The University of Minnesota Duluth will make its 2014-15 AMSOIL Arena debut this Friday (Oct. 17) when the Bulldogs host one-time Western Collegiate Hockey Association rival Minnesota State University-Mankato at 7:07 p.m. in the front end of a rare home-and-home series with the Mavericks. The action shifts to Mankato's Verizon Wireless Center (4,832) on Saturday with the opening faceoff set for 7:07 p.m.

Complete Release (pdf)

THE RECORDS: Both UMD and Minnesota State are off to 1-1-0 starts this season. The Bulldogs closed out 2013-14 with an even 16-16-4 overall record and went 11-11-2-2 in their first year of National Collegiate Hockey Conference play. That was good for a share of fourth place in the final league standings with Western Michigan University. Minnesota State was 24-14-3 in all games and placed second in the revamped, 10-team WCHA with a 20-7-1 mark. The Mavericks also captured the program's first-ever WCHA playoff championship last winter and secured their second NCAA playoff berth in as many years.

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

    USCHO.com    USA Today   
UMD    No. 20    RV   
MSU    No. 12    No. 12   

ON THE AIR: Both UMD-Minnesota State clashes will be carried locally on 94X (94.1/104.3 FM) with Bruce Ciskie on the call. The broadcast can also be heard on KQ 105.5 FM in Grand Rapids/Hibbing; KQ 106.7 FM in Ely/Virginia; Red Zone Sports Radio 1350 AM in Pine City; and KKIN-AM 930 in Atkin as part of the Bulldog Radio Network and at: 94xrocks.com.

In addition, Fox Sports North Plus and Fox College Sports will broadcast Friday's series opener with Tom Hansen and former UMD standout forward Judd Medak serving as the on-air talent. That telecast will also be videostreamed at: www.nchc.tv/umd. Saturday's game will be shown locally on Charter cable (channel 826) and the videostream can be viewed at: eversport.tv/ice-hockey/wcha.

THE COACH: 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 15th season behind the UMD bench where he has compiled a 248-246-67 overall record -- including a 126-86-30 mark (for a .583 winning percentage) since the 2008-08 opener. Besides capturing the school's first NCAA championship four years ago, his Bulldogs have won 22 or more games in four of the last six seasons while advancing to four NCAA tournaments (2004, 2009, 2011 and 2012), two Frozen Fours (2004 and 2011) and seven of 11 Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Five playoff events between 2002-13. 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. In addition, Sandelin has seen 16 of his UMD pupils go on to do time in the National Hockey League and one take part in the Winter Olympic Games (Justin Faulk for Team USA in last winter). 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, 50, 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-American second team selection and All-WCHA first team pick as a senior, Sandelin went on to play professionally for seven years, 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 (Denver's Jim Montgomery is the other), 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.

THE SERIES: Friday night's confrontation will mark the 50th meeting ever between UMD and MInnesota State. The Bulldogs hold a 26-17-6 lead in the rivalry, which began back on Oct. 17, 1997 in Duluth and are unbeaten in seven of their last nine confrontations against the Mavericks (6-2-1).

LAST WEEKEND: UMD broke the ice on its 71st season of intercollegiate hockey by taking third place at the Ice Breaker Tournament in Notre Dame, Ind. The Bulldogs bested the University of Notre Dame 3-0 Sunday afternoon following a 4-3 decision the to the University of Minnesota two days earlier. Junior goaltender Matt McNeely posted the shutout with a 23-save performance in the third place game while junior left winger Alex Iafallo scored once and assisted on another goal. In the semifinals, sophomore center Dominic Toninato collected a pair of goals for UMD, which trailed 2-0 less than six minutes in, but wound up outshooting its long-time intrastate rivals 27-22 on the day.

Minnesota State traded non-conference wins at Omaha, rebounding with a 4-2 triumph in the series finale Saturday after falling 5-3 the previous evening.

NCHC FORECAST: In the 2014-15 NCHC Preseason Media Poll, UMD was projected for a fifth-place finish in the second-year circuit while North Dakota received top billing among the conference's eight schools with 181 points and 12 first-place votes. North Dakota was followed by Miami University (167 pts.; nine first-place votes), defending NCHC regular season champion St. Cloud State University (151 pts. and the remaining four. first-place votes, the University of Denver (117 pts.), UMD (112 pts.), the University of Nebraska-Omaha (73 pts.), Western Michigan University (67 pts.), and Colorado College (32 pts.).

AYE, AYE, CAPTAIN: For the second straight season, Adam Krause has been entrusted with the Bulldogs' captaincy duties (he shared that role with the since-graduated Joe Basaraba in 2013-14) while fellow senior right winger Justin Crandall and junior defenseman Andy Welinski are serving as assistant captains.

WELL DONE: For their spirited performances in Notre Dame, Ind., Dominic Toninato and Matt McNeely each received NCHA Player for the Week citations. Toninato was chosen the league's Offensive Player of the Week after figuring in on four of UMD's six goals at the Ice Breaker event. Over the weekend, the Duluth East High School alumnus put a team-high eight shots on net and was a +3 in addition to topping all Ice Breaker Tournament participants in goals (three) and tying for the scoring lead. He also was the lone non-Minnesota Gopher selected to the six-member All-Tournament team. McNeely, the league's Goaltender of the Week honoree, registered his second career shutout Sunday against Notre Dame, and also played an integral part in UMD's penalty killing efforts (Notre Dame went 0-for-6 on the power play).

SOME TOUGH SLEDDING: After taking on two nationally-ranked clubs to open the year (No. 1 Minnesota and then-No 12 Notre Dame), the Bulldogs schedule doesn't get much easier anytime soon. For the next five weekends, UMD will face clubs that all cracked the Top 16 in the latest USCH.com Poll -- Minnesota State (No. 12), Denver (No. 16), Miami University (No. 11), St. Cloud State (No. 8) and Minnesota (No. 1).

THE ONLY HOME THEY KNOW: For the first time in 48 years, the UMD roster is devoid of any player who skated at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center (as a Bulldog). The $80-million, 6,756-seat AMSOIL Arena officially opened its doors for business and became the Bulldogs home on Dec. 30, 2010. UMD is 33-27-7 lifetime at that downtown facility, but managed to win just five of its 18 engagements there one year ago (5-10-3).

IT'S SHOW TIME: Six individuals made their Bulldog debuts at the Ice Breaker Tournament. That sextet included five freshmen -- goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo, right wingers Karson Kuhlman and Brett Boehm, defenseman Nick McCormack and center Jared Thomas and -- as well as sophomore defenseman Brenden Kotyk. It was the first collegiate appearance for Kotyk since Feb. 23, 2013 when he and his College of St. Scholastica teammates fell 2-1 to host St. Norbert's in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCAA III) playoff semifinals. Kotyk had to sit out the entire 2013-14 season in accordance with NCAA transfer rules.

THREE PERIODS AND THEN SOME: The Bulldogs and Mavericks last met on Jan. 24, 2014 in the opening round of the inaugural North Star College Cup at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center where UMD pulled out a 5-4 overtime win. That remains the Bulldogs' lone victory in their last 12 games that have gone past regulation (1-3-8). In fact, each of UMD's last two sudden death wins have come at the expense of Minnesota State (the other was in the first round of the 2012 WCHA playoffs -- a 3-2 in double overtime decision at AMSOIL Arena). Junior left winger Alex Iafallo is the only active Bulldog to ever score in overtime -- he connected with 26.5 seconds left in sudden death against the Mavericks at the 2014 North Star College Cup.

BOLSTERING THE BACK END: Junior Andy Welinski picked up his 10th collegiate in UMD's 4-3 setback to Minnesota last Friday. He and senior Derik Johnson (one) are the only two current defensemen with any career goals to their Bulldog credit. Johnson bagged his lone collegiate tally as a freshman.

BULLDOG BITS: Kasimir Kaskisuo, who made 18 saves in Friday's 4-3 loss to Minnesota, became just the third Bulldog rookie goaltender in the past 29 years to start a season opener. Alex Stalock (2007), now a member of the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks, and Adam Coole (2000) were the other two UMD netminders to get the opening-night starting nod. Kassisuo is the sixth European to enlist his services with the Bulldogs and first non-North American to play for 15th-year head coach Scott Sandelin. The five previous Europeans include goaltender Nicklas Axelsson (Sweden, 1993-95), winger Pasi Korhonen (Finland; 1999-2000), winger Sergei Petrov (Russia, 1993-97), defenseman Roman Sindelar (Czechoslovakia; 1984-86), center Max Wikman Sweden, 1995-97).

• Going back to a 5-4 home loss to Minnesota on Oct. 15, 2011, the Bulldogs are unbeaten in the 43 games that they've struck for more than three goals (38-0-5). They went 9-0-2 when doing that last year.

• Not only did Matt McNeely pitch the NCHC's only shutout (and one of just four in the entire country) last weekend, but he also was credited with his first collegiate assist -- the first by a Bulldog puckstopper since Feb. 25, 2012 when Kenny Reiter collected a pair of helpers in a 5-2 triumph over visiting Colorado College.

• Senior right winger Adam Krause is UMD's ninth multi-year captain and first since 2008-09 (left winger Andrew Carroll). The 2013-14 NCHC Scholar-Athlete Team honoree has taken shifts in 90 consecutive games -- the longest active ironman streak on the club.

• The Bulldogs have drawn first blood in 15 of their 17 wins the last two seasons. One the other hand, they are a mere 2-13-2 when the opposition has taken a 1-0 lead.

• The multiple-goal game Dominic Toninato turned in last Friday afternoon was the first of his Bulldog career. Toninato is part of the 10th father-son combination to skate for the Bulldogs (his dad, Jim Toninato, was a UMD forward between 1982-86). Senior defenseman Derik Johnson, the oldest 2014-15 Bulldog (he'll turn 25 this February), is the son of Jim Johnson, another Bulldog hockey alumnus (1981-85) and now an assistant coach with the NHL's San Jose Sharks.

• 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 to upend the Huskies 5-3 at the DECC. UMD is 0-41-3 in that situation since then.

• Of the NCHC eight head coaches, only one (Miami's Rico Blasi with 16 seasons) has been behind the bench at his current school longer than Scott Sandelin (15).

• Tony Cameranesi and fellow junior Andy Welinski, have taken part in all 76 games since joining the UMD program two years ago.

• During its seven decades of hockey, UMD has played home-and-home series with three opponents previously -- Minnesota, Bemidji State University and St. Cloud State University.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs will return to AMSOIL Arena to host the University of Denver on Oct. 24-25 in the 2014-15 NCHC openers for both teams.