The University of Minnesota Duluth will close out the first half of its inaugural National Collegiate Hockey Conference schedule this Friday and Saturday (Jan. 17-18) when the Bulldogs take on the University of Denver. The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. both nights at AMSOIL Arena (6,756) in downtown Duluth.

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THE RECORDS: UMD, which has won three straight, is 9-8-1 overall and 5-5-0-0 in NCHC play while Denver, unbeaten in 12 of its last 14 outings (8-2-4), sports an 11-7-4 record in all games and a 5-4-1-1 league mark.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and Denver stacked up in the latest USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls as well as the PairWise Rankings:

    USCHO.com    USA Today    Pairwise
UMD    NR    RV    21st
Denver    No. 16    RV    27th

ON THE AIR: The two Bulldog-Pioneer clashes will be carried locally on 94X (94.1/104.3 FM) with Bruce Ciskie handling the play-by-play and UMD hockey alumnus Kraig Karakas providing 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 telecasts 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 240-237-64 overall record -- including a 118-77-27 mark (for a .592 winning percentage) since the 2008-09 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 Western Collegiate Hockey Association 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 season (Minnesota Wild). During the course of the 2011-12 season, the Bulldogs set a team 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.

Jim Montgomery officially took over the Denver head coaching duties on April 15, 2013 after working the previous three seasons as the general manager and head coach of the Dubuque Fighting Saints. During his time with that United States Hockey League franchise, Montgomery helped shepherd Dubuque to a pair of Clark Cup (USHL playoff) conquests (2013 and 2011). Last winter, his Saints also won the USHL 's regular season title by posting a record of 45-11-8. Montgomery, whose coaching resume also includes a four-year stint as an Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2006-10) and one year of volunteer assistant coaching work at the University of Notre Dame (2005-06), spent parts of six seasons in the National Hockey League with the five different clubs. He played collegiately at the University of Maine, where remains the program's all-time leading scorer with 301 points (103 goals and 198 assists in 170 games) and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award in 1992-93 after captaining the Black Bears to the NCAA title.

THE RIVALRY: This weekend's series will mark the 194th and 195th meetings ever between UMD and Denver. The Pioneers hold a 109-74-10 lead in the rivalry, which began on Dec. 28, 1961 in Denver and, in the their first-ever visits to AMSOIL Arena, ambushed the Bulldogs twice (3-0 and 4-3 on Feb. 1-2) one year ago in the two clubs' lone WCHA series.

LAST WEEKEND: UMD got 2014 off to a rousing start by sweeping the University of Nebraska Omaha in a two-game NCHC road set. The Bulldogs, who never trailed once the entire weekend, held off the Mavericks 3-2 on Friday before skating away with a 3-1 triumph the following evening. Rookie center Dominic Toninato scored once and helped set up another goal in the opener while freshman left winger Alex Iafallo added two assists. Senior goaltender Aaron Crandall registered a career-high 52 saves on Saturday night and the line of senior right winger Joe Basaraba (two goals), junior center Caleb Hebert (one goal and two assists) and sophomore left winger Austin Farley (two assists) provided the offensive support.

Denver traded wins with NCHC frontrunner St. Cloud State, rebounding from a 6-3 setback on Friday with a 5-2 triumph in the series rematch 24 hours later. The Pioneers got goals from five different players in the win, including Quentin Shore, who also had two assists.

NCHC FORECAST: In the inaugural NCHC Preseason Media Poll, UMD was projected for a sixth-place finish in the upstart league this winter while Miami University received top billing among the conference's eight schools with 115 points and seven first-place votes. The RedHawks were followed by North Dakota (109 pts., and five first-place votes), St. Cloud State University (99 and the remaining four first-place votes), Denver (66 pts.), Western Michigan University (61 pts.), UMD (43), Colorado College (42 pts.) and Omaha (41 pts.).
 
AYE, AYE CAPTAIN: Senior right winger Joe Basaraba and junior right winger Adam Krause have both been entrusted with team captaincy responsibilities for the Bulldogs in this, their 70th season of intercollegiate hockey. Krause is the first non-senior to serve as a UMD team captain since 2006-07.

SAVING HIS BEST FOR LAST (WEEKEND): In what hardly can be considered a news flash, Aaron Crandall was chosen the NCHC Goaltender of the Week after turning aside 90 of the 93 shots Omaha sent his way over the weekend. It marked the first conference weekly honor of any kind for the fifth-year senior, who made what was then a career-high 38 saves Friday then bettered that mark with a 52-stop performance the following evening. The 52 saves were the most by a Bulldog since Josh Johnson accrued 62 in a 3-2 triple overtime WCHA playoff loss at St. Cloud State on March 11, 2007. Crandall, who had never backstopped UMD to a series sweep prior to the weekend, also became the first Bulldog goalie to make 50 or more saves in a regulation win in almost 35 years (Bill Perkl had 51 stops in UMD's 8-7 road triumph over Wisconsin on Nov. 9, 1979).

A COUPLE OF OLD PROS: UMD's Scott Sandelin and Denver's Jim Montgomery are the only two NCHC head coaches to do time in the NHL. Sandelin took part in 25 NHL games with Montreal, Philadelphia and Minnesota (North Stars) before calling it quits in 1992 due to nagging injuries while Montgomery's NHL career spanned 121 outings between 1993-2003 with St. Louis, Montreal, Philadelphia, San Jose and Dallas.

SWEEP CITY: UMD's latest sweeps both on the road (last weekend) and at AMSOIL Arena (March 8-9, 2013) have come at the expense of Omaha while those same Mavericks are the last team to sweep the Bulldogs in a regular season road series (Nov. 11-12, 2012).

ON THE REBOUND: The Bulldogs have lost just twice in their nine series rematch games this season (6-2-1) while averaging 3.55 goals per night in the process. In contrast, UMD is just 3-6-0 on Friday evenings and has scored at a much-lower 2.11 goals a game clip.

BULLDOG BITS: Sophomore defenseman Andy Welinski will bring a career-high five-game scoring streak into Friday night's engagement with Denver. The 2012-13 WCHA All-Rookie Team honoree is the lone Bulldog blueliner to score a goal this season -- he's done it on two occasions including once last Friday night.

• Denver is one of only two NCHC clubs the Bulldogs will meet just twice during the 2013-14 regular season with Miami being the other.

• Senior right winger and team co-captain Joe Basaraba scored twice in last Saturday's 3-1 triumph over Omaha for the second two-goal outing of his career (the other also came against Mavericks in the 2012-13 regular season finale).

• Going back to a 5-4 home loss to Minnesota on Oct. 15, 2011, the Bulldogs are unbeaten in the 38 games that they've struck for four or more goals (34-0-4) That includes a 9-0-2 mark last winter and a 5-0-0 record in 2013-14.

• With their first sweep of the year last weekend at Omaha, the Bulldogs hiked their 2013-14 road record to 6-4-0.

• Junior center Caleb Herbert, who snapped a four-game pointless drought with a one-goal, two-assist effort Saturday night in Omaha, and freshman left winger Alex Iafallo, share the top spot on the Bulldog scoring charts with 13 points each. Next is junior winger Justin Crandall, who went scoreless last weekend, but still has accumulated 12 points on a career-best eight goals and four assists in 15 games. Six of the Crandall's goals have been registered on the power play, a number bettered by no other NCHC skater at the moment and only five other skaters in the country.

• The seven-member Bulldog freshmen class has collectively racked up 19 goals and 31 assists for 50 points -- the best rookie output among any NCHC club outfit and the ninth highest total nationally. Leading the charge are Alex Iafallo, the NCHC's No. 2 rookie point getter (13), fellow left winger Kyle Osterberg, October's NCHC Rookie of the Month and UMD's fourth leading scorer (11 points on six goals and five assists) and center Dominic Toninato (tied for sixth with nine points).
 
• The Bulldogs are still in search of their first shorthanded goal at AMSOIL Arena, which opened its doors for business on Dec. 30, 2011 and has hosted 57 UMD games thus far. Overall, UMD has generated three shorties over the past three seasons with two of those coming at Michigan Tech University (by current junior Adam Krause on Nov. 30, 2012 -- his first tally at UMD -- and by Keegan Flaherty on Dec. 2, 2011) and the other by rookie Dominic Toninato in UMD's 6-2 thrashing of Minnesota on Nov. 24. Over that same period, the Bulldogs have been scored on seven times while a man up, including once this season. Toninato is the lone NCHC freshmen with a shorthanded goal this season.

• The Bulldogs will come into the weekend possessing the sixth-best penalty kill efficiency rating in the nation (87.8 percent) and have allowed just one power play goal in 22 opportunities over the past five games. Denver's power play ranks fourth among NCAA clubs, connecting at 24.5 percent.

• UMD assistant coach Derek Plante and Denver head coach Jim Montgomery were both Top 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as seniors in 1992-93. Plante, who paced the NCAA in scoring that winter with 92 points, will turn 43 this Friday.

• In his two road appearances this season, sophomore netminder Matt McNeely is 1-1-0 and has compiled a .912 saves percentage compared to an .875 mark in four outings at the AMSOIL Arena (where he is 1-2-1).

• UMD is the most penalized team in the country at the moment, accumulating 17.0 minutes of infraction time per night.

• Junior right winger and team co-captain Adam Krause, who entered the year with two collegiate goals to his credit, has already scored four times this season with three coming in UMD's two-game set at North Dakota in late October. Krause has now skated in 72 straight games -- the longest active ironman streak on the club.

• All but two of rookie Alex Iafallo's 13 points this season have been registered on the road. The lone exceptions were a goal in UMD's most recent regular season outing (a 4-3 triumph over Western Michigan on Dec. 14) and an assist against Notre Dame on Oct. 26 (a 4-3 UMD win).

• The Bulldogs blocked a whopping 45 shots in its two-game sweep of Omaha, including a season-high 24 on Saturday.

• UMD is unbeaten in 42 of its last 48 overtime games (15-6-27; 0-1-5 in 2012-13 and 0-0-1 this season) dating back to the 2008-09 season opener, but hasn't won an extra session outing since the 2012 WCHA playoffs against Minnesota State University -Mankato (3-2 in double overtime on March 10 at AMSOIL Arena). No current Bulldog has ever scored in overtime as a collegian. While the Bulldogs have needed an extra session only once this season (on the opening weekend of play versus Michigan Tech), Denver has taken part in nine overtime games already (going 1-4-4 in those).

• Rookie center Dominic Toninato is part of the 10th father-son combination to skate for the Bulldogs. Dominic's dad, Jim Toninato, was a four-year winger/center (1982-86) at UMD. Junior defenseman Derik Johnson's father, Jim Johnson, is also a UMD hockey alumnus (1981-85) and now an assistant coach with the San Jose Sharks.

• UMD has outscored the opposition 20-12 in the first period this season (10-4 at home) and has trailed at the first intermission on just three occasions all year. Among NCHC teams, only Miami (with 21) has amassed more goals in the opening 20 minutes of play this year than the Bulldogs.

• Senior defenseman Tim Smith is a team-leading +11 for his career and rookie winger Kyle Osterberg tops the 2013-14 Bulldogs in that department at +4.

• 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 University advantage by scoring four goals in the final 20 minutes to upend the Huskies 5-3 at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center. UMD is 0-33-3 in that situation since then (0-7-0 in 2013-14).

• UMD's average home attendance thus far (6,157 per night) is the seventh highest in the country.

• Freshman winger Sammy Spurrel leads UMD in shooting percentage this winter, scoring on three of the 13 shots he's put on net this season (a .250 mark)

• The Bulldogs have gotten on the board first in 13 of their 18 engagements thus far and are 9-3-1 when they've done so.

• Senior winger/center Max Tardy has not picked up either a goal or an assist since Jan. 12, 2013. That 13-game pointless drought is second longest of any active Bulldog. Senior defenseman Tim Smith is mired in a 14-game skid.

• UMD is 3-5-0 against nationally-ranked opponents in 2013-14.

• Denver holds the distinction of being the last team to face the Bulldogs at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center (Dec. 3-4, 2010).

ON DECK: UMD will pay a visit to St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center on Jan. 24 to face Minnesota State-Mankato in the opening round of the first-ever North Star College Cup. Minnesota and St. Cloud State will meet in the other semifinal with the championship and third place game set for the following night.