Games 31 & 32 ? Fri.-Sat., Feb. 16-17, 2007
#10/12 North Dakota (16-11-3 overall, 10-9-3 WCHA)
vs.
Minnesota Duluth (10-17-3 overall, 6-14-2 WCHA)
7:37 p.m./7:07 p.m. Central Standard Time
Grand Forks, N.D.
Ralph Engelstad Arena (11,406)
Sioux take on Bulldogs: North Dakota (16-11-3 overall, 10-9-3 WCHA) will play host to Minnesota Duluth this weekend at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
It will be the last regular season home series of the season for the Fighting Sioux, who are 7-7-3 at home this season.
UND is currently on a nine-game unbeaten streak (7-0-2) that is tied with Michigan State for the longest in the nation. The Sioux defeated Minnesota State 8-4 on Friday and tied the Mavericks 4-4 on Saturday at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
About Minnesota Duluth: The Bulldogs were idle last weekend. In its last action, UMD split a series at Denver on Feb. 2-3, losing 5-2 to the Pioneers in the opening game of that series before coming back to win 5-4 in the series finale.
Minnesota Duluth is coached by former UND player and assistant coach Scott Sandelin, who is in his sixth season as head coach.
Series with Minnesota Duluth: North Dakota has won six in a row over Minnesota Duluth and 12 of 13 games. The Sioux have won seven in a row over UMD in Grand Forks.
UND and Minnesota Duluth have not played yet this season. North Dakota's last series against UMD was on Feb. 17-18, 2006, in Duluth, where UND swept the Bulldogs 4-0 and 5-1 in a two-game series.
UMD's last win over North Dakota was on Dec. 11, 2004, in Duluth (4-3 UMD win) and the Bulldogs' last win in Grand Forks was on March 2, 2003 (3-2 UMD win).
UND leads the all-time series 124-69-7, and the Sioux are 71-30-1 against Minnesota Duluth in Grand Forks.
Sioux move up, down in national polls: UND was ranked 11th in the Feb. 5 USCHO and USA Today national polls. After the three-point weekend against MSU, UND moved up to No. 10 in the Feb. 12 USCHO poll, but down to No. 12 in the USA Today poll.
UND Notes:
? North Dakota has now scored 30 goals in its last five games, an average of six goals per game.
? The Sioux are tied for first in the WCHA in goals scored (3.36 per game in league games). Minnesota also averages 3.36 goals per game in the league.
? UND continues to lead the WCHA in power play percentage, with a 22.6 mark in league games.
? Fifteen UND players recorded at least one point in the Minnesota State series, as UND scored 12 goals in the two games.
? The Sioux were led in scoring against Minnesota State by forward Jonathan Toews (So., Winnipeg, Manitoba). Toews had four goals and two assists on the weekend to up his season totals to 11 goals and 20 assists in 21 games.
? Toews is averaging 1.48 points per game on the season and he has been particularly hot of late. In his last five games, Toews has six goals and nine assists (15 points). Since returning from the World Juniors tournament, where he helped lead Canada to the gold medal, Toews has 18 points (7g, 11a) in eight games. He currently is on a six-game scoring streak.
? Forward Ryan Duncan (So., Calgary, Alberta) had five points (1g, 4a) against MSU and leads the team in scoring with 41 points (22g, 19a).
? Duncan leads the WCHA in scoring with 31 points (17g, 14a) in conference play and also leads the league with 17 goals in conference play.
? Duncan is tied for seventh nationally with a 1.37 point per game average.
? Defenseman Taylor Chorney (So., Hastings, Minn.) is tied for second in the WCHA in scoring by a defenseman with 18 points (4g, 14a) in league play.
? Defenseman Robbie Bina (Jr., Grand Forks, N.D.) had three assists on the weekend and now has 17 points (7g, 10a) in his last 16 games.
? Captain Chris Porter (Sr., Thunder Bay, Ontario) had a goal and assist in the MSU series and now has played in 162 consecutive games, nine shy of the WCHA record for most consecutive games played.
? Forward Matt Watkins (So., Aylesbury, Saskatchewan) won 30 of 42 faceoffs (71.4 percent) over the weekend.
? Defenseman Joe Finley (So., Edina, Minn.) was a +4 over the weekend and now has a +17 plus/minus rating on the season, tied with Toews for the team lead.
? Neither defenseman Brian Lee (So., Moorhead, Minn.) or forward Erik Fabian (Sr., Roseau, Minn.) played in Saturday's game after receiving game disqualification penalties for fighting on Friday.
? Saturday's game had an attendance of 11,637, the second-highest attendance of the season at Ralph Engelstad Arena and seventh capacity crowd of the year. The highest attended UND game this season was the Dec. 16 game against Michigan Tech, which drew 11,671 fans.
? Oshie is only in his second season, but he is already tied for third in the school record books for most career game-winning goals. Here is the list:
Career Game-Winning Goals
1. Mark Taylor (1976-80) 18
2. Brandon Bochenski (2001-04) 15
3. T.J. Oshie (2005-current) 13
Lee Goren (1997-00) 13
Cary Eades (1978-82) 13
“Iron Man” Porter leads nation in career games played: UND senior captain Chris Porter (Thunder Bay, Ontario) played in his 162nd collegiate game in the series against Minnesota State. Porter has never missed a game in his college hockey career and is nine games short of the WCHA record for consecutive games played (171), shared by Wisconsin's John Johannson (1980-84) and Colorado College's Calvin Elfring (1994-98).
The second-longest current streak is 155 games by Michigan's Jason Dest, who missed only the first game of his college career.
According to research by the UND media relations office, Porter has played in more career games than any current NCAA college hockey player, men's or women's, Division I or Division III. The research is based on rosters and statistics compiled on www.collegehockeystats.net, the official source for NCAA hockey statistics.
As of Sunday, Dec. 17, there were 4,508 NCAA college players listed on more than 212 teams on collegehockeystats.net. The total included 1,575 Division I men's players, 775 Division I women's players, 1,193 Division III men's players and 965 Division III women's players.
According to UND research, current all-time national games played leaders (through Feb. 12) are: Porter (162 games), Michigan's Jason Dest (155 games) and Michigan's T.J. Hensick (155 games).
The leading Division I women's games played leader (as of Feb. 12) is St. Lawrence's Crystal Connors (150 games). The leading Divison III men's games played leader (through Feb. 12) is Plattsburgh's Ryan Busby (117 games). The leading Division III women's games played leader (through Feb. 12) is Middlebury's Emily McNamara (108 games).
