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Before the University of Minnesota Duluth ushers in the New Year it has one final matter to attend to -- the Ledyard Men's Hockey Classic in Hanvover, N.H. The Bulldogs will square off with Yale University at 3:05 p.m. (CT) this Friday in one opening round matchup before taking on host Dartmouth College the following evening (6:05 p.m.) at Thompson Arena (4,500). The University of New Hampshire is the other tournament participant.

THE RECORDS: UMD is 8-9-2 overall and 3-7-0-0 in NCHC play (seventh place) while Yale sports a 5-7-0 record in all games to go with a 4-6-0 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference mark (tied for fifth place with Harvard University and Brown University). Dartmouth comes into the weekend at 3-8-1 overall and holding a share of tenth place in the ECAC standings (with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) at 2-4-1.

HOW THEY RANK: This is how the Bulldogs, Yale and Dartmouth stacked up in the latest USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls.
 

	USCHO.com	USA Today
UMD	No. 17	RV
Yale	NR	NR
Dartmouth	NR	NR

   

ON THE AIR: UMD'S two Ledyard Classic bouts will be carried live on KDAL-Radio (610 AM and 103.9 FM) with Bruce Ciskie handling the play-by-play responsibilities. This marks the 50th year KDAL has been the radio home for Bulldog hockey. The broadcast can also be heard at: kdal610.com.

The entire Ledyard Classic will be videostreamed and  is available on-line for a fee at: ivyleaguenetwork.com.

LAST WEEK: The Bulldogs have been idle since splitting a two-game NCHC road series with the University of Nebraska-Omaha on Dec. 8-9  (a 7-5 loss followed by a 6-2 Bulldog win.).

Yale hasn't played since upending host Sacred Heart University 2-1 on Dec. 9 while Dartmouth's last activity came on Dec. 16 when it took down No. 2 Denver 5-4 on the road after succumbing 1-0 to the Pioneers the previous night.

THE RIVALRY: UMD and Yale have met just seven times previously, with the last of those confrontations coming on March 26, 2011 in NCAA East Regional title game in Bridgeport, Conn., where UMD prevailed 5-3. UMD is 6-1-0 lifetime against Yale and a perfect 4-0-0 under head coach Scott Sandelin.

UMD and Dartmouth haven't squared off since Dec. 30, 1995 when the Bulldogs skated away with a 3-2 triumph and the Sheraton/USAir Classic championship trophy in Burlington, Vermont.  The Big Green won the inaugural outing between the two clubs (5-4 in overtime on Dec. 26, 1953 at the old Duluth Curling Club), but the Bulldogs are 3-0-0 against Dartmouth since then.

A BULLDOG FIRST: UMD intercollegiate hockey has been in existence for 74 years, but this weekend marks the Bulldogs' first-ever trip to Hanover, N.H.

ALL HANDS ON DECK: Nearly a fifth of UMD's roster (five of 26) will not be paying a visit to Thompson Arena this weekend as that quintet  -- sophomore wingers Joey Anderson and Riley Tufte and freshmen defensemen Mikey Anderson, Scott Perunovich and Dylan Samberg -- is currently in Buffalo, N.Y., skating for the U.S. at the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship.

UMD and Boston University have more representatives (five) competing in that 10-team event than any other NCAA  school.

Joey Anderson, who is serving as the U.S. team captain, became the first Bulldog to win a gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championships one year ago as he and his U.S. teammates posted a 5-4 shootout-round victory over Canada in the title game at Montreal's Bell Centre. In six tournament games, Anderson collected two assists and was a +1 while skating on the team's top line and a regular shift on the penalty killing unit.

Joey and Mikey Anderson are just the third set of brothers to represent the U.S. in the same world junior tournament, joining Neal and Aaron Broten (1979) and Chris and Peter Ferraro (1992, 1993).

In all, 20 UMD products have now competed in the IIHF World Junior Championship (19 for the U.S. and one for Canada), with Joey Anderson and Brian Johnson (U.S. in 1984 and 1985) being the only Bulldogs to do so twice. Current UMD bench boss Scott Sandelin served as the U.S. head coach in 2005 and as an assistant seven years later.

Prior to this year, the most Bulldogs to ever take part in the same IIHF World Junior Championship was three back in 1982.

ALL HANDS ON DECK II: Joey and Mikey Anderson, Perunovich, Samberg and Tufte have accounted for for 37.3 percent of UMD's goals (19 of 51) and points (50 of 134) and 46.2 percent of its power play scores (6 of 13). They also are a collective +20.

TOURNEY TIDBITS: The Bulldogs have been beaten in back-to-back games only once in their 37 lifetime regular season tournaments. That happened five years ago at the Florida College Hockey Classic in Estero, Fla. (1-0 to the University of Maine and 6-2 to Ferris State University on Dec. 28-29, 2012).

TOURNEY TIDBITS II: The Bulldogs have taken part in 11 regular season tournaments since Scott Sandelin assumed the UMD head coaching role in 2000-01 and have won two of those -- the 2017 North Star College Cup in St. Paul and the 2001 Maverick Stampede in Omaha.

NEXT MAN UP: With team scoring leader Scott Perunovich in Buffalo, junior center Peter Kreiger is now the top point producer the Bulldogs will have in their lineup this weekend.  Krieger, who sat out all of last year after transferring to UMD from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, has generated four goals (including a team-leading three game-winners) and nine assists for 13 points -- three less than Perunovich. He has scored seven of those points (all assists) in nine road outings this winter.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: The Bulldogs have outscored their opponents 17-10 in the opening 20 minutes of play this season and that 0.53 goals against average ranks sixth among all NCAA I clubs.

BUT WAIT A SECOND: One the other hand, UMD has been outscored 23-11 in the second period thus far and has gone seven straight games without a goal in that middle frame before striking against Omaha on Dec. 8. UMD's second-period goal differential (-12)is the third lowest in the country at the moment with only St. Lawrence University (-18) and Lake Superior State University (-20) doing worse.

IRONMAN KUHLMAN: Senior team captain Karson Kuhlman, who leads all current Bulldogs in career goals (29), assists (37), points (66) and plus-minus rating (+35), has not missed a game since joining the Bulldog program in 2014-15. His active ironman streak of 141 consecutive appearances is the longest in NCAA I hockey at the moment. Kuhlman is one of 20 candidates for the 2017-18 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, which is presented annually to an NCAA I athlete in 10 sports (men's hockey, baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's lacrosse, softball, football, men's and women's soccer and women's volleyball) based on achievement in the "Four C's" -- classroom, character, community and competition.

NEVER ENOUGH: Omaha did something on Dec. 8 that no other UMD opponent had done in nearly 12 years – give up five goals and still skate away with a victory. The last club to accomplish that feat was St. Cloud State, which toppled the Bulldogs 6-5 on Jan. 20, 2007 in St. Cloud, Minn.

WORKING OVERTIME: The Bulldogs are unbeaten in the last 16 games that have gone beyond regulation, going 7-0-9 since falling 2-1 to North Dakota on Feb. 19, 2016 in Grand Forks, N.D. That includes a 1-0-2 in three extra sessions this season. Just two current Bulldogs -- senior team captain Karson Kuhlman and junior assistant team captain Parker Mackay (one each) -- have an overtime goal to his collegiate credit.

SPREADING THE WEALTH: Ten different Bulldogs have scored a power play goal in 2017-18, including freshmen Mikey Anderson and Nick Swaney and sophomore Joey Anderson, who all have a Bulldog-best two.

TAKE IT TO THE BANK: Since falling 4-3 to host Miami in overtime on Feb. 21, 2015, the Bulldogs are 40-0-3
when taking a lead into the third period. They were 17-0-2 in that situation last season and 7-0-1 thus far in 2017-18.

PUCK HUNTER: Sophomore Hunter Shepard, a two-time NCHC Goalie of the Week Honoree in 2017-18, has received the starting nod in 14 consecutive games going back to Oct. 21.  Shepard turned in his second career shutout last month (Nov. 10) against Western Michigan (3-0) in just his ninth collegiate start. The only Bulldog to ever record his first two shutouts any quicker was Hunter Miska, who took five starts to do so (and nine starts to get his third) one year ago.

GET SHORTIE: The Bulldogs have allowed just two shorthanded goals in their last 84 games (at St. Cloud State on Nov. 4, 2017 and Colorado College on Jan. 6, 2017 in Duluth).

GET SHORTIE II: Last month (Nov. 3) at St. Cloud State, Karson Kuhlman potted UMD's first shorthanded goal of the season -- giving him three for his career. No other 2017-18 Bulldog has ever scored with a man down as a collegian.

BETTER THAN BEFORE:  Three Bulldog veterans have already established or equaled career bests for points this winter:

Player                   Yr.    Pts.    Previous High
Jared Hilderman    So.    4       1 (2016-17)
Jade Miller             So.    3       1 (2016-17)
Blake Young           Sr.    6       3 (2016-17)

... with a couple others closing in:

Player                Yr.    Pts.    Previous High
Jared Thomas    Sr.    10       13 (2014-15)
Nick Wolff          So.    8        12  (2016-17)

GIVING IT THEIR BEST SHOT: UMD currently ranks fifth nationally in shot differential with +7.21 per game average. It's also fifth in shots allowed (25.42 per game) and 12th in shots taken (32.63). UMD has held the upper hand in shots in 14 of its 19 games to date.

GIVING IT HIS BEST SHOT: Sophomore left winger Riley Tufte has put 66 shots on net this year, which ties him for 19th nationally and for third in the NCHC.

GREAT SCOTT!: The 18 seasons Scott Sandelin has presided over the UMD puck program is the second longest tenure of any NCHC head coach. (Enrico Blasi is in his 19th year at Miami). It also ties him with Mike Sertich (1982-2000) as the longest serving bench boss in Bulldog history. Sandelin currently ranks 15th among all active NCAA I coaches in career victories (he is 323-293-84 overall).

BLOCK PARTY: Defenseman Dylan Samberg, one of nine Bulldogs who has seen ice time in all 19 games thus far, has blocked 36 shots this season. That not only leads UMD (and is third overall in the NCHC), but it's third highest total of any NCAA rookie (University of Connecticut's Adam Karashik has been credited with 43 blocks and Michigan State University's Tommy Miller with 39). Samberg, Mikey Anderson (21), Scott Perunovich (16),  Louie Roehl (17) and Matt ANdreson (11) occupy the top five of the top 13 spots on the NCHC blocked shots charts for freshmen.

COMING UP EMPTY: After entering the 2017-18 season having gone 66 straight games without being shut out, the Bulldogs have already been held scoreless by the opposition on four occasions this season (including last night). That's the most times a UMD club has been blanked since the 2007-08 season when the opposition posted a school-record seven shutouts.

A NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER: Scott Perunovich had himself quite a November and was aptly recognized for his efforts by being selected the NCHC Rookie of the Month. In seven games during November, Perunovich generated six points on one goal and five assists and also blocked 10 shots.

NOT SO SWEEP: UMD has been swept only twice in their last 26 regular season series overall (going back to Feb. 19-20, 2016) and both of those have come this year -- at St. Cloud State (5-3 and 5-0 on Nov. 3-4) and against Denver (1-0 and 2-1 on Dec. 1-2). Last winter marked just the third time 56 years of competing at the NCAA I level that UMD went through an entire regular season without being beaten on back-to-back nights by the same opponent. UMD also accomplished that feat in 2010-11 (when it won its first, and only, NCAA championship) and in 2014-15.

AT THE HEAD OF THEIR CLASS: The Bulldogs sport the NCHC's highest-scoring freshmen class at the moment (they are tied for seventh nationally with 45 points).

AT THE HEAD OF THEIR CLASS II: In addition to amassing the seventh-most points in the country, the UMD freshmen class also ranks first nationally in blocked shots (105), third in power play points (18), third in shots (10.06 per game) and third in power play goals (six).

POWER SWITCH: UMD has connected on just 12.1 percent of its power plays on the road this season (4 of 33) compared with 20.5 (9 of 44) at home. Opponents are scoring at a 27.5 percent clip with the man advantage compared to 19.5 percent at AMSOIL Arena.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs will be off again next weekend  before returning to the ice to resume NCHC warfare at Colorado College on Jan. 12-13, 2018.