After a five-season absence, the University of Minnesota Duluth will make its return to the NCAA Frozen Four this Thursday (April 6) when it takes on Harvard University at 5 p.m. at the United Center (20,197) in Chicago, Ill. The University of Denver and the University of Notre Dame will hit the ice later that night (8:30 p.m.) in the other semifinal round clash with the two winners meeting for college hockey's top prize on Saturday at 8 p.m.
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THE RECORDS: UMD, which is unbeaten in 18 of its last 19 games (15-1-3), is 27-6-7 in all games and finished second in the final NCHC standings at 15-5-4-3. Harvard, riding a 16-game winning streak, owns a 28-5-2 overall record and captured a share Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season title (with Union College). Denver (31-7-4 overall) reigned as the NCHC champions (seven points ahead of UMD) while Notre Dame (23-11-5) took fourth in Hockey East.
HOW THEY RANK: Here is how this year's NCAA Frozen Four 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 |
| Harvard |
No. 2 |
No. 2 |
No. 3 |
| Denver |
No. 1 |
No. 1 |
No. 1 |
| UND |
No. 12 |
No. 4 |
No. 13 |
ON THE AIR: All of UMD's Frozen Four games 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.
ESPN2 will air Thursday's two semifinal bouts with Saturday's title game can be seen on ESPN. John Buccigross (play-by-play), Barry Melrose (analyst) and Quint Kessenich (rinkside) are the on-air talent. All three telecasts are available live on
WatchESPN.
In addition, Westwood One Radio will provide a feet to over 120 affiliates around the country, on Sirius/XM, College Sports Nation-channel 84, Tune In Radio and streamed live on westwoodonesports.com and ncaa.com. Its broadcast team will consist of Alex Faust (play-by-play), Colby Cohen (analyst) and Shireen Saski (rinkside).
THE RIVALRY: UMD and Harvard will meet for the 14th time ever -- and first time in over 21 years -- this Thursday afternoon. The Bulldogs hold a 9-4 lead in the all-time series, which begin on Jan. 3, 1958 at the old Duluth Curling Club.
• The two clubs have squared off just twice in NCAA Tournament play and that was on March 22-23, 1985 in Duluth where the Bulldogs took down the Crimson twice by identical 4-2 scores in a two-game, total goal quarterfinal round series.
• UMD has faced Harvard 12 times in Duluth, once in Cambridge, Mass. and once at neutral site -- in the third place game of the Long Island Hockey Classic at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (Uniondale, N.Y.) on Dec. 28, 1987 -- a 6-3 UMD victory.
• Current UMD volunteer assistant coach
Brant Nicklin started both games in goal for the Bulldogs the last time they took on Harvard and backstopped UMD to a pair of victories (3-1 and 4-2 on Dec. 20-21, 1996).
LAST WEEKEND: UMD punched its ticket to the 2017 Frozen Four by taking down Boston University 3-2 in overtime on March 25 in the NCAA West Regional title game. That came one night after the No. 1- seeded Bulldogs ousted Ohio State University by that same score -- and in sudden death -- at Scheels Arena in Fargo, N.D. Senior defenseman
Willie Raskob scored at the 11:58 mark of overtime against the Buckeyes, who rallied from a 2-0 third-period deficit after UMD's
Dominic Toninato and
Nick Wolff struck in the second period. Bulldog freshman goaltender
Hunter Miska made a career-high 40 saves, including 20 in the third period and overtime combined, and also helped hold Ohio State scoreless on all four of their power play opportunities. Senior left winger
Alex Iafallo and rookie right winger
Joey Anderson accounted for UMD's two regulation goals the next night and sophomore center
Adam Johnson sealed the deal 1:57 into sudden death on the power play.
At the NCAA East Regional in Providence, R.I., Harvard followed up a 3-0 semifinal-round throttling of Providence College on Friday by holding off Air Force 3-2 the ensuing evening in the championship bout to advance to the Frozen Four for the first time since 1994.
UMD IN THE BIG DANCE: UMD has appeared in four previous NCAA Frozen Fours, the last of those coming in 2011 when it laid claim to the program's first national title. The Bulldogs are 4-3 in seven lifetime Frozen Four outings. That includes a 4-3 victory over Notre Dame in the 2011 semifinals and a 5-3 loss to Denver in the 2004 semifinals
• 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 qualified for the NCAA postseason three years in row -- something that has happened on only one other occasion (1983-85) in program history.
• UMD also 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 (champions), 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 18-11-0 lifetime record in the NCAA Tournament and a 12-5-0 mark since
Scott Sandelin's arrival in 2000-01.
• This year marks the first time the Bulldogs were ever seeded No. 1 in a regional.
• Of UMD's 29 lifetime NCAA Tournament games, nine have gone into overtime. UMD has won the last six of those since being upended by RPI 6-5 in three overtimes in the 1985 semifinals.
•Since the NCAA went to a regional format in 1987-88, the Bulldogs are a perfect 8-0 in first-round games.
IT ISN'T HIS FIRST RODEO: In addition to coaching the Bulldogs in two previous NCAA Frozen Fours, Scott Sandellin also played in one national championship -- in 1984 when, as a sophomore defenseman at North Dakota, he and his teammates were upended 2-1 in overtime by UMD in the semifinal round in Lake Placid, N.Y. Sandelin's resume also includes four other visits to the Frozen Four (1997-2000) as an assistant coach at his alma mater.
THEY HAVE THIS IN COMMON: UMD and Harvard have had one common opponent in 2016-17 -- Boston University. The Bulldogs defeated the Terriers in the West Regional title game on March 25 while the Crimson went 1-1-0 against their intra-city rival.
ONE HOT 'DOG: Senior left winger and 2017 NCHC Frozen Faceoff MVP
Alex Iafallo will come into Friday clash against Ohio State toting a career-high 13-game scoring streak. During that torrid stretch he has rolled up 22 points on seven goals and 15 assists. Iafallo is the first Bulldog in five years to reach the 40-point plateau with the last to do so being Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Jack Connolly, Travis Oleksuk and J.T. Brown during their farewell collegiate seasons. He is now on the cusp of becoming UMD's first 50-point scorer since both Connolly (60 pts.) and Oleksuk (51 pts.) turned the trick in 2011-12.
• Iafallo's 13-game scoring streak is the longest by a Bulldogs since Jack Connolly went on a 22-game tear between Oct. 14, 2011-Jan. 21, 2012.
• Iafallo currently tops UMD in overall points (49), goals (19) and assists (30). 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.
•Iafallo has rolled up a nation-best 15 points (five goals and 10 assists) during the month of March.
•In UMD's 2-1 triumph at Colorado College on Feb. 17, Iafallo became the 57th member of UMD's 100-point club. In 150 lifetime outings, the Eden, N.Y., product has generated 46 goals and 73 assists for 119 points -- the second highest output of any NCAA Frozen Four participant (Harvard's Alexander Kerfoot has three more).
•This past winter, Iafallo topped the NCHC in scoring (a Bulldog program first), 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 seven games.
ON A ROLL: While the Bulldogs possess the nation's second longest winning streak at seven games -- only Harvard is on a longer victory run (16 in a row).
ON A ROLL II: UMD has won a six straight playoff games, equaling a program record set in 2008-09.
BEST IN THE WEST: Freshman right winger
Joey Anderson, senior left winger
Alex Iafallo and senior defenseman
Willie Raskob were named to the six-member NCAA West Regional All-Tournament Team as was rookie goalie
Hunter Miska, who also landed the event's Most Valuable Player Award after posting a 1.79 goals against average and stopping 62 of 66 shots (.939 saves percentage) over the weekend.
CHART TOPPER: UMD spent a school-record 11 weeks holding down the No. 1 spot 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 18 appearances, stringing together a 15-0-3 record since Jan. 14. A Top 5 Finalist for the Mike Richter Award (Most Outstanding NCAA Goalie), Miska currently ranks second among NCAA puckstoppers in winning percentage (.814 of a 26-4-5 mark) and victories (26, the third-highest single-season total in team history) and is tied for fourth in shutouts (a school record-tying five). Miska's road winning percentage of .917 (16-1-1) 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 34 consecutive starts.
ROAD, SWEET ROAD: UMD has generated a 16-2-3 record away from AMSOIL Arena in 2016-17 and that .833 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 23 of their last 27 road assignments, going 20-4-3 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. |
| 2016-17 |
16-2-3 |
.833 |
| 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 |
BLOCK PARTY: UMD has blocked more shots this season (14.60 per game) than any NCHC member and ranks 10th 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 (2.08 a night -- the fourth highest total in the NCHC).
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 23 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 opening round. He skated a regular shift for the Mavericks two weeks later in their 4-1 NCAA Frozen Four semifinal setback to eventual national champion Providence College.
JOHNNY ON THE SPOT: Sophomore
Adam Johnson, who finished as 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 |
21-11-4 |
.639 |
No Bulldog club in the program's 73-year history has gone 40 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 (26) this season, is tied for fifth on the NCAA defensemen scoring charts with 33 points. Pionk leads UMD in power play points (18) and is one of two Bulldogs with an extra attacker goal this winter (sophomore center
Adam Johnson is the other). Five of Pionk's seven goals this winter have come in the third period
HITTING HIS STRIDE: After being held pointless in his first 14 collegiate games, freshman left winger
Riley Tufte has accumulated 15 points (eight goals and seven assists) in the 21 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 ranks sixth among all NCAA rookies in assists (23) and ninth in points (34). 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. The last time a UMD newcomer generated more than 34 points was in 2010-11 (J.T. Brown with 37 points).
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 unranked or did not receive 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 15-4-2 against the rest of the 16-team 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 120 games over the last three seasons -- a claim no other Bulldog can make. That ironman streak is the longest of any 2017 NCAA Frozen Four participant.
A SENIOR MOMENT: UMD sports the nation's second highest-scoring senior class as that seven-member ensemble has combined to rack up and 152 points on 58 goals and 94 assists -- all NCHC bests. The Bulldogs trail only Harvard (191 points) in that department.
• 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 12-0-3 when senior center
Dominic Toninato has collected a goal this season and 11-0-1 this season when senior left winger
Kyle Osterberg 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 seven outings.
THE EXTRA WORK HAS BEEN WORTH IT: The Bulldogs are unbeaten in the last 13 games that have gone beyond regulation, going 6-0-7 since falling 2-1 to North Dakota on Feb. 19, 2016 in Grand Forks, N.D. That includes a 5-0-7 mark this year.
• Six current Bulldogs have an overtime goal to their collegiate credit:
• Kyle 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.
• UMD has played in more overtime games (12) and won more of them (5) than any other school in the country this season. It has also outshot the opposition 52-25 in 12 sudden sessions and those 52 shots as well as the +27 shot margin are an NCAA best.
BETTER THAN BEFORE: 12 out of a possible 16 Bulldog veterans have established or equaled career bests for points this winter:
... with three of the four others closing in:
HUNGRY LIKE A WOLFF: Nick Wolff, who was one of five Bulldogs to mark in the points column in both NCAA West Regional games last weekend, ranks seventh among the country's rookie defensemen in plus-minus rating with a +15 mark.
PLENTY LEFT IN THE TANK: The Bulldogs have outscored the opposition 48-25 in the third period this season and that +23 goal differential ranks third in the country only to Harvard (+25) and Notre Dame (+24) UMD has given up the fewest third-period goals (just 0.62 per game) of any NCAA club to date.
THAT'S A PLUS: Five of the NCHC's top 10 plus-minus leaders are Bulldogs -- senior center
Dominic Toninato (fourth at +24), sophomore defenseman
Neal Pionk (fifth at +23), junior right winger
Karson Kuhlman and senior left winger
Alex Iafallo both tied for eighth tied at +20), and senior defenseman
Brenden Kotyk (10th at +19). Of the 23 Bulldog forwards and defensemen who have taken a shift this season, only junior left winger
Blake Young and sophomore right winger
Billy Exell (both a -2) own a negative plus-minus rating.
THAT'S A PLUS II: Senior defenseman
Brenden Kotyk is a nation-leading +16 in the third period this season.
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 63 games) and that was to Colorado College's Sam Rothstein on Jan. 6, 2017.
TAKE IT TO THE BANK: Since falling to host Miami 4-3 in overtime on Feb. 21, 2015, the Bulldogs are 33-0-2 when taking a lead into the third period. They are 17-0-2 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.
IT'S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR: Both the All-NCHC Teams and the NCHC All-Rookie Team were announced last month 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: Dominic Toninato leads all 2017 NCAA Frozen Four participants in career goals with 54 while
Alex Iafallo is next with 46.
•UMD and Penn State University racked up more goals in March (35) than any NCAA club.
• Prior to this year, 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.
• 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.
• 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.
•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).
• 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).
• And, speaking of relatives ...
+ Carson Soucy and
Parker Mackay are first cousins.
+ Billy Exell's uncle is Tom Milani, the Bulldogs' all-time goal scoring leader and a member of the UMD Athletic Hall of Fame.
+Neal Pionk's father, Scott, served as the USHL's Waterloo Black Hawk head coach for two seasons (1997-99) and played collegiate baseball at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
+ Willie Raskob's cousin, Kevin Gravel, was a defenseman at NCHC rival St. Cloud State from 2010-14. They faced off against one another four times during the 2013-14 season.
+ Jared Thomas' UMD athletic bloodlines run deep. His father, Mike, was an All-American offensive lineman for the Bulldogs while his mother, Kelli (Ritzer), received All-Northern Sun Conference recognition in both basketball (four times) and softball (three times) and is a member of the UMD Athletic Hall of Fame (Class of 2001). His uncle, Corey Thomas, also played both baseball and football for the Bulldogs and his late grandfather, Ron Thomas, was a four-year UMD football lineman (1954-57). Jared's sister, Jordyn, will enroll at UMD next fall and play both basketball and softball for the Bulldogs.
+ Joey Anderson's grandfather, Tom, was a UMD forward during the early 1950s.
+ Dominic Toninato's father, Jim, competed in two NCAA Frozen Fours (1984 and 1985) as a Bulldog.
+ Jarod Hilderman's father, Rod, is a University of North Dakota football alumnus, and his uncle, Bob, played hockey at Concordia College (Moorhead, Minn.) in the late 1970s.
+ Riley Tufte's brother, Gavin, played collegiate puck for Gustavus Adolphus College. His uncles, Ross and Todd Dahl, played hockey for the University of Wisconsin-Superior, while other uncle, Craig Dahl, was the men's head hockey coach at St. Cloud State for 18 seasons before stepping down in 2005.
+ Assistant coach
Brett Larson's father (Robert Larson, 1968-69) and uncle (Ken Larson (1971-72) both played hockey at UMD.
+ Harvard junior Jake Horton's mother, Val (Aney) Horton, was a four-year tennis letterwinner at UMD (1986-89) and a three-time Northern Sun Conference singles/doubles champion.
THAT'S ALL FOLKS: After this weekend, UMD won't return to the ice until Oct. 6-7 when it hosts the 2017 Ice Breaker Tournament. Joining the Bulldogs in the four-team field at AMSOIL Arena will be long-time rivals University of Minnesota and Michigan Tech University and 2014 NCAA champion Union College.
