They have never skated on the same sheet of ice, but the University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team and Robert Morris University will not only share the ice this weekend, but kick-off their respective seasons together. The Bulldogs host the Colonials at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Friday at 6:07 p.m., and the again Saturday at 3:07 p.m.
THE SERIES: The weekend's series will mark the first time in program history that the Bulldogs and Colonials will hit the ice together. Robert Morris, a member of College Hockey America, is coming off a 4-0 exhibition game win with the Wilfrid-Laurier Golden Hawks last Sunday.
Although UMD has never suited up against the Colonials, the Bulldogs have never lost to a CHA opponent. The Maroon and Gold is 7-0-2 all-time against schools in Robert Morris' conference, including 3-0-1 against Mercyhurst College and 4-0-1 versus Niagara University.
This will note the second straight season UMD has opened the year on the ice with a CHA foe after the Bulldogs swept Niagara last season in Niagara Falls, NY 6-2 and 6-1 on Oct. 3-4.
UMD NOTES VS ROBERT MORRIS
PRESEASON PICKS: UMD was picked to finished third in the WCHA's preseason coaches poll, while Robert Morris was chosen to finish second among five other teams in the CHA.
BULLDOG PRESEASON NOTES:
-- The Bulldogs graduated six players from their 2008-09 Frozen Four squad, including forwards Sara O'Toole (12-13=43), Heidi Pelttari (4-23=27), Tawni Mattila (9-7=16), Erin Olson (1-3=4), blueliner Myriam Trepanier (2-5=7) and netminder Johanna Ellison (14-3-1, 1.69).
Absent from this season's roster because of Olympic centralization:
Senior forward Elin Holmlov (23-28=51) Team Sweden
Senior goaltender Kim Martin (11-6-3, 1.72) Team Sweden
Sophomore Pernilla Winberg (14-27=41) Team Sweden
Sophomore defenseman Jenni Asserholt (2-8=10) Team Sweden
Junior defenseman Jocelyne Larocque (4-33-37) Team Canada
Junior forward Haley Irwin (22-22=44) Team Canada
In addition, Team Finland member's senior forward Saara Tuominen and freshman rear-guard Mariia Posa will join their national team ahead of the Olympics. Team captain Tuominen registered 32 points (12g, 20a) last winter, en route to becoming the eighth player in Bulldog history to reach the 100 career-point mark on Jan. 11.
-- While the Bulldogs will lose their top-five scorers from the 2008-09 season (four to centralization, one to graduation), UMD does retain the services of junior forward Laura Fridfinnson, who has piled in 42 goals and 36 assists over the past two seasons. Fridfinnson, the Bulldogs second-leading scorer during her rookie year with 44 points, was the third-highest goal-scorer for UMD a season ago (20) and has played in 78 consecutive games.
-- UMD will add nine new players to it's roster, including another 2006 Olympian in Team German goaltender Jennifer Harss.
-- Head coach Shannon Miller, who will enter her 11th season behind the bench for UMD in 2009-10, owns the third-highest winning percentage in Division 1 women's hockey (.765) and is the fourth winningest coach of all-time with a 260-70-29 overall record. Miller has more NCAA titles (four), holds more NCAA Frozen Four wins (nine), has made more NCAA tournament appearances (eight), and has won more NCAA tournament games (12) than any other head coach in women's hockey history. Miller also had guided the Bulldogs to a record-tying six NCAA Frozen Four appearances.
-- The Bulldogs will be celebrating a their 10th Anniversary on Saturday, Nov. 21 before their conference game against Minnesota State with a red carpet ceremony featuring some notable alumni.
ON THE AIR: Fans can listen to the Bulldogs on WGEE 970 AM with Tom Hansen, who is in his tenth season covering play-by-play duties for the Maroon and Gold. UMD is also partnering with B2Networks again this season. The B2Network link can be found on the main website.
BULLDOG SEASON OUTLOOK:
If Jan. 16, 2009 marked one of the lowest points in the University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team's 2008-09 season, then March 14, 2009 may well have marked its highest. Almost two months to the day of losing All-American goaltender Kim Martin on Jan. 16, back-up senior goaltender Johanna Ellison made 21 saves, including stopping a penalty shot, to help lead the Bulldogs over the then No. 4 University of New Hampshire 4-1 in Durham, NH on March 14. The win punched the 2008 NCAA champion UMD's third NCAA Frozen Four ticket in as many years, and secured a sixth trip to college hockey's grandest stage for the Bulldog program. Perhaps most impressive of all, UMD reached Boston on the back of Ellison, who prior to filling in for Martin had played just five complete games in her two-year Bulldog career. In relief of Martin, Ellison went 13-2-1 and gave UMD a shot at a postseason berth that the Bulldogs had no trouble cashing in. By reaching the 2009 NCAA Frozen Four, UMD secured its third-consecutive Frozen Four berth (2007-2009) for a second time in school history (the first time was between 2001-2003, all NCAA titles for UMD).
The look of the 2009-2010 Bulldogs, however, will be dramatically different than just a year ago. With six players taking a redshirt to centralize with their respective national teams ahead of the 2010 Olympics, it will leave just 19 players to carry the load of expectations heaped on UMD squads season after season. The Bulldogs, no question, will be pushing a quality over quantity motto into the program's eleventh season of existence.
Shannon Miller, entering her 11th season behind the bench as the only head coach UMD has ever employed, is 260-70-29 in her Bulldog career. Miller, who owns more NCAA tournament wins than any other coach in the history of NCAA Division I women's hockey, will lose the services of six seniors from last year's roster. Forwards Sara O'Toole (12-31=43), Heidi Pelttari (4-23=27), Erin Olson (1-3=4) and two-year captain Tawni Mattila (9-7=16) in addition to having graduated blueliner Myriam Trepanier (2-5=7) and last season's Cinderella-story, netminder Ellison (1.69 GAA). Their absence will only be compounded by the fact that UMD will be without Team Sweden staples and redshirt seniors Elin Holmlov – the Bulldogs leading scorer a season ago with 51 points (23g, 28a), and All-American goaltender Martin (1.72). Redshirt sophomores Pernilla Winberg (14-27=41) and Jenni Asserholt (2-8=10) will also be teammates of Holmlov and Martin in Vancouver. In addition, missing are Team Canada redshirt juniors forward Haley Irwin (22-22=44) and All-American defenseman Jocelyne Larocque (4-33=37). Between graduation and Olympic team duties, UMD will have lost a total of 12 players from the 2008-09 season to the current 2009-10 session.
Typical of past Maroon and Gold squads, however, the cupboard is not barren. The Bulldogs return seven players who own 2008 NCAA championship rings, including third-year captain forward and Finnish national team member Saara Tuominen. Though Tuominen, along with rookie backliner Mariia Posa will balance 2010 Olympic responsiblities with UMD's season in progress, Tuominen represents a senior class that has reached the NCAA Frozen Four every year they have worn the Bulldog jersey. UMD also will rely heavily on eight freshmen, most notably 2006 Olympian Jennifer Harss between the pipes, Team Finland's Posa on defense and Team Canada U-22 member Jessica Wong on offense.
“We are pleased to be heading into our 11th season as a program and extremely proud of our decade of dominance on the national stage,” said Miller. “We have had a decade of ordinary wonderful people doing extra-ordinary wonderful things. We feel blessed to have had so much fun and success together and very much look forward to this 11th season. Although this year we are missing six Olympians as it is an Olympic year, we feel that we will spend the season developing into a much stronger team than people expect and have a very strong finish. It will be a fun and exciting challenge for all of us.”
Up Front: It is no secret that while every position will have some openings on UMD's 2009-10 roster, the Bulldogs' offense will have the biggest skates of all to fill. Most noticeable is the absence of last season's top-five scorers, who accounted for 53.3 percent of UMD's goals a year ago. The Bulldogs do retain the services of junior forward Laura Fridfinnson, who has piled in 42 goals and 36 assists over the past two seasons. Fridfinnson, UMD's second-leading scorer during her rookie year with 44 points, was the third-highest goal-scorer for UMD a season ago (20) and has played in 78 consecutive games. Tuominen, who has averaged over 38 points a year as Bulldog, will also help anchor UMD's offensive output, along with senior forward Emmanuelle Blais, who has averaged 27 points per season in her career.
UMD has high expectations for rookie forward Wong, who owns tremendous playmaking ablities and puck control, and current and former Team Canada U-18 members Audrey Cournoyer and Vanessa Thibault.
On Defense: With the loss of Trepanier to graduation (UMD's seventh all-time leading scorer from the blueline) and Larocque, the Bulldogs' first-ever First Team All-American defenseman to Team Canada, the Maroon and Gold will be looking for leadership in the back. Senior blueliner Jaime Rasmussen seems destined for that role after a having a year of reckoning offensively for the Bulldogs last season. Rasmussen registered 21 points (9g, 12a), and has missed just a single game over her UMD career. While senior Sarah Murray and junior Tara Gray will provide experience in the back, first-year defenseman Posa from Team Finland will rely on her international experience as she joins a small, but tested, Bulldog defensive core.
In Goal: Both netminders who split time for UMD a year ago are gone, with Ellison lost to graduation and Martin centralized with Team Sweden for the season. Left in their wake is sophomore Lana Steck, who played in five games last year for 140:16 minutes, earning a 2.99 goal against average. She is joined by freshman Harss of Team Germany, who was an Olympian in 2006. Harss has had at least 50 percent of Germany's action between the pipes over the past two years and will be looked upon early to provide pipe-relief for UMD, and help fill the void of the larger-than-life Martin.
A Mixed Blessing: While no team in the NCAA will be able to stake a claim on as many Olympians as UMD will come February, no other team will have to survive in the absence of those Olympians as the Bulldogs will either. With that in mind, the small roster will provide instant fire to test what the eight new Bulldogs are made of, and will challenge the mettle of the Maroon and Gold who have played a part in getting three different teams to three different NCAA Frozen Fours. Either way, as the last decade has proved, don't count these Bulldogs out. UMD would like nothing better than to have its Olympians cheering in the stands in Minneapolis come March 19, 2010.
