OPENING DRAW The University of Minnesota Duluth will host St. Cloud State University on Saturday, Feb 27. The Series was originally scheduled to be played as a home and home series on Feb. 26-27, but was rearranged to be played on two seperate weekends to help with travel and safety of players. The Bulldogs will head to SCSU next weekend to finish the series.

HAVE A SENIOR DAY Seven Bulldogs will be in AMSOIL for one final game this week. Senior forwards Koby Bender, Kobe Roth and Nick Swaney, as well as senior defensemen Matt Anderson, Matt Cairns and Louie Roehl as well as redshirt junior goalie Ben Patt are all playing in their final AMSOIL game this weekend. They will be celebrated following the game on Saturday evening.

ST. CLOUD STATE AT A GLANCE The Huskies have had a solid year thus far in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. SCSU currently sits in second place in the NCHC standings They only have two games to play on the year (both with UMD). Last weekend, the Huskies took on Colorado College, beating the Tigers 4-0. SCSU is currently on a two game win streak and are 3-2 in their past five games.
Leading the way for the Huskies is freshman forward Veeti Miettinen. He has been a very good player for SCSU, leading with 21 points thus far. He is leading the team in goals with nine and is looking to be the first to eclipse the double digits on the season. Five of those have come on the man advantage. He sits second on the team in plus/minus with a +10 rating.
Goaltender David Hrenak has been the go to guy this year for SCSU. Hrenak carries a 11-7-0 record on the year, playing in most games for the Huskies (18 of 21). He sits with a .910 save percentage as well as a 2.47 goals against average. Jaxon Castor has seen action in four games this season, sitting with a 2.00 goals against average and a .903 save percentage.
Head coach Brett Larson is in his third season with the program. While with SCSU, Larson carries a 57-29-9 record.

LAST TIME OUT The Bulldogs fell for the third straight game. UMD fell to Colorado College (2-1) for the second time this season, with the first time being all the way back in the NCHC Pod, where the Bulldogs lost 4-1.
Despite outshooting the Tigers 43-14, the Bulldogs ran into a goaltender in Dominic Basse. Senior forward Nick Swaney notched his 97th career point, scoring just 19 seconds into the second period. CC would notch two goals in the third period, with the second coming within the final three minutes of the game. Freshman defenseman Wyatt Kaiser notched an assist on Swaney's goal.
UMD now sits 12-8-2 on the season and currently sit third in the NCHC standings.

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 two spots in the latest national polls, claiming the No. 10 in the U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO.com) Division I Men's poll and No. 10 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Coaches Poll. The Bulldogs were ranked 8/8 in the previous polls. UMD has cracked every USCHO.com weekly poll since March 7, 2016.

MORE FOR THE MANTLE The Bulldogs had some noteworthy accolades last season, with Scott Perunovich taking home the Hobey Baker award, the NCHC Player of the Year, the USA Hockey Jim Johannson College Player of the Year, the NCHC Three-Star award and the Offensive Defenseman award. Hunter Shepard was named NCHC Goaltender of the Year and Justin Richards was named NCHC Defensive Forward of the Year. UMD looks to continue their excellence this season.

THE RIVALRY In the past eight years, SCSU has had a slight edge on the Bulldogs. The Huskies own a 19-15-1 record in 35 contests over those years. In their lifetime of matchups, SCSU has the edge over UMD with a 75-55-6 record. From this season, the Bulldogs have won just one game while falling in three, each team hosting two games. The first two games were in St. Cloud, Minn.
UMD took the first game 4-3, that would take overtime to decide. UMD struck first. After the Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead, the Huskies would take over and grab a 3-2 lead. UMD scored in the first five minutes of the third period, and finished the game off in the first two minutes of overtime.
The second game saw SCSU score first in the second period. UMD did score in the third period, but the Huskies scored two of their own to take a 3-1 win.
The last two games these two teams saw each other were both in Duluth, Minn. The Huskies took both games, but not without battles. In the first game, St. Cloud walked away with a win by the skin of their teeth. They would score twice in the first period, but the Bulldogs battled their way back in the second, scoring three to take a 3-2 lead into the final frame. SCSU managed to score twice in the last period to take a 4-3 win. Freshman forwards Blake Biondi and Luke Mylymok scored their first career collegiate goals in the loss.
In the latest battle, it came down to overtime and almost a shootout. No goals were scored in regulation and it took until 3:58 of overtime. The Huskies would end up scoring the only goal in the game to take a 1-0 overtime win.

GOALS? WE LIKE GOALS The Bulldogs have one of the top returning rosters in terms of goals. UMD is coming back with the fourth most goals on their roster with 90, with Bowling Green (96) sitting atop the charts, and North Dakota (96) right there with them and the University of Minnesota (93) just behind them. UMD returns seven of their top-10 from last season, with junior forward Cole Koepke being the majority holder with 16, and junior forward Noah Cates following with 14.

GOALS? WE LIKE GOALS II The Bulldogs currently sit as the fourth best scoing team in the NCHC, netting 64 on the season. UND (88), UNO (74) and SCSU (73) are atop the list.

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 2.23 goals per game, which sits just below the University of North Dakota's 1.91.

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 in third in the NCHC (T-13 in the NCAA) with 24 points (10g, 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 .906 save percentage (fourth in the NCHC) and a 2.28 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 ninth 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 19.3% (16-83) on the season. The penalty kill has been running at an 75.9% (63-83) 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 40.6 percent of its goals (26-of-64) 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 (133) and Louie Roehl (136), forwards Kobe Roth (128) and Nick Swaney  (128) all passing the mark last season. Four Juniors, forwards Jackson Cates (90), Noah Cates (96), Cole Koepke (98) and Tanner Laderoute (91) 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 97 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 assistant 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 136 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 (10g, 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 126 games, Swaney has put up 97 points (43g, 54a) points while sporting a solid +43 rating. He's produced seven game winners in his career with the Bulldogs.