The University of Minnesota Duluth will take a brief respite from National Collegiate Hockey Conference warfare this Friday and Saturday (Nov. 14-15) when the Bulldogs square off with the University of Minnesota in a home-and-home series. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. Friday at Mariucci Arena (10,000) on the Minnesota campus and at 7:07 p.m. the following evening at AMSOIL Arena (6,756) in downtown Duluth.

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THE RECORDS: UMD is off to a 6-4-0 start this season and sits atop the NCHC standings at 4-2-0-0 while Minnesota owns a 7-1-0 overall record and won't make its Big Ten debut until Dec. 5.

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

    USCHO.com    USA Today    
UMD    No. 13    No. 15    
UM    No. 1    No. 1    

ON THE AIR: The two UMD-Minnesota 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.

Fox Sports North Fox College Sports will televise both ends of this weekend's series.  The videostream for Friday is available at: btn2go.com and Saturday at: www.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 253-249-67 overall record -- including a 131-89-30 mark (for a .584 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 series opener will mark the 225th meeting ever between the Bulldogs and Gophers. Minnesota holds a 134-73-17 lead in the rivalry, which began back on Dec. 1, 1952 at the Hippodrome in Eveleth, Minn. The two clubs opened their respective 2014-15 seasons last month with a semifinal round bout at the Ice Breaker Tournament in Notre Dame, Ind., where Minnesota jumped out to a 3-0 lead 24 minutes in and held on for a 4-3 triumph. One year ago (Jan. 25, 2014), the Bulldogs and Gophers battled to a 2-2 overtime tie in the inaugural North State College Cup title at the Xcel Center in St. Paul, Minn., before Minnesota claimed the championship in a shoot out, 2-0. Earlier that same season (Nov. 24), UMD throttled their former WCHA adversaries 6-2 in Minneapolis after the host Gophers had skated off with a convincing 6-1 win two days prior to that.

LAST WEEKEND: UMD followed up a 3-2 overtime triumph over St. Cloud State University Friday by toppling the hosts 3-1 the ensuing evening for its first road sweep of the Huskies in nearly 15 years.  In the opener, the Bulldogs got goals from senior right winger Justin Crandall and junior defenseman Andy Welinski (with 5:46 to go in the third period that forced sudden death) in regulation and then put the clamps on a 10-game winless drought (0-8-2) in St. Cloud on junior center Cal Decowski's second tally of the year 2:06 into overtime. The Bulldogs, who were outshot 35-21 in that victory, completed the NCHC sweep (its first over team since last February) on Saturday as Crandall scored once and assisted on sophomore center Dominic Toninato's goal at 3:33 of the first period that put UMD ahead for good at 1-0.

Minnesota scored on each of its first two shots of the afternoon Sunday on its way to a 4-2 home win over Notre Dame after prevailing 5-0 on Friday night behind a 20-save performance by goaltender Alex Wilcox. Five different Gophers collected goals in the shut out victory.

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 (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.

YOU AGAIN?: The Bulldogs have butted heads with Minnesota on more lifetime occasions (224) than all but one opponent -- Michigan Tech University (225). UMD has also met both Minnesota and Michigan Tech on an annual basis since the 1961-62 season, making each the Bulldogs' longest continuous rivalry.

IT'S BEEN SOME TIME: Minnesota last paid a visit to AMSOIL Arena over three years ago --  Oct. 14-15, 2011 -- and came away with a pair of 5-4 WCHA victories, claiming the first of those in overtime.

IT'S BEEN SOME TIME, PART II: Minnesota currently sports the nation's longest home unbeaten streak, having gone 15-0-2 since falling 6-2 to UMD on Nov. 24, 2013.

IT'S BEEN SOME TIME, PART III: The last time the Bulldogs and Gophers engaged in a home-and-home series was on Feb. 16-17, 1968.

SOMETHING SPECIAL: Talk about making the most of your special teams play. UMD currently ranks second in the nation in both power play goals (13) and in shorthanded goals (5). The Bulldogs also had more power play opportunities (57) and have been on the penalty kill more times (56) than any NCAA I team. Ten different Bulldogs have a power play goal to their 2014-15 credit, including junior left winger Austin Farley, sophomore left winger Alex Iafallo and junior defensmen Andy Welinski the only UMD skaters with three. In addition, The Bulldogs, who top the country in both penalties (71) and penalty minutes (205), have converted on the power at least once in nine of their 10 games to date (they went 0-for-3 last Saturday night in St. Cloud).

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES: UMD is 1-4-0 on Friday nights this season (with that lone victory coming last week at St. Cloud State) and 5-0-0 in series/tournament finales. Here are is a statistical breakdown of the two:
 

	Fridays	Finales
Goals	13	22
Goals Per Game	2.60	4.40
Goals Allowed	17	7
Goals Allowed Per Game	3.40	1.40
Power Play Goals	5	8
Power Play Pct.	18.5	26.7
Power Play Goals Allowed	9	2
Penalty Kill Pct.	71.0	92.0
Shorthanded Goals	1	4
Saves Pct.	.880	.954
Shots Per Game	29.0	33.2
Scoring 4-Plus Goals	1	3

 
THE PUCK STOPS HERE: In his last three appearance, rookie goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo is 3-0-0 with a 1.98 goals against average and a  .938 saves percentage. Kaskisuo, who has now made seven consecutive starts, has allowed just 10 even strength goals in eight outings this year.  The Vantaa, Finland native 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).

ROAD, SWEET ROAD: Since the start of the 2013-14 season, the Bulldogs are 15-7-1 away from Duluth and 7-13-3 at home. UMD is 4-1-0 on the road this year -- and have outscored the opposition 18-9 in the process --  with the lone loss (4-3) coming at that hands of Minnesota at the Ice Breaker Tournament on Oct. 10.

TOP 'DOG: Sophomore center Dominic Toninato continues to reside among the NCAA leaders in a bevy of statistical categories including goals (tied for fifth with a NCHC-leading seven), points (tied for for eighth with 11), shorthanded goals (he's one of just four skaters in the nation with two), plus-minus rating (tied for eighth at +8), and shooting percentage (23rd at .269 -- the third best mark in the NCHC).  The seven goals he's scored this season match his entire rookie-year harvest while his 11 points are four short of his collegiate high. Toninato, the first NCHC Offensive Player of the Week honoree for 2014-15, also shares the NCAA lead in penalties with 11 and is fourth in penalty minutes (33).

OHHHHHH-VER TIME: The Bulldogs have pulled out a win in just two of their last 14 games that have gone into overtime, going 2-4-8 with the two vicotires coming at the expense of St. Cloud State last Friday (3-2) and Minnesota State University-Mankato (5-4 in the opening round of the North Star College Cup in St. Paul on Jan. 24, 2014. Sophomore right winger Alex Iafallo and junior center Cal Decowski are the only two active Bulldogs with an overtime goal to their collegiate credit.

BOLSTERING THE BACK END: Junior Andy Welinski, the reigning NCHC Defenseman of the Week who will come into Friday's engagement at Minnesota toting a four-game scoring streak, sports the best plus-minus rating of any NCHC skater (+10) and ranks fourth nationally in that department. He's also tied for the NCAA lead in goals (four) among defensemen and is one of only four blueliners in the country to collect a shorthanded goal this season. Collectively, UMD's eight-member back end corps has combined to rack up seven goals this year -- after generating just five (all of which came from Welinski) during the 2013-14 season -- and 21 points. That's the eighth highest total of any defensemen ensemble in the country.

GETTING ON THE BOARD FIRST IS HUGE: The Bulldogs have drawn first blood in 18 of their 22 victories the last two seasons. On the other hand, they are a mere 3-15-2 when the opposition has taken a 1-0 lead.

NO WALK IN THE PARK: UMD's 2014-15 schedule to date has included games against teams that currently reside in the top 21 spots in the most recent USCHO.com poll: No. 1 Minnesota (0-1), No. 15 St. Cloud State (2-0), No. 11 Denver (1-1), No. 7 Miami (1-1), No. 13 Minnesota State University-Mankato (1-1) and No. 21 Notre Dame (1-0). In addition, the Bulldogs' next two series are with Minnesota and at No. 14 Omaha (Nov. 21-22).

BULLDOG BITS: UMD is scoring at a 3.50 goals per game clip thus far, which ranks second among all NCHC schools and is the 10th best average in the country heading into the weekend.

• Of the eight NCHC 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 years).

• Senior right winger and assistant team captain Justin Crandall has scored more of his career points against  Minnesota (eight, which tops all active Bulldogs) than any other opponent.

• The five shorthanded goals UMD has generated this year are one more than their entire 2013-14 output. The school single-season record for shorties is 12 set by the 1992-93 Bulldogs, who were captained by current UMD assistant coach Derek Plante (who scored four times that year while his team was a man down).

• UMD possesses the nation's highest scoring sophomore class in the country (they share that top billing with the University of Massachusetts-Lowell), as its eight, second-year players have combined for 14 goals and 27 assists for 41 points.

• 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 in Duluth. UMD is 0-43-3 in that situation since then.

• Senior right winger Adam Krause, who is UMD's ninth multi-year captain and first since 2008-09 (left winger Andrew Carroll), has bypassed the past two weekends while nursing a wrist injury which incurred against Denver on Oct. 25 and is sidelined indefinitely. The 2013-14 NCHC Scholar-Athlete Team honoree had taken shifts in each of the previous 94 games -- the longest active ironman streak on the club -- going back to his freshman year.

• For the first time in 48 years, the UMD roster is devoid of any player who skated (as a Bulldog) at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center. The $80-million, 6,756-seat AMSOIL Arena officially opened its doors for business and became the Bulldogs home on Dec. 30, 2010.

• Going back to a 5-4 home loss to Minnesota on Oct. 15, 2011, the Bulldogs are unbeaten in the 46 of the 47 games that they've struck for more than three goals (41-1-5). The lone setback during that stretch was inflicted by Minnesota State-Mankato earlier this season (5-4 in overtime on Oct. 17).

• Dominic Toninato, who has collected nine of his team-leading 11 points on the road this season, 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.

• The Bulldogs have outscored the opposition 13-5 in the third period this season.

• Carson Soucy currently is tied for third in scoring among NCHC defensemen with six points (a career-high two goals and four assists) and is third in plus-minus rating (+6).  He also shares the league lead (along with and fellow sophomore Willie Raskob and nine other blueliners) in power play points with four. Soucy, the only Bulldog ever to be drafted by the Minnesota Wild, owns the best career plus-minus rating (+13) of any active 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. UMD is 0-43-3 in that situation since then.

• Alex Iafallo paces the 2014-15 Bulldogs in assists with eight -- the 7th highest harvest in the country -- while he and fellow sophomore Kyle Osterberg share the team lead in home scoring with five points.

• Junior center Tony Cameranesi and fellow junior Andy Welinski, who leads 2014-15 UMD defensemen in lifetime goals (13), assists (31) and points (44), have both taken part in all 84 games since joining the UMD program two years ago.

• The 10 shots Austin Farley put on target two weeks ago against Denver earlier this season (Oct. 24) were the most by a Bulldog in a regulation game in over two years (J.T. Brown also had 10 vs. Colorado College on Feb. 25, 2012).

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs will return to NCHC activity with a two-game set at Nebraska Omaha on Nov. 21-22.