In its first regular season home appearances in six weeks, the University of Minnesota Duluth will reengage in National Collegiate Hockey Conference warfare this Friday and Saturday (Jan. 11-12) with a pair of bouts against intrastate rival St. Cloud State University. The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. both nights at the AMSOIL Arena (6,756) in downtown Duluth.

THE RECORDS: The defending NCAA champion Bulldogs are 11-5-2 overall and 4-3-1-0 in NCHC play (third place) while St. Cloud State sports a 14-2-2 record in all games to go with a 6-0-2-1 NCHC mark (first place).

HOW THEY RANK: Here the Bulldogs and Huskies stacked up in the most recent USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls as well as the PairWise rankings:
 

	USCHO.com	USA Today	PairWise
UMD	No. 5	No. 5	No. 6
SCSU	No. 1	No. 1	No. 2

            
ON THE AIR: The two UMD-St. Cloud State clashes this weekend will be carried on KDAL-Radio (610 AM and 103.9 FM) with Bruce Ciskie handling the play-by-play responsibilities and UMD hockey alumnus Kraig Karakas the color commentary. The broadcast can also be heard at: kdal610.com.

Both ends of this weekend's series will also be televised locally on My9 (Channel 6.3; Channel 9 on Charter, Mediacom, and Dish Network and Channels 19 and 519 on Paul Bunyan Cable), which has been the Bulldogs' television home for the last 10 seasons. KBJR-TV sports director Zach Schneider and former UMD standout forward Judd Medak will serve as the on-air talent. The two telecasts are available on-line as well at: nchc.tv/umd.

THE RIVALRY: UMD and St. Cloud State have met on 126 previous occasions in a rivalry which stretches back to the 1946-47 season. The Huskies hold a 67-50-9 lead in the all-time series and are 64-45-8 versus the Bulldogs since joining the NCAA Division I ranks in 1987-88. UMD went 1-3-0 against the Huskies last season, falling twice in St. Cloud (5-3 and 5-0 on Nov. 3-4) before splitting a two-game set later in the season at AMSOIL Arena (a 5-1 win and 2-1 setback on Nov. 3-4).

LAST WEEK: UMD ushered in the New Year on Saturday night and came out on the short end of a 4-2 exhibition decision to the U.S. National Under-18 Team. The host Bulldogs, who were outshot 39-28 and never led the entire night, got goals from both freshman right winger Tanner Laderoute and sophomore center Justin Richards while rookie center Jackson Cates picked up a pair of assists.

St. Cloud State fell 7-2 to Union College in the opening round of the Three Rivers Classic on Friday in Pittsburgh, Pa., but bounced back to take down Robert Morris University 5-2 in the third place game the following afternoon.

THIS AIN'T THEIR FIRST RODEO: Going back to the 2014-15 season opener, the Bulldogs are 8-5-0 in 13 confrontations against No. 1 ranked teams (per the USCHO.com Poll):

Date          Team              Result    Site
10/27/18    Notre Dame    W, 3-1    South Bend, Ind
10/26/18    Notre Dame    W, 3-2    South Bend, Ind
12/1/17      Denver            L, 0-1    Duluth, Minn.
12/2/17      Denver            L, 1-2    Duluth, Minn.
4/8/17         Denver           L, 2-3    Chicago, Ill.
10/29/16    North Dakota    W, 3-0    Duluth, Minn.
10/28/16    North Dakota    W, 5-2    Duluth, Minn.
3/18/16      North Dakota    W, 4-2    Minneapolis, Minn.
2/10/15      North Dakota    L, 2-5    Grand Forks, N.D.
2/9/15        North Dakota    W, 4-1    Grand Forks, N.D.
11/15/14    Minnesota         W, 2-1    Duluth, MInn.
11/14/14    Minnesota        W, 3-0    Minneapolis, Minn.
10/10/14    Minnesota        L, 3-4    South Bend, Ind.

U-S-A, U-S-A: A trio of Bulldogs who skated for the silver medal-winning U.S. at the recently-completed International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior championships -- sophomore defensemen Mikey Anderson and Dylan Samberg and rookie forward Noah Cates -- will return to the Bulldog lineup this weekend after missing both the Desert Hockey Classic and last Saturday's exhibition clash with the U.S. National Under-18 Team.

For the second year in a row, UMD had more players on the 23-member U.S. roster than any other school in the country (Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern University, the University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin and Yale University were next with two each).

Both Mikey Anderson, (who served as team captain -- a role his older brother and UMD hockey alum, Joey, handled in 2018 -- and was the top-scoring U.S. defensesman at the tournament) and Samberg were among the five holdovers from last year's U.S. club that captured a bronze at the IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo.

In all, 21 UMD products now have competed in the IIHF World Junior Championship (20 for the U.S. and one for Canada), with Samberg, Mikey Anderson, Joey Anderson (U.S. in 2017 and 2018) 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. He assisted the 2019 U.S. National Junior Team as well.

CERTAINLY NO STRANGERS: St. Cloud State has paid more visits (16) to AMSOIL Arena and won more games there (8) than any other Bulldog opponent. Here is how UMD's seven NCHC adversaries have fared overall at that downtown Duluth facility since it opened its doors for business on Dec. 30, 2010:

Team                       GP    W-L-T    Pct.
Denver                     10    7-1-2    .800
St. Cloud State        16    8-6-2    .562
North Dakota           13    7-6-0    .538
Western Michigan    14    6-7-1    .464
Nebraska Omaha    12    3-6-3    .373
Colorado College    10    1-8-1    .150
Miami                      12    1-10-1    .125

HE'S NOW THE TOP 'DOG: Even though he wasn't in Glendale, Ariz. to witness it, Scott Sandelin became the winningest coach on Dec. 28 when the Bulldogs defeated Minnesota State University-Mankato 4-3 in overtime at the Desert Hockey Classic. That gave Sandelin, who was in Victoria, Briitsh Columbia that night assistant coaching the U.S. at the IIHF World Junior Championships, his 351st career victory with the Bulldogs (he's 351-304-86 during his 18-plus seasons). That's one more win than his predecessor, Mike Sertich, amassed from 1982-2000 (350-328-44).

HEY, WE KNOW THAT GUY: Brett Larson, who spent six successful seasons -- in two separate tours of duty  -- serving as UMD assistant men's hockey coach, is in his debut season at the helm of the St. Cloud State program. During Larson's tenure at UMD (2008-2011 and 2015-18), the Bulldogs rolled up a 142-79-30 overall record (for a .625 winning percentage), captured the school's only two NCAA national championships (2011 and 2018), made five NCAA Tournament appearances (2008, 2011, 2015, 2016 and 2017), and laid claim to one NCHC playoff title (2017) and another WCHA playoff crown (2009) while qualifying for the WCHA Final Five/NCHC Frozen Four tournament six times.

BULLDOG BLOODLINES: Friday night will mark the first time the Bulldogs have faced a team coached by a UMD hockey alumnus since Mike Sertich brought his Michigan Tech club to town on Nov. 10-11, 2000 (then-UMD rookie head coach Scott Sandelin collected his first collegiate victory on the second night of that WCHA series).

A REAL BUZZ KILL: UMD will enter the weekend ranking first in the nation in penalty kill efficiency at .926. The Bulldogs haven't given up a power play goal in their last five games, holding the opposition scoreless on 28 straight opportunities with the man advantage. Opponents are a mere 5-for-68 on the power play this season, with those five goals coming in five separate games.
 
FLEXING SOME SOPHOMORE MUSCLE: UMD possesses the 5th highest scoring sophomore class in the country (73 points on 23 goals and 50 assists) and that group has accounted for 43.0 percent of the Bulldogs' entire point production thus far.

GO FIGURE: During the past few years, home ice advantage has basically been non-existent in the UMD-St. Cloud State rivalry. The Bulldogs are just 3-6-1 in their last 10 confrontations with the Huskies in Duluth but 6-2-0 in their last eight appearances in St. Cloud State's Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

BONUS HOCKEY HAS BEEN A BONUS: UMD is now unbeaten in the last 22 games that have gone into overtime, going 10-0-12, since falling 2-1 to host North Dakota on Feb. 19, 2016. Just three current Bulldogs -- Parker Mackay, Cole Koepke and Nick Swaney -- have an overtime goal as a collegian. Mackay has two, striking in the 2017-18 season opener against Minnesota and in the 2018 NCAA West Regional semifinals versus Minnesota State. Keopke did his in a 4-3 triumph at Denver on Nov. 17, 2018 and Swaney his damage in UMD's 4-3 overtime takedown of Minnesota State-Mankato in the Desert Hockey Classic semifinals.

FOR PETE'S SAKE: Senior Peter Krieger had racked up more collegiate points (76) than any other Bulldog, with 43 of those coming during his time with at UMD (2017-present) and the rest while he was a member of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks program (2014-16).

BUSTED BY THE BRONCOS: Since falling 4-3 at Denver in the NCHC playoff opener on March 13, 2015, the Bulldogs are 63-1-3 when taking a lead into the third period. (They were 23-0-1 in that situation one year ago and are 8-1-0 this season). That lone loss came on the front end of the Western Michigan series earlier this month -- 3-2 on Dec. 7.

BETTER THAN BEFORE: Sophomore center Justin Richards is the first -- and thus far only -- 2018-19 UMD veteran to set a career best for scoring this season. Richards, who has skated in all 62 games since joining the Bulldog program last fall, is tied for second on the team scoring charts with 16 points, which is seven more than he collected all of last winter. Both sophomore wingers Kobe Roth (nine points) and Koby Bender (one point) have both equaled their personal bests from a year ago.

THE EARLY GOAL GETS THE WIN: The Bulldogs are a perfect 10-0-0 when they've drawn first blood this season. UMD has now won 15 straight games in which it has gotten on the scoreboard first, a run that began on March 9, 2018 versus visiting Western Michigan.

THREE'S A CHARM: UMD is 2-3-3 in eight lifetime 3-on-3 NCHC overtimes. The Bulldogs' last 3-on-3 overtime was contested against Miami on Feb. 24, 2017 in Duluth (where the RedHawks prevailed).

PUCK HUNTER: Hunter Shepard, who is tied for sixth among NCAA puckstoppers in wins (11) and also owns the nation's sixth best goals against average (1.85), has now made 57 consecutive starts -- an ironman run that began on Oct. 21, 2017. The 2017-18 All-NCHC second team selection and Mike Richter Award semifinalist (most outstanding NCAA goaltender) has also posted a pair of shut outs this year giving him 10 for his career -- a UMD program record

OH SHOOT(OUT)!: UMD is 4-4 lifetime in NCHC shootouts, but only three Bulldog shooters -- sophomores Cole Koepke (0-for-1), Scott Perunovich (0-for-1) and Kobe Roth (0-for-1) -- have ever participated in that post- overtime event. Junior goaltender Hunter Shepard has stopped two of the three shootout attempts he's faced.

GREAT SCOTT!: Sophomore All-American Scott Perunovich will come into the weekend with a NCHC-best 16 assists to his credit. He is tied for seventh nationally in that department and is ninth in scoring among NCAA I defensemen with 18 points.

Last winter, Perunovich became just the second UMD freshman to ever collar All-American first team honors last year (center Murray Keogan was the other in 1969-70) and 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 so 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 newcomers, Perunovich ranked first in plus-minus rating (+22) and third in both points and assists.

CLAP FOR THE WOLFMANN: Junior defenseman and assistant team captain Nick Wolff, who has taken shifts in a team-high 91 straight games, is a +12 on the year -- the sixth-best mark in the NCHC at the moment. Wolff, the NCHC leader in both overall penalties (14) and penalty minutes (58), will make his 100th collegiate appearance Friday night against St. Cloud State.

WE'LL SECOND THAT: The Bulldogs have outscored the opposition 27-11 in the second period this season. UMD's 1.50 second-period goals per game average is the second best among all NCAA I teams while its goal differential in the middle period (+16) is tops nationally. In addition, 49.1 percent of the Bulldogs' goal scoring has taken place in the second period, a figure that only one other NCAA I club -- Sacred Heart at 51.4 percent -- can top.

LIFE OF RILEY: Riley Tufte, one of seven NHL draftees on the UMD 2018-19 roster and one of just four first-round picks in program history, tops all current Bulldogs in career goals (29, he shares top billing with senior right winger Parker Mackay) and power play scores (10). Tufte's first goal as a Bulldog came at the expense of St. Cloud State on Jan. 13, 2017.

POWER SURGE: UMD has struck on the power play at least once in 12 of its 18 games thus far and is connecting at 20.3 percent with the man advantage -- the 20th best average in the country and fourth best in the NCHC.

POWER SURGE II: The Bulldogs' 12 power play goals to date have been generated by six different players, including junior left winger Riley Tufte and sophomore right winger Kobe Roth, who both have a team-leading four tallies. Tufte's entire goal harvest this year has come on the power play.

POWER SURGE III: Going back to Dec. 4, 2015, UMD is 19-1-2 when scoring multiple times with the man advantage. That lone loss came earlier this year (Oct. 7) at Minnesota when UMD went 2-for-5 with the man advantage in a 7-4 home victory.

FLASHBACK: Sophomore defenseman Matt Anderson struck for his lone collegiate goal to date against St. Cloud State in 5-3 setback on Nov. 3, 2017 in St. Cloud.

GIVING IT THEIR BEST SHOT: The Bulldogs are averaging 36.06 shots per game to trail only Penn State (39.90 spg),  the University of Michigan (37.76 spf) and Ohio State University (35.94 spg) among NCAA I schools. UMD's shot differential (+13.33) is tops in the country while its 22.61 shots allowed per game average ranks second nationally (behind North Dakota's 21.47 spg mark).

MAKING HIS POINT: Senior team captain Parker Mackay has marked in the points column in 11 of the his 16 games (a team-leading 68.75 percent).

GET SHORTIE: Sophomore right winger Nick Swaney's shorthanded goal on Oct. 26, 2018 at Notre Dame was the first of his career and the first by a Bulldog since March 17, 2018 (current sophomore defenseman Mikey Anderson vs. North Dakota in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinals). Anderson, Swaney and Parker Mackay are the lone three Bulldogs with a shortie to their collegiate credit (one each).

UP NEXT: UMD will hit the road for a two-game NCHC set with Miami on Jan. 18-19.