On the Road: Bulldogs at red Mavericks

UMD Continues Streak of Ranked Opponents in Bid to Continue Win Streak

One third of the regular season completed, 12 games, and it is not even Thanksgiving yet.  The Bulldogs embark on the second portion of their schedule continuing with NCHC play in Omaha who has only played eight games overall this season.

Take aways from the "first period" of the season:

• Slowish start in net, but Kaskisuo is now the backstop that an elite team needs.  McNeely an afterthought as of now.
• On the PK too often staying securely in the top five in the nation for penalty minutes.  But the SHGs are coming in with five so far.
• Dom Toninato is on fire scoring with nine goals so far.  What follows that stat is good team scoring, three players with four goals and 16 players with at least one goal so far.
• Andy Welinski becoming elite defenseman and leading a very impressive defense corps.  As a squad, the defense is giving Kaskisuo the support he needs to be his best.

StatPack.  Great test again for UMD as they go to the surprisingly upstart Omaha squad.  By the numbers:

Images via Wikipedia: Bulldog, NCAA, NCHC, Mav

Picks by @afiskness.  The Bulldogs have found their balance and have used that to put in a 5 game winning streak.  Last weekends effort was impressive versus the Gophers.  The three penalties in the Friday game played a huge part in the Bulldogs dominance.  Now of course Bulldog fans need to worry about a let down.  The team play is strong this season and if the Bulldogs stay out of the box they can continue this winning streak.

Picks

Minnesota Duluth @ Nebraska Omaha:  This is a great series as both goalies are on fire.  The Mavericks at home get an edge, but the Bulldogs play good on the road.  Split.

Western Michigan @ Miami:  The Redhawks managed a nice Split in Grand Forks last weekend and have shown so far that they should be a real contender.  The Broncos have had a slow start this season and it won't be easy to win in Oxford this weekend. Miami sweep.

North Dakota @ St Cloud State:  North Dakota goes on the road to the play a Huskies team that appears to have bounced back after being swept at home two weeks ago.  Special teams will likely be the difference in this series.  Split.

Air Force @ Denver, Wisconsin @ Denver: Denver is the favorite in both games and I think Air Force has the better chance for the upset then the Badgers.  Denver two wins.

Wisconsin @ Colorado College, Colorado College @ Air Force:  It has been a tough season so far for the Tigers with their only wins this season coming against the Chargers.  Thankfully for them this weekends matchups are in their favor.  The Tigers should get two wins, but I think the Badgers find their first win of the season on Friday.  Saturday night the Tigers bounce back and beat the Falcons.

Bulldogs to Complete First of Two Home-and-Home Series

Now Non-Conference Opponents, MSUM and UMD Square Off

The season is early and the Bulldogs are still trying to answer questions.  Good to look for answers now than after the NCHC schedule starts.

Questions to be answered:

• How are the goalies going to spilt time and who is first?

McNeely has lots to prove still even after a stellar game last Sunday during his 3-0 shutout.  Kaskisuo did have a shaky start, but did settle in, along with the rest of the Bulldogs, to give the Gophers a good challenge the second half of the game last Friday in UMD's 4-3 loss.

• Will UMD protect home ice this year?

A 5-10-3 record at home last season was terrible.  A contender for anything other than basement of the conference has to do better than that.  On the flip side, an 11-6-1 record away from AMSOIL kept UMD in the top half of the NCHC which gave them home ice.  Bad news was home ice equalled being swept out of the playoffs at home.

The home-and-home series should be interesting also.  It is the first of two this season with UMTC being the second.  Let the debate start, home first or second night.  They get both situations, but for now it will be home first.

StatPack will start next week when conference play starts up and we have some decent data to share.

Picks by @afiskness.  The results of last weeks games brought a few surprises to NCHC teams.  First who would have thought that the Beavers would not only beat North Dakota but make it a rout.  Second, high ranked teams did not fare well in all of college hockey.  The opening period of the Bulldogs and Gophers game was troubling, but I was happy to see the team begin to settle in a little and play good by the end of the game.

This Week Picks

Nebraska Omaha @ Western Michigan:  Both teams are unranked in this matchup at the Lawson Ice Arena and both are coming off splits.  This will be the first NCHC league games for both teams.  I don't see why I would chose anything other than a split at this point in the season, so it will be a split.

North Dakota @ Colorado College:  The unranked Tigers host the #3 North Dakota Men's Hockey team for the teams first NCHC games this season.  The Tigers played well enough to hold onto wins after blowing a 2 goal and a 3 goal lead against the Chargers.  North Dakota should be a better team then Alabama Huntsville, but they didn't look that way on Friday night.  I will go with a North Dakota win and tie. 

Minnesota State Mankato vs. Minnesota Duluth:  Last week both teams split their games playing on the road, although the Bulldogs faced better competition.  The Mavericks are ranks #12th and Bulldogs are now ranked #20 in this home and home series.  These games will likely come down to goaltending for both teams.  I expect to see the Bulldogs continue with a goalie rotation and I am guessing McNeely gets the Friday nod.  I am going to pick a split.

Miami vs. Ohio State:  This series will be a home and home between the #11 Redhawks and the #17 Buckeyes.  The previous weekend both teams split their games.  The Buckeye split with the highly ranked Friars while the Redhawks split with the unranked Falcons.  This series will be another split. 

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute @ Denver:  The #16 Pioneers host the unranked Engineers.  This should be a great couple of games.  The Pioneers have had difficulty the last couple seasons with ECAC teams and the Engineers look to be a contender this season.  I will pick a split. 

Questions Still Abound

Tight Win Over Lakehead 4-2 Shows Room for Improvement

On the night of the Bulldog's first game, an exhibition against Lakehead University of Canada, leads right into the season just four days later.  A strong showing would be preferred, but a lackluster last minute (1:35 to be exact) escape is the game we got.

From the get go of the new season all eyes were on the net minder.  Would McNeely finally take the reigns and be the main guy as we thought when he arrived?  Or would freshman Kasimir Kaskisuo emerge as the dominant force.  The first indication of the current situation did not take long as Lakehead buried their first shot of the night beating McNeely 0:42 into the contest.  Not the start anyone hoped for.

Maybe just as concerning was the lack of scoring throughout the game.  UMD did not find the back of the Thunderwolves net until 6:03 into the second period as Brett Boehm scored with helpers from Austin Farley and Carson Soucy.  The tie would be short lived as UMD would go into the second intermission again trailing, now 2-1, after McNeely yielded a goal midway through the second.

UMD did held a decisive shots on goal edge throughout the game ending with a 61-21 edge.  But it wasn't until very late in the third period that the Bulldogs took their first lead before the 4-2 final.  third period goals for UMD were tallied by Farley, Justin Crandall, and Alex Iafallo.

On the horizon is the Ice Breaker Tournament held in South Bend and hosted by Notre Dame where UMD will face a tough test against the Gophers Friday afternoon.  A definite challenge for a team that has many challenges.  UMTC is coming off of their exhibition opener, a 5-0 win over visiting Northern Alberta.

The game Friday starts at 1:05pm CDT and can streamed for free along with all other tournament games.

Around the NCHC.
Rough start in Omaha for the Mavs.  Not only do they lose their exhibition game against the same Northern Alberta who lost to the Gophers 5-0, but the Mavs were shutout 4-0.

The only other loss in NCHC exhibition play was Miami being shutout 3-0 by the visiting US U18 Developmental squad.

Quick Thoughts on Bulldog Season Preview

Goaltending is the Key

There are always challenges and questions leading into the college hockey season.  This year all eyes will be on the goalie position in Duluth.

Matt McNeely was brought in over others that we just should not talk about because it is too painful.  He was the supposed answer to the departure of hardworking, very successful Kenny Reiter to be the backstop of a team coming off a national championship in the near past.  What McNeely has given is drama and questions about who should be the guy to man the net.

Coming into the new season there is freshman Kasimir Kaskisuo from Finland.  Kaskisuo is given a full chance to prove that he is the number one and push McNeely for playing time.

With the first real action of the season upon us with the exhibition game tomorrow, we now know that Kaskisuo and McNeely will split time in the warm up to the games that count.  Those games that count are closer than most years seeing that the exhibition against Lakehead is Monday and the non-conference games start the following Friday.

Pioneers Take on Bulldogs in Duluth

UMD looks to Build on Strong Start in 2014

The Bulldogs have climbed their way back up and over the 0.500 mark with the strong showing with last weekend’s sweep at Omaha.  Now they are given the task of taking on Denver.

Looking at comparisons, it may look like this is a good matchup for UMD seeing Omaha already swept the Pioneers at Denver this season.  That was early in the season before Denver got on track.

Denver started the season with a sweep of Merrimack, but then proceeded lose five of their next six games.  That was the stretch when Omaha swept Denver in a pair 3-2 OT games.

New Scoring.  The freshmen of UMD have been on a tear this season.  The seven freshmen have

totaled 19 goals and 31 assists lead by Alex Iafallo with 6-7-13.  As a group they lead the NCHC for freshman points and are ninth in the nation.

Dueling Goalies.  Sam Brittain is back in form and is playing strong.  Although he has six of the team’s losses on his record, he currently has a 1.96 and a 0.934 saves percentage. 

This weekend Brittain’s Pioneers will face arguable the hottest goalie in the NCHC in Aaron Crandall who was in net for both wins last weekend en route to being name NCHC Goalie of the Week.  Crandall is #1 for now and will keep it as long as he plays well.  But McNeely has to be ready for when coach Sandelin deems a change is needed.  It is not a secret that goaltending has been a concern for the Bulldogs this season and the netminder should not be expected to win games night after night. 

By the Numbers.  Denver has bounced back well from the afore mentioned early season skid.  DU and UMD stat comparison:

Images via Wikipedia: Bulldog, NCAA, NCHC, Denver

Picks by @afiskness.  I was happy to see UMD come out last weekend and play solid and get a couple of victories.  A lot of the credit goes to the Crandall in the net, but the team played well as a whole.  Hopefully this will continue to this weekend against the Pioneers.  All eight teams are in action this weekend.  There are three NCHC conference games and two non-conference games.  

Conference Games:

Denver @ Minnesota Duluth:  The Bulldogs played good last week and got the road split but I am not sure they have the mojo yet to sweep a good Pioneers team at home.  Split. 

Western Michigan @ St. Cloud State:  The Huskies are the better team playing at home.  The Broncos have some momentum, but I don't think they have enough to get more than a split at St. Cloud.  Split. 

Omaha @ Miami:  To teams as cold as ice, so something has got to give.  Miami being the home team should get the nod, so I will say a Redhawks win and tie.

Non Conference Games:

North Dakota versus Bemidji State (home and home):  North Dakota holds the huge advantage in this series, I am going to go out on a limb and say North Dakota win and tie since this series means more to the Beavers than North Dakota. 

Providence @ Colorado College:  Only one way to pick this: Friars sweep.  The Tigers have to show me something before I will pick them to win a game.

UDN: Series Split, AGAIN

After 6-1 Loss to Gophers, Bulldogs Bounce Back with 6-2 Win

Off the most recent split by the Bulldogs, this time at UMTC Gophers, we have our latest Up, Down, Neutral:

• Power play, a long time staple of the Sandelin Bulldogs, is back after going four of seven opportunities in Sunday’s game.  The test will be if it keeps up because the game prior was a zero for seven effort.
• Resiliency continues to be an up with this season’s UMD team.  On the road for six straight games and finding a way to come back after Friday losses at UND and UMTC for wins demonstrates the mental toughness of the young team.

• Penalties!  The numbers are staggering after a slight down tick in the minutes, they spiked again all the way up to 19.0 minutes per game and a tie for third nationally for the most.
• Still on the penalties, another major was logged this weekend when Andy Welinski was shown the gate Sunday for facemasking.  In the same vein, Caleb Herbert took three minors Friday and according to Bruce Ciskie, he should have had to pay rent for the space.  It just can’t happen if the team is going to reach even near their goals.

• Split, split, split.  The splits get tiring, but at this point, they are good enough.  As the season progresses they have to step up to some sweeps to step up in the NCHC.
• Goaltending at UMD is a “who’s hot” kind of deal.  As long as one of them, A Crandall or McNeely, is on, the team can always bounce back.

Bold prediction alert, UMD will end up 17-16-1 going into the playoffs.  The regular season is just over one-third completed and the Bulldogs have five splits in six series.  The remaining series was a Bulldog win and tie against MTU.

The opponents so far have been good teams for the most part.  In some cases, like this last series, a split is good.  But in others, CC and Ohio State, more than a split is expected. 

But winning some and losing some inexplicably is a symptom of a young team.  So is the way they win and lose.  The scoring is coming in streaks.  Plentiful scoring in one game followed by a drought and not necessarily in that order.  It is not a first game/second game of the series thing as UMD has a two game winning streak and a two game losing streak.

Up next is another weekend off and time for Thanksgiving.  The following weekend brings NCHC league play to Duluth for the first time as Saint Cloud State comes to town December 6 and 7.

Bulldogs Play Well, Earn Split with Notre Dame

Friday Loss 2-3 Spurs UMD to 4-1 Saturday

Notre Dame came to Duluth sporting the #2 ranking and played well.  UMD matched their play for most of the weekend and outplayed the Irish for much of Saturday night en route to a series split.

The Bulldogs are moving in the right directions getting wins on the road and against the top ranked teams in the last two series.  Next on the list is to move away from the splits in favor of sweeps.

Our thoughts for where the Bulldogs are: Up, Down, and Neutral:

• Penalty kill is proving to be a real bright spot for the Bulldogs.  Sporting a 91.7% kill rate, they rank sixth in the nation.
• Balanced scoring is a key to a successful college hockey team and UMD has it.  Which line is the #1?  We don’t know from scoring as scoring is coming from all lines.

• Power play has always been a strong suit for UMD.  This version of Bulldogs is different in that respect going 3 for 33.  The 9.1% is not last in the NCHC, but is 53^rd of 59 teams nationally.
• The number of major penalties that UMD players have taken this year is not acceptable.  Penalties happen, but majors is another story.  The consequence is too big to take any chances.  Bulldogs have taken three in the last five games and one in each of the last two.

• Austin Farley and Tony Cameranesi are trying to side step the sophomore slump.  They have been playing on the same line and both have one goal and two assists.  Both need to be productive to see sweeps instead of splits.
• Who is the #1 goalie?  Who cares right now as long as Crandall or McNeely is playing well.  Go Crandall, go…until UMD needs to look to McNeely.

Looking ahead.  The Bulldogs will travel to Ohio State, the first Bi6 Ten foe UMD faces.  The Buckeyes are currently 2-3-0.

Season Starts Tonight - Three Questions

Minnesota Duluth starts their hockey schedule tonight with a non-conference game at home against Canada's Lakehead University.  As the season starts we have three questions that need answers:

1.  Who will be the goalie who steps up to be a reliable number one?

Aaron Crandall and Matt McNeely are the candidates and neither looked like they could be the backstop a contending college hockey team needs.  One of them needs to step forward and take the job.

2.  Will the offensive potential output outgun the defensive potential struggles?

The Bulldogs can and will score.  The struggles will likely be if the young defensive corps can keep the scores against in the 3-3.5 range instead of the 4-4.5 range.  Tim Smith and Andy Welinski will be key mainstays of the defense.

3.  Is the NCHC the best conference and will the high caliber teams keep each other out of the NCAA Tournament?

The NCHC is a great conference, arguably the best top to bottom.  But in the end, will the "better" teams beat each other up and ultimately keep some high end teams out of the NCAA is a concern.  Stack a league, decrease chances for their NCAA chances?  Quite possibly.

For now, we have to wait to see what the expectations look like on the ice starting tonight at AMSOIL Arena.

Bulldogs on the Road in Best of Three

UMD to Wisconsin in Rematch of Early Season Series

UMD is on a five game unbeaten streak and maybe just in time.  The Bulldogs embark on their last chance to keep their last WCHA season alive when they travel to Wisconsin for a best of three playoff series.

Although the Bulldogs are on an unbeaten streak, they are also 1-5-2 in their last eight away from Duluth.

The Badgers and Bulldogs last met October 26-27 in Duluth.  Wisconsin won 2-0 followed by a Badger come from behind 2-2 tie.

How Wisconsin Wins.  It is no secret that the Badgers look to slow things down and keep the game a low scoring affair.  Wisconsin has the second lowest scoring defense in the WCHA.

Goalie Joel Rumpel is the key in net.  He has been the workhorse for the Badgers and has shined in the spotlight.  His 1.94 GAA and 0.928 saves percent earned him a spot on the third team all-WCHA.

What Holds Bucky Back?  If the Badger defense stumbles, there isn’t much in the way of offense.  Wisconsin has two players who have scored double-digit goals, Michael Mersch with 22 and Tyler Barnes with 10.  When it comes down to it, stopping Mersch seems to be the key to stifling the Badgers offense.

Nic Kerdiles has come on strong after sitting out the beginning of the season, he has scored six goals.  Six doesn’t seem like many, but on this team, it is noteworthy.

Bulldogs with Power.  UMD’s current winning streak is being propelled by the resurgent power play.  Over their last six games, the Bulldogs have gone 14 of 32 with the man advantage, 43.7%.

Goal scoring leaders on the power play are the usual suspects with Mike Seidel leading with nine goals, and freshmen Tony Cameranesi and Austin Farley each with seven.

Wild Card.  Scoring chances are not plentiful against Wisconsin and UMD must make their chances count.  Additionally, if UMD’s backstop, likely Matt McNeely, doesn’t make the easy saves and some not so easy saves, it could very well be the last series for the 2012-13 Bulldogs.

To take the next step in the season, UMD will need solid play in the net.  The recent winning streak shows that the talent is there and this weekend would be a good time to keep it rolling.

Images via Wikipedia: Bulldog, WCHA, Badger

StatPack.  The Bulldogs and Badgers stack up statistically fairly even for a #9/#4 match-up.  The Badgers did start the season slow, but have played well enough to secure home ice.

Of Note:

• A team like the Badgers who get 2.50 goals per game need the strong defense that allows 2.11 goals per game.
• UMD jumped from #13 in the nation for power play to #4 over last weekend where UMD went 7 for 12 on the man advantage.
• The Bulldogs are apt to get many shots per game and they will need it going against a save percentage of 0.924.

Outlook.  It is an interesting season to look at playoff upsets.  usually there is at least one, but this year the top six look strong.  Given a list of the top six, Wisconsin is the most vulnerable because they are so one dimensional with their defense.

Around the WCHA and Picks by @afiskness.  This is the final WCHA playoffs for many of these teams and it would be a great bragging rights for the victor.  There was a lot of parity in the league this past season making this playoffs wide open.  Every year there are upsets in the playoffs and I am sure there will at least one upset this year.  Will it be a team that is hot staying hot or the sudden change for a team that is ice cold?  The key is to guess the correct game.  I think the three middle seated series are the most likely for upsets.

WCHA First Round Best of Three Series

#12 Alaska - Anchorage at #1 Saint Cloud State: The Seawolves have pulled out some stunners on the road in the playoff, but this year that does not seam likely.  This series is so one sided in favor of the Huskies I will go with a Saint Cloud sweep. 

#11 Bemidji State at #2 Minnesota Twin Cities: The Beavers have played well in years past once the post-season began and this year will probably be no different.  These are two teams that play two totally different styles.  If the Gophers get sucked into the slow down game, the Beavers could find an upset.  I don't think the playoffs will end this week for the Gophers as they sweep. 

#10 Michigan Tech at #3 North Dakota:  Both of these teams have great power plays and special teams can often decide games.  The Huskies played very good in Saint Cloud and they always play hard when they are the underdog.  I am going with North Dakota in three games. 

#9 Minnesota Duluth at #4 Wisconsin:  The Bulldogs put up impressive numbers versus less then impressive opponents, but that is what a team is supposed to do.  The Bulldogs may finally be playing the way the fan base thought they would this year.  The Badgers will look to keep it low scoring and capitalize on turnovers.  Goaltending will be the key.  This series will go three games and either team could prevail.  I like the way the freshmen have been playing for UMD recently, I think they will continue to put out and UMD will get the upset. 

#8 Colorado College at #5 Denver:  The tigers got three points of the eight in the 4 games played between these two teams this year, so it may be a very close match up.  Both teams have had very inconsistent periods this season, so it will likely depend on which version shows up.  I think I will go with the upset and the Tigers in three games. 

#7 Omaha at #6 Minnesota State Mankato:  The red Mavericks are a cold as ice right now and going on the road for the playoffs was not in the game plan a few weeks ago.  The purple Mavericks have struggled before in the playoffs, but this a much different team.  Omaha's season ends as Mankato sweeps.

Playoff Series of Future NCHC Teams (CCHA Playoffs)
#11 Michigan State at #1 Miami
#7 Michigan at #3 Western Michigan

UMD Hosts Denver in Important WCHA Series

8th Place Bulldogs Look to Leapfrog 7th Place Pioneers

It is going to sound like a broken record from here on to the end.  This series is crucial for the Bulldog’s WCHA standing.  Naturally we had thought they would be jockeying for a better seed in the upper half, but right now, and likely for the rest of the season, they will be fighting for home ice.

Denver is a good team, or at least they were at the beginning of the season.  As UMD struggled at the start, DU soared.  In their last 10 WCHA games the Bulldogs are 7-2-1 and the Pioneers are 1-5-4.  Denver did have a more challenging run, but it wasn’t all top teams. 

One common opponent over the last 10 was Bemidji State.  UMD went 1-1-0 against the Beavers and Denver went 0-1-1.  The records don’t lie, but these teams need to meet head to head to determine who moves up and who stays in the bottom half.

This is a series that UMD needs to win.  Fans want to see UMD make it in the top six, Denver is the one team directly in their way and lead the Bulldogs by one point.

Images via Wikipedia: Bulldog, WCHA, Denver

StatPack.  The comparison of UMD and Denver is at right.  The numbers are pretty one sided for the Pioneers.

Of Note:

• UMD is still too high in penalty minutes per game.  They are currently #2.  The good news for this weekend is Denver is #4.
• Speaking of Denver taking penalties, UMD could really cash in on their power plays. It is the only stat category where UMD has a decisive advantage over Denver.
• Goals against are similar, it is the number of total games that differs.

Home is Good.  Goalie Matt McNeely has been good for his first season in college.  On top of that he is really good at home in AMSOIL Arena.  McNeely is a stellar 3-1-1 record with a 1.98 GAA and 0.923 save percentage.

How the Bulldogs Win.  Naturally a team needs to score to win.  For UMD the number of goals is three.  If UMD scores three or more they are 7-2-2.  Now scoring three or more on the second night where UMD is 2-7-2, that would be a marked improvement.

Weekend Helpers.  Wisconsin plays at North Dakota and both are tied for fourth with Minnesota State Mankato, all two points ahead of UMD.  The Bulldogs need to take care of their own business, but could get some help from this series.

Around the WCHA and Picks by @afiskness.  This weekend is an important one for UMD to stay in the hunt for home ice.  The Bulldogs are taking on a Pioneer team that does take penalties, so if the Bulldog's special teams play well UMD can see positive results.  In other games this weekend the whole WCHA is hoping the Beavers can find some magic against the Huskies to make this ultra tight WCHA title race tighter.  The most intriguing games are the Wisconsin at North Dakota series as North Dakota seems to be playing OK but just cannot get a win and now the Badgers seem to win every week.

WCHA Conference
Colorado College at Alaska - Anchorage:  The Tigers had last weekend off and are looking to get closer to .500 for the season and the Seawolves continue to struggle.  I think the always tough road trip will help the Seawolves and the series will be a split.

Denver at Minnesota Duluth:  Battle of two inconsistent teams.  Both teams should be rested coming into this weekend.  I think a split is in order especially since the one place UMD is consistent is the results of Saturday games.  Split.

Michigan Tech at Omaha:  The Mavericks swept the Beavers who also happen to be the last team that the Huskies have played.  The Mavericks are playing well, but I think the Huskies can find something to get a tie in one of the games and get 1 point this weekend.  Omaha win and tie.

Saint Cloud State at Bemidji State:  The Beavers are win-less in their last eight games and the Huskies are playing great hockey; it looks like a pretty easy pick.  The Beavers goal tending just has not been what they need to win recently and the Huskies are a good scoring team.  Saint Cloud sweep.

Wisconsin at North Dakota:  This is a great match up although it sounds like injuries could be an issue for the Badgers.  North Dakota has had a couple of tough weekends and have not gotten the points they had hoped to get.  In they have only scored more than 2 goals one time and that game ended in a tie.  The Badgers are a good defensive team and should be able to hold North Dakota down enough to get a split.

Other NCHC Teams
Alaska at Miami
Western Michigan at Ferris State

UMD's Second Intermission Report Card

A Report Card on UMD's Second Period of the 2012-13 Season

The second third of the 2012-2013 UMD Bulldog’s season is in the books. In following with our past precedent, we are issuing our second period report card that takes a look at the second third of the season only.  Each third of the season is 12 games this season.

Offense: C. The offense is getting better and turning up the heat.  But most of the time, it is just good enough.  The amount of one goal wins shows a gritty team, but also is alarming that the team cannot score more to win decisively.

The goal production has increased from 29 goals in the first 12 games to 35 goals.  That is an average of 2.42 and 2.92 respectively.  That is largely the reason the Bulldogs went 7-4-1 in their last 12 after a 3-7-2 start.

As UMD pushes for home ice in the first round of the WCHA playoffs, the offense needs to keep making strides and put less pressure on the defense.

Of note:

• Top three scorers for the Bulldogs remain the same as the last report.  They are Mike Seidel (12-11-23, up 9 points), Tony Cameranesi (10-12-22, up 10 points), and Austin Farley (8-9-17, up 7 points).  
• Pleasant surprises: Joe Basaraba and Jake Hendrickson.  We singled out Basaraba as a surprise last report with three goals.  He scored four more for a total of seven equaling his total from last year.  Hendrickson upped his goal total from one to four during the last 12.  He is an integral part of the upperclassmen and his leadership on the score sheet is great to see.
• Farley and Cameranesi continue to be the freshman standouts.  Right now Camreanesi has the upper hand in the race for biggest impact from a freshman.

Team Defense: B-. The defense has really come around and is leading the way to wins for the team.  For offense it was noted the amount of one goal games.  A big part of those wins is the defense holding to win the games.

Over the period, UMD has allowed 31 goals, an average of 2.58 goals per game.  Prior, they allowed 37 games for a 3.08 average.  Just the GAA over the last 12 games is good and couple that with scoring more than allowing on average, it is a recipe to make a run.

Defense will be the key to keep the team close enough to pull out wins in the home stretch.  The offense has not shown they are not able at this point to score multiple goals to come from behind.

Of note:

• Wade Bergman has stepped up to take a senior leadership role in this second period of the season.  His offensive output has increased and his plus/minus rating is just a tick better going +1 in the last 12.
• Andy Welinski is still the freshman leader on the blueline, but he really has been the only freshman defenseman getting regular playing time.

Special Teams: B. UMD is still going strong in the special teams department.  The Bulldogs again have the nation’s 8th best power play just as last report, but their percentage fell from 23.7% to 22.4%.  Still a great number and a good success rate.  The penalty kill is getting better up from 81.4% to 83.7%, 25th in the nation.  But just like last reporting period, they are on the ice too much.  UMD has the second highest penalty average in the nation at 16.5 minutes per game.

Of note:

• Seidel is tops on the team with 6 PP goals followed by Cameranesi with 5 and Caleb Herbert surging into third with 3, all in the last 12 games.

Goaltending: B-. McNeely has emerged as the number one goalie especially with Aaron Crandall getting hurt at the end of 2012.  Mcneely's numbers are good, but rank in the middle of the pack of the WCHA.  He has a 2.60 GAA and a 0.898 saves percentage.  Again, not great, but solid enough when needed to put up some one goal wins.

Crandall has been struggling through the season with a 3.21 GAA and 0.878 saves percentage.  We look for him to get healthy and be able to be a viable alternate to McNeely when needed.

Of note:

• McNeely posted UMDs only shutout this season, a 1-0 win over Michigan Tech.

Coaching: B. Coaching is solid and reliable for the Bulldogs.  The start was terrible, but the system is coming around and UMD has a chance to do something in the last third of the season.  Work still needs to be done on discipline on the ice with penalties.  it was good to see that discipline off the ice is happening too with a one game sit for key players when needed.  The end of the season is when Sandelin seems to get the best out of his teams, so we look forward to seeing how this team ends.

Overall Team: C+. Average is a very appropriate label for this Bulldog team in this second report.  They moved from 11th place to 6th place before falling back to 8th this last weekend when they were idle.  Home ice is the hope and most likely reachable goal for this team.  If they get there, it will be an accomplishment based on how they started.

Looking Ahead. The next report will be the final at the end of the regular season.  During that 12 game stretch, UMD travels to only Minneapolis and Bemidji.  They host Denver, Minnesota State Mankato, Alabama - Huntsville, and Omaha.  It is nice to be at home most of the time, but there are plenty of challenging games in that stretch to the end of the regular season.

Of note:

• UMD is 2-5-1 against fellow future teams of the NCHC so far this season.  The Bulldogs have four more games against future NCHC teams remaining.

First Intermission: Bulldogs One Third Through Season

A Report Card on UMD's First Period of the 2012-13 Season

The first third of the 2012-2013 UMD Bulldog’s season is in the books. In following with our past precedent, we are issuing our first period report card, the first third of the season

Bulldog fans look for more Cameranesi and Farley connections
in the future. (CollegeHockey HighHorse: Andrew Craig)

Offense: D+. There was concern over the offense entering this season with so many high scoring players leaving and freshmen filling the gaps. So far the freshmen corps have looked good and have been the driving force of the offense.  That is good, but also bad because the upper classmen, for the most part, are not pulling their weight.  The lack of offense has put unnecessary strain on the defense creating a developing train wreck as the season progresses.

Of note:

• Top three scorers for the Bulldogs have been linemates for most of the season.  They are Mike Seidel (8-6-14), Tony Cameranesi (5-7-12), and Austin Farley (4-6-10).  Their points are 47% of the team total and their goals are an alarming 59% of the team total.
• Pleasant surprises are few.  Closest is Joe Basaraba who has three goals on the season, close to half of his output of seven last season.
• Strong freshman presence is noted from Cameranesi and Farley, as noted above, along with defenseman Andy Welinski (1-5-6) who is fifth in team scoring.
• We want to see more from last year's freshman scoring leader Caleb Herbert.  Herbert is currently goalless with four assists.

Team Defense: C-. This was supposed to be UMD’s strong suite for the season to get past the freshman learning curve of the forwards.  In reality, it is one of the most frustrating aspects of the team.  The defense has struggled at times with basic positioning, keeping leads late in games, and keeping possession of the puck.  As a result, UMD has given up an average of 3.08 goals per game.  Not horrendous, but close to horrendous and not what was expected.

Of note:

• None of the defenseman corps is in the positive range for plus/minus rating.  Of all players, only Farley, Dan DeLisle, and seldom used Max Tardy are positive with +1 each.
• Strong freshman presence from Andy Welinski who is providing a great offensive presence from the blue line.
• We want to see more from last year's defensive stronghold Wade Bergman.  Bergman was held goalless until last weekend and has logged a team low -8 in the plus/minus rating.

Special Teams: B-. This is the brightest spot of the team.  UMD has the nation’s 8^th best power play that is connecting at 23.7%.  The penalty kill is also decent at 81.4%, but they are on the ice too much.  UMD has the highest penalty average in the nation at 18.7 minutes per game.

Of note:

• Seidel, Cameranesi, and Farley lead the team in power play goals with 10, 71% of the team's total.

Goaltending: C+. Goaltending has not been stellar, but it has been good enough that UMD should have more wins.  Newcomer Matt McNeely is playing well for a freshman behind this team defense.  McNeely is currently at a 0.888 saves percentage with a 2.95 goals against average.  Aaron Crandall again this season is there, but not excelling with 0.889 and 3.15.  The stats the UMD netminders have put up place them above only three tenders in the WCHA.  

It is still unknown as to who is the number one, but McNeely looks to be a solid goaltender for the future and a good one for the current season.

Of note:

• UMD is without a shutout this season.

Coaching: B. The struggles are there, but they are likely growing pains that must be endured as the team matures.  Coaching will expedite the process and Sandelin is a great coach to have.  What is at issue is the number of penalties and penalty minutes.  The team plays undisciplined hockey and that can be helped from the top.  What is most alarming is the number of 10-minute misconducts the team has taken that are not associated with another penalty.  That is the sign of frustration, which is understandable, but it more a symptom of undisciplined play.

Overall Team: D+. We didn’t and don’t expect a top three WCHA team, but we do see more than 11^th place from this team.  The pieces are there, but they are not working together for a common goal.  Small gains in one facet are usually coupled with a step back in another facet.  The team has time to come together, but will it be for the better of this season or seasons in the future?

Looking Ahead. The next “period”, or third of the schedule, brings some favorable games for UMD.  They play Michigan Tech twice, Bemidji State, and Alaska – Anchorage, all teams just above or below UMD in the WCHA standings.  These games will show just where UMD willfinish at the end of the season.  Splitting these series will probably not be enough for UMD to make any significant moves in the standings.  

The other games include the Florida College Classic and a pair of games at Colorado College.

Of note:

• UMD is 1-4-1 against fellow furture teams of the NCHC so far this season.  The Bulldogs have six more games against future NCHC left.

The next grading period will end after playing at Colorado College on January 19, 2013.