FACEOFF The University of Minnesota Duluth begins a four-game homestand this weekend as the No. 9-ranked Bulldogs welcome Colorado College (R.V.) to AMSOIL Arena for a National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) series. Opening puck drop for each night in Duluth is set for 7:07 p.m. Friday's lid-lifter can be heard locally on KDAL 610 AM/103.9 FM and streamed live on nchc.tv/umd.

LAST TIME OUT UMD secured a series split with Miami, scratching out a 3-2 victory over the RedHawks on Saturday night in Oxford, Ohio. The Bulldogs took advantage of specialty teams play with three power play goals on the weekend. Tanner Laderoute scored his first goal of the season on Friday night and the eventual game-winner on Saturday, each with the man advantage. Scott Perunovich collected an assist on each of UMD's four goals on the weekend, while pacing the defense with seven blocks in front of goaltender Hunter Shepard, who stopped 30-of-44 shots on the weekend.

BEST OF THE BLUE LINE Scott Perunovich earned his second NCHC Defenseman of the Week this season on Monday. He once again led UMD in scoring with his four points (four assists), providing a helper on each of UMD's goals against Miami He also led the Bulldogs with seven blocked shots in the defense zone, and totaled eight shots on goal, second on the team and first among blue liners. Perunovich has earned NCHC weekly plaudits eight times in his career.

BULLDOGS IN THE POLLS The series split with Miami cost UMD its standing in the National polls. The Bulldogs remain a top-ten team nationally, sliding  three spots in the USCHO.com poll, ranking No. 9, and four spots in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Coaches Poll, ranking tenth. Five NCHC have cracked the top 20, including two in the top 10: No. 4 Denver, No. 5 North Dakota, No. 9 UMD, No. 18 Omaha, and No. 20 Western Michigan. The Bulldogs have cracked every USCHO.com Top 20 poll since March 7, 2016.

SERIES HISTORY With a history dating back nearly as long as either program has existed, UMD and Colorado College have met 189 times with the Bulldogs owning a 98-81-10 all-time record against the Tigers. Scott Sandelin has been at the helm of the Bulldogs for 61 of those contests, currently 33-21-7 all-time against Colorado College.

UMD took 3-of-4 from the Tigers last season, including a series sweep in Duluth, and outscored Colorado College 15-5 on the season. Hunter Shepard secured a pair of shutouts for the Bulldogs. In six career games against CC, Shepard is 5-1-0 with a 1.83 GAA and 125 saves , good for a .919 save percentage. 

In his career, Perunovich has a team-leading eight points on eight assists against the Tigers. Kobe Roth leads the Bulldogs with three goals. Justin Richards has five points on two goals and three assists.
NCAA SUPERLATIVES UMD's specialty teams continue to rank among the national leaders. The Bulldogs rank no. 13 in power play percentage, making good on 23.3 percent of their attempts with the skater advantage, while the penalty kill ranks no. 23 nationally, shutting down opponents on 83.3 percent  of power plays.  UMD ranks no. 11 in power play goals with 10 on the season. 

Individually, Scott Perunovich ranks ninth in the nation averaging 1.10 assists per game. Jackson Cates ranks tenth with his three power play goals.

A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN UMD ranks second in the conference in power play goals and power play percentage, scoring on 10-of-43 chances with the skater advantage. The Bulldogs rank in the upper half of the league in scoring defense, allowing just 2.50 goals per game and third in penalty kill, stopping 30-of-36 chances for opponents.

Perunovich leads all NCHC defensemen with his 13 points, an average of 1.3 per game. Jackson Cates is one of five players in the conference with three power play goals this season and leads the league with 0.3 power play scores per game.

DECIDED IN TWO UMD remains unbeaten, 5-0-0, this season when leading after two periods, but the team's Nov. 8 tie against Denver marked the first time they had not fallen when trailing after two, now 0-4-1.

KEEPING IT 100 Senior forward Jade Miller skated in his 100th career game for UMD learlier this season against Denver, one of just two current Bulldogs (Nick Wolff, 132) to reach the century mark. Justin Richards should be the next skater to reach the mark with 96 career games, while Hunter Shepard also has 96 games between the pipes.

SHEPARDING IN HISTORY Already the NCAA leader in consecutive games started with 91-straight starts in goal for the UMD, Hunter Shepard also continues to charge towards more history. The national record for consecutive games played by a goalie is 102, set by Cornell's David McKee from 2004-06. Shepard's 91-straight starts also mark his consecutive games played, allowing him the chance to equal the mark later this season. With 17 career shutouts, the senior netminder also has an outside chance on reaching the record of 26 set by Ryan Miller at Michigan State from 1999-02. His 59 victories to his name also fall just one shy of the program record for goaltending wins of 60, set by Rick Kosti ('85).

MINNESOTA SPORTS AWARDS Sports Minneapolis, a division of Meet Minneapolis, announced last month that the 2018-19 UMD Bulldogs received a pair of nominations for the 2019 Minnesota Sports Awards. Head coach Scott Sandelin stands alongside Rocco Baldelli of the Minnesota Twins and Adrian heath of Minnesota United F.C. as a candidate for Coach of the Year, while former Bulldog captain Parker Mackay ('19) landed a nomination for the Men's Collegiate Athlete of the Year honor. The charity gala and award announcements will take place on Dec. 11 at the Renaissance Minneapolis Hotel, The Depot.

LEADING THE PACK UMD stood atop the NCHC Preseason Poll released Sept. 19, receiving 23 of 28 first-place votes and 218 points overall, 40 more than second-place Denver (178) and 62 more than third-place Western Michigan (156), teams which received two and three first-place votes respectively. North Dakota (143) and St. Cloud State (138) round out the top five.

BEST OF THE BEST Four Bulldogs landed on the seven-man Preseason All-NCHC Team. Hunter Shepard was the lone unanimous selection as the goaltender on all 27 ballots, joined by junior forwards Justin Richards and Nick Swaney, and junior defenseman Scott Perunovich. Each member of the quartet had previously earned NCHC All-Conference designation in the postseason.

SHEP, NO, CAPTAIN SHEP! The reigning team MVP and one of his strongest defenders will lead the Bulldogs this season as senior goaltender Hunter Shepard and senior defender Nick Wolff were selected team captains. Wolff served as an Alternate Captain in 2018-19, setting a new career high in points on the blue line as he scored five goals to go with 13 assists in UMD's historic season. Shepard becomes the first Bulldog goalie since Rick Heinz in 1976-77 to serve as a team captain.

'A' FOR EFFORT Junior forward Justin Richards donned the 'A' to serve as an alternate captain for the UMD for the team's exhibition opener with Alberta, answering questions to who else would receive captaincy duties for the Bulldogs this season. The Columbus, Ohio native has skated in 86 games in his UMD career, scoring 32 points last season.

SERVING HIS COUNTRY UMD head coach Scott Sandelin will serve as the head coach of the U.S. Junior National Team at the 202 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship Dec. 26, 2019 - Jan. 5, 2020. Sandelin has been a part of three previous U.S. National Junior Team coaching staffs, including as head coach in 2005 and as an assistant coach in both 2012 and for last year's silver medal-winning club.

BULLDOGS IN THE LIMELIGHT The defending NCHC Frozen Faceoff Champions have been selected for a pair of showcase games on CBS Sports Network beginning later this season. UMD will host North Dakota on Friday, Jan. 24 at AMSOIL Arena before a national TV audience, while the Bulldogs will travel to Western Michigan on Friday, Feb. 20 for another national broadcast. Additionally, the NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinals and championship game will air live on CBS Sports Network. UMD is 27-7-1 on national TV broadcasts in the last three seasons.

THE PUCK STOPS HERE Hunter Shepard raked in the accolades for his statistical achievements last season, receiving All-American honors from the AHCA in addition to being a top-5 semifinalist for the Mike Richter Award. During the NCHC, he earned the Goaltender of the Year award in addition to landing on the All-NCHC First Team. 

In the postseason, he represented UMD as the Most Outstanding Player in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff and landed on both the NCAA Midwest Regional and Frozen Four All-Tournament teams.

PATENTLY OFFENSIVE In addition to attaining Second Team All-American status from the AHCA (his second consecutive year to receive top national honors), Scott Perunovich earned All-NCHC First Team honors last season while the league tabbed him as its best Offensive Defenseman for the second-straight season. Perunovich earned a spot on the NCAA Midwest Regional All-Tournament Team during the postseason. Despite playing on the blue line, Perunovich ranked third on the UMD scoring charts in 2018-19.

GETTING DEFENSIVE Rising junior forward Justin Richards book-ended Perunovich's award last season  as the NCHC's Best Defensive Forward in additional to notching an All-NCHC Second Team selection. He finished with 32 points, the second-highest output of any Bulldog, scoring 21 more points than his rookie output.

A ROOK' TO REMEMBER Rising sophomore Noah Cates   earned the distinction of top overall vote-getter on the NCHC All-Rookie Team, leading Bulldog newcomers in goals (9), assists (14), and points (23).

MORE HARDWARE Rounding out the returners to receive All-Conference honors, Nick Swaney represented UMD as an All-NCHC Honorable Mention. In addition to his four game-winners, Swaney totaled 15 scores on the year and 25 points. He came through in the clutch for the Bulldogs, tallying a nationwide-best three overtime goals.

HIT THE BOOKS Not just impressive on the ice, UMD saw nine student athletes land on the NCHC Academic All-Conference Team a year ago, including returners Matt Anderson, Koby Bender, Jade Miller, Ben Patt, Justin Richards, and Nick Swaney. Matt and Mikey Anderson each attained NCHC Distinguished Scholar Athlete honors.

THE TEAM'S BEST Shepard received the prestigious Keith "Huffer" Christiansen Award as the Bulldogs' Most Valuable Player last season. He set a program record with his 1.76 goals against average and nearly matched his own program high with seven shutouts on the season. Additionally, Noah Cates received the Jerry Chumola Rookie of the Year Award, Parker Mackay received the Goldie Wolfe Award (Most Inspirational Player), and rising junior forward Justin Richards earned the Mike Sertich Award as the Most Improver Player. Rising senior forward Jade Miller added the Pat Francisco Community Service Award to his career accolades. 

ROSTER BREAKDOWN Along with a four-member senior class, the Bulldogs return eight juniors who know nothing but winning championships in their careers. The 12 upper classmen break down as six defensemen, five forwards, and one goaltender. Eight return for a sophomore go-around with UMD,  two blue-liners, five forwards, and one goalie. The five first-year Bulldogs are goalie Ryan Fanti and forwards Luke Loheit, Brady Meyer, Quinn Olson, and Brandon Puricelli.

WHERE THEY'RE FROM Exactly 60 percent of the UMD roster hails from the Land of 10,000 Lakes with 15-of-25 student athletes growing up in Minnesota. Five cross the border from Canada, including two from Ontario and two from Alberta. The remaining five  Bulldogs include one each from the states of California, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, and Ohio.

FEELING A DRAFT Incoming freshman Quinn Olson became the 112th all-time Bulldog to be selected in the NHL Entry Draft in 2019, selected by the Boston Bruins in the third round with the no. 92 overall pick. He joins Noah Cates (Philadelphia), Cole Koepke (Tampa Bay) Luke Loheit (Ottawa), Scott Perunovich (St. Louis), Dylan Samberg (Winnipeg), and Nick Swaney (Minnesota) among current Bulldogs.

A HEALTHY LOOK Last summer, 12 current Bulldogs had the chance to flash their skills at NHL Development camps. UMD sent three student athletes to both the Bruins (Quinn Olson, Justin Richards, Nick Wolff) and Flyers (Matt Anderson, Jackson Cates, Noah Cates) camps, while the Minnesota Wild took a look at both Louie Roehl and Nick Swaney. Rounding out the group were Cole Koepke in Tampa Bay, Luke Loheit in Ottawa, Scott Perunovich in St. Louis, and Dylan Samberg in Winnipeg.