OPENING DRAW The University of Minnesota Duluth is headed to the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship after its game against Michigan was ruled a no contest with Michigan having a positive covid test within its system. The Bulldogs are looking to win their fourth regional in a row and are pitted against the National Collegiate Hockey Conference's regular season and post season champion, the University of North Dakota. UND beat American International College 5-1 in the midwest semifinal. This will be the third meeting between the two teams, and the first since the NCHC Pod that took place in December of 2020.

NORTH DAKOTA AT A GLANCE The Fighting Hawks came into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed. They beat AIC last night 5-1. They are 22-5-1 on the season and are riding a four game streak that started in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff. UND has been in and out of the No. 1 spot in the USCHO.com poll and hasn't dropped below No. 4 this season. They were the NCHC regular season and post season champions.
The Fighting Hawks have a Hobey Baker Award Top 10 Finalist on the squad, forward Shane Pinto. Pinto has been a force this season, potting 15 goals and dishing 15 assists for 30 points on the year. He's a +18 on the season, scoring seven goals on the man advantage. He's taken 88 shots (leads the team) and has three game winners on the year.
Another guy UND has looked to is forward Jordan Kawaguci. He's the captain this season, and leads the team both on and off the ice. He's managed to put up 34 points (9g, 25a). He's also a +18 on the season and has two game winners.
Forward Adam Collins has been another solid player for UND, grabbing 32 points (13g, 19a) on the season. He's managed to put together a +21 on the year with five power play goals, two game winners and a 22.8% shooting percentage.
Goaltender Adam Scheel has been the No. 1 backstop for the Fighting Hawks this year, and boy he's been hot, earning a Mike Richter Top 10 Finalist this year. Scheel has a 20-3-1 record on the year. He's got a 1.78 goals against average along with a .929 saves percentage.

LAST TIME OUT The Bulldogs had the opportunity to go for their third straight NCHC Frozen Faceoff title. UMD made their way out to Grand Forks, ND (temporary home for the Frozen Faceoff) and took on Western Michigan University in the first round. It was a slugfest as the two sides wouldn't give in. In the back and forth game, it was UMD who came out on top in overtime, 5-4, on freshman defenseman Connor Kelley's first game winning goal. The Bulldogs did not find that success in the second round. UMD was pitted off against St. Cloud State University for the seventh time this season. It was the Huskies that would ultimitly move on to the championship game when a puck snuck by sophomore goaltender Ryan Fanti's left leg on a wrap around. The Bulldogs garnered a bid into the NCAA Tournament as one of the top 16 teams in the NCAA. UMD advanced to the midwest regional championship when the University of Michigan had covid protocols come into play with the team.

BULLDOGS IN THE POLLS UMD stayed put in the spot in the latest national polls, claiming the No. 9 in the U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO.com) Division I Men's poll and No. 9 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Coaches Poll. The Bulldogs were ranked 9/9 in the previous polls. UMD has cracked every USCHO.com weekly poll since March 7, 2016.
MORE FOR THE MANTLE The Bulldogs had a solid year this season, claiming six NCHC Player of the Week awards. UMD also had 15 Bulldogs named the NCHC All-Academic team this year and six honored as NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athletes.
A quartet of Bulldogs landed on the All-NCHC teams. Senior forward Nick Swaney made it on to the All-NCHC first team this season. Junior forward Noah Cates landed on the All-NCHC second team and junior forward Cole Koepke and freshman defenseman Wyatt Kaiser each were named as All-NCHC honorable mention. Kaiser also landed himself on the NCHC All-Rookie squad.

THE RIVALRY These two teams have seen each other quite often over the years. The Bulldogs have faced off against UND 231 times in their history, the most of any other team. The Fighting Hawks own a 139-82-10 record against UMD. The Bulldogs are 0-1-1 against UND this season, with UMD grabbing the extra point in the tie in the shootout. Over the past three years, the Bulldogs are 3-4-1 against the Fighting Hawks.
The first meeting between the two this season was a tie, with UMD taking the extra point in a shootout. Junior forward Cole Koepke grabbed a goal and an assist, with junior forward Jesse Jacques grabbing the other goal and senior forward Kobe Roth dishing an assist. Senior forward Nick Swaney scored the lone goal in the shootout.
The second meeting was another battle till the end, with the Fighting Hawks grabbing the win in regulation. Junior forward Noah Cates had the lone goal for the Bulldogs, with senior defenseman Louie Roehl and freshman forward Luke Mylymok grabbing an assist each.
This is the first time the two teams meet in the NCAA Tournament since the 1984 Frozen Four. UMD beat UND in overtime, 2-1 (a game in which head coach Scott Sandelin played for UND), to advance to the National Championship where the Bulldogs lost to Bowling Green in four overtimes.

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. The Bulldogs are 15th in the NCAA in both goals (79) and total points (213)

GREAT THINGS COME IN THREES UMD is tied for the NCAA's lead in hat tricks so far this season, with the team netting three of them on the year. The latest coming from Swaney (SCSU, Feb. 27, 2021), with his third goal being his 100th career point. Jackson Cates netted a natural hat trick this season against Western Michigan University (Jan. 24, 2021). Junior forward Cole Koepke scored the other hat tick, coming against Miami University (Feb. 5, 2021).

GOALS COMING AT A PREMIUM The Bulldogs are currently 13th in the NCAA when it comes to goals against per game. UMD is only giving up 2.35 goals per game, which sits just below the Bemidji State's 2.33.

STARTING STRONG, STAYING STRONG The Bulldogs have produced points this year left and right. Senior forward Nick Swaney is right near the top, sitting in a T-23rd in the NCAA with 27 points (13g, 14a) on the season up to this point. His 13 goals is T-12th in the NCAA.
Junior forward Jackson Cates has been hot this year as well, racking up 26 points (10g, 16a) thus far. He is T-28th in the NCAA.

STARTING STRONG, STAYING STRONG II Sophomore goalie Ryan Fanti has had a stellar start to the season and his career thus far, sitting with 10 wins under his belt. He's been a rock-solid back stop for the Bulldogs with a .905 save percentage and a 2.40 goals against average.
Freshman goalie Zach Stejskal has been another solid option in net for the Bulldogs. In seven games this season, Stejskal has produced 168 saves, averaging 24 per game. He has four wins with a 1.98 goals against average and a .923 save percentage.

STARTING STRONG, STAYING STRONG III Junior forward Cole Koepke is right there with Swaney, scoring 13 goals on the year. He also has eight assists for 21 points on the season..

STARTING STRONG, STAYING STRONG IV Senior forward Kobe Roth is the third UMD player that  has 13 goals on the season. He also has 10 assists on the year, good for 23 points overall.

SPECIAL TEAMS ARE INDEED SPECIAL UMD started the strong on the special teams, and have cooled off since. The Bulldogs are currently clipping at an 20.4% (19-93) on the season. The penalty kill has been running at an 75.0% (72-96) 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 and seven power play assists, for 12 points on the man advantage (12th in NCAA). His brother, junior forward Noah Cates, and has three power play tallies and f assists while on the man advantage.

SPECIAL TEAMS ARE INDEED SPECIAL III Senior forward Nick Swaney also has three power play goals on the year, with eight assists on the man advantage. His 11 power play points are tied for 16th in NCAA.
Junior forward Cole Koepke also has three power play tallies while senior forward Kobe Roth has four.

SPECIAL TEAMS ARE INDEED SPECIAL IV 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 38.0 percent of its goals (30-of-79) 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 405 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 (137) and Louie Roehl (140), forwards Kobe Roth (132), Nick Swaney (132) and Cole Koepke (102) and Noah Cates (100) all passing the mark. Two Junior forwards Jackson Cates (94), and Tanner Laderoute (95) all have the milestone within reach.

HITTING THE CENTURY Senior forward Nick Swaney was the 59th player in Bulldog men's hockey history to reach the 100 career points milestone. He follows alum defenseman Scott Perunovich, who did it last year, and the latest forward since Alex Iafallo did it in 2016-17.
He currently sits with 100 points 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.
A quartet of Bulldogs landed on the All-NCHC teams this season. Senior forward Nick Swaney made it on to the All-NCHC first team this season. Junior forward Noah Cates landed on the All-NCHC second team and junior forward Cole Koepke and freshman defenseman Wyatt Kaiser each were namded as All-NCHC honorable mention. Kaiser also landed himself on the NCHC All-Rookie squad.
This season, the Bulldogs snagged six 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 Wyatt Kaiser 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). Senior forward Nick Swaney was the latest nominee, grabbing Forward of the Week on Feb. 27.

CAPTAIN CATES Noah Cates (5g, 13a) 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 74 (28g, 46a) points.

'A' FOR EFFORT After a stellar sophomore season, Cole Koepke (13g, 8a) will be one of three assistant captains. He comes into his junior year with a career mark of 73 (36g, 37a) 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 140 games. Roehl has 27 (7g, 20a) points in his career as a Bulldog and has a +33 rating for his career.

'A' FOR EFFORT III Senior Nick Swaney (13g, 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 132 games, Swaney has put up 100 points (46g, 54a) points while sporting a solid +43 rating. He's produced eight game winners in his career with the Bulldogs.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN Along with a six-member senior class who are the last players (including redshirt junior Ben Patt) that were apart of the back-to-back NCAA Championship winning teams, the Bulldogs return nine juniors, eight who were apart of the 2018-19 championship winning team. The 15 upper classmen break down as five defensemen, nine forwards, and one goaltender. five return for a sophomore go-around with UMD,  two blue-liners, five forwards, and one goalie. The seven first-year Bulldogs are goalie Zach Stejskal, forwards Blake Biondi, Luke Mylymok and junior Jarrett Lee, and defensemen Darian Gotz, Wyatt Kaiser and senior Matt Cairns

WHERE THEY'RE FROM 69.2 percent of the UMD roster hails from the Land of 10,000 Lakes with 18-of-26 student athletes growing up in Minnesota. Six cross the border from Canada, including three from Ontario, two from Alberta and one from Saskatchewan. The remaining three Bulldogs include one each from the states of California, Idaho and Iowa.

WINNING IS OUR THING The Bulldogs' current run of six consecutive NCAA Tournament berths is the current best active streak in DI men's ice hockey

WINNING IS OUR THING II Scott Sandelin's career winning percentage in the NCAA Tournament (.778 off a 21-6 record) is the best of any active head coach (minimum eight games) and trails only the late Herb Brooks (.889 at the University of Minnesota), Vic Heyliger (.800 at the University of Michigan) and Gino Gasparini (.789 at the University of North Dakota --Sandelin's alma mater) among all NCAA head coaches.

WINNING IS OUR THING III UMD has won three straight NCAA Regionals and is looking to make it four.

FEELING A DRAFT Freshman Blake Biondi and Wyatt Kaiser became the 113th and 114th all-time Bulldogs to be selected in the NHL Entry draft in 2020, Kaiser by the Chicago Blackhawks (Rnd. 3, Pk 81) and Biondi to the Montreal Canadiens (Rnd. 4, Pk 109). They join Quinn Olson (Boston Bruins), Noah Cates (Philadelphia), Cole Koepke (Tampa Bay) Luke Loheit (Ottawa), and Nick Swaney (Minnesota) among current Bulldogs..