The University of Minnesota Duluth will crack the seal on its 70th year of intercollegiate hockey this Friday and Saturday (Oct. 11-12) when the Bulldogs play host to former Western Collegiate Hockey Association colleague Michigan Tech University. The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. both nights at AMSOIL Arena (6,756).

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THE RECORDS: UMD posted a 14-19-5 overall record one year ago and went 10-13-5 in WCHA play (ninth place) while Michigan Tech was 13-20-4 in all games and finished 10th in the WCHA standings at 8-16-4.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and Michigan Tech stacked up in the latest USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls:

        USCHO.com    USA Today    
UMD        RV    NR
MTU        RV    NR

ON THE AIR: The two UMD-Michigan Tech bouts will be carried locally on 94X (94.1/104.3 FM) with Bruce Ciskie handling the play-by-play and Bulldog hockey alumnus Kraig Karakas doing color commentary. 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 Sports Radio Network and is available on the internet at: 94xrocks.com.

In addition, My9 (KBJR DT 6.2/KRII DT 11.9) is televising both ends of this weekend's series. Veteran sports anchor Tom Hansen and former UMD standout forward Judd Medak will serve as the on-air talent. My9 is also available locally on Charter and Mediacom cable. The telecast will be videostreammed as well and can be viewed for a fee: americaonesports.com.

THE COACHES: The runnerup for the 2010-11 Spencer Penrose Award (American Hockey Coaches Association NCAA Division I Coach of the Year) and recipient of that honor in 2003-04, Scott Sandelin is in his 14th season behind the UMD bench where he has compiled a 231-229-63 overall record -- including a 109-69-26 mark (for a .598 winning percentage) since the 2008-08 opener. Besides capturing the school's first NCAA championship three years ago, his Bulldogs have won 22 or more games in four of the last five seasons while advancing to four NCAA tournaments (2004, 2009, 2011 and 2012), two Frozen Fours (2004 and 2011) and seven of the past 11 WCHA Final Five playoff events. He has also helped produce a pair of Hobey Baker Memorial Award winners (Jack Connolly in 2011-12 and Junior Lessard in 2003-04), six NCAA All-Americans and 17 different All-WCHA selections. Sandelin has also seen 16 of his UMD pupils go on to do time in the National Hockey League, with the latest being winger Justin Fontaine earlier this month (Minnesota Wild). During the course of the 2011-12 season, the Bulldogs set a club record by going unbeaten in 17 straight games and were ranked first in both major weekly polls (USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine for a program-best nine consecutive weeks. In March 2009, UMD became the first play-in game participant to ever claim the Final Five title and, later that spring, strung together a school-record six-game postseason winning streak before it fell to Miami University 2-1 in the NCAA West Regional final. Nine years ago, Sandelin, 49, 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) since 1992-93. 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 charges 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 member 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 with the Bulldogs on March 31, 2000 following six years of assistant coaching deployment at North Dakota (which won two NCAA titles during his tenure). Prior to that, 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 active National Collegiate Hockey Conference 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, directing that club to a fourth-place finish, and was an assistant coach for the U.S. entry at that same event in 2011-12.

Mel Pearson (Michigan Tech, 1982) is in third year with the Huskies and has a 29-39-8 record to show for it. He took over as the head coach at his alma mater in May 2011 after spending the previous 23 seasons in an assistant coaching role with the University of Michigan, is His 2011-12 Huskies turned in a 16-19-4 overall record (after going 4-30-4 one year earlier) and made a WCHA Final Five tournament appearance, earning Pearson the WCHA Coach of the Year award. The former Edina (Minn.) High School star played four years with the Huskies under legendary head coach John MacInnes (1977-81). Pearson, who is 1-5-2 lifetime versus UMD, went on to serve as a Michigan Tech assistant for six seasons before enlisting with Michigan.

THE RIVALRY: This weekend's series will mark the 224th and 225th meetings ever between UMD and Michigan Tech. The Huskies hold a 119-84-20 lead in the all-time series, which began on Dec. 31, 1952 at the old Duluth Curling Club. UMD was unbeaten against Michigan Tech last winter, going 3-0-1 with a sweep in Duluth (1-0 and 5-4 on Jan. 11-12) and a three-point weekend in Houghton. Mich. (7-3 and 4-4 on Nov. 30-Dec. 1).

LAST TIME OUT: UMD tuned up for the this weekend's opener by downing Lakehead University 7-1 Monday night at AMSOIL Arena. Duluth native Dominic Toninato scored twice and fellow rookie forward Kyle Osterberg collected a goal and two assists in the exhibition game victory. The Bulldogs took a 3-1 lead into the second intermission, and then struck for four goals in the opening 4:18 of the third period. Senior Aaron Crandall (14 saves), junior Alex Fons (six) and Matt McNeely (two) each tended goal for one period for UMD, which outshot the Thunderwolves 19-2 in the third period and 53-23 on the night.  

Michigan Tech used a hat trick from sophomore Alex Petan to upend Laurentian University 3-2 in a home exhibition Saturday night.

NCHC FORECAST: In the inaugural NCHC Preseason Media Poll, UMD was projected for a sixth-place finish in the upstart league this winter while Mia--mi University received top billing among the conference's eight schools with 115 points and seven first-place votes. The RedHawks were followed by the North Dakota (109 pts., and five first-place votes), St. Cloud State University (99 and the remaining four first-place votes) the University of Denver (66 pts.), Western Michigan University (61 pts), UMD (43), Colorado College (42 pts.) and Nebraska-Omaha (41 pts.).

AYE, AYE CAPTAIN: Both senior right winger Joe Basaraba, who comes into the 2013-14 season with more game experience (113) than any other active Bulldog, and junior right winger Adam Krause will share team captaincy responsibilities. Krause is the first non-senior to serve as a UMD team captain since 2006-07.

THEY'VE HAD THEIR NUMBER: The Bulldogs are unbeaten in 12 of their last 13 confrontations with the Huskies, going 10-1-2 since dropping a 3-1 decision on Feb. 5, 2010 in Houghton. They reeled off seven straight victories at Michigan Tech's expense before battling to a 4-4 tie on Jan. 27, 2012 at AMSOIL Arena. (That seven-game winning streak is the Bulldogs' second longest ever against any WCHA club, bettered only by the 12 consecutive triumphs UMD posted over Wisconsin during the mid-1980s.) What's more, UMD has been derailed by Michigan Tech just three times in the two club's last 21 outings (14-3-4).

YOU AGAIN?: The Bulldogs have butted heads with Michigan Tech on more occasions (223) than any other opponent in their 70-year history. (North Dakota and Minnesota are next on that list at 220 times each). The Bulldogs have also met the Huskies and Minnesota on an annual basis since the 1961-62 season, making each UMD's longest continuous rivalry. Between 1965-2013, UMD and Michigan Tech collided at least twice every year as member of the WCHA.

HOW "SWEEP" WOULD THAT BE: The Bulldogs have not swept a season-opening series since they toppled visiting Ferris State University in 1995-96. UMD did commence the 2001-02 season by upending both host Nebraska-Omaha and the University of Michigan to capture the Maverick Stampede title.

THE BEST THING ABOUT FRESHMEN ...: UMD's seven freshmen forwards and defensemen closed out last season with 37 goals and 61 assists for 98 points, making them the sixth highest-scoring rookie class in the country. Left winger Austin Farley and center Tony Cameranesi, who shared the team scoring lead with senior Mike Seidel, ranked fourth among all NCAA freshmen in points with 34. Cameranesi's seven power play goals were bettered by only one other newcomer in all of college hockey (Boston University's Danny O'Regan). He and Andy Welinski, who turned in the second highest scoring harvest (18 points) by a first-year UMD blueliner since the 1998-99 season, were both members of the WCHA All-Rookie Team.

DRAWING A CROWD: UMD had the nation's seventh best home attendance average (6,206 per game) last season and on Jan. 12 drew a AMSOIL Arena-record crowd of 6,829 to see it upend Michigan Tech 5-4. This season marks the third full year the Bulldogs will call AMSOIL Arena home. The Bulldogs are 28-17-4 in 49 engagements since that $80-million downtown facility opened its doors for business on Dec. 30, 2010 and ended the 2013-14 season on a four-game home winning streak to finish 9-8-1.

GO "FOUR" IT: Going back to a 5-4 home loss to the University of Minnesota on Oct. 15, 2011, UMD is unbeaten (29-0-4) when it has scored four of more goals. That includes a 9-0-2 mark last season
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BULLDOG BITS: Junior left winger Caleb Herbert will carry a career-high five-game scoring streak into Friday night's clash with Michigan Tech.

• The Bulldogs have collected just two shorthanded goals over the past two seasons and both at the expense of Michigan Tech. One of those shorties was registered by right winger Adam Krause on Nov. 30, 2012 in Houghton, which happened to be his first collegiate goal as well.

• Since the 2010-11 opener, UMD is 45-4-5 (10-3-2 last winter) when taking a lead into the third period and is 1-28-3 (0-12-2 in 2012-13) when trailing after two periods during  that same stretch. The last time the Bulldogs overcame a second-intermission deficit to win was on Nov. 10, 2010 when they erased a 2-1 Michigan Tech advantage by scoring four goals in the final 20 minutes of play on their way to a 5-3 triumph at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center. UMD is 0-24-3 in that situation since then.

• Scott Sandelin has rolled up more career coaching victories against Michigan Tech (27) than any other opponent. Minnesota State University -Mankato (23) is next.

• Talk about some tough sledding. Of UMD's 12 regular season opponents, eight cracked the top 20 in the uscho.com poll while the four others all received votes.
No other school in the country can make that claim.

• More current Bulldogs (six) have birthdays in October than any other month. Those include freshman center Sammy Spurrell (Oct. 5), junior goaltender Alex Fons (Oct. 10), junior left winger Caleb Herbert (Oct. 12), sophomore center Austyn Young (Oct. 16), senior center Max Tardy (Oct. 27) and sophomore left winger Charlie Sampair (Oct. 31).

• UMD possessed the country's fourth most efficient power play one year ago (23.4 percent) and produced 62.1 percent of its goals (41 of 99) with the man advantage.

• Goaltender Matt McNeely, who was unbeaten in four of his last five starts of 2012-13 (2-1-2), made 25 appearances last season -- the most by a UMD rookie since more Isaac Reichmuth was called on 32 times in 2002-03 on his way to being just the second freshman ever to be voted UMD's Most Valuable Player. His puckstopping comrade, current senior Aaron Crandall, posted back-to-back shutouts (something only two other Bulldogs had ever done before) in his final two regular season starts last winter. That included a 4-0 blanking of the University of Alabama-Huntsville on March 7 at AMSOIL Arena and a 6-0 victory over visiting Nebraska Omaha one week later. Last year marked only the second time since 2000-01 that three UMD different netminders -- McNeely, Crandall and Alex Fons -- received crease time in the same season (2005-06 was the other)..

• UMD is unbeaten in 40 of its last 45 overtime games (15-5-25; 0-1-5 in 2012-13) dating to the 2008-09 season opener, but hasn't won an extra session outing since the 2012 WCHA playoffs against Minnesota State-Mankato (3-2 in double overtime on March 10 in Duluth). No active Bulldog has an overtime goal to his collegiate credit.

• Left winger Austin Farley held the distinction of not only being both the first and last recipient of the WCHA Rookie of the Week Award for the 2012-13 regular season, but was the only freshman to claim the league's Offensive Player of the Week citation the winter (for his three-goal, two-assist weekend at Michigan Tech on Nov. 30-Dec. 1).

• With an average of 16.0 minutes of infraction time per night, the Bulldogs were the nation's third-most penalized team in 2012-13. Current junior defenseman Derik Johnson paced the 2012-13 Bulldogs in penalty minutes (83). His father, Jim Johnson, is currently serving as an assistant coach with the NHL's San Jose Sharks and, as a UMD blueliner from 1981-85, accrued 402 minutes on 193 penalties (both program records)

ON DECK: The Bulldogs will head to Colorado College next weekend (Oct. 18-19) for both their 2013-14 road and NCHC debuts.