The University of Minnesota Duluth will launch its 72nd season of intercollegiate hockey this Friday (Oct. 9) when the Bulldogs host Bemidji State University in the front-end of a home-and-home series. Opening face off is scheduled for 7:07 p.m,. Friday at AMSOIL Arena (6,756) in downtown Duluth and at that same time the following night at the Sanford Center (4,373) in Bemidji, Minn.

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THE RECORDS: UMD closed out 2014-15 at a 22-16-3 overall, placed fifth in the NCHC standings at 12-9-3-0, advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA playoffs and held down the No. 6 slot in the final USCHO.com poll. Bemidji State owned a 16-17-5 mark in all games one year ago to go with a 12-11-5 Western Collegiate Hockey Association record (fifth place).

HOW THEY RANK: Here the Bulldogs and Beavers stacked up in the latest USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls:

    USCHO.com    USA Today/USA Hockey
UMD    No. 2    No. 3
BSU    RV    NR
    
ON THE AIR: This weekend's series will be carried live locally on 92.1 FM The Fan with Bruce Ciskie handling the play-by-play responsibilities and ex-Bulldog winger Kraig Karakas providing color commentary. The broadcast can also be heard on KQ 105.5 FM in Grand Rapids/Hibbing, Minn.; KQ 106.7 FM in Ely/Virginia, Minn.; 105.7 FM The Fan Siren/Pine City, Minn., and Red Zone Sports Radio 930 in Aitkin, Minn., as part of the Bulldog Radio Network and at: 921thefan.com or free via the iHeartRadio app.

Both games this weekend will also be aired locally -- by My 9(KBJR DT 6.2/KRII DT 11.9) on Friday with Tom Hansen and former Bulldog winger Judd Medak serving as the on air talent and WDSE-TV (PBS North) on Saturday. Those two telecasts are available on-line for a fee at nchc.tv/umd (Friday) and wcha.tv (Saturday).

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 16th season behind the UMD bench where he has compiled a 268-261-70 overall record -- including a 146-101-33 mark since the 2008-09 opener. Besides capturing the school's first NCAA championship four years ago, his Bulldogs have won 20 or more games in five of the last seven seasons while advancing to five NCAA tournaments (2004, 2009, 2011,2012 and 2014), 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 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 head coaching the Junior Elite Hockey League's Fargo-Moorhead Junior Kings after working in that same capacity (and doubling as general manager) the previous winter with the Fargo-Moorhead Express of the American Hockey Association. 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 NCHC 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 RIVALRY: UMD and Bemidji State will meet for the 38th time ever Friday evening. The Bulldogs hold a 22-13-2 lead in the all-time series, which began back on Feb. 8, 1948 and are 17-13-2 against Bemidji State since it joined the NCAA I ranks in 1999-2000.The two clubs last squared off in the opening round of the North Star College Cup on Jan. 23, 2015 in St. Paul, Minn., where the Beavers prevailed 4-0. The last series between UMD and Bemidji State came on Feb. 12-13, 2013 when both were members of the WCHA.
The host Beavers followed up a 4-2 triumph with a 1-1 overtime tie in that two-game home set.

LAST WEEKEND: The Bulldogs tuned up for their upcoming season opener by downing Lakehead University 6-1 in an exhibition matchup Sunday night at AMSOIL Arena. UMD busted loose with six unanswered second-period goals and outshot the Thunderwolves 50-11 on the night. Six different Bulldogs picked up a goal and a dozen finished with at least one point as UMD upped its all-time record against Canadian universities to 36-3-2, including a perfect 15-0-0 versus Lakehead. The Thunderwolves cashed in on their initial shot attempt of the night at 3:39 of the first period on the power play, but it was all Bulldogs after that. Senior center Tony Cameranesi and sophomore defenseman Nick McCormack scored 45 seconds apart early in the second period to give UMD the lead for good. Then, at the midway point of that same period, senior right winger Austyn Young, freshman center Billy Exell and junior right winger Alex Iafallo added goals in a span of 63 seconds to put the game away. Sophomore left winger Blake Young capped off the scoring on a wrister from the left face off circle at the 14:54 mark. Exell, who turned 20 Sunday, was one of three Bulldogs with a two-point night, joining Cameranesi and senior defenseman Andy Welinski. Kaskisuo (three), senior Matt McNeely (three) and rookie Nick Deery (four) each took a period and combined for 10 saves.

Bemidji State also churned out a 6-1 exhibition victory, doing so at the expense of the University of Manitoba on Sunday afternoon at the Sandford Center. Brendan Harms and T.J. Roo each scored once and assisted on another goal and were among 14 Beavers to pick up points.

AYE, AYE, CAPTAIN: Andy Welinski has been entrusted with the Bulldogs' team captaincy duties in 2015-16 after handling an assistant role as a junior last winter. The senior forward trio of Tony Cameranesi, Cal Decowski and Austin Farley are serving as assistant captains.

MEDIA PICK UMD AS NCHC'S TOP DOG IN 2015-16:  Media that cover the NCHC collectively saw the Bulldogs as the team to beat in 2015-16. UMD received 17 of 30 first-place votes and totaled 208 points to place first in the NCHC Preseason Poll. The University of Denver was picked second with 187 points and seven first-place votes followed by the University of North Dakota, the defending Penrose Cup champions (183 points and four first-place votes), the University of Nebraska-Omaha (148 points.), Miami University (142 points and two first-place votes), last year's NCHC Frozen Faceoff titleholder,, St. Cloud State University (117 points), Western Michigan University (60 points) and Colorado College (35 points

This marks the first time since the 2004-05 season that the Bulldogs have been picked first in any preseason league poll. UMD was then a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

UMD AT A GLANCE: The Bulldogs retain 21 of 25 lettermen from last year's club and those 21 veterans accounted for 85 percent of UMD's scoring production (255 of 300 points) and 81.7 percent of its goal total (94 of 115). Eight of UMD's top 10 point producers from a year ago are back, including senior center Tony Cameranesi, who finished atop the UMD scoring charts for the second time in three years with 30 points on nine goals and 21 assists. Junior center Dominic Toninato (a team-leading and career-high 16 goals) was next followed by junior left winger Alex Iafallo (8-17=25) and senior left winger and assistant team captain Austin Farley (8-16=24). In addition, UMD returns its two netminders who did crease time last winter -- ironman Kasimir Kaskisuo, a member of the 2014-15 NCHC All-Rookie team, and senior Matt McNeely.

BULLDOG BITS:  The last time the Bulldogs got off to a 2-0 start was in 2001-02 (Scott Sandelin's second year behind the UMD bench) when they captured the Maverick Stampede title by downing host Nebraska-Omaha (5-2) and the University of Michigan (3-2) on back-to-back days. UMD hasn't posted a season-opening series sweep of one opponent since it bested visiting Ferris State University twice (3-0 and 5-3) in Duluth.

• Both senior center Tony Cameranesi and senior defenseman Andy Welinski have taken shifts in all 114 games since the start of the 2012-13 season. Cameranesi paces all active Bulldogs in lifetime points (85) while senior left winger Austin Farley ranks first in both goals (31) and power play scores (15). Junior defenseman Carson Soucy, the lone Bulldog to ever be drafted by the Minnesota Wild (fifth round in 2013) sports the best plus-minus figure (+20).

• UMD is winless in its last four bouts with Bemidji State, going 0-3-1 since skating off with a 4-2 home triumph on Dec. 7, 2012.

• Defenseman Willie Raskob and left winger Kyle Osterberg both own UMD's longest scoring streaks at two games coming into the 2015-16. Those two juniors were the only Bulldogs to mark in the points column in both end of the NCAA Northeast Regional last March.

•Going back to a 5-4 loss to visiting Minnesota on Oct. 15, 2011, the Bulldogs are unbeaten in 53 of the 54 games they've struck for more than three goals (48-1-5). The sole setback during that stretch was inflicted by Minnesota State-University on Oct. 17, 2014 in Duluth (5-4 in overtime).

•All 26 of UMD's eligible players skated in Sunday's clash with Lakehead University.

• The Bulldogs are now 18-1-0 in exhibition games under 16th year head coach Scott Sandelin. That lone loss came to the U.S. National Under-18 Team -- 2-1 on Dec. 14, 2007 at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center.

• 2015-16 Preseason praise was heaped upon UMD senior defenseman Andy Welinski (College Hockey News All-American Team and All-NCHC Team) as well as sophomore goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo (All-NCHC Team).

• UMD and Bemidji State have met just one other time on a season-opening weekend -- in 2005-06 when the host Beavers came away with a series sweep via a 3-2 and 5-1 victory.

• There have been 11 father-son combinations that have been part of the Bulldog program, the latest being rookie winger Adam Johnson, whose dad (Davey Johnson), was a four-year letterman and captained the Bulldogs as a senior center in 1980-81. Junior center Dominic Toninato also followed in his father's footsteps (Jim Toninato, 1982-86)

• Of the eight NCHC head coaches, only one (Miami's Enrico Blasi with 17 seasons) has been behind the bench at his current school longer than Scott Sandelin (16 years).

• UMD's eight-member senior class is its largest since the 2003-04 season (11). That group consists of forwards Tony Cameranesi, Cal Decowski, Austin Farley, Charlie Sampair and Austyn Young, defensemen Willie Corrin and Andy Welinski and goalie Matt McNeely.

• UMD did something last winter it had done only one other time in 54 years of competing at the NCAA I level -- go through an entire regular season without being swept. (The Bulldogs also accomplished that feat in 2010-11). North Dakota was the only other 2014-15 NCHC school to make that claim.

• UMD's eight defensemen finished with 25 goals in 2014-15 -- the seventh highest output in the nation. Those 25 goals were also the most by a Bulldog blue line ensemble since 2003-04 (also 25) and 20 more than the previous winter when all five scores came off the stick of Andy Welinski. Welinski, by the way, became the first individual in 31 years to lead all Bulldog blueliners in scoring for a third straight year. (Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Tom Kurvers did it four times from 1980-84).

• Excluding a season-ending injury to sophomore Sammy Spurrell (which he incurred three weeks into the year and was granted an extra year of eligibility for it as a medical redshirt), injuries and illnesses to seven other Bulldogs cost UMD 53 man games in 2014-15. Topping that list was current junior defenseman Dan Molenaar (13 games) and sophomore pointman Nick McCormack (11).

•UMD was slotted second in the first USCHO.com poll which was released last week and  that represents the highest preseason ranking in that poll's history (bettering the No. 5 position it occupied in 2004-05)

UP NEXT: UMD will renew its longstanding intrastate rivalry with the University of Minnesota with a home-and-home series beginning on Oct. 16 in Minneapolis and wrapping up the next night at AMSOIL Arena.