The University of Minnesota Duluth will begin its third season of National Collegiate Hockey Conference play this Friday and Saturday (Nov. 6-7) when the Bulldogs pay a visit to Omaha, Neb., for a two-game series with the University of Nebraska-Omaha. The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. both nights at the new Baxter Arena (7,898).

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THE RECORDS: UMD is off to a 3-2-2 start this season while Omaha sports a 6-2-0 record in all games and a 0-2-0 NCHC mark.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how the Bulldogs and Mavericks stacked up in this week's USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls:

    USCHO.com    USA Today/USA Hockey
UMD    No. 6    No. 7
Omaha    No. 8    No. 8
    
ON THE AIR: The two UMD-Omaha bouts will be carried live on 92.1 FM The Fan with Bruce Ciskie handling the play-by-play responsibilities a 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 ends of this weekend's series will also be aired locally on My9 (KBJR DT 6.2/KRII DT 11.9) and those two telecasts are available on-line for a fee at: nchc.tv/umd. Fox College Sports will televise the series opener.

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 271-263-72 overall record -- including a 149-103-35 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 SERIES: UMD and Omaha will collide the 22nd and 23rd times ever this weekend. The Bulldogs hold a 12-7-2 lead in the all-time series, which began on Dec. 5, 1997 at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center, and are 6-5-0 in 11 lifetime outings in Omaha.
 The two clubs went 1-1-2 against each other one year ago, splitting a two-game set in Omaha (3-2 UMD and 4-1 Omaha on Nov. 22-23) before skating to a pair of 1-1 overtime ties in the 2015-16 regular season finales at AMSOIL Arena (Feb. 27-28). The Mavericks gained the extra NCHC point in each of those two deadlocks by prevailing in the shootout.

LAST WEEKEND: The Bulldogs and the University of Massachusetts-Lowelll traded wins in UMD's first home series of the young 2015-16 season. In the opener, senior defenseman Andy Welinski scored once and assisted on junior center Dominic Toninato's game-winner in a 2-1 Bulldog triumph. UMD, which struck for both of its goals in the second period, outshot the then-No. 7 River Hawks 40-27. UMass-Lowell bounced back the following night, breaking a 1-1 deadlock with three second-period goals (two of which came 42 seconds apart on the power play) and going on to topple the UMD 6-3. Nine different Bulldogs picked up a point in the setback, including junior left winger Kyle Osterberg, junior defenseman Brenden Kotyk and senior left winger Austin Farley.

Omaha launched its 2015-16 NCHC schedule by falling twice on the road to Western Michigan University. (4-2 Friday and 6-1 Saturday.) Jake Guentzel (two) and Justin Parizek accounted for the three Omaha goals on the weekend.

THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING: 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 all serving as assistant captains.

MEDIA PICK UMD AS NCHC'S TOP DOG IN 2015-16: Media who 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 is the first time since the 2004-05 season that the Bulldogs have been picked first in any preseason league poll. UMD was at that time a member of the WCHA.

SOME TOUGH SLEDDING: The series with Omaha will mark the mark the fifth time in as many weekends this season the Bulldogs will face a team that was ranked or received votes in the USCHO.com poll. That slate has included Bemidji State University (received votes), the University of Minnesota (No. 15), the University of Notre Dame (received votes), UMass-Lowell (No. 7) and Omaha (No. 8). UMD concluded each of the past two regular seasons ranking first in the country in strength of schedule.

ALL ALONE: One year ago, current sophomore Kasimir Kaskisuo tended goal for all 24 NCHC games (he and North Dakota's Zane McIntyre were the lone two individuals to do that). A member of the 2014-15 NCHC All-Rookie Team who last spring became just the third NCAA I-era (1961-present) freshman to be named UMD's Most Valuable Player, Kaskisuo has now made 19 consecutive starts going back to Feb. 13, 2015. In last Saturday's 6-3 setback to UMass-Lowell, the Vantaa, Finland, product was relieved by senior Matt McNeely after the second period. For McNeely, it was his first crease appearance since he backstopped the Bulldogs to a 6-3 home triumph over Northern Michigan.

DEJA VU: The last time the Bulldogs and Mavericks hooked up (Feb. 27-28, 2015 in Duluth), the two clubs were also ranked 6th and 8th, respectively, in that week's USCHO.com poll.

A SENIOR MOMENT: UMD currently sports the nation's eighth-highest scoring senior class. The eight, fourth-year Bulldogs have combined for nine goals and 13 assists for 22 points. Over a third of that production has come from center Tony Cameranesi, who tops UMD with eight points on two goals and six assists (and has marked in the scoring column in six of the team's seven games to date). Cameranesi was injured in last Saturday's loss to UMass-Lowell and will be sidelined this weekend. The Bulldogs' leading scorer in two of the past three seasons, Cameranesi has racked up a team-leading 93 points as a collegian, which means he needs just seven more points to become the 55th member of UMD's Century Club. The last Bulldog to crack the 100-point career plateau was center Travis Oleksuk during the 2011-12 season. Cameranesi's fellow senior puck mates are forwards Cal Decowski, Austin Farley, Charlie Sampair and Austyn Young, defensemen Willie Corrin and Andy Welinski and goalie Matt McNeely. The last time a Bulldog roster was comprised of more seniors than the current one was in 2004-05 (11). Cameranesi and Welinski have both taken shifts in all 121 games since joining the Bulldog program in 2012-13.

IT'S A SMALL WORLD: UMD senior defenseman Willie Corrin is the nephew of Omaha head coachDean Blais. During Blais's first six years of head coaching duty at North Dakota, one of his assistant coaches was current Bulldog bench boss Scott Sandelin.

THREE DOG NIGHTS: UMD has yet to eclipse the three-goal mark in 2015-16 (The Bulldogs have scored three times in five of their seven games to date). The only other time a UMD club failed to score four or more goals at least once in their opening seven outings of a season was in 1998-99 (when they also went their first seven games without doing so).

OH, SHOOT: UMD is 2-3 lifetime in NCHC shootouts (all of which have been contested at AMSOIL Arena) and junior left winger Alex Iafallo (twice) and junior center Dominic Toninato (once) are the lone current Bulldogs to score in the post-overtime event. The following are all-time NCHC shootout statistics for current Bulldogs:
 
Player    (Att.-Made-Missed-Pct.)
Dominic Toninato (1-1-0-1.000)
Alex Iafallo (3-2-1-.667)
Austin Farley (2-0-2-.000)
Kyle Osterberg (2-0-2-.000)
Andy Welinski (2-0-2-.000)
Cal Decowski  (1-0-1-.000)
 
Goalie    (Att.-Saves-Pct.
Kasimir Kaskisuo (9-3-.333)

OH, SHOOT II: The Bulldogs are putting an average of 35.7 shots on goal each night. That's a figure bettered by only six other NCAA I clubs -- and one NCHC colleague (North Dakota with 38.4) -- at the moment. Junior center Dominic Toninato ranks seventh nationally in shots with 31 -- six fewer than NCAA leader Austin Ortega of Omaha.

FREE HOCKEY: UMD has won just three of the last 21 games that have gone to overtime, going 3-5-13. Only three active Bulldogs -- junior right winger Alex Iafallo, junior left winger Kyle Osterberg and senior center Cal Decowski -- have an overtime goal to their collegiate credit. UMD's last extra-session victory came on Dec. 5, 2014 -- a 3-2 decision over Colorado College at AMSOIL Arena.

BULLDOG BITS: This weekend will be the only two times the Bulldogs and Mavericks will meet during the 2015-16 regular season. UMD also has a single series this season against one other NCHC foe -- Western Michigan (in Duluth on Dec. 4-5).

• Four of UMD's five lifetime NCHC sweeps have been registered on the road -- St. Cloud State (Nov. 7-8, 2014), Miami (Feb. 28-March 1, 2014), Western Michigan (Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2014) and Omaha (Jan. 10-11, 2014). The other sweep turned in by the Bulldogs came on Dec. 5-6, 2014 against Colorado College in Duluth.

• UMD ended an 0-for-19 power play drought last Friday night when junior center Dominic Toninato scored with the man advantage late in the second period against UMass-Lowell.

• 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).

• Tony Cameranesi currently paces all active Bulldogs in lifetime points (93) while senior left winger Austin Farley ranks first in both career goals (34) and power play scores (17). 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 (+18).

• UMD has already given up as many shorthanded goals this season (one, which was registered by Notre Dame on Oct. 23) than it did all of 2014-15 (in 40 games).

• The Bulldogs have allowed just two first-period goals this season (to UMass-Lowell and Notre Dame the last two Saturdays) while scoring only five of their own during that same time frame.

• The Bulldogs' 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 UMD 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 became the first individual in 31 years to lead all Bulldog blueliners in scoring for a third straight winter. (Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Tom Kurvers did it four times from 1980-84). He and Neal Pionk are the lone two UMD defensemen to collect a goal thus far in 2015-16 (Welinski has a pair, including the second shortie of his career against Bemidji State in the season opener, while Pionk is the only UMD rookie with a goal to his credit thus far).

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

• 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-Mankato on Oct. 17, 2014 in Duluth (5-4 in overtime).

• Freshman left winger Adam Johnson is part of the 11th father-son combinations that have been part of the UMD program. His 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).

• 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.

• The Bulldogs were slotted second in the first USCHO.com poll of 2015-16 and that represented their highest preseason ranking in that poll's history (bettering the No. 5 position it occupied in 2004-05).

• TThe Bulldogs rallied from a second-intermission deficit to win on three occasions in 2014-15 (4-2 on Feb. 13 at St. Cloud State, 3-2 in overtime on Dec. 6 vs. Colorado College in Duluth and 3-2 at Omaha on Nov. 21 and). Coming into last year, the Bulldogs hadn't accomplished that feat since Nov. 10, 2010, going 0-43-3 in that situation prior to the Nov. 21, 2014 matchup with Omaha. They were 3-11-1 when trailing at the start of the third period last winter and are 0-1-1 this season.

• Last month, UMD announced that it will host the 2017 Ice Breaker Tournament. Joining the Bulldogs in the four-team field at AMSOIL Arena will be Minnesota, long-time rival Michigan Tech and 2014 NCAA champion Union College.

UP NEXT: UMD will return to AMSOIL Arena to host Denver in a pair of NCHC engagements on Nov. 13-14.