The University of Minnesota Duluth heads east to take on Miami University in desperate need for NCHC points.

Coming out of a not so hot weekend against North Dakota, which is an understate by the way, the Bulldogs are going to be hungrier than ever for critical NCHC points.

Offensively things weren't clicking last weekend, which needs to change.  Winning faceoffs and maintaining control of the puck was a very big hole that North Dakota pointed out badly.

Now, given this UND team has been playing fairly decent, it's still no excuse to fall in both games by those scores.  So, things have to change.

Special teams need to get better.  0 for 9 last weekend.  That's simply unacceptable.

Look for some possible line changes and some hungry Bulldogs.  Losing five games in a row isn't an option for this team, but hey, it's on the road, and we like it better away from home.

Faceoff Facts:

• The Bulldogs' strength of schedule (SOS) coming into this weekend takes a backseat to no other NCAA I club in the country.
• 
  
• The Bulldogs have compiled a 9-6-1 record (.594) away from Duluth so far this winter, compared with a 4-7-3 (.393) home record.
• 
  
• Junior center Caleb Herbert, who has picked up a goal and/or an assist in eight of the last nine outings (he had his career-high seven-game scoring streak terminated in last Friday's 3-0 loss to North Dakota), continues to top the Bulldog scoring charts with 26 points. He's currently tied for fourth among NCHC skaters in even strength goals with nine (all of his goals thus far have been scored in that situation) and for ninth in overall assists (17).
• Going back to a 5-4 home loss to Minnesota on Oct. 15, 2011, the Bulldogs are unbeaten in the 41 games that they've struck for four or more goals (36-0-5). That includes a 7-0-1 record in 2013-14.
• 
  
• The Bulldogs have won both of their NCHC shootout to date, defeating visiting Denver 2-1 in four rounds on Jan. 18 and Colorado College 1-0 in three rounds on Feb. 8 at AMSOIL Arena.
• 
  
• The Bulldogs have drawn first blood in 12 of their 13 wins to date and are 12-3-2 overall when jumping out to a 1-0 lead (but a mere 1-10-2 when they opposition has done so).
• 
  
• UMD has rolled up the third-most first-period goals of any NCHC club (30), trailing only St. Cloud State (37) and North Dakota (31).
• 
  
• Senior goaltender Aaron Crandall, who had made 14 consecutive starts before sophomore Matt McNeely got the nod this past Saturday night, has established career-bests this season for appearances (25), starts (23) and victories (11). Crandall's career winning percentage of .555 (off a 27-21-6 record) is the third highest in program history at the moment, trailing only Rick Kosti (.753 between 1983-85) and Kenny Reiter (.657 from 2008-12).
• 
  
• UMD is 5-10-2 against nationally-ranked opponents in 2013-14 with those wins coming against No. 1 Minnesota (6-2 on Nov. 24 in Minneapolis, Minn.), No. 2 Notre Dame (5-1 on Oct. 26 in Duluth), No. 13 North Dakota (6-3 on Nov. 16 in Grand Forks, N.D.) and No. 20 Western Michigan (5-2 and 3-1 on Jan. 31-Feb. 1 in Kalamazoo, Mich.).
• 
  
• The Bulldogs are 11-0-3 when taking a lead into the third period this season.

Enjoy.

Questions?  Comments?  Ask Below!

READ MORE

The University of Minnesota Duluth landed current Penticton goaltender Hunter Miska for future play between the pipes.

Miska, a Minnesotan puckstopper, has officially made his decision to play for the UMD Bulldogs as of mid February.

The something foot somethingdsafdjsahfds started play at the age of four with Centennial until he joined North Branch's hockey association a few years later.  Throughout this time, Miska wasn't stopping pucks, but doing quite the opposite...  scoring goals.

"Throughout that whole time, I played as a forward. Only one year I played every other game as a goalie. I really enjoyed the position but my mother was against me playing between the pipes. She told me that I was a better forward than a goalie," Miska told the Penticton Western News. "I kept playing as a forward up until I was ready to prove her wrong and make the switch."

From there, the skilled goalie was invited to gear for a U.S. National Team Development Program tryout, which evidently went well as Miska found himself rostered for the U17 team.

Starting in 2011, Miska played for the US NTDP for two seasons, participating in 38 games for the red, white, and blue.

Now with the BCHL's Penticton Vees, the Stacy, MN native is posting excellent numbers.  Exhibiting a 2.27 goals against average lands Miska seconf overall in the goalie standings, along with a save percentage of .914 and two shutouts to date.

"Hunter has been a huge part of our success; his confident attitude, tireless work ethic and overall athleticism has made him one of the elite goalies in the BCHL," said Vees head coach and general manager Fred Harbinson.

Very excited to announce I have committed to play for the University of Minnesota Duluth! #BulldogNation
— Hunter Miska (@miska_35) February 9, 2014

Congrats @miska_35 on your commitment. Couldn't be happier for you!! Welcome to the family once again!
— Kyle Osterberg (@Osterberg19) February 9, 2014

Congrats to @miska_35 from the B-Dog House for your commitment to UMD D-1 #bulldognation #neverstopdreaming pic.twitter.com/aLxuVrQ6Tt
— todd miska (@toddmiska) February 9, 2014

Miska isn't expected to join the Bulldogs until the 2015-2016 season, but with such a large time gap, many things can change.

Enjoy.

Questions?  Comments?  Ask Below!

READ MORE

Minnesota Wilderness goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo has verbally committed to play for the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Kasimir Kaskisuo, a Vantaa, Finaland native, has committed to wear maroon and gold for the UMD Bulldogs.

The 6-foot-3, 201lb netminder has played absolutely incredible for the NAHL's Minnesota Wilderness, leading the entire league with a goals-against average of 1.36 and save percentage of .948 while logging 1461 minutes between the pipes.  These numbers also include the 15-5-4 record he's sporting, along with 8 shutouts.

“UMD has everything I was looking for in a school and it’s amazing to be a part of this community,” Kaskisuo told the MN Wilderness. “UMD had the whole package, I feel like it’s the best place for me. It’s good to finally get the process over with and now I can focus on the rest of the season.”

Making another rare feat, Kaskisuo's tremendous amount talent has landed him on the NHL CSS North American Midterm Rankings, coming in at #16.  With all the success, comes a lot of attention as well.

"I visited a couple of other schools too, but it's a great hockey program (University of Minnesota-Duluth), and it had everything that I was looking for in a school," The Hockey Writers reported. "After that it was all about putting everything on paper. It was a tough decision, but it made a lot of sense."

Unfortunately for the goaltender, he's been benched with a lower-body injury for awhile, but should be back relatively soon and ready to better his already outstanding numbers.

Kaskisuo was the Bulldogs first answer to a goaltending problem UMD was facing with Aaron Crandall graduating this spring.  That being said, he's expected to join the team for the 2014-15 season.

Enjoy.

Questions?  Comments?  Ask Below!

READ MORE

One the better games I've seen to this year until end of the five minute overtime.  I'm posting this due to the fact it is completely biased, much like this blog.   :D

Going back in time, the Bulldogs fell to the Gophers in a 6-1 Friday night game, followed by a 6-2 rout of the Minnesota Gophers on that Sunday.  If you ask me, it ended the right way, but left many questions as to who actually had the better weekend.

I mean yes, the gophers did score more goals throughout the weekend (8) and the bulldogs scored less (7), but the Bulldogs played on the road, which included two long road trips from Duluth to Minneapolis throughout the weekend.

Anyway, fastward.

We'll begin with lines:

Scoring Summary

1st Period - UMTC (10:47) Kyle Rau
1st Period - UMD (11:05) Caleb Herbert
1st Period - UMD (11:26) Austin Farley from Caleb Herbert
1st Period - UMTC (15:51) PP Nate Condon from Seth Ambroz and Ben Marshall
3rd Period - UMTC (01:02) PP Hudson Fasching from Mike Reilly and Kyle Rau
3rd Period - UMD (02:24) PP Austin Farley from Tony Cameranesi and Willie Raskob
3rd Period - UMTC (11:41) PP Travis Boyd from Mike Reilly and Taylor Cammarata
3rd Period - UMD (17:51) Joe Basaraba from Willie Raskob

Goaltending Summary

Aaron Crandall (UMD): 9-7-6-1 = 23 (4 GA)
Adam Wilcox (UMTC): 12-11-12-3 = 38 (4 GA)

Faceoff Facts:

Team	Goals	Points	Plus/Minus	Blocks	P Mins	Shots	Faceoffs	PP	PK
Bulldogs	4	8	+1	8	16	42	22/68	1/6	4/7
Gophers	4	10	-10	16	25	27	46/68	3/7	5/6

First off, the game ended in a shootout after a 5-minute overtime period, which is our first problem.  In the standings and basically everywhere else but the North Star College Cup's eyes, the game went down in tie.

The Bulldogs led off in the shootout where Alex Iafallo missed, followed by a goal by Gopher Kyle Rau.  Round two brought Caleb Herbert to the stage, but he failed to sneak the puck by Adam Wilcox, and Seth Ambroz sealed the deal by scoring against Aaron Crandall.

That was it.  A quick overtime play and then a quick shootout decided the who is "the best team in Minnesota".  Problem.

I've never left an arena feeling so unsatisfied.  Imagine if your favorite movie was building up to the climax and right when you were suppose to find out what the great problem's answer is, the movie goes black.  The end.  Hasta La Vista, baby.

PROBLEM.  The Bulldogs played very well against the nation's number one team and to cut it off at 5 minutes is absolutely blue-balling (excuse my french).

The Gophers are a good hockey team, but they relied heavily on the fact that they had a very hot goaltender.  Adam Wilcox was the reason they made beat St. Cloud State on Friday night and also the reason that the Bulldogs didn't emerge victorious in just three periods.

The Bulldogs were firing on all cylinders.  The University of Minnesota Duluth's overall talent was better than that of Minnesota's power.  Despite the Gophers ranking 2nd in the nation, scoring 3.83 goals per game, the Bulldogs scored just as many on a hot goaltender.

Here's the bigger question.

How does the #1 ranked team in the United States win 46 of 68 faceoffs, or 68%, but failed to lead in shots, being outshot 42-27.

Usually one can infer that faceoff wins directly lead to the amount of time a team has puck possession.  And assuming one has control of the puck more than the other team, an assumption can be made that they are more than likely to outshoot their opponent, or at least come close, right?

Wrong.

So either the best team in the country decided to turnover the puck as soon as they won the faceoff or just had some terrible shots on net.  But that also isn't true.  As the total attempted shots were in favor of UMD, 76 to 44.

So that's confusing.  A little anyway.  But looking at the positives, the Bulldogs did jump up in the pairwise?

Keep in mind that each of the tournament winners will make it to the tournament, which includes 16 teams, but tied for 14th isn't bad.

So the TIE wasn't as bad as we can take it to be, but the most import is this.

THOSE GOD-AWFUL REFEREES ARE GONE.

To catch up on what happened, CLICK HERE.

Enjoy.

Questions?  Comments?  Ask Below!

READ MORE

Minnesota Duluth's future blue-liners group just got a bit bare after Washington Capitals prospect and Sioux City Musketeer Blake Heinrich chose to forgo his commitment to the University of Minnesota Duluth and skate for the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League (Major Junior).

Heinrich, who signed his National Letter of Intent this past November, has scored six goals and eight assists for 14 points in 31 games thus far in his second season with the Sioux City Musketeers.

Heinrich is a former Hill-Murray Pioneer back when he played Minnesota High School Hockey and is known as a very physical defenseman.

The following is from a the Portland Winterhawk's Press Release:

“We have had discussions with Blake since drafting him about becoming a Winterhawk and are excited to announce that he will join us at the end of the year. He is a dynamic defenseman who is a perfect fit for our style of play. I expect he will be a big part of our future over the next two seasons as we rebuild our defense,” said Portland Winterhawks General Manager & Head Coach Mike Johnston.

“Right now Blake will remain in Sioux City of the USHL for the duration of their season. He is a captain there and from a developmental perspective it is the best situation for him right now. The way the rules work Blake will only be eligible to play six games this season but his time with us at the end of the year will help in his transition next season,” continued Johnston.

It's always a shame to see kids de-commit to schools, especially after an NLI has already been signed.  Just another example of what Major Junior teams have capabilities of doing when NCAA teams limit communication.

In the end, a player must do what's best for themselves.  Heinrich will be replaced in the long-run, but will be missed on the line.

Enjoy.

Questions?  Comments?  Ask Below!

READ MORE

Why Hello!

I'm stuck in the Charlotte airport after 785 hours of delays in one day.  And yes it is possible, so I thought I'd do a quick post about tonight's CONFERENCE MELTDOWN.

Being the wonderful guy he is, Bruce Ciskie posted the lines for tonight via his ciskie blog, which are posted below.

Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs

J. Crandall - Cameranesi - Osterberg

Farley - Herbert - Basaraba

Iafallo - Toninato - Krause

Sampair - Decowski - Spurrell

Soucy - Welinski

Smith - Raskob

Johnson - Corrin

A. Crandall - McNeely

Nebraskan-Omahanian Maverickz

Walters - Zombo - Archibald

Searfoss - Montpetit - Raubenheimer

Guentzel - Lane - Parizek

Polk - Pearce - Simonson

Megna - Brady

Cooper - Seeler

Young - O'Rourke

Thompson - Peters - Massa

I did a recab on SB Nation College Hockey of last night's game, which can be found by clicking the link you just read.  I also did a pretty deep NCHC Midseason review that may help you out as well.

TONIGHT:

Obviously Crandall will take the start after playing a lights-out night between the pipes last night for the Bulldogs, but there actually are no changes to report in Scott Sandelin's lineup.

The Mavericks, anyway, will be starting goaltender Kirk Thompson and have made a couple changes to their lineup.  I'd imagine a little more aggression out of the red team tonight.

Enjoy.

READ MORE

I have an article close to being done about the absolute dominance from Warroad's top line this season, which is completely ironic to two members of this line committing to skate for the UMD Bulldogs!

Having watched these kids more times than I'm able to count over the last four months, I couldn't be more excited to welcome some of Minnesota High School's best talent to Bulldog Country and our Bulldog Family, Juniors Kobe Roth and Jared Bethune!

Starting out this past fall, Both Roth and Bethune were invited to participate in the 2013 Upper Midwest High School Elite League where both players talented eight points in 18 games while helping Team Great Plains find a victory in the Third Place Game after a slow start to the season.

So far this year, These two athletes belong to arguably one of the most complete and talented lines in the state of Minnesota.  Both Roth and Bethune are joined by senior Kyle Sylvester and have tallied a combined 153 points.

At 5'7", Roth is not the largest player, but is extremely talented with the puck in the trenches and out in front of the net.  Armed with a nice shot, Roth has scored 24 goals and 28 assists for 52 points in just 14 games played this year.  That a point-per-game average of 3.71!

Proud to announce i just committed to the University of Minnesota Duluth with my line mate for life @bethune_21 #Bulldogs
— Kobe Roth (@KobeRoth5) January 4, 2014

Bethune, who stands at 5'11.25", has an amazing amount of potential.  He possess a great hockey sense and his ability to create scoring chances and net drives is very entertaining to watch.  Armed with a great shot as well, Bethune has netted 21 goals and 32 assists for 53 points in just 14 games.  His point-per-game average stands at 3.79!

So excited to announce I have committed to the University of Minnesota Duluth with my brother @KobeRoth5 #Bulldogs
— Jared Bethune (@bethune_21) January 4, 2014

When combined, these two are an absolute weapon.  Even alone, the amount of talent these kids possess is like no other, which is why they're among the top scoring players in the state.

Here's a video of Jared Bethune when he was 10 years old.  Looks like he's got a set of hands on him...  aye?

I would imagine a year or two of juniors for each and expect those two to pull on a Bulldog Sweater for the 2015-16 season.

Enjoy.

Questions?  Comments?  Ask Below!

READ MORE

It's Saturday!  And if you loved Rebecca Black's Friday song as much as I did, you'll love her HIT new single, IT'S SATURDAY!!!

To ease the pain, Here are some awesome gifs below on this fabulous Saturday morning.

1) How many times do you get to see a ref just blast through traffic and come to a stop all nonchalant as if he didn't look as majestic as a unicorn flying over a rainbow!?

***

***

***

2) That my friends, is called a TOE save.  Take notice of the heavy emphasis on the word "toe".

***

***

***

3) Just watch the puck closely...

***

***

***

4) If getting hit by the first slap shot wasn't enough...

***

***

***

5) This is just Tukka going crazy...  I'm not even a Bruins fan...

Enjoy.

Questions?  Comments?  Ask Below!

READ MORE