With the 2016-17 regular season now in the rearview mirror, the University of Minnesota Duluth will  shift its focus to the National Collegiate Hockey Conference playoffs and a best-of-three quarterfinal round series against Miami University. The puck drops at 7:07 p.m on Friday (March 10), 7:37 p.m. the following night and (if necessary) 7:07 p.m. on Sunday at AMSOIL Arena (6,756) in downtown Duluth.

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THE RECORDS: UMD, which is unbeaten in 12 of its last 13 games (9-1-3), is 21-6-7 overall and finished second in the final NCHC standings at 15-5-4-3 while Miami owns a 9-18-6 record in all games and went 5-14-5-3 in league play (seventh place).
 
HOW THEY RANK: Here is how the Bulldogs and RedHawks stacked up in this week's 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
MU	NR	NR	No. 32

   
ON THE AIR: The entire UMD-Miami playoff series will be carried live on 92.1 FM The Fan with Bruce Ciskie handling the play-by-play responsibilities and Bulldog hockey alumnus Kraig Karakas the color commentary. The broadcast can also be heard at: network1sports.com/station/kqds.

All of this weekend's games will also be televised locally on KBJR-TV with KBJR-TV sports director Zach Schneider and former UMD team captain Judd Medak will serving as the on-air talent both nights . Those telecasts are available on-line for a fee at: nchc.tv/umd.
 
THE RIVALRY: UMD and Miami will square off for just the 16th time ever Friday night. The Bulldogs hold a 10-3-2 lead in the all-time series that started at the 2009 West Regional title game in Minneapolis (where the RedHawks put the clamps on the UMD's school-record six-game postseason winning streak with a 2-1 victory). The two clubs met twice earlier this season -- two weeks ago, in fact (Feb. 23-24) in Duluth -- and UMD skated out of that rare Thursday-Friday series with four of a possible six points. The two NCHC rivals battled to a 3-3 draw on Friday (with the RedHawks picking up the extra league point by scoring in the 3 x 3 overtime) after the Bulldogs had prevailed 4-3 one night earlier.

LAST WEEKEND: The Bulldogs traded wins with Western Michigan in their 2016-17 regular season finales, rebounding from a 7-4 setback on Friday to topple the host Broncos 6-3 in the rematch 24 hours later. Freshman right winger Joey Anderson scored twice while sophomore left winger Adam Johnson collected a goal and two assists on Saturday for UMD, which also received two point nights from junior center Avery Peterson and senior left winger Alex Iafallo (one goal and one assist each). The two clubs were deadlocked at 2-2 late in the second period before the Bulldogs struck for three straight goals en route to posting their sixth win in eight lifetime trips to Kalamazoo, Mich. In the series opener, Western Michigan raced out to a 4-0 second-period lead and never looked back , closing out its scoring with a pair of empty-net goals. Johnson, sophomore right winger Parker MacKay, junior right winger Karson Kuhlman and senior defenseman Brenden Kotyk accounted for the Bulldogs' four tallies.

Miami concluded the 2016-17 regular season by being swept (3-2 and 5-2) by the University of North Dakota last Friday and Saturday in Oxford, Ohio.
 
DEJA VU: UMD and Miami will meet for the second year in a row in the quarterfinal round of the NCHC playoffs. The Bulldogs swept the RedHawks one year in the best-of-three series at AMSOIL Arena, winning 4-2 and 5-4.

HAWKISH ON RED HAWKS: UMD is unbeaten in 10 of its last 11 meetings with Miami (8-1-2) and has gone 6-0-2 against the RedHawks the last two seasons. Scott Sandelin's lifetime winning percentage against the RedHawks (.733 off a 10-3-2 record) is his best versus any NCHC foe.

PLAYOFF PASTS: Besides last year, the only other time UMD and Miami have squared off in the postseason was at the 2009 NCAA West Regional title game in Minneapolis., where the RedHawks prevailed 2-1.

ONE FOR THE BOOKS: The 2016-17 Bulldogs wound up with program's second-best regular season record -- and fewest regular season losses -- since it joined the NCAA ranks in 1961-62. Here 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	21-11-4	.639

This year also marked the first time in the 73-year history of UMD hockey that the Bulldogs suffered only six defeats through the first 34 games of the season. The only club to come close to that feat was the 2011-12 Bulldogs, who had six setbacks at the 30-game juncture.

ONE FOR THE BOOKS II: The Bulldogs have 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 a national championship) and two years ago.

THE END OF THE LINE: This weekend will mark the final home appearances ever for UMD's seven seniors -- the third largest outgoing class in Scott Sandelin's 17-season head coaching tenure. 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). The only two times Sandelin has worked with Bulldog roster that was comprised of more seniors than the current one was in 2004-05 (11) and 2015-16 (eight).

IT'S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR: Both the All-NCHC Teams and the NCHC All-Rookie Team were announced this week 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). 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).

... AND SPEAKING OF FIRSTS: For the first time in the four-year existence of the NCHC, the league scoring champion is a Bulldog. Alex Iafallo earned that distinction after he accumulated 11 goals and 19 assists for a NCHC-best 30 points in 24 league games. The senior left winger 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.

NO WALK IN THE PARK: Colorado College (Jan. 6-7 and on Feb. 17-18) and Miami (on Feb. 23-24) 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. Then-No. 17 Michigan Tech paid a visit to AMSOIL Arena for the 2016-17 season openers back on Oct. 1-2 while No. 8 UMass Lowell hosted UMD the ensuing weekend. On Oct. 15-16, it was No. 5 Notre Dame's turn to take on UMD in Duluth and No. 1 North Dakota followed suit on Oct. 28-29. UMD then faced No. 8 St. Cloud State, Western Michigan (receiving votes), and Omaha (received votes) the ensuing three weekends, No. 2 Denver on Dec. 9-10 and No. 15 Bemidji State just before holiday break. St. Cloud State (received votes) came to town on Jan. 13-14 and one week later No. 8 North Dakota hosted UMD. Minnesota (No. 6) and St. Cloud State (received votes) were the Bullldogs' two North Star College Cup and on Feb. 3-4 Omaha (received votes) invaded AMSOIL Arena. UMD wrapped up the regular season against No. 8 Western Michigan.

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.

A SENIOR MOMENT: UMD sports the nation's fourhhighest scoring senior class as that seven-member ensemble has combined to rack up and 124 points on 46 goals and 78 assists -- all NCHC bests.

BATTLE-TESTED BENCH BOSSES: 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, UMD's Scott 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).

WELCOME BACK: The RedHawks (along with Colorado College and Denver) and have paid the fewest visits to AMSOIL Arena (eight coming into this weekend) of any NCHC club and has enjoyed the least amount of success there (the RedHawks are 1-6-1 for a .187 winning percentage, tying them with Colorado College for that dubious honor). St. Cloud State, on the other hand, has made the most with 14. Here is how UMD's seven league adversaries have fared at AMSOIL Arena since that downtown Duluth facility opened its doors for business on Dec. 30, 2010:
 

Team	GP	W-L-T	Pct.
Denver	8	5-1-2	.750
North Dakota	9	6-3-0	.667
St. Cloud State	14	7-5-2	.571
Western Michigan	10	5-4-1	.550
Nebraska Omaha	10	3-4-3	.450
Colorado College	8	1-6-1	.187
Miami	8	1-6-1	.187

Miami made its AMSOIL Arena debut on Oct. 31, 2014 and posted a 3-2 victory, which is the RedHawks' first -- and last -- triumph in Duluth.

STAYING ON POINT: In last month's 2-1 triumph at Colorado College, senior left winger Alex Iafallo assisted on UMD's first goal en route to becoming the 57th member of UMD's 100-point club. In 144 lifetime outings, the Eden, N.Y., product has generated 45 goals and 63 assists. He joins Omaha's Austin Ortega (137 points), Miami's Anthony Louis (124 pts.) and Denver's Will Butcher (100 pts) as the only four current NCHC combatants to reach the century point mark. Iafallo currently tops UMD in overall points (37, which takes a backseat in the NCHC only to Ortega and his 45 points) and assists (22) and is second in goals (15). All three of those figures are career highs. He's also one of 11 league skaters with a hat trick on his 2016-17 resume. 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.

TOP 'DOGS: 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:. Hunter Miska, the NCHC's Rookie of the Month for both January and February, ranks first among NCHC puckstoppers in overall shutouts (and five) and is second in a host of other categories -- goals against average (2.14), saves percentage (.921), wins (20) and winning percentage (.776 off a 20-4-2 record). The first Bulldog netminder to ever begin his career by going 6-0-0, Miska is also five-time NCHC Goalie/Rookie of the Week award winner, and will enter this weekend's NCHC quarterfinal round playoff series against Miami University having made 28 consecutive starts.

BLOCK PARTY: UMD has blocked more shots this season (14.18 per game) than any NCHC member and ranks 13th 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 (1.94 a night -- the sixth highest total in the NCHC at the moment).

A GOAL RUSH: Sophomore forward Adam Johnson has scored a goal in six of the past seven games, including the last four in a row, and now leads the 2016-17 Bulldogs with a career-best 16 tallies on the year. In his past four outings, Johnson's stat lists seven points on four goals and three assists.

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 the 60 NCAA I clubs.

MAKING A POINT ON THE POINT: Sophomore Neal Pionk, who has set personal bests for goals (seven) and assists (21), is tied for 10th on the NCAA defensemen scoring charts with 28 points. Five of Pionk's seven goals this year have been registered in the third period.

FIT TO BE TIED: The Bulldogs' seven ties this seasonare one shy of the program record set during the 2008-09 season.
    
BETTER THAN BEFORE: 11 out of a possible 16 Bulldog veterans have already established or equaled career bests for points this winter:
 

Player	Year	Pts.	Previous High
Billy Exell	So.	6	4 (2015-16)
Alex Iafallo	Sr.	37	25 (2014-15)
Adam Johnson	So.	31	18 (2015-16)
Brenden Kotyk	Sr.	11	6 (2014-15)
Karson Kuhlman	Jr.	20	20 (2015-16)
Parker Mackay	So.	8	6 (2015-16)
Dan Molenaar	Sr.	8	3 (2013-14)
Neal Pionk	So.	28	17 (2015-16)
Carson Soucy	Sr.	15	14 (2014-15)
Sammy Spurrell	Jr.	4	4 (2013-14)
Blake Young	Jr.	3	1 (2015-16)

... while at least one other is knocking on the door:
 

Player	Year	Pts.	Career High
Dominic Toninato	Sr.	22	26 (2015-16)

POWER SURGE: The Bulldogs have converted at least once on the power play in 12 of their last 13 games and are 15-for-58 with the man advantage during that stretch (25.9 percent)

OH, FOR PETE'S SAKE: Junior center Avery Peterson, who transferred to UMD from the University of Nebraska-Omaha one year ago and sat out the next two semesters, took his first shift as a Bulldog on Dec. 17 at Bemidji State. In 15 outings, the Grand Rapids, Minn., native has contributed 12 points (six goals -- including four game winners -- and six assists) to the UMD scoring coffers and is a +10 to boot.

GOOD LUCK CHARMS: The Bulldogs are 10-0-1 this season when senior left winger Kyle Osterberg has collected a goal and 7-0-3 when senior center Dominic Toninato scored. They are also a perfect 7-0-0 when senior defenseman Dan Molenaar has generated a pointand 5-0-1 when Billy Exell has done so.

ROAD, SWEET ROAD: UMD has generated a 12-2-3 record away from AMSOIL Arena in 2016-17 and that .794 road winning percentage is the best in the country while the one loss is the fewest of any NCAA club. The Bulldogs are unbeaten in 17 of their last 19 regular season road assignments, going 14-2-3 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 and Denver (4-3 on Dec. 9, 2016). 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

IRONMAN KUHLMAN: Junior right winger Karson Kuhlman, who is a team-leading +41 for his career, has hit the ice in all 114 games over the last three seasons -- a claim no other Bulldog can make.

FREE HOCKEY: UMD is unbeaten in its last 10 games that have gone beyond regulation, having gone 0-3-7since falling 2-1 to North Dakota on Feb. 19, 2016 in Grand Forks, N.D. Just three active Bulldogs -- senior left wingers Kyle Osterberg (three) and Alex Iafallo (one) and junior right winger Karson Kuhlman (one) -- have a sudden death goal on their collegiate resume. Osterberg, Miami's Josh Melnick, Union College's Mike Vecchione and Holy Cross's Johnny Coughlin are the only four players in the nation with two overtime goals in 2016-17. This season, UMD has outshot the opposition 34-12 in eight overtime sessions and those 34 shots as well as the +22 shot margin leads all NCAA I schools.

LENDING A HAND: Right winger and IIHF World Junior Championship gold medalist Joey Anderson currently leads all NCHC rookies in assists with 17 and is tied for third in scoring (26 pts.). The Roseville, Minn., native and NCHC Rookie of the Month for November, has scored more of his points in losses this season (five) than any other Bulldog.

PLENTY LEFT IN THE TANK: The Bulldogs have outscored the opposition 40-18 in the third period this season and that +22 goal differential paces the coutnry. UMD has also given up the fewest third-period goals (just 0.53 per game) of any NCAA club to date.

THAT'S A PLUS: Of the 23 Bulldog forwards and defensemen who have taken a shift this season, only junior center Jared Thomas (-1) owns a negative plus-minus rating. Thomas opened the scoring for UMD in last Saturday's 6-3 takedown of Western Michigan and that goal was his first in 70 games going back to Oct. 17, 2015

HITTING HIS STRIDE: After being held pointless in his first 14 collegiate games, freshman left winger Riley Tufte has accumulated 10 points (five goals and five assists) in the 16 outings since.

TAKE IT TO THE BANK: Since falling to host Miami 4-3 in overtime on Feb. 21, 2015, the Bulldogs are 29-0-2 when taking a lead into the third period. They were 14-0-0 in that situation last winter and 13-0-2 so 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 76 of the 78 games in which they have scored three or more goals. The sole two setback during that stretch was inflicted by Minnesota State-Mankato on Oct. 17, 2014 in Duluth (5-4 in overtime) and Western Michigan last Friday evening (7-4)

BULLDOG BITS: 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).

• Senior center Dominic Toninato was held pointless by Western Michigan last weekend after coming into that two-game road series toting a career-high six-game scoring streak.
 
• All three of Willie Raskob's goals this season have come on the power play. He is one of 13 Bulldogs who has scored with the man advantage in 2016-17

• 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 off the stick of senior left winger Alex Iafallo -- his second of the year and career.

• Conversely, the Bulldogs have given up just one shorthanded goal since Dec. 12, 2015 (a run of 57 games) and that was to Colorado College's Sam Rothstein on Jan. 6, 2017.

• 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)

• Nine different Bulldogs have 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.

• Senior left winger Alex Iafallo has been credited with six of UMD's last 11 empty net goals (dating back to the 2014-15 season) while freshman right winger Joey Anderson has two.

• There is almost seven years age difference separating 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 Division 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.

• Prior to 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.

• 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).

TO THE WINNERS: The four, first-round playoff series winners will advance to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff, which is set for March 17-18 at the Target Center. The Bulldogs played at the downtown Minneapolis facility last spring and debuted with a 4-2 victory over then No. 1 ranked (and eventual national champion) North Dakota in the Frozen Faceoff semifinals before succumbing 3-1 to St. Cloud State in the title game.