The University of Minnesota Duluth will put the finishing touches on a four-game homestand this Friday and Saturday (Oct. 31-Nov. 1) when the Bulldogs host Miami University for the first time ever.  Opening face off for the National Collegiate Hockey Conference series is set for 7:07 p.m. both nights at AMSOIL Arena  (6,756) in downtown Duluth.

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THE RECORDS: UMD is off to a 3-3-0 start and is 1-1-0 in NCHC play while Miami sports a 4-2-0 mark in all games and will be making its 2014-15 league debuts this weekend.

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

            USCHO.com    USA Today    
UMD    No. 19    RV    
Miami    No. 10    No. 10    

ON THE AIR: The two UMD-Miami 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.

Both ends of this weekend's series will be aired on My9 (KBJR DT 6.2/KRII DT 11.9) with Tom Hansen and former UMD standout forward Judd Medak serving as the on-air talent. That telecast will also be videostreamed at: nchc.tv/umd.

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 250-248-67 overall record -- including a 128-88-30 mark (for a .581 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:  UMD and Miami have met on just three previous occasions, the first coming at the 2008 West Regional title game in Minneapolis, where the RedHawks put the clamps on the Bulldogs' school-record six-game postseason winning streak with a 2-1 victory. UMD, which had captured its first WCHA playoff championship in 24 years one week earlier, was the regional's No. 2 seed while Miami was seeded fourth. The two teams squared off in a two-game NCHC set one year ago (Feb. 28-March 1) and the Bulldogs closed out the road portion of their 2013-14 regular season schedule in style that weekend by sweeping the RedHawks (5-4 and 1-0).

LAST WEEKEND: UMD launched its second season of NCHC play by splitting a two-game set with the University of Denver at AMSOIL Arena. The Bulldogs dropped the opener 3-1 on Friday, despite outshooting the Pioneers  31-22 on the night and 16-9 in the opening period (when Denver took a 2-1 lead). The following evening UMD struck for three goals in each of the final two periods on its way to  convincing 6-1 victory. Junior left winger Austin Farley, junior center Cal Decowski and sophomore Cal Decowksi each scored once and assisted on another goal while rookie goaltender Kasimer Kaskisuo finished with 29 saves.

Miami traded non-conference wins with visiting St. Lawrence University, falling 5-4 on Friday before rebounding the next night with a 2-1 overtime triumph. The RedHawks, who got three-point weekends from linemates Blake Coleman (two goals and one assist) Austin Czarnik (three assists) outshot the Saints 95-27 during the series (53-11 on Saturday).

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 (167 pts.; nine first-place votes), defending NCHC regular season champion St. Cloud State University (151 pts. and the remaining four first-place votes), 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 the  NCHC openers with Denver, Austin Farley and Kasimir Kaskisuo were chosen the NCHC's Offensive Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week, respectively.  Farley, accumulated three points over the weekend while putting 19 shots on net and finishing a +1.  He collected UMD's lone goal (on the power play) Friday then scored once (again with the man advantage) and added an assist one night later.  Kaskisuo started both ends of the Denver series and finished with a .923 saves percentage and a 2.02 goals against average. During the two nights, he allowed just two even-strength goals, including one just 33 seconds after the opening puck drop on Friday.

PUTTING THE BISCUIT IN THE BASKET: UMD is scoring at a 3.83 goals per game clip, which is tops among all NCHC schools and the eighth best figure in the country.

BOMBS AWAY: Miami leads the nation in shots on goal (40.5 per night) as well as shot differential (+17.3). while UMD ranks 20th (32.2 spg) and 12th (+5.5) in those two categories.

BOMBS AWAY II: The 10 shots Austin Farley out on target last Friday night were the most by a Bulldog in a regulation game in over two years (J.T. Brown with 10 vs. Colorado College on Feb. 25, 2012).

TOP 'DOG: Sophomore center Dominic Toninato continues to reside among the NCAA leaders in a bevy of statistical categories including goals (tied for second with an NCHC-leading six), points (tied for for fourth with eight) and shorthanded goals (he's one of only four skaters in the nation with two). The six goals he's scored already this season are just one shy of his entire rookie year harvest. Toninato, the first NCHC Offensive Player of the Week honoree for 2014-15, has marked in the scoring column in five of the six games to date (he was held pointless in last Friday's 3-1 setback to Denver).

SOME TOUGH SLEDDING: After taking on four nationally-ranked clubs to open the year (No. 1 University of Minnesota and then-No 12 Universtiy of Notre Dame and Minnesota State University-Mankato and No. 11 Denver), the Bulldogs' schedule doesn't get much easier anytime soon. For the next three weekends, UMD will face clubs that all cracked the Top 10 in the latest USCHO.com Poll -- Miami University (No. 10), St. Cloud State (No. 9) and Minnesota (No. 1).

NOT THEIR FIRST RODEO: Although it has never faced UMD before on the Bulldogs' home ice, this will not be Miami's first visit to Duluth. The RedHawks took part in the 2001 Silverado Shootout at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center where it lost to Boston College 5-1 in the semifinals before besting Yale University in the third place game.

FOUR'S A CHARM: Going back to a 5-4 home loss to Minnesota on Oct. 15, 2011, the Bulldogs are unbeaten in the 45 of the 46 games that they've struck for more than three goals (40-1-5). The lone setback during that stretch was inflicted by Minnesota State earlier this season (5-4 in overtime on Oct. 17).

MORE POWER TO THEM: UMD has scored more times on the power play (nine) and has had more opportunities (39) than any other NCAA outfit  in the nation. The Bulldogs have also managed to connect at least once with the man advantage in all six games to date.  Eight different Bulldogs have a power play goal to their 2014-15 credit, including Austin Farley, the only UMD skater with two.

YOU'RE KILLING ME:  The Bulldogs already have accumulated four shorthanded goals, equaling their entire  output from a year ago. That also puts them one quarter of the way to the school-single season record of 12 set by the 1992-93, which was captained by current UMD assistant coach Derek Plante (who picked up four goals while the Bulldogs were a man down that year).

HOW SWEEP IT IS: The Bulldogs' last series sweep came at the hands of Miami (5-4 and 1-0 in Oxford on Feb. 28-March 1, 2014). Current Bulldog sophomore Kyle Osterberg provided the Bulldog goal in that 1-0 victory and then-senior Aaron Crandall stopped 30 of 31 shots while registering UMD's only shutout of the season. That's also the last time Miami has been held scoreless.

BULLDOG BITS: The Bulldogs have drawn first blood in 17 of their 19 victories the last two seasons. On the other hand, they are a mere 2-15-2 when the opposition has taken a 1-0 lead.

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

• This weekend will mark the second straight time, UMD is taking part in the in the lone NCHC series of the week.

• UMD sports the highest scoring sophomore class in the country in the moment as that eight-member group has combined for 11 goals and 18 assists for 29 points.

• Senior right winger Adam Krause, who is UMD's ninth multi-year captain and first since 2008-09 (left winger Andrew Carroll), suffered a wrist injury last Saturday night and is sidelined indefinitely.  The 2013-14 NCHC Scholar-Athlete Team honoree had taken shifts in each of the past 94 games -- the longest active ironman streak on the club - -going back to his freshman year.

• UMD has won just one of its last 13 games that have gone into overtime, going 1-4-8 with that lone victory coming in the opening round of the North Star College Cup at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center  -- 5-4 over Minnesota State. Sophomore 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 that night.

• Left winger Blake Young, who made his collegiate debut last Saturday -- the last 2014-15 Bulldog rookie  to do so, turns 20 this Sunday.

• The Bulldogs have outscored the opposition 10-1 in the third period this season with that one goal allowed coming last Saturday night versus Denver.

• Kasimir Kaskisuo, who registered his first collegiate home triumph this past Saturday night by stopping 29   of 30 shots in a 6-1 takedown of Dener 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) and center Max Wikman Sweden, 1995-97).

• 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 34-29-7 lifetime at that downtown facility, but has managed to win just five of its 21 engagements there since the start of the 2013-14 season (6-12-3). During that same stretch, the Bulldogs are 13-7-1 away from Duluth.

• Alex Iafallo's six assists this season are bettered by only two other NCAA combatants -- St. Lawrence's Drew Smolcynski   and Union College's Mike Vecchione              (both with seven).

• Dominic 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 celebrate his 25th birthday this February), is the son of Jim Johnson, another UMD hockey alumnus (1981-85) and now an assistant coach with the NHL's San Jose Sharks.

• Carson Soucy, the only Bulldog ever to be drafted by the Minnesota Wild, currently ranks third among all NCHC defensemen in scoring with five points (two goals and three assists). He also owns the best career plus-minus rating (+11) of any 2014-15 Bulldog.

• 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.

• Tony Cameranesi, the leading scorer among active Bulldogs (61 points) and fellow junior Andy Welinski, who leads all 2014-15 UMD defensemen in career goals (10), assists (30) and points (40), have both taken part in all 80 games since joining the UMD program two years ago.  Four of Cameranesi's six points this season have come on the power play and nobody in the NCHC has more.

• UMD is 0-3-0 on Friday nights this year.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs will be at St. Cloud State on Nov. 7-8 for its first NCHC road assignments of 2014-15.