OPENING DRAW The University of Minnesota Duluth will play for the first time in two weeks, hosting the Western Michigan University Broncos on Saturday and Sunday. The Bulldogs series this past weekend against Miami University was postponed due to Covid-19 Protocols. The last time these two opponents met was towards the end of last season, with each team taking a game in the two game series, with UMD taking the season series 2-1-1. The Bulldogs have an all-time series lead on the Broncos, holding a 20-10-2 record while squaring off.

WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY AT A GLANCE WMU had a cold start to the season this year, going 0-3-1 to kick things off in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Pod before pucking up their first win, coming against St. Cloud State University none the less, 2-1. Since its first win, WMU has gone 5-5-2, beating Colorado College (5-2), Miami University (4-1) and St. Cloud State University twice (6-2 & 3-1), while falling to the University of North Dakota (6-3), the University of Denver (3-2), the University of Nebraska-Omaha (6-5) and MU twice (3-1 & 5-1). They have also tied with DU (3-3) and MU (3-3). The Broncos had two out of four Players of the Week last week, with defenseman Ronnie Attard grabbing the Defenseman of the Week and forward Ty Glover grabbing Rookie of the Week honors.
Attard had a big weekend at both ends of the ice to power Western Michigan to a five-point weekend at Miami, scoring the game-tying goal both nights. In Friday's series opener, he tallied a goal and an assist, leveling the game with a backhander in the closing seconds of the first period, before setting up the game-winning goal on the power play midway through the second period of an eventual 4-1 victory. The next night, he scored with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation to tie the game at 3-3, capping a two-goal comeback. Attard fired six shots on goal in Saturday's win and finished with 10 shots on the weekend, which led all NCHC skaters. He totaled three points on two goals and an assist at Miami, while posting a +2 plus/minus. On the season, he now has three goals, all in his last five games, and seven assists for 10 points in 14 games.
Glover had the best weekend of his young Broncos career, more than doubling his season point total at Miami, racking up four points on a goal and an assist in each game. In Friday's series opener, he had the primary assist on the game-tying goal in the first period and then tallied his first career goal in the third period on the power play to double the lead in a 4-1 victory. The next night, Glover helped WMU erase a two-goal deficit, again striking on the power play to open WMU's scoring in the third period, while he set up the Broncos' second goal of the game to make it 3-2 in an eventual 3-3 tie. Glover finished the weekend with two goals, two assists, three shots on goal and a +2 plus/minus. He had only three assists prior to this weekend, giving him seven points and five assists on the season.

LAST TIME OUT The Bulldogs are looking to get back on track after a tough two losses coming at the hands of the St. Cloud State Huskies. Jan. 8th's contest was back and forth, with SCSU scoring the first two goals in the first. Freshman forwards Blake Biondi and Luke Mylymok each scored their first career collegiate goals to tie the game back up, followed by senior forward Nick Swaney scoring his fifth on the year to take the lead. The Huskises would score one before the second period finished up and potted again in the final frame to take a 4-3 lead and would hold steady to finish the game.
On Jan. 9th, it was a goalie duel as freshman goalie Zach Stejskal made his second start of the season and had a stellar performance, stopping every shot in regulation. David Hrenak of SCSU did the same, making all saves needed to bring the game to overtime. The Huskies found the back of the net near the halfway point of 3-on-3 overtime to take the win against the Bulldogs.
UMD now sits 6-5-2 on the year.

BULLDOGS IN THE POLLS UMD held steady in the last  national polls, claiming the No. 7 in the U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO.com) Division I Men's poll and No. 7 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Coaches Poll. The Bulldogs were ranked 7/8 in the previous polls. UMD has cracked every USCHO.com weekly poll since March 7, 2016.

STARTING STRONG The Bulldogs have produced points this year left and right. Senior forward Nick Swaney is at the forefront, leading the charge for UMD and sitting in a three way tie for second in the NCHC with 15 points (5g, 10a) on the season up to this point. His 10 assists on the season is tied for fourth in the NCHC.

STARTING STRONG II Sophomore goalie Ryan Fanti has had a stellar start to the season and his career thus far, sitting with five wins under his belt (fourth in the NCHC). He's been a rock solid back stop for the Bulldogs with a .903 save percentage (fifth in the NCHC) and a 2.51 goals against average (fourth in the NCHC).

STARTING STRONG III Senior forward Kobe Roth is tied for sixth in the NCHC this season in goals, scoring six on the year in 13 games. He also has two assists, giving him eight points on the season. He carries a .214 shooting percentage this year, his best so far in his career.

SPECIAL TEAMS ARE INDEED SPECIAL UMD started the strong on the special teams, and have slowed down as of late, but are looking to return to form. The Bulldogs are currently clipping at an 19.2% (10-52) on the season. The penalty kill has been running at an 78.4% (40-51) on the season and will look to continue to improve.

SPECIAL TEAMS ARE INDEED SPECIAL II Junior forward Jackson Cates leads the way with four power play goals on the year (tied for third in the NCHC) and three power play assists. His brother, junior forward Noah Cates, has two power play tallies and three assists while on the man advantage. Senior forward Kobe Roth also has two power play goals on the year, wlong with one assist on the power play.
Senior forward Nick Swaney and junior forward Cole Koepke have the other power play tallies. Swaney has dished seven assists on the man advantage, second in the NCHC.

SPECIAL TEAMS ARE INDEED SPECIAL III The Bulldogs have two short handed goals on the season, tied for second in the NCHC. Senior forward Nick Swaney and junior defenseman Hunter Lellig have the two shorties on the season, with  Lellig's being his first collegiate career goal.

STRONG FINISH UMD has scored 47.1% (16 of 34) goals in the third period thus far in the season. Those 16 goals in the third are the second best in the NCHC.

CHASING 400 Head Coach Scott Sandelin is on the verge of becoming just the eighth active head coach to reach the 400 win milestone. He would be the 33rd coach in DI to hit the 400 DI wins mark.

KEEPING IT 100 There are a plethora of players on this years roster that are either past, or close to breaking the 100 game mark for their careers. Senior defense men Matt Anderson (124) and Louie Roehl (127), forwards Kobe Roth (119) and Nick Swaney  (119) all passing the mark last season. Four Juniors, forwards Jackson Cates (81), Noah Cates (87), Cole Koepke (89) and Tanner Laderoute (82) all have the milestone within reach.

NEAR THE TOP UMD came in third in the NCHC preseason media poll, sitting behind UND (223), who grabbed 27 out of a possible 28 first place votes, DU (185), who grabbed the last first place vote possible. The Bulldogs donned 173 points and were followed by SCSU (126), WMU (116), UNO (96), CC (45) and Miami (44)

CAPTAIN CATES Noah Cates (4g, 6a) is stepping into the season with a 'C' on his chest. He looks to step into the roll with pride, taking over for the departed former captain Nick Wolff, who signed with the Boston Bruins. Cates returns as UMD's second top point getter, finishing last year with 33 (14g, 19a) points, and a career mark of 66 (27g, 39a) points.

'A' FOR EFFORT After a stellar sophomore season, Cole Koepke (3g, 5a) will be one of three captains. He comes into his junior year with a career mark of 60 (26g, 34a) points, while finishing last year with a team second best 33 (16g, 17a) points.

'A' FOR EFFORT II Senior Louie Roehl is another will also sport the 'A' this season. Roehl looks to have another productive year for UMD, as he's been with the Bulldogs for two championships and played in 127 games. Roehl has 25 (7g, 18a) points in his career as a Bulldog and has a +31 rating for his career.

'A' FOR EFFORT III Senior Nick Swaney (5g, 10a) is the final 'A' for the team this season. Swaney is another player who has been with UMD for two championships, He has been on a slow climb in points, producing at a 0.74 points per game pace for his career. in 117 games, Swaney has put up 88 points (38g, 50a) points while sporting a solid +41 rating. He's produced seven game winners in his career with the Bulldogs.

AMSOIL ARENA PROTOCOLS The DECC and Bulldog Athletics are pleased to welcome back the first attendees since last March for Bulldog men's hockey at AMSOIL Arena this weekend. Following months of planning and development of safety plans, UMD and the DECC are set to phase in and scale up attendance over the coming weeks and months. This weekend only invited guests (student-athlete family and friends, guests) of the teams will be in attendance. Detailed protocols and guidelines are in place in an effort to foster the safest possible environment. Universal masking, social/physical distancing, routine sanitization and cleaning as well as other MDH/CDC best practices will be in place to mitigate the risks of COVID-19. The adherence to these policies by those in attendance is appreciated and required. Stay tuned for additional information as the DECC and UMD work to expand attendance in the safest possible environment. Weekly updates will be provided for all UMD athletic events.