Western Collegiate Hockey Association

Jan. 2, 2006

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MADISON, Wisc. - Two teams with an opportunity to jump a couple of places in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings - University of North Dakota and University of Alaska Anchorage - will square off this Friday (Jan. 6) and Saturday (Jan. 7) at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage, Alaska in what will be the lone conference series on the opening weekend of the new year. This will also mark the only series of the season between UND and UAA.

Coach Dave Hakstol's Fighting Sioux (13-8-1, 6-6-0 WCHA), who have two games in hand on eight of the 10 member clubs, can move into sole possession of fifth place with at least two points and with a sweep could climb to within just two points of third. Coach Dave Shyiak's Seawolves (5-14-1, 3-10-1 WCHA), meanwhile, have a chance to move past both St. Cloud State and Minnesota State.

In addition to UND at UAA matchup, four other WCHA-member teams will hit the ice this week. Minnesota State (6-11-4) will play host to CCHA-member Nebraska-Omaha on Tuesday (Jan. 3) evening at the Midwest Wireless Civic Center, St. Cloud State (8-8-2) will travel east to face ECACHL-member Colgate on Friday and Saturday, Minnesota (11-5-4) will entertain College Hockey America-member Niagara on Friday and Saturday at Mariucci Arena, and Minnesota Duluth (8-10-4) will faceoff against the USA Under-18 Team on Saturday evening in an exhibition at the DECC. Colorado College, Denver, Michigan Tech and Wisconsin are all idle this week.

Over the Christmas-New Year's holiday period, three WCHA teams claimed holiday tournament championships and member teams combined for a 9-7-1 non-conference record. The no. 1-ranked Wisconsin Badgers (16-2-2) claimed the annual Badger Hockey Showdown title on Dec. 30-31 at the Kohl Center, recording a 4-1 victory over Western Michigan and a 5-1 win over Northern Michigan. The no. 7-ranked Colorado College Tigers (17-6-1) won the Great Lakes Invitational Tournament title at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Mich., on Dec. 29-30 by defeating both Michigan, 6-1, and Michigan State, 6-3. And the no. 3-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-5-4) knocked off Union, 8-0, and UMass-Lowell, 5-4, on Dec. 29-30 to earn their own Dodge Holiday Classic at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis, Minn. In the two other holiday tournaments involving WCHA teams, the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (8-10-4) had a strong showing against two nationally-ranked teams at the Florida College Classic in Estero, Fla., defeating Maine, 4-1, on Dec. 27 and then playing Cornell to a 1-1 overtime tie on Dec. 28 to finish second. In the annual Denver Cup at Magness Arena in the Mile High City, the No. 12/13-ranked Denver Pioneers (11-9-2) fell to Princeton, 4-1, last Friday night and to Ferris State, 3-2, in the third place game on Saturday. Boston College won the Denver Cup. And in other non-conference action this past week, North Dakota split at home with visiting Harvard, 0-1 and 3-2, on Dec. 29-30, Minnesota State tied visiting Yale, 2-2, last Thursday and won 6-2 over visiting Alabama Huntsville last Saturday, and Alaska Anchorage was swept at Alaska Fairbanks, 2-4 and 0-3, on Dec. 30-31.

Overall, WCHA-member teams are now a collective 39-30-6 (.560) in non-conference play so far in 2005-06. Over the past four seasons, WCHA-member teams have enjoyed oustanding success against non-conference Division 1 opponents. In 2004-05, WCHA-member clubs were 53-17-14 (.714) against outside Div. 1 competition. In 2003-04, WCHA teams were a combined 60-20-9 (.725) in non-conference play. In 2002-03, conference teams were 57-27-8 (.663) in non-conference play. And in 2001-02, WCHA-member teams were 56-24-2 (.695) outside the league circuit.

Heading into the second half of the race for the WCHA regular season championship and MacNaughton Cup, No. 1-ranked Wisconsin (11-1-2 WCHA, 24 points) holds a five-point lead over second place Colorado College (9-4-1, 19 pts) in the race for the WCHA regular season championship and MacNaughton Cup, and a six-point advantage over third place Denver (8-4-2, 18 pts) and Minnesota (8-4-2, 18 pts). In fifth place is Minnesota Duluth (5-6-3, 13 pts), followed by North Dakota (6-6-0, 12 pts) in sixth, St. Cloud State (4-7-1, 9 pts) and Minnesota State (3-8-3, 9 pts) tied for seventh, and Alaska Anchorage (3-10-1, 7 pts) and Michigan Tech (3-10-1, 7 pts) tied for ninth. Each WCHA-member team will play 28 conference games to determine the regular season champion, with four games (two home, two away) against five other conference member teams and two games (either home or away) vs four other conference member teams. In 2004-05, Denver and Colorado College tied for the title and were declared co-champions.

Through games of Jan. 1, five WCHA-member teams are sporting winning percentages overall. They are Wisconsin (16-2-2, .850), Colorado College (17-6-1, .729), Minnesota (11-5-4, .650), North Dakota (13-8-1, .614), and Denver (11-9-2, .545). St. Cloud State (8-8-2), meanwhile, is at .500. In the most recent (Dec. 19-25) two Division 1 men's college hockey polls - the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Div. 1 College Hockey Poll and the USCHO.com/CSTV Div. 1 College Hockey Poll - the WCHA had five teams ranked among the nation's top 13 clubs, with Wisconsin at No. 1 for the fourth straight week, Minnesota at No. 3, Colorado College at No. 7, North Dakota at No. 9/10 and Denver at No. 12/13. Two other league teams, Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State, also received votes. Last April (2005), eventual champion Denver, runner-up North Dakota, Colorado College and Minnesota made up the first-ever Frozen Four field from one conference, with the Pioneers claiming their second straight national championship and the WCHA marking a record 35th team championship since the league's founding in 1951.

This Week in the WCHA
Games for Tuesday, Jan. 3: Nebraska-Omaha @ Minnesota State, 7:37 pm CT (nc).
Games for Friday, Jan. 6: North Dakota @ Alaska Anchorage, 7:07 pm AT; St. Cloud State @ Colgate, 7:00 pm ET (nc); Niagara @ Minnesota, 7:07 pm CT (nc).
Games for Saturday, Jan. 7: North Dakota @ Alaska Anchorage, 7:07 pm AT; St. Cloud State @ Colgate, 7:00 pm ET (nc); Niagara @ Minnesota, 7:07 pm CT (nc); USA Under-18 Team @ Minnesota Duluth, 7:07 pm CT (x)

On the Up and Up
The 10 members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association all have something to boast about as the 2005-06 season enters the second half.

No. 1-ranked Wisconsin has the nation's (Div. 1) best record at 16-2-2 and winning percentage at .850. The Badgers have lost just once in their last 18 games at 15-1-2. The UW fell 2-1 in overtime at home to St. Lawrence on Oct. 8 and 4-2 defeat at the hands of Michigan Tech at home on Dec. 9. Wisconsin is 7-0-1 on the road. The UW is no. 1 in scoring defense nationally at 1.45 goals allowed per game, no. 1 nationally in average scoring margin at 2.05 goals per game, and no. 1 among WCHA teams in penalty-killing overall at 88.9%.

Colorado College, at 17-6-1, has the most victories among all Div. 1 teams. The Tigers are 8-2-0 outside the WCHA and have won four straight. CC is no. 1 in special teams net among WCHA teams overall at +15.

Minnesota (11-5-4) is 8-2-2 over the last 12 contests. The Golden Gophers have won four straight and are 3-1-2 in non-conference play. UM is no. 1 in scoring offense among WCHA teams at 3.85 goals per game and no. 1 in power-play among WCHA teams overall at 23.7%.

Two-time defending national champion Denver (11-9-2) is 6-3-0 over the last nine games. The Pioneers are no. 1 in power-play success in league games at 25.3%.

North Dakota, sporting a 13-8-1 record, is 8-4-0 over the last 12 games and an impressive 8-2-1 on the road. UND is No. 1 in combined special teams among WCHA teams at 54.1%.

Minnesota Duluth is 5-3-2 over the last 10 games and 8-6-4 over the last 18 games - after an 0-4 start. The Bulldogs are 5-4-3 on the road.

St. Cloud State stands 6-2-1 over their last nine contests. The Huskies are no. 1 in league play in combined special teams at 53.3%.

Minnesota State, after a 0-6 start to the season, sports a winning record over the last 15 games at 6-5-4.

Alaska Anchorage has lost seven games by two goals or less, with five defeats coming by just a single goal. UAA is no. 3 in combined special teams in WCHA play at 51.9%.

Michigan Tech, which sprung a 4-2 victory over top-ranked Wisconsin on the road on Dec. 9, is 2-2-0 over the past four conference games. The Huskies have lost six games by just a single goal. At the recent Great Lakes Invitational, Tech had a 2-1 lead over Michigan State in the third period and a 3-2 lead over Michigan in the third.

WCHA Team Leaders
All Games • thru Jan. 1, 2006
Scoring Offense: Minnesota, 3.85 G/GM
Scoring Defense: Wisconsin, 1.45 G/GM
Penalty Minutes: Michigan Tech, 23.4 PIM/G
Power-Play: Minnesota, 23.7% (28-of-118)
Penalty-Kill: Wisconsin, 88.9% (96-of-108)
Combined Special Teams: North Dakota, 54.1% (153-283)
Special Teams Net: Colorado College, +15
Scoring by Periods: Colorado College (25-37-26-3 = 91)
Goals Allowed by Periods: Wisconsin (10-8-10-1 = 29)

WCHA Individual Leaders
All Games • thru Jan. 1, 2006
Point Scoring: 1.54 PPG - Brett Sterling, F, CC (21-16-37)
Goal Scoring: 21 - Brett Sterling, F, CC
Assist Scoring: 24 - Paul Stastny, F, Denver
Power-Play Points: 23 - Marty Sertich, F, CC (4g,19a)
Shorthanded Points: 5 - Drew Stafford, F, UND (4g,1a); Chris Conner, F, MTU (3g,2a); Brandon Schwartz, F, MTU (3g,2a)
Game-Winning Goals: 5 - Ryan Dingle, F, Denver & Brett Sterling, F, CC
Defenseman Scoring: 29 - Matt Carle, D, Denver (8-21-29)
Freshman Scoring: 22 - Phil Kessel, F, UM (9-13-22) & Mason Raymond, F, UMD (8-14-22)
Goals-Against Average: 1.39 - Brian Elliott, UW (1,208 min)
Save Percentage: .944 - Brian Elliott, UW (469 saves, 28 ga)
Winning Percentage: .850 - Brian Elliott, UW (16-2-2)

Weekly WCHA Team Notes

Seawolves
Alaska Anchorage
UAA will return to WCHA action this weekend when the Seawolves host nationally-ranked North Dakota to Sullivan Arena on Friday and Saturday ... faceoff is 7:07 pm AT each night ... the Seawolves have an opportunity to move ahead of both Minnesota State and St. Cloud State in the WCHA standings against the Fighting Sioux ... UAA fell twice at in-state rival Alaska Fairbanks on Dec. 30-31, 2-4 and 0-3, in the final two games of the annual Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup ... the Nanooks won the Cup with a 3-1 advantage in games ... the two teams split their season-opening series in Anchorage Oct. 22-23, playing to identical 2-1 scores ... UAA's oldest rival, the Seawolves have played the Nanooks 129 times in 27 seasons ... both teams have faced each other every season since 1979, including eight times in UAA's inaugural season ... UAA hasn't won back-to-back games against UAF since October of 2000 ... there have been only five shutouts in the entire series history (all by UAF) ... the Seawolves haven't earned a two-game sweep in Fairbanks since the 1986-87 season ... UAA hasn't won at the Carlson Center since a 3-2 win on Oct. 10, 2003 ... on Dec. 30 at UAF, John DeCaro made 46 saves to hold the Seawolves in the game at 3-2 in the third period, before UAF scored a power-play goal at 12:59 for the final 4-2 margin ... scoring UAA's goals were D Luke Beaverson and F Chris Tarkir ... in the 3-0 loss last Saturday night, Nathan Lawson made 33 saves between the pipes ... UAF scored all three of their goals in a 10:39 span of the second period, with two coming on the power-play ... the Seawolves were unable to convert on all 18 of their power-play chances against the Nanooks ... UAA dropped a pair of one-goal losses to No. 7 Colorado College in the team's most recent conference play, falling 5-4 on Dec. 16 and 2-1 in overtime on Dec. 17 ... UAA scored a season-high six goals in its season-opening win over Rensselaer (6-3) ... the loss at UAF on Dec. 30 dropped UAA to 1-8-0 on Friday's ... senior F Ales Parez and junior F Charlie Kronschnabel share the team scoring lead through Jan. 1, with each player showing three goals and six assists for nine points ... junior D Mark Smith is third with 4-4-8.

Tigers
Colorado College
Including an 8-2 record outside WCHA play in 2005-06, the Tigers are 24-2-2 (.893) vs non-conference opponents the last three seasons after beating Michigan and Michigan State at last week's Great Lakes Invitational ... last week's appearance in the GLI was Colorado College's first since playing in the inaugural version of the event 41 years ago, in 1965, when the Tigers lost to the University of Toronto and Boston University ... the tournament champiopnship was CC's second of the campaign as it also claimed a title at the season-opening IceBreaker Invitational in Colorado Springs ... CC has won six consecutive outings in the state of Michigan since dropping a 5-3 decision at Michigan Tech on Jan. 31, 2004 ... senior right wing Joey Crabb, who was named tournament MVP in Detroit last week after contributing seven points (4g,3a) in the two victories, has collected 13 points (5g,8a) in the last six games as well as 20 (7g,13a) in the last 12 ... he now has 24 (9g,15a) for the season, fourth highest total on the team, and 91 (44g,47a) for his collegiate career as he continues his bid to become the 69th member of Colorado College's Century Club ... senior center Marty Sertich, junior defenseman Brian Salcido and junior goalie Matt Zaba joined Crabb on the GLI's all-tournament team ... the Tigers, who struck for seven power-play goals and three shorthanded tallies at the GLI, now have converted on 15 of 42 power-play opportunities (35.7%) in their last six games ... they have scored at least one PPG in a season-best 12 consecutive outings ... CC has clicked on 22-of-77 (28.6%) chances during its 12-game streak after going 14-for-80 (17.5%) in the first 12 contests of the season ... five of Colorado College's eight shorthanded goals this season have come in the last six games ... senior center Trevor Frischmon scored a SHG both nights at Joe Louis Arena last week ... with a goal in each game at the GLI, senior left wing Brett Sterling took over fifth place on CC's all-time list with 98 career tallies ... Ron Hartwell (1949-52) is the program's all-time leader with 112 ... Sterling, who also had an assist in last Friday's 6-3 victory over Michigan State, continues to lead the nation in goals (21) and points (37) this season ... he now ranks 19th on the program's all-time scoring chart with 166 career points ... exactly half (49) of his 98 goals, including 10 in `05-06, have come on the power-play ... with five assists at the GLI, including four against the Spartans last Friday, Sertich moved to within one of tying former Tiger standout Jim Warner (1974-78) for 12th place on Colorado College's all-time list ... last year's Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner now has 108 career assists ... he also has played in 148 consecutive games for the Tigers while collecting at least one point in 95 (64.2%) of them ... he's tied for 20th place on CC's all-time scoring chart with 165 career points ... Sterling's third-period goal last Thursday came just 1:27 after Michigan's only tally of the game, marking the seventh time this season that Colorado College has bounced back to score within two minutes of an opponent's goal ... the Tigers have scored four times in a period on four occasions this campaign, including last Friday when they took early command with four goals in the opening 20 minutes of play.

Pioneers
University of Denver
The Denver Pioneers (11-9-2, 8-4-2 WCHA) are idle this coming weekend and return to action on Jan. 13-14 at home against St. Cloud State ... DU leads the all-time series 30-24-4 (.552) against the Huskies, including a 4-0 mark last season ... the games will be televised live on FSN-Rocky Mountain and broadcast live on KCKK AM 1600 and DenverPioneers.com ... DU dropped both games last weekend at the Wells Fargo Denver Cup for just the second time in 14 years of tournament action ... DU's string of five consecutive titles ended with a 4-1 loss to Princeton and Ferris State earned consolation honors with a 3-2 win over Denver ... the Pioneers finished 3-5-0 in regular-season non-conference action and are now 42-10-0 in non-conference action since 2001-02 ... Patrick Mullen (4-1-5) scored DU's lone goal and Glenn Fisher (5-4-2, 2.43 GAA, .910 sv%) stopped 24 shots in the loss ... Gabe Gauthier (9-13-22) and Tom May (4-3-7) scored and Peter Mannino (6-5-0, 2.48 GAA, .913 Sv%) stopped a season-high 42 shots in the 3-2 loss to Ferris State ... Matt Carle (9-20-29) added two assists in the loss to Ferris State ... Carle has tallied 27-71-98 in 95 career games and is two points shy of becoming the 89th member of the Pioneer Century Club for 100-point scorers ... Carle ranks seventh all-time among DU defensemen in points and assists and eighth in goals ... Carle is second in the nation in defenseman scoring with 1.32 points per game and leads all NCAA blueliners with nine goals ... DU is tied for third with Minnesota in the WCHA with 18 league points ... Paul Stastny (5-24-29) leads the WCHA in conference scoring with 4-20-24 in 14 games and is tied for third in WCHA in overall scoring with 5-23-29 in 22 games ... he leads the WCHA with 24 assists ... Ryan Dingle (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) is tied for first in the nation with five game-winning goals, fourth in the nation in power-play goals (8) and tied for sixth in shorthanded goals (2) ... Gabe Gauthier is tied for 28th on DU's all-time scoring list with 61-77-138 in 147 career games ... he is second on DU's career power-play goals list with 28 and tied for third on DU's career game-winning goal list with 13 ... Adrian Veideman (Sicamous, B.C.) has missed the last eight games with a shoulder injury ... DU has been shut out three times this season, the most since the 1999-2000 team was blanked five times ... DU has scored four or more goals in all 10 of 11 wins ... the Pioneers extended their sellout streak at Magness Arena to 30 games with a pair of sellouts at the Wells Fargo Denver Cup ... DU is 21-7-2 during the sellout streak ... DU boasts the No. 3 ranked power-play (20.4%) in the WCHA ... DU has scored a power-play goal in all 11 wins and is 9-0-0 when leading after two periods ... DU is 0-8-1 when trailing after two periods ... Geoff Paukovich (Englewood, Colo.) and Chris Butler are members of the U.S. World Junior Team that is competing in British Columbia ... Paukovich tallied a goal in the U.S. National Team's 2-2 tie against Switzerland.

Huskies
Michigan Tech University
Michigan Tech finished fourth in the 41st annual Great Lakes Invitational on Dec. 29-30 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Mich. ... Tyler Shelast scored a pair of goals and netminder Michael-Lee Teslak made a career-high 57 saves, but an overtime goal from Colton Fretter gave Michigan State a 3-2 win over the Huskies in the opening game of the GLI last Thursday night ... Lars Helminen notched his team-leading 11th assist of the season, Ryan Angelow earned the second assist of his freshman campaign and Justin St. Louis added his fifth helper of the year in the game ... Shelast's two-goal performance was his first multi-goal game of the season and the third of his career ... Teslak's 57-save effort was a GLI record, as he bested the old mark of 46 saves set by another Tech netminder, Geoff McMullen, who posted the old high mark back on Dec. 29, 1970, in an 11-6 win over Colgate ... it was also the highest save total for an MTU goalie since Cam Ellsworth made 52 saves in a 4-2 loss to St. Cloud State on Feb. 1, 2003 ... Brandon Schwartz tallied a goal and an assist and Chris Conner recorded two assists, but three goals in the final period gave no. 6-ranked Michigan a 5-3 win over MTU in the GLI's third place game on Dec. 30 ... Tyler Shelast netted his third goal of the GLI, and his second power-play marker of the tournament ... Shelast was one of three forwards named to the 2005 Great Lakes Invitational All-Tournament Team ... the sophomore now has five goals in GLI games, including four power-play goals ... Shelast owns 6-4-10 and ranks fifth on Tech's scoring chart ... Brandon Schwartz (1-1-2) picked up his fourth multi-point game of the season and the 18th of his career ... Chris Conner (0-2-2) recorded his eighth multi-point effort of the year and the 31st as a Husky ... Conner (3-2-5) and Schwartz (3-2-5) each moved into a tie for first in shorthanded points among WCHA players ... the Huskies are off next weekend and will resume Western Collegiate Hockey Association competition Jan. 13-14 when they travel to the Twin Ports to take on Minnesota Duluth at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center.

Golden Gophers
University of Minnesota
Minnesota (11-5-4, 8-4-2 WCHA) captured its seventh consecutive Dodge Holiday Classic title last week, defeating Union 8-0 and UMass-Lowell 5-4 at Mariucci Arena ... against Union, Mike Howe's first career hat trick sparked UM to an 8-0 win in the semifinals ... seven different players notched multiple-point games and 12 different Golden Gophers tallied a point ... UM limited the Dutchmen to only 20 shots to help Kellen Briggs earn his 10th career shutout ... notching multi-point games for Minnesota were Howe (3-0-3), Ryan Potulny (1-2-3), Derek Peltier (1-2-3), Danny Irmen (1-1-2), Ben Gordon (0-2-2), P.J. Atherton (0-2-2) and Chris Harrington (0-2-2) ... with his two-point game, Irmen registered his third consecutive multi-point game, while Potulny earned his fifth three-point contest of the year ... with the win, Don Lucia moved into sole possession of third place on UM's career coaching wins list ... Lucia now owns a 173-82-25 mark with the Golden Gophers ... with the win vs Union, he passed Brad Buetow (171-75-8 from 1979-85) and stands 24 wins behind John Mariucci (197-138-18 from 1952-56) for second place ... with his two assists, Chris Harrington became the 49th Golden Gopher in school history with 75 assists ... Minnesota's shutout was the sixth in Dodge Holiday Classic history and the second for the Golden Gophers at the Classic ... against UMass-Lowell, Minnesota staked the River Hawks to a 3-0 lead before rallying with four unanswered goals and Mike Howe's game-winner at 10:17 of the third period to earn a 5-4 win ... the Golden Gophers trailed 3-2 after two periods, but exploded for three goals in the third ... Ryan Potulny scored twice, while Ben Gordon (1-1-2) and Alex Goligoski (0-2-2) picked up multi-point games to move Minnesota's non-conference unbeaten streak to five games (3-0-2) ... forwards Potulny, Howe and UML's Bobby Robins, defensemen Goligoski and Derek Peltier, and goaltender Kellen Briggs were named to the All-Tournament Team ... Potulny earned MVP honors with three goals and two assists in the Classic ... UM has won the Classic 10 times in the 15-year history of the tournament ... UM owns a 23-7 all-time Classic record and have advanced to the title game 13 times ... Minnesota is out-scoring its opponents, 140-81, in the Classic ... UM is 3-1-2 in non-conference games this season ... current Golden Gopher streaks: Ryan Potulny - four-game point streak (6-3--9); Danny Irmen - four-game point streak (3-5-8); Mike Howe - three-game point streak (4-1-5); Alex Goligoski - two-game point streak (0-3-3); Ben Gordon - two-game point streak (1-3-4) ... Minnesota is 7-3-3 vs unranked teams this season ... UM is 6-3-1 at home and 7-5-2 in games played in the state of Minnesota this season ... the Golden Gophers are 7-4-1 (5-3-0 WCHA) on Olympic-sized ice sheets this season ... Minnesota is 10-0-0 when scoring four or more goals, 5-0-0 when scoring five or more and 1-4-0 when allowing four or more ... Minnesota has not allowed more than four goals since a 5-5 tie to Alaska Anchorage on Feb 12, 2005, a span of 31 games ... this season, UM is 6-4-0 in one-goal games, 1-0-0 in two-goal games and 4-1-0 in three-goal or more games ... this season nine different Golden Gophers are responsible for UM's 11 game-winning goals with Phil Kessel and Mike Howe are the lone players with multiple game-winners (2) ... Ryan Potulny earned his team-leading eighth multi-point game and fourth multi-goal contest of the season vs. UMass-Lowell ... he leads the team in goals (18) and points (29) ... Alex Goligoski registered his fourth multi-point game of the season vs UML ... he leads the team with 15 assists ... with his 54-27-5 career record, Kellen Briggs matched Steve DeBus (1995-98) for fifth place on UM's career wins list ... Ryan Potulny has at least one point in 15 of 20 games this season and a goal in 14 contests ... Danny Irmen has 5-7-12 in 10 games since returning from a nine-game absence with a broken finger ... Minnesota owns an 11-1-1 record this season when it has a player get two or more points in a game ... in 13 of 20 games this season, the team that has scored four goals has won ... the Maroon and Gold is 10-1-4 this season when allowing three or fewer goals, 0-2-2 when scoring less than three and 1-5-4 when scoring less than four goals ... the Golden Gophers are 5-0-2 when allowing fewer than three goals ... Minnesota continues its four-week homestand this weekend with a non-conference series against Niagara on Friday-Saturday, Jan. 6-7.

Bulldogs
University of Minnesota Duluth
UMD will usher in the New Year by hosting the U.S. National Under-18 Team in a Jan. 7 exhibition ... it will mark the first meeting ever between the two clubs ... the U.S. National Under-18 Team is 2-9-1 this season vs NCAA clubs, having defeated Lake Superior College (4-3 on Oct. 8) and Canisius College (5-2 one week later) ... the Bulldogs put the wraps on 2005 by going 1-0-1 against a pair of top 10 nationally-ranked schools at the Florida College Hockey Classic on Dec. 27-28 in Estero, Fla. ... after disposing of No. 9 Maine 4-1 in the tournament semifinals, the Bulldogs and No. 8 Cornell skated to a 1-1 overtime tie the following night ... the Big Red officially was deemed the Florida College Hockey Classic championship after winning the ensuing shootout, 3-2 ... right wing Justin Williams, who figured in on three of the Bulldogs' five goals over the two-day event (he scored once each night and added an assist against Maine) was named to the six-member Florida College Hockey Classic All-Tournament team ... joining him was teammate and fellow senior Isaac Reichmuth, who rejected 44 of 46 shots (a .957 saves percentage) in 125:00 of goaltending work ... UMD has fared quite a bit better on the road (5-4-3) than its has at home (3-6-1) thus far in 2005-06 ... the Bulldogs have been swept in three of their five home series this winter, but are unbeaten in all but two of their last 10 engagements away from the DECC (5-2-3) ... left wing Mason Raymond continues to hold the designation as the WCHA's top-scoring freshman (18 points in league play) and resides in the No. 1 spot on the current UMD point charts as well (8g,14a in 20 outings) ... Raymond, who has held without a goal or an assist the past three outings - the longest pointless drought of his young career, also ranks fifth among all WCHA combatants in points per game (1.42 ppg) and league points ... the Bulldog have yet to lose a game this season when leading (6-0-1) or tied (2-0-3) after the second period of play ... on the flip side, UMD is 0-10-0 when it has headed into the third period behind in 2005-06 ... senior goaltender Isaac Reichmuth, has not allwoed more than three goals in any of his last eight appearances, currently sports the best lifetime goals-against average (2.76) and saves percentage mark (.903) in team history ... the two-time All-WCHA honoree (second team in 2003-04 and third team in 2002-03) is also tied for third in career wins (he's 55-37-14 overall) and needs just five more triumphs to become UMD's all-time leader in that department ... UMD, which is last in the WCHA in penalty-killing efficiency (73.2% against league competition), has nonetheless surrendered only one goal the last 17 times its opponent has gone on the power-play ... the Bulldogs, meanwhile, are mired in an 0-for-24 funk since they last tallied with the extra man (at Colorado College on Dec. 17 and have cashed in on just two of their last 38 power-play opportunities (5.3%) ... sophomore center Matt McKnight, who trails only Mason Raymond in scoring among 2005-06 Bulldogs, has already established a career high for goals (seven) , assists (13) and total points (20) ... the Halkirk, Alberta product currently ranks sixth in the WCHA in league assists with nine ... of the top 17 current WCHA freshmen scoring leaders (league play), no less than five are Bulldogs - Mason Raymond (no. 1), left wing Michael Gergen (no. 5-tie) left wing Andrew Carroll (no. 11), defenseman Jason Garrison (no. 11), and defenseman Matt Niskanen (no. 14), who is spending his Christmas holidays strutting his stuff for the U.S. entry at the 2006 IIHF World Junior Championship in Vancouver, B.C. ... Niskanen, who currently tops all UMD blueliners in scoring (1-8-9), is the 11th Bulldog to the make the U.S. National Junior Team, but the first since 1991 (center Derek Plante) ... senior center Tim Stapleton, who was credited with an assist each night at the Florida College Hockey Classic, is tied for sixth place among WCHA skaters in goals with eight and is fifth in power-play scores with four ... Stapleton, who last winter came up just shy of becoming only the second Bulldog in team history (NCAA I era) to start off his career with three successive 40-point season ... he wound up with 39 points on a career-high 19 goals and 20 assists), now mans the No. 23 spot on the school's all-time scoring list (58-83-141 in 144 games) ... he needs two more points to supplant the No. 21 occupants, 2004 Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Junior Lessard (2000-04) and All-American center Mark Pavelich (1976-79), and four to move past nine-time National Hockey League All-Star Brett Hull (1984-86), who is 20th ... the Bulldogs have been outscored in all but the third period this season (they hold a slight 19-18 advantage in that frame), but have outshot the opposition by a sizeable margin in every period ... senior defenseman and 2005-06 team captain Steve Czech, who is an impressive plus-42 as a collegian, has now played in 146 of a possible 147 games with the Bulldogs - including the last 101 in a row ... both Czech and freshman right wing Nick Kemp are mired in nine-game pointless slump while sophomore right wing Mike Curry's name hasn't appeared in the scoring summary in any of the past eight outings ... UMD returns to WCHA play on Jan. 13-14 to face Michigan Tech ... beginning with that series, the Bulldogs will be at home for six of their next eight games ... senior right wing Justin Williams, who owns a three-game scoring streak, has already collected more goals (8) and as many points (15) than he did his entire junior year ... the Bulldogs closed out the non-conference portion of its 2005-06 regular season schedule with a 3-4-1 mark, but was unbeaten (3-0-1) since starting out the year with two consecutive losses to both Bemidji State and Vermont ... UMD has not held an opponent scoreless at the DECC since Brant Nicklin turned the trick back on Feb. 28, 1998 (7-0 over UND) - a stretch of some 147 outings ... over that same period of time, the Bulldogs have posted six shutouts on the road including three by senior Isaac Reichmuth and one by junior Josh Johnson.

Mavericks
Minnesota State University
Minnesota State stands 6-11-4 overall after a pair of non-conference home games last week ... MSU earned a 2-2 tie with Yale last Thursday before claiming a 6-2 victory over Alabama-Huntsville in a New Year's Eve tilt played at Midwest Wireless Civic Center ... the Mavericks, who have gone 3-1-1 in their last five games, continue home non-conference action Tuesday, Jan. 3 with Nebraska-Omaha paying a visit to the Key City ... MSU, which triumphed 6-3 over UNO earlier this season in a game played in Omaha Nov. 22, stands 10-5-2 in the all-time series with its southern rivals ... the Mavericks own an eight-game winning streak vs UNO (7-0-1) and have not lost to UNO since the 2001-02 season ... junior forward Travis Morin, who extended his scoring streak to six games (5-4-9) when he had an assist vs Yale and three goals vs Alabama-Huntsville, has continued a scoring binge that has seen him average more than a point per game since late last season ... the Brooklyn Park, Minn., native, has racked up 13-16-29 in his last 28 games played (1.03 pts per game) after accounting for 19-26-45 during the first 67 games of his career (0.67 pts per game) ... Morin, who now owns two career hat tricks (with the other coming during last season vs Alaska Anchorage), has moved into a tie with David Backes for the team lead in goals (they both have 11), his two game-winning goals also rank as a team-high and he ranks second on the team scoring charts with 11-11-22 ... junior defenseman Kyle Peto, who had an assist in addition to his shorthanded goal in last Saturday's win over Alabama-Huntsville, has 11-58-69 in 93 career games and has moved into a tie with Brian Lyke (MSU, 1991-95) for 10th on MSU's all-time scoring list for defensemen ... Peto leads the Mavericks with 15 assists and with 5-15-20 in 20 games, ranks seventh in the country in scoring by defensemen with 1.00 points per game ... junior forward David Backes collected two assists vs Alabama-Huntsville last Saturday and has become the 36th MSU player to hit the century mark in career scoring (42-58-100 in 98 career games) ... named All-WCHA Third Team last year, the Blaine, Minn., native leads the Mavericks in scoring with 9-14-23 ... Backes has not missed a game in his three-year MSU career and is about to become the 82nd player in the history of the program to his the century mark for career games played ... freshman forward Mick Berge collected his second power-play marker when he scored the game-tying goal vs Yale last Thursday ... Berge leads MSU newcomers in scoring with 2-3-8 and enters the UNO game owning a tow-game scoring streak (1-1-2) ... the Mavericks have not allowed a power-play goal in the last five games and dating back to the Dec. 6 game vs Notre Dame (six games ago), MSU has killed off 28 straight opponent power-play chances ... as a result, the Mavericks's penalty-kill success rate of .861 (118/137) has risen to 11th in the nation ... freshman goaltender Dan Tormey has started 13 of the last 15 games ... the first native New Yorker to suit up for the Mavericks, Tormey ranks 40th in the country in save percentage (.904) and is 35th in save percentage (2.67) ... sophomore forward Joel Hanson has 2-8-10 in 20 games on the year and his eight assists represent a three-assist increase in his total from last season ... the Elk River, Minn., native also has one more point then he had in 34 games last year ... sophomore forward Ryan Carter has one more assist than he had all last year and with 8-9-17 this season, he's entrenched in fourth place on MSU scoring scharts ... MSU has outshot its opponents in six consecutive games and owns a 229-138 advantage during that time ... the last time the Mavericks were outshot was Dec. 3 vs Minnesota Duluth ... MSU has outshot its opponents by a 671-624 margin on the season ... senior forward Ryan McKelvie collected his first goal of 2005-06 when he scored MSU's sixth goal in the Alabama-Huntsville game last Saturday ... MSU's active career games played leader with 123, the assistant captain owns 1-4-5 for the season and has 8-28-35 in his four years with the Mavericks ... freshman defenseman Brian Kilburg leads the Mavericks in plus-minus with a +7 mark ... senior forward Christian Toll has reached a single-season high for games played with 18 ... following the game vs UNO on Tuesday, next action for MSU is Jan. 13-14 when Alaska Anchorage provides the opposition ... for the first time ever a pair of former MSU players played against each other in a National Hockey League game when forwards Grant Stevenson (MSU, 2001-03) and Tim Jackman (MSU, 2000-02) took the ice for a San Jose-Phoenix game Dec. 22nd in Phoenix ... for the record, Jackman's team came off with the victory with the Coyotes claiming a 2-1 win over the Sharks.

Fighting Sioux
University of North Dakota
North Dakota (13-8-1 overall, 6-6-0 WCHA) will begin its new year with a trip to Alaska to take on Alaska Anchorage on Friday and Saturday at Sullivan Arena ... this weekend's WCHA series will be UND's first league action since playing host to Minnesota on Dec. 9-10 ... the remainder of North Dakota's regular season schedule (16 games) will be against conference opponents ... the Fighting Sioux have a four-game road winning streak and are 7-1-1 on the road this season, including a 5-1-0 WCHA road record ... this weekend's series will be UND's only regular season meeting with Alaska Anchorage this season ... last year the teams split four regular season games, including a split (6-3 UND win, 5-2 UAA win) in Anchorage on Feb. 18-19, 2005 ... UND is 8-2-1 in its last 11 games overall against the Seawolves regardless of location ... North Dakota is 10-1 in its last 11 games in Anchorage, with the 5-2 loss to the Seawolves last Feb. 19 snapping a 10-game UND winning streak in Anchorage ... the Sioux are coming off a Thursday-Friday non-conference series split (1-0 loss, 3-2 win) with Harvard in Grand Forks ... UND played Harvard without four players competing in the World Juniors tournament in Vancouver, B.C. ... the quartet includes defensemen Brian Lee and Taylor Chorney and forward T.J. Oshie (playing for Team USA) and forward Jonathan Toews (playing for Team Canada) ... UND's 1-0 loss last Thursday was just 11th game in UND school history that resulted in a 1-0 score ... the Sioux are 3-8 all-time in 1-0 games ... prior to last Thursday, the most recent previous 1-0 game UND played was a 1-0 loss at Colorado College last season on Jan. 15, 2005 ... the 1-0 loss was just the third time UND has been shut out in its five seasons in the new Ralph Engelstad Arena ... the others were both 6-0 losses (to Minnesota State on Dec. 1, 2000, and Minnesota on Oct. 23, 2004) ... the starting Sioux goalie in the 1-0 loss was sophomore Philippe Lamoureux, who stopped 20 of 21 shots ... in his last three games, Lamoureux has stopped 59 of 61 shots for a save percentage of .967 ... he is 1-1 in those games ... in last Friday's 3-2 win, three Sioux players had two points ... they included defenseman Matt Smaby (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn.) and forward Rastislav Spirko (So., Vrutky, Slovakia), who each had a goal and assist, and forward Travis Zajac (So., Winnipeg, Manitoba), who had two assists ... the winning goalie in last Friday's win was Jordan Parise (Jr., Faribault, Minn.) ... it was Parise's 42nd career win, moving him into ninth place on the all-time UND career list ... Parise's next win will move him into a tie for eighth place with Chris Dickson (1987-91) ... Parise and Lamoureux have combined to give UND goalies a .923 save percentage this season, with Parise posting a .928 save percentage and Lamoureux a .909 save percentage ... forward Drew Stafford (Jr., Faribault, Minn.) scored his 14th goal of the season last Friday to establish a new personal season high ... Stafford scored 11 goals as a freshman and 13 goals as a sophomore ... UND finished the 2005 "calendar year" with a 25-16-4 record, which includes a 12-8-3 mark to finish last season and a 13-8-1 mark to start this season ... two freshmen - defenseman Todd Alexander (New Hope, Minn.) and forward Ryan Martens (Selkirk, Manitoba) - played in the first two games of their UND careers this past weekend.

Huskies
St. Cloud State University
The St. Cloud State men's hockey team will kick off the 2006 portion of its schedule with a trip to New York on Jan. 6-7 ... the Huskies will play a pair of games in Hamilton, N.Y. against non-conference rival Colgate - a nationally ranked squad from the ECAC ... last year, Colgate advanced to the NCAA Div. 1 playoffs where it lost a 6-5 decision to Colorado College in the Midwest Regional at Grand Rapids, Mich. ... this will mark the first time that SCSU and Colgate have played and it will also mark SCSU's final regular season non-conference series of the 2005-06 schedule ... this will also mark the second time this season that SCSU has played an ECAC squad ... on Nov. 25-26, the Huskies played a pair of games against ECAC rival Brown University at the National Hockey Center ... SCSU won the first game of that series by a 4-1 margin, and skated to a 4-4 tie in game two ... this will be the lone WCHA rival that Colgate plays during the regular season in 2005-06 ... the Huskies enjoyed a break over the holidays as they last played on Dec. 17-18, which was a two-game sweep against Robert Morris at the National Hockey Center ... the Huskies will resume play in the WCHA on Jan. 13-14 with a pair of games at the University of Denver ... at +13, Andrew Gordon is leading the Huskies on the all-important plus-minus this season ... he also ranks second on the team with 7 goals and 13 assists for 20 points ... SCSU's freshman scoring leader in 2004-05, Gordon has already surpassed his 17 point (9g,8a) scoring total from last year ... senior Joe Jensen, a draftee of the Pittsburgh Penguins, is the team's current scoring leader with 12 goals and nine assists for 21 points ... last year, Jensen had 12 goals and 14 assists for a season career-high of 26 points ... Jensen is rapidly closing in on membership in SCSU's elite 100-point club ... at present, Jensen has 89 points (43g,46a) in his career ... he is tied for the team's all-time game-winning goal record with 12 during his career; he shares the record with Joe Motzko, who also had 12 from 1999-03 ... Jensen ranks among the team's top 25 players for career goals and career assists ... Jeff Saterdalen is SCSU's all-time scoring leader with 179 points from 1988-92 ... Mark Hartigan is the team's all-time goal leader with 86 from 1999-02 ... with six goals, senior Konrad Reeder has already hit a season career-high for goals ... Reeder also has tied his season career-best with 10 points this winter (6g,4a) ... at the midway point of the season, junior goalie Bobby Goepfert, a Pittsburgh Penguin draftee, has been impressive in the nets ... he owns a 1.89 goals-against average and a .931 save rate this season for the Huskies ... of note, the current team record for goals-against average in a season is 2.22 set by Dean Weasler in 2001-02 ... Weasler also hit the save percentage record in 2001-02 with a .923 rate ... did you know that every skater who has suited up for a game this season at SCSU has scored at least one point this season ... this doesn't include all the SCSU goalies but Bobby Goepfert does have one assist this year.

Badgers
University of Wisconsin
Wisconsin (16-2-2, 11-1-2 WCHA) began the second half of the season with its ninth Badger Hockey Showdown title, winning 5-1 over Northern Michigan in the championship game last Saturday ... the victory was the fourth for the Badgers over Northerm Michigan in the Showdown title game ... the Badgers take a week off before returning to the second half of league action ... the UW jumps right in with a series at second place Colorado College on Jan. 13-14, and home series against third place teams Denver and Minnesota ... Wisconsin won and tied against CC earlier this season at the Kohl Center and swept Minnesota on the road ... the meetings against Denver will be the first and only of the season ... Wisconsin's ninth Badger Hockey Showdown title came in the 17th year of the tournament ... it was the first for the Badgers in the three years of the event at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis. ... the event was held at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee during the first 14 years ... Wisconsin's most recent Showdown win prior came in a 3-1 victory over Northern Michigan in 2002 ... Badgers on the all-tournament team included forward Joe Pavelski, defenseman Jeff Likens and goaltender Brian Elliott ... Elliott, who stopped 35 of 37 shots on the weekend, earned most outstanding player honors ... senior Ryan MacMurchy scored a goal and an assist in the tourney and now has 98 career points ... junior Robbie Earl's 1-2-3 weekend gives him 94 career points ... the next Badger to reach 100 will be the first since Dany Heatley (1999-2001).

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