From Duluth press release …

THE GAMES: The University of Minnesota Duluth will put its four-game
home winning streak on the line this Friday and Saturday (Nov. 13-14)
when the Bulldogs play host to Michigan Tech University in a two-game
Western Collegiate Hockey Association series. The puck drops at 7:07
p.m. both nights at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center
(5,303).

THE RECORDS: The defending WCHA playoff champion Bulldogs are 6-3-1
overall and 3-2-1 in league play (tied for fourth place with the
University of Minnesota). Michigan Tech owns a 2-8-0 record in all
games and occupies 10th place in the WCHA standings at 1-5-0.
                     
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 behind the UMD bench where he has compiled a
150-176-46 overall record — including a 28-16-9 mark the past two
seasons. His Bulldogs have advanced to four of the past 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
also strung together a school-record six-game postseason winning streak
in 2008-09 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.

Jamie Russell (Michigan Tech, 1989) is in his sixth season of head
coaching at his alma mater and has a 63-143-32 overall record to show
for it (7-12-5 vs. UMD). He was selected the WCHA Co-Coach of the Year
in 2006-07 after his Huskies posted their highest league finish (sixth
place) since 1992-93 and their most wins (they were 18-17-5) in 11
seasons. Russell joined the Husky staff in 2003 after serving the
previous four years as a Cornell University assistant coach. Prior to
that, he spent five seasons in that same capacity at Ferris State
University. A two-year letterwinner as a defenseman with the Huskies
(1987-89), Russell played one season of professional hockey each in
Sweden (Larjeveelan), the East Coast Hockey League (Winston-Salem) and
the American Hockey League (Binghamton) before entering the coaching
arena.

THE SERIES: This weekend’s series will mark the 207th and 208th
meetings ever between UMD and Michigan Tech. The Huskies hold a
116-72-18 lead in the rivalry, which began back on Dec. 31, 1952 at the
old Duluth Curling Club. The Bulldogs took three of four points from
the Huskies in each of the two club’s two regular season series one
year ago.

LAST WEEKEND: The Bulldogs split a two-game set at then-No. 12 Colorado
College, taking the opener 4-3 before dropping a 6-2 decision Saturday
night. UMD got goals from four different players Friday, including
sophomore left winger Travis Oleksuk, Freshman right winger Mike Seidel
tallied for the second straight night in Saturday’s loss as UMD gave up
a season-high six goals, four of which came on the power play.

Michigan Tech was upended twice at home by North Dakota, falling 4-2
Friday and 4-1 the ensuing evening.

TOP ‘DOGS: Sophomore center Jack Connolly continues to lead the nation
in scoring (he and Michigan State University’s Corey Troop share that
honor) with six goals and nine assists for 15 points. Checking in at
the No. 6 spot on the NCAA offensive charts are a pair of UMD juniors
– left winger/center Rob Bordson and right winger Justin Fontaine.
Bordson has racked up three goals and an NCAA-leading 10 assists in 10
games after coming into year having scored seven points in 42 career
outings. Ten of his 13 points this winter have come on the power play
– a figure unsurpassed by all WCHA skaters at the moment. Fontaine,
meanwhile, paces the NCAA ranks in both goals (seven) and power play
scores (6). The 2008-09 All-WCHA second team pick is a UMD-best plus-3
on the year and has put more shots on goal (43) than any other Bulldog.

THEY’VE HAD THEIR NUMBER: UMD has lost just one of its last 10 matchups
with Michigan Tech (6-1-3) and will take a five-game unbeaten streak
against its long-time WCHA rival into this Friday night’s clash. In
addition, since being derailed 3-1 on Jan. 14, 2005, the Bulldogs have
not tasted defeat at the hands of Michigan Tech in Duluth in six
straight outings (4-0-2).

A STACKED DECC: UMD owns a 5-1-0 home record in 2009-10 and has won
four straight at the DECC, having swept Clarkson University (4-1 and
4-2 on Oct. 30-31) and Minnesota State-Mankato (5-2 and 3-2 on Oct.
16-17) in its most recent outings. The Bulldogs have amassed a 15-5-3
mark at the DECC since the start of the 2008-09 season.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.