Unbeaten in six of its last seven games, the surging University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs will embark on the second half of their 2013-14 National Collegiate Hockey Conference schedule this Friday and Saturday (Jan. 31-Feb. 1) when they pay a visit to Kalamazoo, Mich., for a two-game set with another streaking club, Western Michigan University. The puck drops at 6:07 (CT) both nights at Lawson Arena (4,575) on the Western Michigan campus.
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THE RECORDS: UMD, which has lost just once in its last seven outings (4-1-2), is 10-9-2 overall and 5-6-0-0 in NCHC play while Western Michigan, which will carry a six-game unbeaten streak into the weekend (5-0-1) sports an 12-8-4 record in all games and an even 5-5-0-0 league mark.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and Western Michigan 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    RV    RV    No. 14(t)
WMU    No. 20    RV    No. 20(t)

ON THE AIR: The two Bulldog-Bronco clashes this weekend 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 Sports Radio Network and is available on the internet at: 94xrocks.com.

Both ends of this weekend's series will be videostreammed and can be viewed for a fee at: Both telecasts this weekend will be videostreammed as well and can be viewed for a fee at: wmubroncos.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 241-238-66 overall record -- including a 119-78-29 mark (for a .591 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 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.

Andy Murray (Brandon University, 1972), a 10-year NHL bench boss, is 52-33-18 in his three seasons of head coaching duty at Western Michigan (0-3-1 vs. UMD) and directed the Broncos to a NCAA playoff berth in 2011-12. The Souris, Manitoba, native racked up a career NHL record of 333-278-58-71 while spending six seasons (1999-2006) with the Los Angeles Kings (where he is that franchise's all-time victory leader) and four more with the St. Louis Blues (2006-10). His coaching resume also includes stints as an assistant with the NHL's Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota North Stars and Philadelphia Flyers. Murray, who served as Brandon University's (Manitoba) head coach for three seasons, guided Team Canada to gold medals at the 2007, 2003 and 1997 World Hockey Championships. His daughter, Sarah, was a four-year UMD hockey letterwinner who patrolled the blue line for a pair of NCAA championship clubs (as a senior in 2010 and in 2008) while his two sons -- Brady (North Dakota) and Jordy (University of Wisconsin) -- are both WCHA alumni.

THE RIVALRY: UMD and Western Michigan have butted heads on only six occasions previously, including twice earlier this season at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth where the two clubs traded wins for the first time as conference foes. The Bulldogs are are 5-1-0 all-time against the Broncos.

Date      Score      Site
Dec. 13, 2013    UMD 4, WMU 3    Duluth, Minn.
Dec. 13, 2013    WMU 5, UMD 4    Duluth, Minn.
Jan. 7, 2012  UMD 5, WMU 2      Kalamazoo, MIch.
Jan. 6, 2012  UMD 4, WMU 1      Kalamazoo, Mich.
Oct. 18, 2008    UMD 6, WMU 5 (OT)    Duluth, Minn.
Oct. 17, 2008    UMD 5, WMU 2    Duluth, Minn.

LAST WEEKEND: UMD came up a shootout win shy of laying claim to the first-ever North Star College Cup, settling for a runnerup finish at the four-team event at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center. UMD clipped Minnesota State University-Mankato 5-4 in overtime in the semifinals Friday before battling the University of Minnesota to a 4-4 draw one night later. The Gophers won the ensuing shootout, 2-0, to cop the tournament title.
Western Michigan has been idle since taking five of six points in a two-game NCHC set at St. Cloud State University on Jan. 17-18. The Broncos rallied for a 5-5 tie in the series opener as center Chase Baisly forced overtime with his second goal of the night with 3:22 to go in regulation and picked up the extra point in the shootout (1-0). Goaltender Lukas Hafner then turned aside 32 of 33 shots the ensuing evening as Western Michigan shaded the Huskies, 3-2.

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), the Universit of Denver (66 pts.), Western Michigan (61 pts.), UMD (43), Colorado College (42 pts.) and the University of Nebraska-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.

THE FIRST OF HIS KIND: Left winger Alex Iafallo was chosen the NCHC Rookie of the Week for league-best third time this season for his spirited performance at last weekend's North Star College Cup. He scored the game winner after assisting on a pair of earlier goals in Friday's 5-4 overtime victory over Minnesota State-Mankato and was a key component on a power play unit that cashed in on two of its six opportunities against the Mavericks. Although Iafallo was held scoreless in the title game with Minnesota, he still finished the inaugural tournament at a +1 while putting four shots on net. His two previous NCHC Rookie of the Week award conquests came following the Bulldogs' series at Colorado College (Oct. 18-19) and the University of North Dakota (Nov. 15-16).

IT WAS THE START OF SOMETHING: UMD hasn't lost a game in regulation since being bested by Western Michigan on Dec. 13, going 4-1-2 over that stretch with the lone setback coming against the University of Denver (3-2) in overtime on Jan. 17. The Broncos, meanwhile, are unbeaten (5-0-1) since they dropped a 4-3 decision to UMD in the series rematch on Dec. 14.

PLENTY OF FREE HOCKEY: The Bulldogs have required overtime in four straight games (matching a program record set during the 1992-93 season), including a pair last weekend at the North Star College Cup. Prior to Friday's triumph over Minnesota State-Mankato, UMD was winless in 10 consecutive overtime games (0-3-7) since it defeated those same Mavericks 3-2 in double overtime in the opening round of the 2012 WCHA Playoffs. Alex Iafallo, who scored with 26.5 left in the extra session in the North Star College Cup opener, is the lone active Bulldog with an overtime goal to his collegiate credit.

ROAD WARRIORS: The Bulldogs have compiled a 7-4-1 record away from AMSOIL Arena (compared to a 3-5-2 home mark) and are averaging over a goal a game more away from AMSOIL Arena (3.4) than they are at home (2.3). UMD has not been beaten on a foreign rink since a 6-1 loss at Minnesota on Nov. 22, going 4-0-1 during that stretch.

BULLDOG BITS: Sophomore Andy Welinski, a 2012-13 WCHA All-Rookie Team selection, collected a goal and and assist last Friday night against Minnesota State-Mankato, but was held pointless by Minnesota the following night which put the clamps on his career-high eight game scoring streak. To date, UMD's eight defensemen have combined to score three goals (to go with 32 assists) this winter and Welinkski has all of them.

• Going back to a 5-4 home loss to Minnesota on Oct. 15, 2011, the Bulldogs are unbeaten in the 40 games that they've struck for four or more goals (35-0-5). That includes a 6-0-1 record in 2013-14.

• Junior center Caleb Herbert, who is tied for the 2013-14 Bulldog lead in even-strength goals (all six of his scores have come in that situation), is expected to skate in his 100th career game Saturday night.

• UMD has scored first in all ten of its victories this season and is 10-3-2 overall when it's done so. The Bulldogs are winless, however (0-6-1), when the opposition has drawn first blood.

• All but four of rookie left winger Alex Iafallo's team-leading 18 points this season have been registered in away assignments. Iafallo paces the Bulldogs in road scoring with six goals and eight assists while junior center Caleb Hebert (three goals and eight assists for 11 points) and sophomore left winger Austin Farley (6-4=10) are next. Iafallo, who ranks second only to Denver's Trevor Moore among NCHC rookies in both points and goals, holds the distinction of being the first Bulldog to ever score in an NCHC shoot out (he did so on Jan. 18 vs. Denver). Six of Iafallo's goals this season have been go-ahead tallies.

• The Bulldogs have outscored the opposition 24-16 in the first period this season and has trailed at the first intermission on just six occasions all year. Those 24 goals are unsurpassed by any NCHC club thus far.

• The seven-member Bulldog freshmen class has collectively racked up 23 goals and 37 assists for 60 points -- the best rookie output among any NCHC outfit outfit and the eighth highest total nationally.

• UMD is 3-6-2 against nationally-ranked opponents in 2013-14 with those wins coming against No. 1 Minnesota (6-2 on Nov. 24 in Minneapolis, Minn.), No. 2 Notre Dame (5-1 on Oct. 26 in Duluth) and No. 13 North Dakota (6-3 on Nov. 16 in Grand Forks, N.D.).

• Rookie center Dominic Toninato, one of nine Bulldogs to reach the double-digit point mark this winter (four goals and seven assists), 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 National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks. Derik Johnson has blocked more shots this winter (33, including a UMD season-best eight against Western Michigan on Dec. 14) than any other UMD skater. The oldest member of the 2013-14 Bulldogs, Johnson will turn 24 this Saturday.

• UMD entered last weekend's North Star College Cup owning the fifth-best penalty kill efficiency rating in the country at 88.6 percent), but Minnesota State -Mankato and Minnesota collectively went 5-for-12 with the man advantage to drop the Bulldogs down to 10th nationally (85.5) and second in the NCHC.

• Junior right winger and team co-captain Adam Krause, who entered the year with two collegiate goals in 66 games,  has already scored five times this season with three of those coming in UMD's two-game set at North Dakota in late October. Krause, a 2013-14 WCHA Scholar-Athlete Award winner, has now seen ice time in 76 straight games -- the longest active ironman streak on the club. Krause is one of four Bulldogs to set career-best for points this season, joining sophomore left winger Charlie Sampair and sophomore defenseman Willie Corrin. With eight points thus far, sophomore center Cal Decowksi has matched his entire 2012-13 output.

• The Bulldogs are just 4-7-0 on Friday nights this season but have lost only twice in 11 Saturday/Sunday engagements. (6-2-3).

• Goaltender Aaron Crandall has now made seven consecutive starts and nine straight appearances -- both career bests. The fifth-year senior has assembled a 6-3-1 road record thus far in 2013-14. Three weeks ago in his last away NCHC assignment Arena (Jan. 11), Crandall made 52 stops while backstopping the Bulldogs to a 2-1 win at Nebraska-Omaha. In the process, he became the first UMD goaltender to eclipse the 50-stop plateau since March 11, 2007 (Josh Johnson with 62 saves in a 3-2 triple overtime WCHA playoff loss at St. Cloud State) and the first to do so 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).

• 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 59 UMD games thus far. Overall, UMD has generated four shorties over the past three seasons with two of those being registered 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 others by Dominic Toninato in UMD's 6-2 thrashing of Minnesota on Nov. 24, 2013 and junior winger Kyle Osterberg last Friday night against Minnesota State. Over that same period, the Bulldogs have been scored on eight times while a man up, including twice this season. Toninato and Osterberg are the lone NCHC freshmen with a shorthanded goal on their stat line this season.

• 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 0-34-3 in that situation since then (0-8-0 in 2013-14).

• Junior right winger Justin Crandall has established a career-best for goals this season with eight, a NCHC-leading six of which have come on the power play. Crandall, freshman left winger Kyle Osterberg, sophomore center Cal Decowski and sophomore defenseman Andy Welinski all racked up a UMD-best three points in the Bulldogs' two-game series with Western Michigan in December.
• Western Michigan went 0-for-9 on the power play for the weekend when it met UMD back in December.

• Senior winger Max Tardy has not picked up either a goal or an assist since Jan. 12, 2013. That 17-game pointless drought is second longest of any active Bulldog. Senior defenseman Tim Smith, who bypassed both of the North Star College Cup engagements last weekend with an upper body injury, is mired in a 16-game skid. Smith is a team-leading +10 for his career while rookie defenseman Carson Soucy tops the 2013-14 Bulldogs in that department at +3.

• Freshman winger Sammy Spurrel leads UMD in shooting percentage this winter, scoring on three of the 12 shots he's put on net (a .250 mark).

• The Bulldogs have played in front of an average of 7,535 fans this season -- the fifth most of any NCAA I club. UMD's home attendance thus far (6,235 per night) ranks sixth nationally.

• 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 AMSOIL Arena (where he is 1-2-1).

ON DECK: UMD returns to AMSOIL Arena on Feb. 7-8 to host NCHC rival Colorado College.