OPENING DRAW The University of Minnesota Duluth comes back to AMSOIL Arena this weekend to host Colorado College. This will be the second meeting between the two teams this year. The two teams were supposed to meet twice in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Pod in Omaha, Neb., but only met once due to Covid-19 protocol within the Tiger's program.

COLORADO COLLEGE AT A GLANCE The Tigers are coming off of another tough weekend. They had two losses coming at the hands of the University of Nebraska-Omaha (7-1 & 3-2). CC has seen nine straight losses in the past 10 games, with their last win coming against the University of Denver (4-3).
Leading the way for the Tigers is forward Josiah Slavin. Slavin has put together a 12 point (5g, 7a) season thus far while playing in every game for CC.
Another top player for the Tigers is forward Grant Cruikshank. Cruikshank has 10 points on the year, but is leading CC in goals with eight thus far this season. He's also leading the team in the plus/minus category with a +5 rating on the year. Playing in 86 games in his career, Cruikshank has netted 30 goals, leading all active Tigers, along with 45 points (30g, 15a), tied for the lead with defenseman Brian Yoon (5g, 40a).
Goaltender Dominic Basse has played 2/3's of the games this season, holding a 3-9-1 record. He's seen 384 shots and stopped 343 of them, good for a .893 save percentage while carrying a 3.14 goals against average. Goaltender Matt Vernon has seen action in seven games this season as well. Vernon holds a 0-4-1 record with a .836 saves percentage and a 4.26 goals against average.
Head coach Mike Haviland is in his seventh season with the program. While with CC, Haviland carries a 63-136-20 record.

LAST TIME OUT The Bulldogs saw their six game win streak come to a halt against Western Michigan University. UMD fell twice on the weekend to a streaking Broncos (4-0 & 4-1). UMD was held to 24 shots on the night and sophomore goaltender Ryan Fanti was credited with the loss, junior forward Cole Koepke finished with a team high four shots while junior defenseman Hunter Lellig finished with two blocks.
Saturdays game saw more of the same from WMU's goaltender Alex Aslanidis, who had a solid outing both nights. The Bulldogs finished with 23 shots on goal with Koepke scoring UMD's lone goal in the contest with assists going to junior defenseman Jake Rosenbaum and the other going to senior defenseman Matt Cairns.

HOBEY WATCH Three Bulldogs were named to the Hobey Baker watch list. Junior forwards Noah Cates & Cole Koepke and senior forward Nick Swaney are all listed on the list.

RICHTER WATCH So. Goalie Ryan Fanti was named to the Mike Richter Award watch list.

BULLDOGS IN THE POLLS UMD dropped down four spots in the latest national polls, claiming the No. 8 in the U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO.com) Division I Men's poll and No. 8 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Coaches Poll. The Bulldogs were ranked 4/4 in the previous polls. UMD has cracked every USCHO.com weekly poll since March 7, 2016.

THE RIVALRY Since the 2013 season, UMD has had solid success The Bulldogs have been able to take 18 of the 25 contests in that span, with the last five of six going in favor of UMD. The last time these two teams met up was in the NCHC Pod, with the Tigers getting the best of UMD by a score of 4-1, handing the Bulldogs their first loss of the season.
In last year and this years contests, the Bulldogs have had a plethora of scorers. Junior forward Noah Cates has been at the forefront, putting three pucks in the back of the net and dishing out seven assists. Junior forward Cole Koepke has done some solid work of his own, scoring two and grabbing three assists. Sophomore forward Luke Loheit has been able to score three. Junior forward Tanner Laderoute and senior forward Kobe Roth have two goals and an assist each. Senior forward Nick Swaney and sophomore forward Quinn Olson each have scored, with Olson grabbing an assist as well. Senior forward Koby Bender has two assists, while junior forward Jesse Jacques and freshman forwards Blake Biondi and Luke Mylymok all have an assist each.
UMD holds a 104-83-10 all-time record against the Tigers.

GOALS COMING AT A PREMIUM The Bulldogs are currently second when it comes to goals against per game in the NCHC. UMD is only giving up 2.24 goals per game, which sits just below the University of North Dakota's 2.00.

STARTING STRONG, STAYING 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 tied for second in the NCHC (t-eighth in the NCAA) with 23 points (9g, 14a) on the season up to this point. His 14 assists on the season is tied for fourth in the NCHC.

STARTING STRONG, STAYING STRONG II Sophomore goalie Ryan Fanti has had a stellar start to the season and his career thus far, sitting with nine wins under his belt (fourth in the NCHC). He's been a rock-solid back stop for the Bulldogs with a .908 save percentage (fourth in the NCHC) and a 2.29 goals against average (third in the NCHC).

STARTING STRONG, STAYING STRONG III Junior forward Cole Koepke is second in the NCHC's lead in goals, sitting with 12 on the season. He also has seven assists on the year for 19 points, tied for seventh in the NCHC.

STARTING STRONG, STAYING STRONG IV Senior forward Kobe Roth has 10 goals on the season, which is tied for fifth in the NCHC on the season. He also has six assists on the year, good for 16 points overall.

SPECIAL TEAMS ARE INDEED SPECIAL UMD started the strong on the special teams, and have continued to dominate on the man advantage. The Bulldogs are currently clipping at an 20.0% (16-80) on the season. The penalty kill has been running at an 77.8% (63-81) on the season and will look to continue to improve.

SPECIAL TEAMS ARE INDEED SPECIAL II Junior forward Jackson Cates leads the way with five power play goals on the year (tied for third in the NCHC) and five power play assists. His brother, junior forward Noah Cates, and has three power play tallies and four assists while on the man advantage. Senior forward Nick Swaney also has three power play goals on the year, with eight assists on the man advantage (tied for third in the NCHC). His 11 power play points is tied for second in the NCHC and tied for eighth in NCAA.
Junior forward Cole Koepke also has three power play tallies while senior forward Kobe Roth has the other power play goals.

SPECIAL TEAMS ARE INDEED SPECIAL III The Bulldogs have two shorthanded 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 41.3 percent of its goals (26-of-63) of its team goals in the third period.

SURPASSING 400 Head Coach Scott Sandelin became just the 33rd active head coach to reach the 400 win milestone on Jan. 29, 2021 when the Bulldogs beat Miami University, 2-1. He currently owns 403 wins.

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 (132) and Louie Roehl (135), forwards Kobe Roth (127) and Nick Swaney  (127) all passing the mark last season. Four Juniors, forwards Jackson Cates (89), Noah Cates (95), Cole Koepke (97) and Tanner Laderoute (90) all have the milestone within reach.

HITTING THE CENTURY Senior forward Nick Swaney is on the verge of becoming the 59th Bulldog men's hockey player to reach the 100th point milestone. He sits with 96 in his career.

BEST OF THE BEST a Pair of Bulldogs landed on the seven-man Preseason All-NCHC Team. Noah Cates and Cole Koepke were both named to the Preseason squad.
So far this season, the Bulldogs have snagged five player of the week's. Sophomore goalie Ryan Fanti was the NCHC's first Goalie of the Week (Dec. 7) and has two on the year (Dec. 7 & Feb. 1). Freshman defenseman was named Rookie of the Week (Feb. 1), junior forward Cole Koepke was named Forward of the Week (Feb. 8) and freshman goaltender Zach Stejskal was named Goalie of the Week (Feb. 8)

CAPTAIN CATES Noah Cates (5g, 10a) 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 71 (28g, 43a) points.

'A' FOR EFFORT After a stellar sophomore season, Cole Koepke (12g, 7a) will be one of three captains. He comes into his junior year with a career mark of 71 (35g, 36a) 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 135 games. Roehl has 26 (7g, 19a) points in his career as a Bulldog and has a +31 rating for his career.

'A' FOR EFFORT III Senior Nick Swaney (9g, 14a) 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 0.76 points per game pace for his career. in 125 games, Swaney has put up 96 points (40g, 54a) points while sporting a solid +42 rating. He's produced seven game winners in his career with the Bulldogs.