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NO. 18 BULLDOGS AT ST. CLOUD STATE THIS WEEKEND FOR FIRST 2009-10 ROAD ASSIGNMENTS

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Drew Akins and his Bulldog teammates will face St. Cloud State just twice (this weekend) during the 2009-10 regular season

The University of Minnesota Duluth will make its 2009-10 road debuts this Friday and Saturday (Oct. 23-24) when the Bulldogs head to St. Cloud, Minn., for a two-game Western Collegiate Hockey Association series with St. Cloud State University. The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. Friday and 7:37 p.m. the following evening at the National Hockey Center (5,371 capacity) on the St. Cloud State campus.

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THE RECORDS: The defending WCHA playoff champion Bulldogs are 3-1-0 overall this season and 2-0-0 in league play. St. Cloud State sports an 1-2-1 mark in all games and will engage in its first WCHA activity this weekend.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and St. Cloud State stack up in the latest uscho.com/CBS College Sports and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls:

uscho.com USAToday
UMD 18th 14th
SCSU RV RV

ON THE AIR: This weekend’s series will be carried locally on 1490 The Fan (KQDS-AM) with Bruce Ciskie handling the play-by-play assignment. The broadcast can also be heard on KQ 105.5 in Grand Rapids/Hibbing and KQ 106.7 in Ely/Virginia as part of the Bulldog Radio Network and is available on the internet at: www.fan1490.com.

Both Bulldog-Husky clashes will also be carried on Charter Communication’s state-wide system of networks, including the Duluth-Superior (Channel 15), Brainerd, Bemidji, St. Cloud, Rochester, Mankato, and Albert Lea/Austin markets. Mediacom cable, which serves the Cloquet/Hermantown/Esko/Proctor (Channel 10), Moose Lake (Channel 13), North Shore (Channel 5), Iron Range (Channel 22) and Mankato (Channel 10) areas, as well as Comcast Cable in the Twin Cities, will air those same games.

In addition, both ends of this weekend’s series will be webstreamed live and be available on a pay-per-view basis through B2 Networks at: www.b2livetv.com.

THE COACHES: The 2003-04 American Hockey Coaches Association NCAA Division I Coach of the Year (Spencer Penrose Award), Scott Sandelin is in his 10th season at UMD where he has compiled a 147-174-45 overall record. His Bulldogs have advanced to four of the last seven WCHA Final Five tournaments and last March became the first play-in game participant to win it all in the 17-year history of that event. UMD racked up a school-record six-game winning streak during the 2008-09 postseason until it fell to Miami University 2-1 in the NCAA West Regional final. Six years ago, Sandelin, 45, turned UMD into a NCAA Frozen Four participant for the first time in nearly a generation, marshaling his troops to their most victories (they were 28-13-4 overall) and highest WCHA finish (second place on a 19-7-2 mark) in 11 seasons. For his efforts, the Hibbing, Minn., native was chosen the WCHA Coach of the Year as well as the national coach of the year by both insidecollegehockey.com and uscho.com. In 2002-03, Sandelin’s Bulldogs went 22-15-5 overall and captured fifth place in the WCHA with a 14-10-4 mark while experiencing the greatest one-season turnaround of any league club that winter. One year earlier, he guided UMD to a 13-24-1 record in all games -- nearly doubling the number of victories from the previous season (7-28-4). Sandelin officially signed on as a member of the Bulldog staff on March 31, 2000 after six years of assistant coaching deployment at North Dakota. Prior to joining the Fighting Sioux (who won two NCAA titles during his tenure), Sandelin spent the 1993-94 season as the head coach of the Fargo-Moorhead Junior Kings of the Junior Elite Hockey League after working in that same capacity (and doubling as general manager) the previous winter with the American Hockey Association’s Fargo-Moorhead Express. He capped off his four-year playing career at North Dakota in 1985-86 by being named one of 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. An All-WCHA first team pick and an All-American second team selection as a senior, Sandelin went on to play seven years of professional hockey, which included National Hockey League stints with the Montreal Canadiens (1986-88), Philadelphia Flyers (1990-91) and Minnesota North Stars (1991-92). Sandelin, one of just two current WCHA coaches to do time in the NHL, was the Montreal Canadiens’ second round pick in the 1982 NHL draft (40th choice overall). He served as Team USA’s head coach at the 2005 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championships and directed that club to a fourth-place finish.

Bob Motzko (St. Cloud State, 1987), a two-time WCHA Co-Coach of the Year honoree, is in his fifth season behind the bench at his alma mater and has a 82-62-20 overall record -- including a 1-5-0 lifetime mark against UMD -- to show for it. The Huskies have made three WCHA Final Five appearances and earned two NCAA playoff berths during his tenure. Motzko, who skated with the Huskies for a pair of seasons (1983-85), joined the St. Cloud State staff in 2005-06 after spending the previous four winters serving as an assistant on the University of Minnesota staff. Prior to that, he was the head coach/general manager for the United States Hockey League’s Sioux Falls Stampede from 1998-2001. His college coaching resume also includes stints as an assistant coach at Miami University (1991-93 and 1994-98), the University of Denver (1993-94) and St. Cloud State (1986-87), where he worked under the legendary Herb Brooks.

THE SERIES: UMD and St. Cloud State have met on 94 previous occasions in a series which stretches back to he 1947-48 season. The Huskies hold a 52-37-5 lead in the all-time series and are 49-33-4 versus the Bulldogs since joining the NCAA Division I ranks in 1987-88. UMD upended St. Cloud State twice in the two clubs’ first two meetings of 2008-09 -- both by identical 5-1 scores at the Minnesota College Hockey Showcase on Nov. 1 at the Xcel Energy Center and four weeks later in Duluth, but being swept (3-1 and 6-1 on Jan. 9-10 at the National Hockey Center.

LAST WEEKEND: The Bulldogs launched their 45th season of WCHA play by sweeping Minnesota State University-Mankato at the DECC. The Bulldogs followed up a convincing 5-2 victory Friday with a 3-2 come-from-behind triumph the next night to extend their unbeaten streak against the Mavericks to six games (5-0-1). Sophomore center Jack Connolly and junior right winger Justin Fontaine each scored twice and assisted on another goal in the series opener while sophomore right winger Mike Connolly (one goal and one assist) and junior center Rob Bordson (two assists) both turned in two-point nights. Fontaine pumped in a pair of goals -- including the game winner with 7:37 remaining in regulation -- as the Bulldogs rallied from a 2-0 deficit to complete the sweep Saturday.

St. Cloud State skated past Union College 3-1 Saturday after the two teams had battled to a 3-3 overtime tie the previous evening in the Huskies’ 2009-10 home openers.

THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING: Senior center Drew Akins has been entrusted with team captaincy responsibilities for the 2009-10 season while senior left winger Jordan Fulton and junior defenseman Mike Montgomery will serve as alternate captains.

OFF TO A FON-TASTIC START: Justin Fontaine was chosen the Red Baron® WCHA Offensive Player of the Week after figuring in on five goals and helping UMD post back-to-back wins over Minnesota State-Mankato last Friday and Saturday. The Bonnyville, Alberta, product and 2008-09 All-WCHA second team honoree scored three of his four goals over the weekend on the power play and put 12 shots on net.

THAT’S A FACT, JACK: Both Justin Fontaine and sophomore center Jack Connolly racked up five points in the series sweep over Minnesota State-Mankato and now share the No. 1 spot on the NCAA I scoring charts. Fontaine has an NCAA-best six goals and three assists while Connolly has scored four times and helped set up five other tallies. Fontaine also leads the nation in power play goals with five. That tandem has accounted for 10 of UMD’s 13 goals thus far (with the exhibition game against British Columbia, it’s 14 of 17 goals) and 18 of the club’s 36 points. Right winger Mike Connolly, a member of the 2008-09 WCHA All-Rookie Team who sat out UMD’s first two outings of the year for violating team rules, returned to the Bulldog lineup last weekend and scored once each night against Minnesota State-Mankato to extend his scoring streak to six games going back to last March. Junior center Rob Bordson has the other UMD goal this season (vs. Lake Superior State on Oct. 19).

POWER SURGE: UMD will come into this Friday night’s matchup in St. Cloud armed with the nation’s fourth best power play. The Bulldogs have cashed in on 25.9 percent (7-of-27) of its man advantage opportunities, which is the best figure compiled by any WCHA team so far. UMD also led the WCHA in overall power play efficiency one year ago (21.5 percent).

JAM UP AND HJELLE TIGHT: Brady Hjelle started both ends of the Minnesota State-Mankato series and wound up turning aside 62 of the 66 shots the Mavericks sent his way (a .939 saves percentage). Hjelle, who has only appeared in five games as a Bulldog, including four in a starting role, is now 3-0-0 on the year (the best record in the NCAA I ranks at the moment) and 4-0-0 for his career. He is just the second UMD netminder to debut with four straight wins, joining Brant Nicklin (who also went 4-0-0 in his inaugural four outings in 1996-97 before suffering his first setback) in that exclusive club.

LEAD ‘DOGS: The Bulldogs are 27-0-3 when they’ve held a lead heading into the third period since falling 3-2 at St. Cloud State in three overtimes in the third, and decisive, game of the 2007 WCHA playoffs (March 11).

BULLDOG BITS: Talk about a couple of good luck charms: UMD is 18-4-1 in games in which Jack Connolly has marked in the scoring column during the past two seasons and 11-1-1 when senior left wing Jordan Fulton has done so ... Nineteen of the Bulldogs’ 83 games (22.8 percent) since the beginning of the 2007-08 season have required overtime. UMD has lost just one of those extra sessions affairs during that stretch, going 4-1-14 (2-0-8 in 2008-09) with the lone setback being inflicted by North Dakota on March 2, 2008 ... Sophomore center Travis Oleksuk has been sidelined with a knee injury the past three game sand is expected to be out of action for at least another week. He was credited with an assist in his lone outing of 2009-10 vs. Lake Superior State University on Oct. 9 ... UMD was 12-8-5 away from the DECC last winter. Those 12 wins were the most by a Bulldog club since 2003-04 (13) ... Justin Fontaine has collected seven points (two goals and five assists) in six lifetime engagements with St. Cloud State ... Last year was the first time the Bulldogs went an entire regular season without being shut out since 2003-04. UMD’s last blanking of any kind came at the hands of Denver in the 2007-08 finales (a 1-0 setback in the WCHA playoffs ... All five of sophomore goaltender Brady Hjelle’s career starts have come at the DECC. Hjelle tops all NCAA I puckstoppers in victories and winning percentage at the moment (he owns the nation’s only 3-0-0 record) ... This year marks the final full season the Bulldogs will call the 43-year old DECC their hockey home as they will move into a new $70-million, 6,800-seat facility a couple hundred feet away in December 2010. ... UMD rookies Aaron Crandall and Keegan Flaherty were both born on March 25, 1988 while another set of newcomers -- Drew Olson (March 4, 1990) and Mike Seidel (March 4, 1988) share the same birthday, but were born two years apart ... UMD is just 1-8-0 in its last nine visits to the National Hockey Center, but has won four straight over the Huskies at other sites (the DECC and the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul).

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs will return home next weekend (Oct. 30-31) to host Clarkson University in a pair of non-conference confrontations. On Friday, UMD will welcome its 4,000,000th fan to the DECC when the Bulldogs and Golden Knights collide for the first time in 13 years. Since the DECC opened its doors for business back on Nov. 19, 1966 with an 8-1 win over the University of Minnesota, 3,996,082 spectators have come through the turnstiles for 836 regular season and playoff games.

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