Athlete Award
Rob Bordson
Matt Greer
Kenny Reiter
Kyle Schmidt
WCHA All-Academic Team
Rob Bordson
Andrew Carroll
JustinFontaine
Michael Gergen
Matt Greer
Chad Huttel
Kenny Reiter
Chase Ryan
Kyle Schmidt
MacGregor Sharp
WCHA Player of the Week
Feb. 10 Mike Connolly (Rookie/DU)
Feb. 3 Alex Stalock (Defensive/UW)
Jan. 27 Alex Stalock (Defensive/MSU)
Jan. 27 Jack Connolly (Rookie/MSU)
Dec. 16 Justin Fontaine (Offensive/MTU)
Nov. 25 Alex Stalock (Defensive/UND)
Oct. 14 Alex Stalock (Defensive/LSSU & NMU)
Lowe's Senior CLASS Award Finalist
Andrew Carroll
Shillelagh All-Tournament Team
Justin Fontaine
Evan Oberg
insidecollegehockey.com WCHA Breakthrough Player of the Year
Justin Fontaine
NCAA Frozen Four Skills Competition Participant
MacGregor Sharp (withdrew)
Stauber Brothers Fan Favorite Award
Alex Stalock
WCHA Preseason Co-Rookie of the Year
Jack Connolly
College Hockey News 2008-09 Preseason “Players to Watch”
Josh Meyers
