With a possible National Collegiate Hockey Conference home playoff berth on the line, the University of Minnesota Duluth will close out the 2014-15 regular season this Friday and Saturday (March 6-7) when the Bulldogs travel to Kalamazoo, Mich., for a pair of clashes with Western Michigan University. The puck drops at 6 p.m. (CT) both nights at Lawson Ice Arena (3,667) on the Western Michigan campus.

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THE RECORDS: UMD is 19-12-3 overall and 11-8-3-0 in the NCHC (fifth place) while Western Michigan will come into the weekend sporting a 12-15-5 record in all games to go with a 5-12-5-4 league mark (seventh place).

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how the Bulldogs and Broncos stacked up in the latest USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls as well as the PairWise rankings:

    USCHO.com    USA Today    PairWise
UMD    No. 6    No. 6    No. 3
WMU    NR    NR    No. 27(t)
    
ON THE AIR: The two UMD-Western Michigan bouts will be carried on 92.1 The Fan (WWAX-FM) with Bruce Ciskie handling the play-by-play duties. The broadcast can also be heard on KQ 105.5 FM in Grand Rapids/Hibbing; KQ 106.7 FM in Ely/Virginia; WXCX 105.7 FM in Pine City; and KKIN 930 AM in Atkin as part of the Bulldog Radio Network and at: 94xrocks.com.

Both ends of this weekend's series will be available on-line 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 266-257-70 overall record -- including a 144-97-33 mark since the 2008-09 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 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 Western Michigan have butted heads on only 12 occasions previously, including twice earlier this season (Jan. 16-17) in Duluth where Western Michigan skated away with five of a possible six points via a 2-2 overtime tie (and shootout) win and 4-2 triumph. UMD leads the all-time series 7-4-1.
 

Date	Score	Site
1/17/15	WMU 4, UMD 2	Duluth, MN
1/16/15	UMD 2, WMU 2 (OT)	Duluth, MN
3/15/14	WMU 4, UMD 3*	Duluth, MN
3/14/14	WMU 3, UMD 2*	Duluth, MN
2/1/14	UMD 3, WMU 1	Kalamazoo, Mich.
1/31/14	UMD 5, WMU 3	Kalamazoo, Mich.
12/14/13	UMD 4, WMU 3	Duluth, MN
12/13/13	WMU 5, UMD 4	Duluth, MN
1/7/12	UMD 5, WMU 2	Kalamazoo, Mich.
1/6/12	UMD 4, WMU 1	Kalamazoo, Mich.
10/18/08	UMD 6, WMU 5 (OT)	Duluth, MN
10/17/08	UMD 5, WMU 2	Duluth, MN

*NCHC Playoffs

LAST WEEKEND: The Bulldogs and the University of Nebraska-Omaha battled to a pair of 1-1 overtime ties last Friday and Saturday at AMSOIL Arena and the Mavericks prevailed both nights in the shootout to pick up the extra NCHC point. Sophomore defenseman Carson Soucy accounted for the lone UMD goal in the opener and senior right winger Justin Crandall did likewise the following evening. Rookie goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo turned aside 57 of 59 shots on the weekend for the Bulldogs, who held 1-0 third-period leads both nights.

Western Michigan rallied from a 2-0 deficit to salvage a 2-2 overtime tie and win the shootout at Colorado College on Friday night but were blanked 5-0 by the Tigers 24 hours later.

LET'S SEE HOW THEY DID: 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.

GO FIGURE: Home ice has hardly been an advantage for either UMD or Western Michigan during their somewhat budding rivalry. The Bulldogs are a perfect 4-0-0 lifetime against the Broncos at Lawson Arena but a mere 3-4-1 in Duluth.

FIT TO BE TIED: Prior to last weekend, UMD had never posted back-to-back 1-1 ties in its 71-year history. The Bulldogs have now required sudden death in three consecutive games, which is one game shy of the school record set both last year and during the 1992-93 season. UMD has managed to win just three of its last 19 games that have gone beyond regulation, going 3-5-11. Those three victories came against Colorado College on Dec. 6, 2014, St. Cloud State on Nov. 7, 2014 and Minnesota State-Mankato (Jan. 24, 2014). Only three active Bulldogs -- Alex Iafallo,Kyle Osterberg and junior center Cal Decowski -- have an overtime goal to their collegiate credit (one each).

THEIR BEST PERIOD, PERIOD: UMD has outscored the opposition 44-28 in the third period this season. Those 44 goals pace the NCHC and rank fourth nationally. Here is the Bulldogs period-by-period breakdown and how they measure up against their league and NCAA I colleagues
 

Period	Goals	NCHC Rank	NCAA Rank
1st	23	6th (t)	38th (t)
2nd	31	4th (t)	32nd (t)
3rd	44	1st (t)	4th (t)

AND THEN THERE WERE TWO: UMD and North Dakota remain the lone two NCHC clubs that haven't been swept in any series -- league or non-conference -- this winter. Since joining the NCAA I ranks in 1961-62, the Bulldogs have completed an entire regular season without enduring a series sweep only once. That came in 2010-11 when UMD went on to capture its first-ever NCAA national championship.

THEIR BEST YET: Seven out of a possible 17 Bulldog veterans have established career bests for points this winter. That includes sophomore left winger Alex Iafallo, who shares the team scoring lead with 25 points on the year:
 

Player	Yr.	Pts.	Previous High
Alex Iafallo	So.	25	22 (2013-14)
Dominic Toninato	So.	22	15 (2013-14)
Adam Krause	Sr.	17	13 (2013-14)
Cal Decowski	Jr.	15	14 (2013-14)
Willie Raskob	So.	13	12 (2013-14)
Carson Soucy	So.	12	6 (2013-14)
Austyn Young	Jr.	5	2 (2013-14)

In addition, senior defenseman Derik Johnson is one point away from equaling his career-high in that department (5 points in 2011-12).

IN A LEAGUE OF HIS OWN: 90 percent (18 of 20) of Justin Crandall's overall points this winter have come at the expense of NCHC clubs. That's a figure unrivaled by any of the 34 league skater with 20 or more points.

NO WALK IN THE PARK: Only nine (St. Cloud State University on Feb. 13-14, Northern Michigan University on Feb. 6-7, Bemidji State University on Jan. 23, Western Michigan on Jan. 16-17 and Colorado College on Dec. 5-6) of UMD's 34 games thus far have been against unranked opponents. The Bulldogs, who continue to lead the nation in strength of schedule, are 14-9-2 against nationally-ranked clubs this winter (3-2-0 vs. No. 1s) and 5-3-1 versus the rest.

THIS DEFENSE NEVER RESTS: Minutes muncher Andy Welinski has generated the second-most goals (a career-high seven) and shots (86) of any NCHC defenseman thus far. He and fellow junior Willie Corrin have both scored shorthanded once this season -- no other NCHC team has two pointmen who can make that claim. Collectively, UMD's eight-member blue line corps has combined for 19 goals this year -- after mustering just five (all of which came off the stick of Welinski) during the entire 2013-14 season -- and 43 points. Denver tops the NCHC in defensemen goal scoring with 22.

WELCOME BACK: After being sidelined for the past five games with an upper body injury, sophomore center Dominic Toninato returned to the Bulldog lineup last Friday night. Prior to being shelved on Feb. 7, the former Duluth East High School start had occupied the top spot on the UMD scoring charts with a career-high 22 points. His 14 overall goals this winter are also a personal best and rank eighth among all NCHC combatants while his shooting percentage (.194) is bettered by only four other league skaters. Tonintato, a two-time NCHC Offensive Player of the Week honoree in 2014-15, is also tied for first in the NCHC in road goals (10), is third in road scoring (17 points) and is one of six league combatants with two shorthanded goals to his 2014-15 credit. Of Toninato's 22 points, just eight have been registered in NCHC play (four goals and four assists).

THE MAGIC NUMBER: Going back to a 5-4 loss to visiting Minnesota on Oct. 15, 2011, the Bulldogs are unbeaten in 51 of the 52 games they've struck for more than three goals (46-1-5). The sole setback during that stretch was inflicted by Minnesota State-Mankato earlier this year (5-4 in overtime on Oct. 17 in Duluth).

THAT'S A PLUS: UMD currently sports three of the  NCHC's top nine plus-minus leaders in senior right winger Adam Krause (tied for second at +17), Alex Iafallo (fourth at +16) and Dominic Toninato (tied for six at +15). In addition, sophomore Carson Soucy, who collected UMD's lone last Friday night, ranks third in that department among league defensemen (+12).. Krause has finished with a negative plus-minus rating in just three of his 26 games this season while rookie defenseman Nick McCormack has yet to do so as a collegian (10 outings thus far).

SHOOTOUT STATS: UMD is 2-3 lifetime in NCHC shootouts (all of which have been contested at AMSOIL Arena) and sophomore left winger Alex Iafallo (twice) and sophomore center Dominic Toninato (once) are the lone current Bulldogs to score in a the post-overtime event. The following are all-time NCHC shootout statistics for current Bulldogs:
 

Player	Att.	Made	Missed	Pct.
Dominic Toninato	1	0	1	1.000
Alex Iafallo	3	2	1	.667
Justin Crandall	2	0	0	.000
Austin Farley	2	0	2	.000
Kyle Osterberg	2	0	2	.000
Andy Welinski	2	0	2	.000
Cal Decowski	1	0	1	.000

 

Player	Att.	Saves	Pct.
Kasimir Kaskisuo	9	3	.333

ALL ALONE: Kasimir Kaskisuo, the Hockey Commissioners' Association Rookie of the Month who made 57 saves -- on 59 stops in 130:00 of work last weekend, and North Dakota junior Zane McIntyre are the only two NCHC netminders who have played in every minute of their team's conference outings thus far. Among the nation's first-year goalies, Kaskisuo is second in victories (16 -- two less than the leader St. Lawrence University's Kyle Hayton), third in starts (28), fifth in saves (668) and winning percentage (.611 off a 16-10-1 record) and sixth in goals against average (2.32). Kaskisuo, whose 15 victories this season are the most by a Bulldog since Kenny Reiter went 23-9-6 as a senior in 2011-12, accumulated a career-high 45 saves in last Saturday's 4-3 overtime setback to Miami. The last Bulldog to turn aside more shots was Aaron Crandall on Jan. 11, 2014 (52 in a 3-1 road triumph over Omaha). The Vantaa, Finland, native and former Minnesota Wilderness (North American Hockey League) puckstopper is the sixth European to enlist his services with the Bulldogs and the first non-North American to play for 15th-year head coach Scott Sandelin.

GETTING THE SHORT END: The seven shorthanded goals UMD has amassed this year are third only to the nine generated by both North Dakota and the University of Massachusetts' nine among NCAA clubs and are three more than its entire 2013-14 output. The school single-season record for shorties is 12 set by the 1992-93 Bulldogs. That club was captained by current UMD assistant coach Derek Plante (who scored four times that year while his team was a man down). Five Bulldogs have bagged their first collegiate shorthanded goals this season -- senior right winger Justin Crandall, junior defenseman Willie Corrin and Andy Welinski, junior center Tony Cameranesi and freshmen right winger Karson Kuhlman.

BULLDOG BITS: Sophomore left winger Alex Iafallo, who sat out both ends of the Omaha series with an illness, continues to hold a share of the UMD scoring lead (with junior center Tony Cameranesi) with 25 points. All but five of Iafallo's 25 have been registered in Bulldog victories

• Junior Austin Farley skated in his 100th collegiate game last Friday, six days after his roommate, senior defenseman Derik Johnson, reached that milestone at Miami.

• Sophomore defenseman Brenden Kotyk, who spent his rookie year at the College of St. Scholastica, potted his first -- and only -- Bulldog goal in UMD's 2-2 tie with Western Michigan back on Jan. 16.

• UMD is 10-3-2 when holding the opposition scoreless on the power play this season.

•The Bulldogs' 19 overall victories (19-12-3) are three more than their entire 2013-14 total (16-6-4) while their 11 NCHC wins (11-8-1) are one more than they finished with last year (10-10-4).

• Eight different Bulldogs have claimed NCHC Player of the Week honors so far in 2014-15 -- only North Dakota with nine, has more. UMD is the only program to have two goalies recognized this year (Kasimir Kaskisuo on Oct. 27 and Nov. 17 and Matt McNeely on Oct. 13).

• Among NCHC newcomers, right winger Karson Kuhlman is third in shots on goal (71), sixth in goals (seven) and eighth in scoring (15 points), and remains the only league rookie with a shorthanded goal on his 2014-15 stat line. First-year center Jared Thomas has won the second most faceoffs (151) of any league novice.

• UMD continues to possess both the NCHC's second-highest scoring junior (96 points) and sophomore (90 pts.) classes.

• Sophomore defenseman Carson Soucy, the only UMD product to ever be drafted by the Minnesota Wild (fifth round in 2013), has the best career plus-minus rating (+19) of any 2014-15 Bulldog.

• The Bulldogs have drawn first blood in 27 of their 36 victories the last two seasons, going 27-8-4 in that situation -- 13-4-2 this winter). On the other hand, they are a mere 8-19-3 when the opposition has taken a 1-0 lead during that stretch (6-8-1 in 2014-15).

• Center Tony Cameranesi and defenseman Andy Welinski, who were both members of the WCHA All-Rookie Team in 2012-13, have taken a shift all 106 outings since joining the Bulldog program two years ago. Cameranesi has picked up at least one point in 16 of the past 20 games.

• 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.

• 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).

• The Bulldogs could finish as high as second and as low as seventh in the final NCHC standings.