And then there were four.

After a seven-year absence, the University of Minnesota Duluth will make its return to the NCAA Frozen Four this Thursday (April 7) when it faces off with the University of Notre Dame at 4:04 p.m. at the Xcel Energy Center (18,064) in St. Paul, Minn. The University of Michigan and the University of North Dakota will hit the ice at 7:34 p.m. that night in the other semifinal round clash with the two winners meeting for college hockey's top prize on Saturday at 6:04 p.m.

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THE RECORDS: The Bulldogs are 24-10-6 overall and finished fourth in the 12-team Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings with a 15-8-5 mark. Notre Dame owns a 25-13-5 record in all games and went 17-3-2 in Central Collegiate Hockey Association play (second place). Michigan is 28-10-4 on the year and won the 11-school CCHA race by going 20-7-1 while North Dakota, the reigning WCHA champion (21-6-1), will bring a 32-8-3 overall record into the Frozen Four.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how the four NCAA Frozen participants stacked up in the latest uscho.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls and PairWise Rankings:

uscho.com USA Today PairWise
UMD 11th 3rd 9th
Notre Dame 9th 4th 11th
Michigan 6th 2nd 5th(t)
North Dakota 1st 1st 2nd

ON THE AIR: All of UMD's clashes at Frozen Four will be carried locally on 94X (94.1/104.3 FM) with Bruce Ciskie handling the play-by-play. 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 can be accessed on the internet at: 94xrocks.com.

ESPN2 and ESPN3.com will air Thursday's two semifinal games while Saturday's title clash can be seen on ESPN and ESPN3.com. Gary Thorne, former National Hockey League coach Barry Melrose and Clay Matvik (rinkside) will serve as the broadcast talent.

In addition, Westwood One Radio will provide a feed to some 147 affiliate stations across the country as well as to Sirius/XM satellite radio during the Frozen Four. Its on-air team will consist of Sean Grande, Cap Raeder and Adam Wodon (rinkside).

BULLDOG BLOG: umdbulldogs.com will provide a live blog during all of the Bulldogs' games at the Frozen Four.

THE COACH: The 2003-04 American Hockey Coaches Association NCAA Division I Coach of the Year (Spencer Penrose Award) and a finalist for that award this season, Scott Sandelin is winding down his 11th year behind the UMD bench where he has compiled a 190-200-52 overall record -- including a 68-40-15 mark (a .613 winning percentage) since the 2008-09 opener. In addition to posting three consecutive 22-plus win seasons, his Bulldogs have advanced to three NCAA tournaments, two Frozen Fours and six of the past nine WCHA Final Five tournaments. In March 2009, UMD became the first play-in game participant to win the Final Five title and, later that spring, strung together a school-record six-game postseason winning streak that winner before it fell to Miami University 2-1 in the NCAA West Regional final. Seven years ago, Sandelin, 46, 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 following 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 National Hockey League, 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.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING: Thursday's clash will mark the 33rd meeting ever between UMD and Notre Dame. The Irish hold an 18-10-4 lead in the all-time series, which began in Duluth on Feb. 12, 1971 when both clubs were members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Since departing that circuit following the 1980-81 season, Notre Dame is an even 2-2-2 against the Bulldogs and was victorious in the two teams' most recent meeting -- a 2-1 decision in the title game of the Shillelagh Tournament in Hoffman Estates, Ill., on Jan. 3, 2009.

UMD is 17-23-1 lifetime versus Michigan, another former WCHA rival, having last butted heads with the Wolverines in the Maverick Stampede tournament championship on Oct. 13, 2001 in Omaha, Neb., where the Bulldogs prevailed, 3-2.

The Bulldogs and North Dakota began their longtime rivalry back on Nov. 26, 1954 at the old Duluth Curling Club and since that time the Fighting Sioux have gone 134-74-9 against UMD -- 1-2-0 in 2010-11.

AGAINST THE REST IN THE POSTSEASON: UMD has faced only one of the Frozen Four entrants previously in NCAA Tournament play and that was North Dakota in the semifinal round of the 1984 championship (see next page).

COMMON OPPONENTS: The Bulldogs and Notre Dame played four of the same foes during the course of the 2010-11 season, including:

Opponent UMD Notre Dame
Lake Superior State 0-0-1 3-1-0
Minnesota State-Mankato 1-1-0 0-1-0
North Dakota 1-2-0 1-0-1
Northern Michigan 1-0-0 3-1-0

LAST WEEK: The Bulldogs punched their ticket to St. Paul by holding off the tournament's overall No. 1 seed Yale University, 5-3, in the East Regional championship on March 26 in Bridgeport, Conn. UMD, which had blanked Union College 2-0 the previous afternoon in the semifinal round, got goals from five different players, including junior left winger Mike Connolly, who opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal late in the first period and went on to add three assists. The Bulldogs erupted with four second-period goals, including three on the power play, en route to taking a 5-1 lead into the second intermission. One day earlier, junior goaltender Kenny Reiter rejected all 32 shots Union College sent his way and UMD held the nation's most potent power play scoreless in nine man advantage opportunities. Senior wingers Kyle Schmidt and Justin Fontaine accounted for the two UMD goals (both power play tallies) and were among six Bulldogs to mark in the points column.

UMD AND THE NCAA PLAYOFFS: This year's NCAA tournament berth is the seventh ever for the Bulldogs and second in the past three seasons. UMD also qualified for the NCAA playoffs in both 2008-09 in Minneapolis (where it made it to the quarterfinal round) and 2003-04 in Grand Rapids, Mich. (where it advanced to the Frozen Four semifinals) under current head coach Scott Sandelin, as well as in 1992-93, 1984-85, 1984-84 and 1982-83. UMD has compiled a 11-8-0 all-time record in NCAA postseason play while advancing to the Frozen Four on three occasions -- 2004, 1985 and 1984.

UMD IN THE FROZEN FOUR

Date Score Site
4/8/04 Denver 5, UMD 3 Boston, MA
3/30/85 UMD 7, BC 6 (OT) Detroit, MI
3/29/85 RPI 6, UMD 5 (3OT) Detroit, MI
3/24/84 BGSU 5, UMD 4 (4OT) Lake Placid, NY
3/22/84 UMD 2, No. Dakota 1 (OT) Lake Placid, NY

FROZEN FOUR FLASHBACK: In UMD's first-ever appearance at the Frozen Four (March 22. 1984), current Bulldog volunteer assistant coach and then-sophomore right winger Bill Watson, scored 3:08 into overtime to lift UMD to a 2-1 victory over North Dakota at the historic Olympic Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y. That Fighting Sioux club featured a sophomore defenseman by the name of Scott Sandelin.

“X' MARKS THE SPOT: The Bulldogs have compiled a 7-5-0 record in its 12 lifetime appearances at the Xcel Energy Center. That includes a 6-5-0 mark in WCHA Final Five activity and a 5-1 triumph over St. Cloud State University in the first-ever WCHA Minnesota College Hockey Classic on Nov. 1, 2008.

EAST REGIONAL HONORS GO TO THE 'DOGS: After stopping all but three of the 65 shots he faced over the weekend, junior goaltender Kenny Reiter aptly received the NCAA East Regional's Most Outstanding Player Award and was accompanied on the six-member All-Tournament Team by junior left winger Mike Connolly (who had a Regional-leading four points during the two-day event), junior center Jack Connolly and freshman defenseman Justin Faulk.

THREE 'DOG NIGHT: Of the top four spots in the current WCHA overall scoring charts, three are occupied by Bulldogs -- junior All-American center Jack Connolly is second with 58 points, senior right winger Justin Fontaine is third (55 pts.) and junior left winger Mike Connolly is fourth (53). That line has combined for 44.0 percent of the team's scoring harvest this winter (a nation-leading 166 of 377 points). In league games only, Jack Connolly wound up second in the WCHA scoring race with 37 points -- just three points back of the league champion. No Bulldog has finished as the WCHA scoring king since Junior Lessard in 2003-04, although Fontaine came within two points of accomplishing that feat as both a sophomore and junior and both Connollys did likewise last winter. Prior to this year, the last time UMD sported three players with 50 or more points was in 1992-93 when current UMD assistant coach Derek Plante (92), Chris Marinucci (77) and Brett Hauer (51) all crossed that threshold. That was also the last year three Bulldogs broke the 20-goal plateau -- Plante (36), Marinucci (35) and Rusty Fitzgerald (24).

•Jack Connolly, a 2010-11 Hobey Baker Memorial Award Top 10 Finalist who has skated in all 123 games since joining the UMD program in 2008-09 -- the longest ironman streak of any current Bulldog, ranks third among all NCAA pucksters in total points and is second in assists (41). He has generated the Bulldogs' highest scoring yield (58 points) since the 2003-04 season (Junior Lessard with 63) and reached the 50-point plateau faster -- 35 games -- than any UMD player in 17 years (Chris Marinucci did it in 32 outings on his way to receiving the Hobey Baker Memorial Award). Connolly, the school's first two-time All-WCHA first team pick in 25 years, has generated more points over the past two winters (107) than all but two players in entire nation -- Miami's Andy Miele (115) and the University of Maine's Gustav Nyquist (112). And talk about being a consistent contributor. Connolly hasn't gone pointless for two straight games since the middle of the 2008-09 season and has been held without a goal and/or assist on only seven occasions all year -- and just twice since Jan. 14. He's also an impressive +36 as a Bulldog.

•Justin Fontaine, who will bring a career-high 10-game scoring streak into Thursday clash with Notre Dame, has 12 power play goals to his 2010-11 credit, a total which is bettered by only one other NCAA skater at the moment -- Air Force's Jacque Lamoureux (13). This winter, Fontaine was named to the All-WCHA second team for a third consecutive year and joined center Mike Peluso (1995-98) and defenseman Norm Maciver (1982-86) as the school's only three-time all-league honoree of any kind. Fontaine now resides in 17th place on UMD's all-time scoring list and has a shot -- he needs four points -- at becoming the first Bulldog in 17 years (Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Chris Marinucci) to crack the Top 15. Next in line is No. 16 Mike Peluso (163 points between 1994-98) and No. 15 Skeeter Moore (165 pts., 1983-87). Since the opening of 2008-09, no WCHA combatant has racked up more points (149) than Fontaine.

•Mike Connolly, who has picked up a goal in eight of the last 11 games, is just the second NCAA I-era Bulldog to ever open his career with three straight 40-point seasons (Dan Lempe, the school's all-time scoring leader, is the other UMD skater to accomplish that feat doing so four times between 1976-80). Over the past 15 outings, the 2010-11 All-WCHA first team pick has amassed 14 goals -- including a school record-tying five in UMD's 6-4 triumph over Minnesota on Feb. 5 -- and 10 assists. Connolly leads all current Bulldogs in career playoff scoring with 22 points on nine goals and 13 assists in 16 outings and is a +13 to boot.

BLUECHIP BLUELINER: Justin Faulk is currently the second-highest scoring rookie defenseman in the country and is tied for first among NCAA freshmen blueliners in total goals as well. In 37 games this season, the South St. Paul, Minn., product has collected eight goals -- six of which have come on the power play -- and 22 assists for 30 points. That equals the UMD scoring record for a first-year blueliner set by Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Tom Kurvers in 1980-81. Faulk, a member of both the All-WCHA third team and All-Rookie teams, sports the fourth best plus-minus rating (+18) of any 2010-11 Bulldog and has finished with a negative figure in that department in only six games all season. Earlier this winter, he competed with the U.S. at the IIHF World Junior Championships in Buffalo and paced that team's defensive corps in scoring. Faulk will bring a five-game scoring steak -- the longest of his young collegiate career -- into this week's Frozen Four.

MORE POWER TO THEM: UMD has cashed in on 14 of 45 man advantage opportunities (31.1 percent) over the past 10 games and currently owns the NCAA's 11th most efficient power play (22.5 percent). At the recent East Regionals, the Bulldogs were 5-of-17 with the extra man and scored all but one of its seven goals on special teams.

MAKING A POINT: Of the 17 veterans on the 2010-11 UMD roster, 11 have bettered their personal bests for scoring this winter. That group includes:

Name Yr Pts Previous High
Wade Bergman So 10 6 (2009-10)
Jack Connolly Jr 58 49 (2009-10)
Mike Connolly Jr 53 42 (2009-10)
Dan DeLisle So 6 1 (2009-10)
Justin Fontaine Sr 55 48 (2008-09)
Keegan Flaherty So 7 3 (2009-10)
Jake Hendrickson So 5 2 (2009-10)
Travis Oleksuk Jr 31 24 (2009-10)
Drew Olson So 4 3 (2009-10)
Kyle Schmidt Sr 20 13 (2009-10)
Mike Seidel So 13 10 (2009-10)

HE'S GOT HIS GROOVE BACK: After putting the clamps on an eight-game pointless skid at Michigan Tech on Jan. 21, right winger and 2010-11 WCHA All-Rookie team selection J.T. Brown has picked up points in 12 of 16 outings since, collecting 10 goals and eight assists over that time. Brown, the Hockey Commissioner's Association National Rookie of the Month for October, resides in the No. 7 spot on the NCAA freshman scoring list with 34 points (15 goals and 19 assists) and is one of just six Bulldogs to accrue ice time in all 40 games to date -- the lone newcomer to do so. The last UMD freshman to produce more goals in a single-season was 2009 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Brett Hull (32) in 1984-85. Brown is the son of former Minnesota Vikings running back Ted Brown.

A REAL GOAL-GETTER: Travis Oleksuk's career-high 13 goals this season have come in a variety of ways and at some clutch times as well. The junior center, who leads the WCHA with seven game winners, has scored three times on the power play, twice in overtime, once while a man down, and once on a penalty shot. Oleksuk's father, Bill, captained the hockey Bulldogs as a senior in 1981-82 and is UMD's 11th all-time leading scorer.

SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES: A total of eight current Bulldogs -- junior center Jack Connolly, junior left winger Mike Connolly, senior right winger Justin Fontaine senior defenseman Chad Huttel, junior defenseman Brady Lamb, senior defenseman and team captain Mike Montgomery junior center Travis Oleksuk and senior left winger Kyle Danberg (who is sitting out this season as a medical redshirt) -- have NCAA playoff experience. All of those eight UMD players have taken part in four NCAA post season engagements with the exception of Huttel and Danberg (two each).

OUT OF ACTION: The following is a list of Bulldogs who have missed games at some point during the 2010-11 season due to injury or illness.

Player Injury/Illness (Date) Games Missed
Kyle Schmidt Hand (12/29) 7
Brady Lamb Upper Body (2/11) 5
Drew Olson Lower Body (11/10) 2
Drew Olson Illness (1/4) 1
Wade Bergman Upper Body (12/5) 2
Mike Montgomery Upper Body (11/3) 1
Mike Seidel Illness (1/3) 1
Trent Palm Lower Body (previous injury) 7

OUT OF ACTION, PART II: In the five games that junior Brady Lamb was sidelined in February, the Bulldogs mustered just one win, going 1-2-2. With him in the lineup, UMD is 23-8-4 (a .714 winning percentage).

FREE HOCKEY: UMD is unbeaten in 27 of its last 30 overtime games (12-3-15) -- a run which dates back to the start of the 2008-09 season. A school-record 14 of the Bulldogs' 40 engagements this winter (35.0 percent) have required an extra session, and UMD is 6-2-6 in those. The six OT victories also eclipses the previous club standard of five set in 1984-85. Mike Connolly leads all active Bulldogs in career overtime goals with four, including the memorable one that capped off a 5-4 comeback win over Princeton University in the 2009 NCAA West Regional semifinals in Minneapolis.

Player OT Goals
Mike Connolly 4
Travis Oleksuk 3
Justin Fontaine 2
J.T. Brown 1
Jack Connolly 1
Cody Danberg 1

EASY REITER: Junior goaltender Kenny Reiter, who has gotten the starting nod in each of the past eight games, currently owns the WCHA's fourth best goals against average (2.29) and the sixth best saves percentage (.914). In five playoff appearances this winter (all starts), he has compiled a 4-1-0 record with a stingy 1.73 goals against average and a .932 saves percentage. With his 2-0 win over Union College on March 25, Reiter became just the second Bulldog to ever register shutout against an NCAA Tournament opponent, joining Isaac Reichmuth, who blanked Michigan State University 5-0 in the 2004 Midwest Regional semifinals, in that elite group. During his three years with the Bulldogs, Reiter has posted the second-best career winning percentage (.602 off a 27-17-5 record, including a 14-7-5 figure this winter) of any NCAA I-era Bulldog in team history, trailing All-American Rick Kosti (60-18-2 for a .753 winning percentage between 1983-85) in that department.

AT THE HEAD OF THEIR CLASS: A school record-tying four Bulldogs -- senior left winger Kyle Schmidt, junior goaltender Kenny Reiter, sophomore center Keegan Flaherty, and freshman netminder Aaron Crandall -- were among the 90 men and women to earn a WCHA Scholar Athlete Award for 2010-11. Schmidt and Reiter are UMD's first three-time recipients of this honor.

OH BROTHER: UMD junior center Jack Connolly's older brother, Chris, a junior team captain with Boston University this past season, was a member of the Terrier club which captured the 2009 NCAA Championship while rookie center Max Tardy's older brother, Wes, was a junior defenseman at Colorado College in 2004-05 when the Tigers were ousted by the University of Denver in the NCAA Frozen Four semifinals.

PLAYOFF PUNCH: The top active Bulldog post season scoring leaders are as follows:

Name GP G A TP +/-
Mike Connolly 16 9 13 22 +13
Jack Connolly 16 7 10 17 +23
Justin Fontaine 16 3 15 18 +5
Travis Oleksuk 16 1 6 7 -3
Brady Lamb 16 2 3 5 +5
Mike Montgomery 16 1 5 6 +3
Justin Faulk 5 1 5 6 +4
Kyle Schmidt 10 3 1 4 -1
Jake Hendrickson 5 0 2 2 +2
Wade Bergman 9 1 2 3 +1
J.T. Brown 5 1 1 2 0
Chad Huttel 10 0 1 1 +4
Cody Danberg 11 0 1 1 -2
Scott Kishel 1 0 0 0 -2
Joe Basaraba 5 0 0 0 0
Dan DeLisle 4 0 0 0 -2
Keegan Flaherty 8 0 0 0 -1
David Grun 9 0 0 0 -4
Drew Olson 9 0 0 0 -3
Mike Seidel 9 1 1 2 0
Max Tardy 2 0 0 0 0
Trent Palm 10 0 0 0 -1

Name GP/GS W-L-T GA GAA SVS SVS
Kenny Reiter 9/9 6-3-0 18 1.82 239 .929
Aaron Crandall 0/0 0-0-0 0 0.00 0 .00

WHEN THE GOING GET'S TOUGH: The Bulldogs have outscored the opposition by a sizable 92-66 margin from the second period on this season and have a NCAA-leading six overtime victories to their 2010-11 credit. They have also given up the fewest third-period goals (30) of any WCHA club this season. In addition, UMD is 19-1-1 when it's taken a lead into the final period of play with the lone loss coming to Bemidji State University in the WCHA Final Five opener last month.

IT WAS INDEED A STACKED DECC: The Bulldogs were 12-5-2 at home this winter, but just 5-4-2 at AMSOIL Arena after moving to that $80-million, 6,764-seat facility on Dec. 30 from the DECC (where they compiled a 7-1-0 mark).

CHART TOPPERS: This past November, UMD held the No. 1 spot in the uscho.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls for three straight weeks before slipping to No. 2 in both rankings on Dec. 6. Prior to this year, the Bulldogs had never been ranked first in any national weekly poll for more than a week since the middle of the 1985-86 season (when they also enjoyed a three-week stay at the top.

FOOL ME ONCE...: UMD was the only WCHA club that went the entire season without being swept by any opponent --- the first time that has happened since the Bulldogs joined the NCAA I ranks in 1961-62 -- and picked up at least one point in all of its WCHA series (another program first). UMD hasn't lost more than one game in a row since Feb. 19-26, 2010 when it dropped three straight games, including a pair to North Dakota. Only one other team in country besides the Bulldogs went the entire 2010-11 season without suffering any back-to-back losses and that was Boston College.

NOT YOU AGAIN: UMD and Notre Dame are slated to launch their respective 2011-12 regular seasons on Oct. 7-8 with a two-game series at AMSOIL Arena.

SOME FAST COMPANY: The Bulldogs closed out the 2010-11 regular season with a .657 winning percentage -- the sixth best mark ever turned in by a UMD outfit in 50 years of NCAA membership. Here are the Top 10 regular season Bulldog finishes:

Year Record Pct. Finish
1984-85 29-7-2 .789 36-9-3
1983-84 24-9-2 .714 29-12-2
1992-93 23-9-2 .706 27-11-2
2003-04 23-10-4 .676 28-13-4
1985-86 25-12-1 .671 26-13-3
2010-11 20-9-6 .657 ???
1982-83 25-13-1 .654 28-16-1
1978-79 21-11-4 .639 22-14-4
1973-74 19-14-1 .573 21-16-1
2002-03 18-13-5 .569 22-15-5
1995-96 20-15-1 .569 20-17-1

The 1984-85, 1983-84 and 1992-93 Bulldogs all captured the WCHA regular season championship and advanced to at least the quarterfinal round of the NCAA tournament along with the 1982-83 and 2003-04 clubs. UMD's current winning percentage of .675 is bettered only by the 1984-85 (.781), 1992-93 (.700) and 1983-84 (.698) teams.

HAVEN'T WE MET BEFORE?: The Bulldogs have faced North Dakota on more occasions (217) than any other opponent during their 67-year hockey history. The University of Minnesota and Michigan Tech University (216) are the next most frequently-played foes for UMD.

GET SHORTY: UMD's seven shorthanded goals are its most since the 2004=05 season (nine) and the four which junior left winger Mike Connolly has scored are one short of the club single-season record established by two-time U.S. Olympian John Harrington in both 1978-79 and 1977-78.

BULLDOG BITS: Of tUMD's three previous NCAA Frozen Four qualifiers, only one -- the 1984-85 crew (35-8-3) which placed third at that event -- had less losses entering the tournament than this year's Bulldogs will ... For the first time in 13 years, UMDlist at least three players -- senior right winger Justin Fontaine (161 points), Jack Connolly (136) and junior left winger Mike Connolly (135) -- with 100 or more points to their collegiate credit. In 1997-98 the line of Mike Peluso, Ken Dzikowski and Joe Rybar all eclipsed that same milestone at some point during the season ... The Bulldogs have been outshot only eight times all season (including twice at both Colorado College on Feb. 25-26 and North Dakota on Nov. 5-6 as well as in both ends of the East Regional) ... Of the 20 goals senior left winger Kyle Schmidt has collected over the past two seasons (including nine in 2010-11), 17 have come in even-strength situations. Only two other Bulldogs (Mike Connolly with 24 and Jack Connolly with 20) have more ... UMD will head into the Frozen Four armed with the WCHA's second most potent offense (3.40 goals per game) .... All eight of sophomore right winger Mike Seidel's goals thus far in 2010-11 have been recorded on the road ... This winter, the Bulldogs drew over 100,000 spectators at home for the first time since the 1997-98 season, attracting 110,399 for 19 home dates for a school-record 5,810 per game average (the ninth best figure in the country). They averaged 6,370 in 11 appearances at the 6,764-seat AMSOIL Arena and played before five sellout crowds ... UMD's seven juniors, which includes goalie Kenny Reiter, have accrued more points (161) than any junior class in the country and almost 10 percent more than the 12-member Bulldog sophomore and senior contingents combined (146) ...In nine career road appearances, freshman netminder Aaron Crandall is 6-2-1 with a 2.31 goals against average and a .914 saves percentage -- a noticeable contrast to his home numbers (4-1-0, 3.52 and .862 in seven outings). He currently possesses the NCAA's fifth best overall winning percentage (.750 on a 10-3-1 record) ... Freshman right winger Joe Basaraba has skated in 19 consecutive games since sitting out the Clarkson University series on Jan. 3-4 as a healthy scratch ... UMD blocked a whopping 41 shots in its two-game East Regional sweep and is averaging 14.6 blocks per game this season ... The Bulldogs are an impressive 12-5-4 away from Duluth this year (.667), which means they will either break or match the team single-season mark for fewest road losses (six) held by the 1963-64 club ... The last time North Dakota won a NCAA title in 2000, it was Scott Sandelin's final game as a Sioux assistant coach. UMD hired him a week before the start of the Frozen Four that year.