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Six months removed from capturing the program's second NCAA national title, the University of Minnesota Duluth will launch its 75th season of intercollegiate hockey this Saturday (Oct. 6) by hosting the University of Minnesota in the front end of a non-conference home-and-home series. Game time is set for 7:07 p.m. at AMSOIL Arena (6,756) in downtown Duluth. The two long-time intrastate rivals will then convene at Mariucci Arena (10,000) the following evening for a 7 p.m. rematch.

THE RECORDS: The Bulldogs won 11 of their final 14 games of the 2017-18 season to finish 25-16-3 overall while placing third in the final National Collegiate Hockey Conference standings at 13-11-0-0. Minnesota, which did not make the NCAA playoffs last spring, was 19-17-2 overall and 10-12-2-1 in Big Ten play (fifth place).

HOW THEY RANK: This is how UMD and Minnesota stacked up in the 2018-19 USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine preseason polls:
    

	uscho.com	USA Today
UMD	No. 1	No. 1
Minnesota	No. 13	No. 13

ON THE AIR: The two UMD-Minnesota bouts this weekend will carried on KDAL-Radio (610 AM and 103.9 FM) 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: kdal610.com.

The 2018-19 season opener will be televised locally on My9, which has been the Bulldogs' television home for the last 11 seasons. One-time KBJR-TV sports director Zach Schneider and former UMD standout forward Judd Medak will serve as the on-air talent. That telecast will be also be aired on Fox 9+ in the Twin Cities metro area and is available on-line for a fee at: nchc.tv/umd.

Sunday's rematch can be seen on FSN and Fox College Sports (Central) streamed on: BTN2Go and the FOX Sports App.

A BANNER NIGHT: UMD will unveil its 2017-18 NCAA championship banner just prior to Saturday night's faceoff.

THE RIVALRY: Saturday evening's season opener will mark the 233rd meeting ever between the Bulldogs and Gophers. Minnesota holds a 135-80-17 lead in the rivalry, which began way back on Dec. 1, 1952 at the Hippodrome in Eveleth, Minn. The two clubs last met on Oct. 6, 2017 at AMSOIL Arena, where the then-No. 6 Bulldogs prevailed 4-3 in overtime over the No. 3 Gophers.

THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING: Parker Mackay, UMD's lone assistant team captain one year ago, has been entrusted with team co-captaincy responsibilities with the 2018-19 Bulldogs while fellow senior right winger Billy Exell and junior defenseman Nick Wolff will serve as his assistants.

WHO'S BACK: The Bulldogs retain the services of 18 lettermen from their NCAA title-winning club. That list of holdovers includes their top three scoring leaders in sophomore All-American Scott Perunovich (11 goals and 25 assists for 36 points), senior center Peter Krieger (11-19=30) and junior left winger Riley Tufte (16-13=29). Also back is basically UMD's entire blueline corps (Perunovich, juniors Nick Wolff and Jarod Hilderman, and sophomores Matt Anderson, Mikey Anderson, Louie Roehl and Dylan Samberg) and all three of its netminders -- juniors Hunter Shepard and Nick Deery and redshirt freshman Ben Patt.

YOU AGAIN?: UMD has butted heads with Minnesota on more lifetime occasions (232) during its 75-year history than all but one opponent (North Dakota with 239 times). Michigan Tech is next on that list (230 games). The Bulldogs and the Gophers have met on an annual basis since the 1961-62 season, making it the longest continuous rivalry for both programs.

GREAT SCOTT!: Last winter, Scott Perunovich became just the second Bulldog freshman to ever collar All-American first team honors (center Murray Keogan was the other in 1969-70). He was the recipient of the 2017-18 Tim Taylor Award (Hockey Commissioner's Association National Rookie of the Year) as well as both NCHC Rookie of the Year and NCHC Offensive Defenseman of the Year honors (both UMD program firsts). The Hibbing, Minn., product and All-NCHC first team pick also became the second defenseman to ever lead UMD in scoring and the first rookie to do it in 15 years. He racked up 36 points (a record for a first-year Bulldog blueliner and the most of any freshman defenseman in the country) on 11 goals and a team-leading 25 assists in 42 games. Among NCAA rookies, Perunovich ranked first in plus-minus rating (+22) and third in both points and assists.

GOPH BUSTERS: The Bulldogs will come into the weekend armed with a program-best eight-game winning streak against Minnesota. UMD is now also unbeaten in 10 of its last 11 outings with the Gophers (9-1-1) with that lone loss coming four year ago in the opening round of the Ice Breaker Tournament (4-3 on Oct. 10, 2014 in South Bend, Ind.).

IT'S LONELY AT THE TOP: The 2018-19 Bulldogs roster includes only three seniors -- right wingers Billy Exell and Parker Mackay and center Peter Krieger, who transferred to UMD two years ago from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. That's UMD's smallest senior class since it moved to the NCAA I ranks in 1961-62.

MY, HOW TIME FLIES: This marks Scott Sandelin's 19th season of presiding over the Bulldog hockey program, making him the longest-serving bench boss in team history (UMD Athletic Hall of Famer Mike Sertich spent 18 years in that role). Sandelin, whose tenure is also the second longest of any NCHC head coach. (Enrico Blassi is in his 20th year at Miami), comes into the 2018-19 season ranking 12th among all active NCAA I coaches in career victories (he's now 340-300-85 overall).

TOURNAMENT TOUGH: Scott Sandelin's career winning percentage in the NCAA Tournament (.739 off a 17-6 record) is the best among any active head coach (minimum eight games) and trails only the late Herb Brooks (.889 at Minnesota), Vic Heyliger (.800 at Michigan) and Gino Gasparini (.789 at North Dakota) among all NCAA head coaches.
 
IT'S HOW YOU FINISH THAT COUNTS: UMD has gotten off to a 2-0-0 start only once in the past 16 seasons and that came in 2016 when the Bulldogs swept Michigan Tech (6-0 and 4-3 on Oct. 1-2 in Duluth).

PUCK HUNTER: Junior Hunter Shepard, a 2017-18 All-NCHC second team selection and semifinalist for the Mike Richter Award (most outstanding NCAA goaltender), ranked second among the nation's puckstoppers in shutouts last winter with a UMD-record eight (one behind the national leader, Cornell University's Matthew Galajda). Shepard, who came into 2017-18 with just two collegiate appearances to his name, compiled a 1.91 goals against average and a .925 saves percentage (both program single-season bests) while going 25-14-1 in 41 outings. He also turned in the second best single-season saves percentage figure (.925) in team history and closed out the year having made 39 consecutive starts -- a run that began on Oct. 21, 2017.

TAKE IT TO THE BANK: Since falling 4-3 at Denver in the NCHC playoff opener on March 13, 2015, the Bulldogs are 55-0-3 when taking a lead into the third period. (They were 23-0-1 in that situation one year ago.) On the flip side, UMD was a mere 2-16-2 when it didn't a lead at the second intermission last season. The second of those two wins (3-2 in overtime) came in the NCAA West Regional semifinals against a Minnesota State University-Mankato club that was 25-0-0 when ahead after two periods last season. The other triumph was registered in the 2017-18 opener versus Minnesota (4-3 in overtime).

LIFE OF RILEY: Of Riley Tufte's UMD-leading and career-best 16 goals last season, 13 came in Bulldog victories as did all five of his power play scores. Tufte tops all current Bulldogs in career scoring (45 points), goals (25) and plus-minus rating (+26)

THE EXTRA WORK HAS BEEN WORTH IT: The Bulldogs are unbeaten in the last 18 games that have gone into overtime, going 8-0-10 since falling 2-1 to host North Dakota on Feb. 19, 2016. That includes a 2-0-3 mark in five extra sessions last season. Just one current Bulldog -- senior team captain Parker Mackay -- has an overtime goal to his collegiate credit. Mackay has two, striking in the 2017-18 season opener against Minnesota and in the 2018 NCAA West Regional semifinals versus Minnesota State.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: No team in the country drew first blood on more occasions (28) last winter than UMD. The Bulldogs were 21-7-0 when they scored first one year ago and just 4-9-3 when they didn't.

MORE POWER TO THEM: The last time UMD finished a season with a better power play percentage than it did in 2017-18 (23.2 percent) was in 2003-04 when the NCAA Frozen Four semifinalist Bulldogs posted a 25.9 mark.

MORE POWER TO THEM II: Some 16 different Bulldogs scored a power play goal in 2017-18, including current junior left winger Riley Tufte, who had a team-leading and a personal-best five tallied.

MORE POWER TO THEM III: Going back to Dec. 4, 2015, UMD is 18-0-2 when scoring multiple times with the man advantage.

ROOKIES ON THE RISE: In addition to amassing the third most points in the country last season, the UMD freshman class also ranked first in power play points (48), second in blocked shots (5.89 per game) and third in power play goals (14).

GET SHORTIE: The Bulldogs have allowed just three shorthanded goals in their last 109 games (at Denver on Feb. 3, 2018, at St. Cloud State on Nov. 4, 2017 and versus Colorado College on Jan. 6, 2017 in Duluth).

GET SHORTIE: Senior right winger Parker Mackay (one -- on Jan. 26, 2018 against St. Cloud State), and sophomore defenseman Mikey Anderson (in the 2018 NCHC Frozen Faceoff against North Dakota) are the only two active Bulldogs who have ever scored while a man down as a collegian.

BIG ICE IS NICE: In their last 18 assignments on Olympic-sized ice sheets (200' x 100'), the Bulldogs are 14-3-1. During that stretch UMD is 5-0-1 at Colorado College, 2-0 at the University of Minnesota, 6-2 at St. Cloud State and 1-1 at Northern Michigan University.

THREE OF A KIND: Freshmen defensemen  Hunter Lellig (Iowa) and Jake Rosenbaum (California), and sophomore center Justin Richards (Ohio) all hold the distinction of being the first individuals from their respective states to enlist their services with the Bulldog hockey program.

GETTING THE FIRST ONE OUT OF WAY: Both sophomore defensemen Mikey Anderson (a goal) and Scott Perunovich (an assist) registered their first collegiate points at the expense of Minnesota at last year's Ice Breaker Tournament.

RANK AND FILE: Prior to this year, the Bulldogs had never been slotted first in any USCHO.com Preseason Poll, with its top two highest positions coming in 2015 (No. 2) and 2005 (No. 5).

RANK AND FILE II: Of UMD's 34 regular season games in 2018-19, all but one (the second day of the Desert Hockey Classic on Dec. 29) will be against teams that are either ranked or received votes in the USCHO.com Preseason Poll.

RELATIVELY SPEAKING: Senior right winger Billy Exell's uncle, Tom Milani, is the Bulldogs' all-time goal scoring leader and a member of the UMD Athletic Hall of Fame (Class of 2010).

• Junior left winger Riley Tufte's brother, Gavin, played hockey for Gustavus Adolphus College. His uncles, Ross and Todd Dahl, did likewise at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, while another uncle, Craig Dahl, was the men's head hockey coach at St. Cloud State for 18 seasons before stepping down in 2005. Tufte's father, Jamie, was a member of the UMD football team as a rookie offensive lineman in 1985.

• Sophomore center Justin Richards is the son of Todd Richards, a former University of Minnesota (1985-89) and National Hockey League (Hartford Whalers, 1990-92) defenseman who served as head coach with both the NHL's Minnesota Wild (2009-11) and Columbus Blue Jackets (2011-16) and is currently a Tampa Bay Lightning assistant coach.

• Sophomore defenseman Mikey Anderson's older brother, Mikey, starred for two season with the Bulldogs before signing with the NHL's New Jersey Devils last spring while his grandfather, Tom Anderson, was a UMD forward during the early 1950s.

• Freshman forward Jesse Jacques is the nephew of Mike Jacques, a two-year UMD hockey letterman (1976-78).

• Senior right winger Parker Mackay's first cousin, fellow Irma, Alberta, native Carson Soucy, patrolled the UMD blueline for four seasons (2013-17) and made his NHL debut last March with the Minnesota Wild.

• Sophomore defenseman Scott Perunovich is the nephew of Doug Torrel, who captained the hockey Bulldogs as a senior right winger in 1991-92).

• The latest brother tandem to sign on with the Bulldogs -- Jackson and Noah Cates -- are are the nephews of former Minnesota hockey forward Jay Cates (1985-88).

• Sophomore defenseman Louie Roehl's dad (Dale) lettered four years in football (safety) at UMD and in 1990 attained All-Northern Intercollegiate Conference recognition. Dale also starred as a goaltender at Minnetonka High School and was the 12th round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1987 NHL draft.

• Junior defenseman Jarod Hilderman's father, Rod Hilderman, is a University of North Dakota football alumnus, and his uncle, Bob, played hockey at Concordia College in Moorhead, MInn.

MEDIA FAVORITES: UMD has yet to lay claim to a NCHC regular season championship, but the media who cover the league see that changing in 2018-19. In the annual NCHC Preseason Media poll, the defending NCAA champion Bulldogs were picked as the favorites to capture the Penrose Cup this winter. UMD received 20 of a possible 27 first-place votes and 209 points while St. Cloud State came in second with 182 points and six first-place votes. The Huskies were followed by North Dakota (150 pts.), Western Michigan (121 pts.), Denver (115 pts. and the remaining first-place vote), Colorado College (98 pts.), Omaha (61 pts.) and Miami (36 pts.). A total of 27 ballots were submitted by local media members from each school, as well as select national media.

This marks the second time in the sixth-year history of the NCHC that UMD held down the No. 1 spot in the media preseason poll. The other top billing came in 2015-16. The Bulldogs were slotted 6th in 2013-14, 5th in 2014-15, 3rd in 2016-17 and 4th one year ago.

UP NEXT: UMD will hit the road for a two-game non-conference set at Michigan Tech on Oct. 12-13.