Armed with a five-game unbeaten streak, the University of Minnesota Duluth will take its show on the road to Fargo, N.D., this Friday (March 24) for the NCAA West Regionals and a semifinal round clash with Ohio State University. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m. at Scheels Arena (5,000). That will proceed the other first round matchup between Boston University and the University of North Dakota.

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THE RECORDS: UMD, which is unbeaten in 16 of its last 17 games (13-1-3), is 25-6-7 overall and finished second in the final NCHC standings at 15-5-4-3. Ohio State owns a 21-11-6 record and placed third in the six-team Big Ten Conference. Boston University (23-11-3 overall) captured a share of the Hockey East regular season title (with Boston College and the University of Massachusetts-Lowell) while North Dakato (21-15-3) took fourth in the NCHC.

THE SEEDS: UMD is the West Regional's No. 1 seed followed by Boston University (No. 2), North Dakota (No. 3) and Ohio State (No. 4).
 
HOW THEY RANK: Here is how this year's West Regional participants 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. 3	No. 3	No. 2
OSU	No. 14	No. 14	No. 15
BU	No. 6	No. 6	No. 7
UND	No. 10	No. 10	No. 10

ON THE AIR: All of UMD's games this weekend will be carried live on 92.1 FM The Fan with Bruce Ciskie handling the play-by-play responsibilities. The broadcast can also be heard at: network1sports.com/station/kqds.

The UMD-Ohio State semifinal as well as the West Regional championship will be aired on ESPNU/WatchESPN with ESPN2/WatchESPN televising the first semifinal on Friday. Clay Matvik (play-by-play) and Sean Ritchlin (analyst) are serving as the on-air talent.

THE RIVALRY: UMD and Ohio State have met only seven times previously, with the last of those coming on Nov. 2, 2013 in Columbus, Ohio. The Bulldogs are 2-4-1 lifetime against the Buckeyes.
 

Date	Result	Site
11/2/13	OSU 4, UMD 2	Columbus, Ohio
11/1/13	UMD 3, OSU 1	Columbus, Ohio
10/13/12	OSU 3, UMD 2	Duluth, Minn.
10/12/12	UMD 6, OSU 2	Duluth, Minn.
12/29/06	OSU 4, UMD 1*	Columbus, Ohio
12/19/79	OSU 6, UMD 1	Duluth, Minn.
12/27/74	UMD 3, OSU 3#	St. Louis, Mo.

*Ohio Hockey Classic (opening round)
#University of St. Louis Tournament (3rd place game)

LAST WEEKEND: UMD captured its first NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship by besting the University of North Dakota 4-3 in the title game Saturday night at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The Bulldogs, who skated off with a 5-2 over Western Michigan University in the semifinal round one night earlier, got goals from four different players in the championship bout, three of which came on the power play. That included rookie right winger Joey Anderson's 5-on-3 game-winner with 51 seconds remaining in the third period. Senior center Dominic Toninato, freshman left winger Riley Tufte and sophomore center Adam Johnson also scored for UMD while rookie goaltender Hunter Miska made 32 saves with 15 of those coming in the first period when the Bulldogs were outshot 16-4 and spent 9:22 of the 20 minutes killing penalties. The two long-time rivals combined for five man advantage goals on 16 opportunities in addition to racking up 27 penalties. Against Western Michigan, the Bulldogs never trailed the entire evening and struck for three unanswered goals after the Broncos had knotted the contest up at 2-2 midway through the second period. Senior left winger Alex Iafallo, sophomore right winger Parker Mackay and senior Kyle Osterberg each had a goal and an assist while Adam Johnson helped set up three scores.

Ohio State was ousted from the Big Ten Tournament via a 2-1 setback to the University of Wisconsin on Friday in Detroit, Mich., after opening play the previous afternoon by taking down Michigan State 4-2.

UMD IN THE BIG DANCE: This year's NCAA Tournament berth is the 11th ever for UMD and marks the first time any Bulldog club has made five national appearances in a seven-year stretch. UMD has also qualified for the NCAA postseason three years in row -- something that has happened on only one other occasions (1983-85) in program history.

• UMD made the NCAA playoffs last spring (advancing to the quarterfinal round in Worcester, Mass.), in 2014-15 (quarterfinal round in Manchester, N.H.), 2012-13 (quarterfinal round in Worcester, Mass), 2010-11 (captured the school's first NCAA championship), 2008-09 (quarterfinal round in Minneapolis, Minn.) and 2003-04 (Frozen Four semifinals) under Scott Sandelin as well as in 1992-93 (quarterfinal round), 1984-85 (Frozen Four third place), 1983-84 (Frozen Four runnerup) and 1982-83 (quarterfinal round). UMD has compiled a 16-11-0 lifetime record in the NCAA Tournament and a 10-5-0 mark since Sandelin's arrival in 2000-01.

• This year marks the first time the Bulldogs have ever been a No. 1 regional seed.

• Since the NCAA went to a regional format in 1987-88, the Bulldogs are a perfect 7-0 in first round games.

THEY KNOW THE DRILL: The West Regional features three of the last six NCAA national champions in Boston University (2009), UMD (2011) and North Dakota (2016).

THIS ISN'T THEIR FIRST RODEO: A dozen current Bulldogs have NCAA playoff experience on their respective resumes, including seniors Alex Iafallo, Brenden Kotyk, Kyle Osterberg, Willie Raskob, Carson Soucy, and Dominic Toninato, juniors Karson Kuhlman, Avery Peterson (with Nebraska-Omaha in 2015 when the Mavericks advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four), and Jared Thomas, and sophomores Adam Johnson, Parker Mackay and Neal Pionk.

ON A ROLL: While the Bulldogs possess the nation's longest winning streak at five games, their three West Regional comrades (Boston University, Ohio State and North Dakota) all suffered losses in their most recent activity.

THEY HAVE THIS IN COMMON: UMD and Ohio State have had three common opponents in 2016-17 -- Denver, Miami and the University of Minnesota. Here is how each school fared against that trio
 

UMD	Opponent	OSU
1-1-0	Denver	1-0-0
4-0-0	Miami	0-1-1
1-0-0	Minnesota	2-2-0
6-1	Totals	3-3-1

ONE HOT 'DOG: Senior left winger Alex Iafallo will come into Friday clash against Boston University toting a career-high 11-game scoring streak. During that stretch he has rolled up 20 points on eight goals and 12 assists. Iafallo is the first Bulldog in five years to reach the 40-point plateau with the last to do so being Jack Connolly, Travis Oleksuk and J.T. Brown during their farewell collegiate seasons. Iafallo currently tops UMD in overall points (45), goals (18) and assists (27). All three of those figures are career highs. Iafallo is also one of 11 league skaters with a hat trick to his 2016-17 credit. In fact, by scoring three times in UMD's 5-2 home win over North Dakota on Oct. 28, 2016, Iafallo became the first Bulldog to record a hat trick since current Tampa Bay Lightning winger J.T. Brown struck for four goals at the University of Alaska Anchorage on Feb. 3, 2012. In last month's 2-1 triumph at Colorado College, Iafallo became the 57th member of UMD's 100-point club. In 146 lifetime outings, the Eden, N.Y., product has generated 45 goals and 70 assists and joins Omaha's Austin Ortega (139 points), Miami's Anthony Louis (126 pts.) and Denver's Will Butcher (101 pts.) as the only four current NCHC combatants to hit the century point mark.

• Iafallo's numbers in March read 11 points on four goals and seven assists in six games. Nationally, only Ohio State's Mason Jobst (13 points in six outings) has enjoyed a better month.

• This past winter, Iafallo reigned as the NCHC scoring champion (a Bulldog program first) after accumulating 11 goals and 19 assists for 30 points in 24 league games. He became the seventh Bulldog to reign as a conference scoring champion with the others being Jack Connolly (2011-12), Junior Lessard (2003-04), Chris Marinucci (1993-94), Derek Plante (1992-93), Bill Watson (1984-85 and 1983-84) and Keith "Huffer" Christiansen (1966-67), all of whom did it while UMD was a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Connolly, Lessard, Marinucci and Watson were all Hobey Baker Memorial Award winners.

• Iafallo has turned in two-point nights in each of the past five games.

ICING ON THE CAKE: Senior center Dominic Toninato, freshman goaltender Hunter Miska, and sophomore defenseman Neal Pionk were named to the six-member NCHC Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament Team as was senior left winger Alex Iafallo, who also landed the event's Most Valuable Player Award after collecting one goal and three assists on the weekend.

CHART TOPPER: UMD has spent a school-record 11 weeks slotted first in the USCHO.com Poll during the course of the 2016-17 season.

WHERE SHOTS GO TO DIE: Goaltender Hunter Miska, the NCHC's Rookie of the Month for both January and February, is unbeaten in his last 16 appearances, stringing together a 13-0-3 record since Jan. 14. Miska ranks second among NCAA puckstoppers in winning percentage (.803 of a 24-5-4 mark) and is tied for fourth in both victories (24, the fourth-highest single- season total in team history) and shutouts (a school record-tying five). Miska's road winning percentage of .906 (14-1-1) is the nation's best as are his road wins. The first Bulldog netminder to ever begin his career by going 6-0-0, Miska is also a five-time NCHC Goalie/Rookie of the Week award winner, and will enter this Friday's NCAA West Regional semifinal having made 32 consecutive starts.

ROAD, SWEET ROAD: UMD has generated a 14-2-3 record away from AMSOIL Arena in 2016-17 and that .815 road winning percentage is the best in the country while the two losses are the fewest of any NCAA club. The Bulldogs are unbeaten in 21 of their last 25 road assignments, going 18-4-3 since being upended by North Dakota 2-1 on Feb. 20, 2016. The lone setbacks during that run came at the hands of Western Michigan (7-4 on March 4, 2017), Denver (4-3 on Dec. 9, 2016), Boston College (3-2 on March 26, 2016 in the NCAA Northeast Regional championship) and St. Cloud State (3-1 on March 19, 2016 at the NCHC Frozen Four title game). UMD's all-time best road records (NCAA I-era) are as follows:
 

Year	Record	Win Pct.
1983-84	13-5-0	.722
2010-11	14-5-4	.696
2011-12	11-5-5	.643
1984-85	12-7-1	.625
2003-04	13-8-4	.600
2002-03	11-7-2	.600

OH, FOR PETE'S SAKE: Junior center Avery Peterson, who transferred to UMD from Omaha one year ago and sat out the next two semesters, took his first Bulldog shift on Dec. 17, 2016 at Bemidji State. In 21 games, the Grand Rapids, Minn., native has contributed 14 points (seven goals -- including four game winners -- and seven assists) to the UMD scoring coffers and is a +10 to boot. In his NCAA playoff debut two years ago, Peterson scored once and helped set up another goal in Omaha's 4-1 triumph over Harvard in the Midwest Regional semifinals.

BLOCK PARTY: UMD has blocked more shots this season (14.19 per game) than any NCHC member and ranks ninth nationally after finishing 54th out of 60 NCAA I squads one year ago (10.9 bpg). Senior defenseman Brenden Kotyk paces the Bulldogs in the blocks department (2.11 a night -- the third highest total in the NCHC). UMD was credited with a 2016-17 season-high 26 blocks last Saturday night against North Dakota at the NCHC Frozen Faceoff.

JOHNNY ON THE SPOT: Sophomore Adam Johnson, the 2017 NCHC Frozen Faceoff scoring leader (five points on one goal and four assists), is the lone Bulldog who has been used at four different positions this winter -- left wing, center, right wing and defense (for one game against Miami on March 10).

ONE FOR THE BOOKS: The 2016-17 Bulldogs wound up with program's second-best regular season record -- and fewest regular season losses -- since they joined the NCAA ranks in 1961-62. The following are UMD's top 10 regular season winning percentages:
 

Year	Record	Win Pct.
1984-85	29-7-2	.789
2016-17	21-6-7	.721
1983-84	24-9-2	.714
1992-93	23-9-2	.706
2011-12	22-8-6	.694
2003-04	23-10-4	.675
1985-86	25-12-1	.671
2010-11	20-9-6	.657
1982-83	25-13-1	.654
1978-79	24-11-4	.639

No Bulldog club in the program's 73-year history has gone 36 games while suffering only six losses. The only team to come close to that accomplishment was the 2011-12 Bulldogs, who had six setbacks at the 30-game juncture.

ONE FOR THE BOOKS II: The 2016-17 Bulldogs clinched a home NCHC playoff berth for the third time in the league's four-year history in addition to racking up a program-best 15 NCHC victories and securing the program's highest NCHC finish ever (second place).

HOW SWEEP WAS THAT?: UMD also did something in 2016-17 that only two other Bulldogs clubs had ever done before in 56 years of competing at the NCAA I level -- go through an entire regular season without being swept. UMD also accomplished that feat in 2010-11 (when it won its first, and only, NCAA championship) and two years ago.

MAKING A POINT ON THE POINT: Sophomore Neal Pionk, who has set personal bests for goals (seven) and assists (25) this season, is tied for seventh on the NCAA defensemen scoring charts with 32 points. Pionk leads UMD in power play points (17) and is one of two Bulldogs with an extra attacker goal this winter (junior center Adam Johnson is the other).

HITTING HIS STRIDE: After being held pointless in his first 14 collegiate games, freshman left winger Riley Tufte has accumulated 13 points (eight goals and five assists) in the 19 outings since.

THE COMEBACK KIDS: UMD has trailed the opposition 13 times at the second intermission this season and has suffered only four losses in those outings (4-4-5). The Bulldogs' four comeback wins are the second most in the nation at the moment (Princeton University has five) while their .500 winning percentage in that situation is tops among all 60 NCAA I clubs.

LENDING A HAND: Right winger and IIHF World Junior Championship gold medalist Joey Anderson currently leads all NCHC rookies in assists with 20 (the ninth highest freshman total in the nation) and is third in scoring (30 points). The Roseville, Minn., native and NCHC Rookie of the Month for November has accumulated more of his points in losses this season (five) than any other Bulldog.

NO WALK IN THE PARK: Colorado College (Jan. 6-7 and on Feb. 17-18) and Miami (on Feb. 23-24 and March 10-11) are the only opponents UMD has faced this season that, at the time they played the Bulldogs, were not ranked or received votes in the USCHO.com Poll.

NO WALK IN THE PARK II: UMD ranked first in the country in regular season strength of schedule after placing second in that department last winter and first in 2014-15.

NO WALK IN THE PARK III: The Bulldogs are an impressive 13-4-2 against the rest of the 2017 NCAA playoff field.

IRONMAN KUHLMAN: Junior right winger and assistant team captain Karson Kuhlman, who is a team-leading +41 for his career, has hit the ice in all 118 games over the last three seasons -- a claim no other Bulldog can make.

A SENIOR MOMENT: UMD sports the nation's third highest-scoring senior class as that seven-member ensemble has combined to rack up and 136 points on 55 goals and 89 assists -- all NCHC bests.

UMD's 2016-17 senior class is the third largest of Scott Sandelin's 17-season head coaching tenure, bettered only by the 2014-15 (eight) and 2004-05 (11) clubs. That group of graduating Bulldogs, who were freshmen during UMD's first year of competition in the NCHC, includes center and 2016-17 team captain Dominic Toninato, wingers Alex Iafallo and Kyle Osterberg, and defensemen Brenden Kotyk (an assistant team captain), Dan Molenaar, Willie Raskob and Carson Soucy (an assistant team captain).

GOOD LUCK CHARMS: The Bulldogs are 11-0-1 this season when senior left winger Kyle Osterberg has collected a goal and 11-0-3 when senior center Dominic Toninato has scored. They are also a perfect 8-0-0 when senior defenseman Dan Molenaar has generated a point and 5-0-1 when freshman right winger Billy Exell has done so.

NO DOUBTING THOMAS: Since putting the clamps on a 69-game goal-less skid (which stretched back to October 2015) on March 4, junior center Jared Thomas has scored three times in five outings.

THE EXTRA WORK HAS BEEN WORTH IT: The Bulldogs are unbeaten in the last 11 games that have gone beyond regulation, going 4-0-7 since falling 2-1 to North Dakota on Feb. 19, 2016 in Grand Forks, N.D. That includes a 3-0-7 mark this year. Just four active Bulldogs -- senior left wingers Kyle Osterberg (three) and Alex Iafallo (one), junior right winger Karson Kuhlman (one -- at last year's Northeast Regional semifinals vs. Providence) and senior center Dominic Toninato (one) -- have a overtime goal on their collegiate resume. Osterberg (two), Union College's Mike Vecchione (three), Miami's Josh Melnick (two), Mercyhurst College's Matthew Whittaker (two) and Holy Cross's Johnny Coughlin (two) are the only five players in the nation with multiple sudden death goals in 2016-17. This season, UMD has outshot the opposition 43-15 in 10 overtime sessions and those 43 shots as well as the +28 shot margin leads all NCAA I schools.

THAT'S A PLUS: Five of the NCHC's top 10 plus-minus leaders are Bulldogs -- sophomore defenseman Neal Pionk and senior center Dominic Toninato (both tied for third at +22) junior right winger Karson Kuhlman  tied for sixth at +20), and senior left winger Alex Iafallo and senior defenseman Brenden Kotyk (both tied for eighth at +29). Of the 23 Bulldog forwards and defensemen who have taken a shift this season, only junior left winger Blake Young (-2) and sophomore right winger Billy Exell (-1) own a negative plus-minus rating.

THAT'S A PLUS II: Both senior defenseman Brenden Kotyk and sophomore defenseman Neal Pionk are a nation-leading +18 in the third period this season.

THAT'S A PLUS III: Nick Wolff ranks seventh among the country's rookie defensemen in plus-minus rating with a +14 mark.

BETTER THAN BEFORE: 12 out of a possible 16 Bulldog veterans have established or equaled career bests for points this winter:
 

Player	Yr.	Pts.	Previous High
Billy Exell	So.	6	4 (2015-16)
Alex Iafallo	Sr.	45	25 (2014-15)
Adam Johnson	So.	36	18 (2015-16)
Brenden Kotyk	Sr.	12	6 (2014-15)
Karson Kuhlman	Jr.	22	20 (2015-16)
Parker Mackay	So.	12	6 (2015-16)
Dan Molenaar	Sr.	9	3 (2013-14)
Neal Pionk	So.	32	17 (2015-16)
Carson Soucy	Sr.	15	14 (2014-15)
Sammy Spurrell	Jr.	4	4 (2013-14)
Dominic Toninato	Sr.	27	26 (2015-16
Blake Young	Jr.	3	1 (2015-16)

... with three of the four others closing in:
 

Player	Yr.	Pts.	Previous High
Nick McCormack	Jr.	1	5 (2014-15)
Kyle Osterberg	So.	23	27 (2013-14)
Willie Raskob	Sr.	13	17 (2014-15)
Jared Thomas	Jr.	11	13 (2014-15)

GET SHORTIE: UMD has collected six shorthanded goals this winter, three of which have come at the expense of North Dakota. That includes a school record-tying two in the Bulldogs' 3-0 victory over the Fighting Hawks on Oct. 29. The most recent shortie came at Western Michigan on March 4 off the stick of senior left winger Alex Iafallo -- his second of the year and his career.

GET SHORTIE II: Conversely, the Bulldogs have given up just one shorthanded goal since Dec. 12, 2015 (a run of 61 games) and that was to Colorado College's Sam Rothstein on Jan. 6, 2017.

PLENTY LEFT IN THE TANK: The Bulldogs have outscored the opposition 47-22 in the third period this season and that +25 goal differential ranks first in the country. UMD has also given up the fewest third-period goals (just 0.58 per game) of any NCAA club to date.

TAKE IT TO THE BANK: Since falling to host Miami 4-3 in overtime on Feb. 21, 2015, the Bulldogs are 32-0-2 when taking a lead into the third period. They are 16-0-2 in that situation thus far in 2016-17.

TAKE IT TO THE BANK II: Going back to a 5-4 loss to visiting Minnesota on Oct. 15, 2011, the Bulldogs are unbeaten in 80 of the 82 games in which they have scored three or more goals. The sole two setbacks during that stretch was inflicted by Minnesota State-Mankato on Oct. 17, 2014 in Duluth (5-4 in overtime) and Western Michigan on March 3, 2017 (7-4).

FIT TO BE TIED: The Bulldogs' seven ties this season were one shy of the program record set during the 2008-09 season.

A BLAST FROM THE PAST: Fourth-year Ohio State head coach Steve Rohlik was part of Scott Sandelin's original coaching ensemble at UMD in 1999-2000 and spent 10 seasons as his chief assistant. Current Bulldog assistant coach Brett Larson served as an associate head coach at Ohio State under Rohlik for a pair of seasons before returning to the UMD program in 2015-16.

IT'S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR: Both the All-NCHC Teams and the NCHC All-Rookie Team were announced two weeks ago and representing UMD was senior left winger Alex Iafallo (All-NCHC first team), sophomore defenseman Neal Pionk (All-NCHC second team) and freshman goaltender Hunter Miska (NCHC All-Rookie Team and All-NCHC second team). Iafallo is the first Bulldog to attain All-NCHC first team status just as he was the first UMD product to make the NCHC All-Rookie Team (2013-14).

AT THE HEAD OF THEIR CLASS: Fourteen Bulldogs earned NCHC All-Academic status for 2016-17 with one of those, senior defenseman Dan Molenaar, collaring a spot on the NCHC Scholar-Athlete Team. Besides Molenaar, the group of honored Bulldogs included seniors Alex Iafallo, Brenden Kotyk, Willie Raskob and Carson Soucy, juniors Karson Kuhlman, Avery Peterson, Sammy Spurrell and Jared Thomas, sophomores Billy Exell, Adam Johnson, Parker Mackay and Neal Poink, and red shirt freshman Nick Deery. Deery (twice), Exell (twice), Iafallo (three times), Johnson (twice), Kotyk (three times), Kuhlman (three times), Mackay (twice), Molenaar (four times), Peterson (twice), Pionk (twice), Raskob (four times), Soucy (twice), Spurrell (three times) and Thomas (three times) are all repeat qualifiers.

BULLDOG BITS: Prior to last weekend, the Bulldogs' last conference playoff championship conquest of any kind came in 2009 when they won an unprecedented three games in three nights to claim the WCHA Final Five title at St. Paul's Excel Energy Center.

• UMD has racked up more goals in March (29) than any NCAA club.

• Of the five NCHC Rookie of the Month citations that have been awarded in 2016-17, three have gone to Bulldogs (goaltender Hunter Miska claimed that honor in February and January and right winger Joey Anderson did likewise in November).

• All three of Willie Raskob's goals this season have come on the power play. He is one of 14 Bulldogs who has scored with the man advantage in 2016-17

• UMD has more senior defensemen (four) on its 2016-17 roster than any other program in the country (It shares that distinction with Princeton University and St. Lawrence University).

• Senior left winger Alex Iafallo has been credited with six of UMD's last 12 empty net goals (dating back to the 2014-15 season) while freshman right winger Joey Anderson has two.

• Nine different Bulldogs received some kind of NCHC Player of the Week honor in 2016-17 with rookie goalie Hunter Miska (five) and sophomore defenseman Neal Pionk (four) both being multi-recipients.

• Before this year, the last time UMD sported only freshmen goaltenders on its roster was in 1985-86. That was also the last time three different Bulldogs all made their collegiate goalie debuts in the same season.

• Of the eight NCHC head coaches, only one (Enrico Blasi with 18 seasons) has been at his current school longer than Scott Sandelin (17 years). Two months ago (Jan. 14) in a 4-3 overtime triumph over St. Cloud State, Sandelin became the 16th active NCAA I coach to reach the 300-win mark. Of all-time Bulldog bench bosses, only Mike Sertich served longer and has rolled up more victories than Sandelin (he closed out his 18-year UMD career in 1999-200 with a 350-328-44 lifetime record).

• Nearly seven years age difference separates senior Brenden Kotyk (who turned 25 last Aug. 27 and is the oldest player in NCAA I hockey) and the youngest Bulldog (freshman Joey Anderson, whose 19th birthday doesn't come up until June 19). Kotyk also holds the distinction of being the only former NCAA III player who is competing in the NCAA I ranks this season. (He transferred to UMD in September 2013 after a one-season stint at the College of St. Scholastica).

• Senior center Dominic Toninato is the second straight Duluth East High School alumnus to serve as the Bulldogs' team captain. Defenseman Andy Welinski handled that responsibility in 2015-16.

• The 2016-17 UMD roster contains two former Minnesota Mr. Hockey Award recipients in freshman left winger Riley Tufte (2015-16) and junior center Avery Peterson (2013-14).

• There have been 11 father-son combination who have done time with the Bulldogs, with the most latest addition being sophomore forward Adam Johnson, whose dad (Davey Johnson), was a four-year letterman and captained the Bulldogs as a senior center in 1980-81. Senior center Dominic Toninato also followed in his father's footsteps to UMD (Jim Toninato, 1982-86) as did assistant coach and former Bulldog defenseman Brett Larson (Robert Larson, 1968-69)

MOVING ON: The champions from each of the four regionals will advance to the NCAA Frozen Four, which is set for April 6 and 8 at Chicago's United Center.