A complete version of this week's game notes can be viewed by clicking on the PDF link above.

THIS WEEK: The 18th-ranked Fighting Sioux make their regular season home debut this weekend when they host Wisconsin on Friday and Saturday at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

MEDIA INFORMATION: All Fighting Sioux hockey games can be heard on 96.1 FM ("The Fox") and on stations across the Fighting Sioux Radio Network, with veteran broadcaster Tim Hennessy calling the action. A video webcast of each game this weekend can be purchased at FightingSioux.com. A FREE audio webcast and FREE live stats are also available at FightingSioux.com.

ABOUT WISCONSIN: The Badgers enter the weekend 0-5-1 overall and 0-3-1 in the WCHA after earning just one point last weekend against Minnesota. The Badgers battled the Gophers to a 2-2 overtime tie on Friday before suffering a 5-2 setback on Saturday ... Each of Wisconsin's first four opponents this season have been ranked among the top seven nationally at the time of the game ... The Badgers have allowed five or more goals in five of their first six games ... UW is winless through the first six games despite holding a third period lead in three of those games ... Sophomore D Ryan McDonagh and freshman D Jake Gardiner are tied for the team scoring lead through the first six games with five points apiece. McDonagh has two goals and three assists while Gardiner has five assists.

UW COACHING STAFF: Mike Eaves (Wisconsin ?78) is in his seventh year behind the Badger bench and is 123-100-31 (.545). He is assisted by Mark Osiecki (UW ?94) and Kevin Patrick (Notre Dame ?92).

THE ALL-TIME SERIES WITH UW: This weekend's series marks a rematch of the 2008 NCAA Midwest Region Final in Madison, Wis. Andrew Kozek's overtime goal gave the Sioux a 3-2 victory and a berth in the NCAA Frozen Four ... UW holds an 80-58-10 (.574) edge in the all-time series and has won four straight games at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

UND'S LAST ACTION: The Fighting Sioux, who were idle last week, return to action for the first time since opening WCHA play with a series split at Minnesota State on Oct. 17-18 ... The 15th-ranked Mavericks skated to a 5-1 win in the Friday night game ... UND rebounded with a 4-3 victory on Saturday, rallying from a 2-0 third period deficit in the final 11 minutes ... Junior F Chris VandeVelde's shorthanded goal with 8.6 seconds remaining in the third period was the winner.

POLL POSITION: UND dropped two spots to No. 18 in this week's USCHO.com poll and fell out of the top 15 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. The Sioux do not appear in this week's InsideCollegeHockey.com power rankings.

HOME SWEET HOME: The Oct. 31 date with Wisconsin is the latest UND has played its home opener since opening the 1999-00 campaign on Nov. 5 against St. Cloud State. The Sioux won that game 6-0 and went on to win the seventh NCAA championship in program history.

TRICK OR TREAT: UND is 5-3-0 all-time in games played on Halloween. The last time the Sioux played on Oct. 31 was in 2003-04, when UND defeated Yale 8-4 in Grand Forks.

The Sioux and Badgers have squared off on Halloween on just one other occasion prior to this weekend, a 9-4 UND win in Grand Forks during the 1986-87 campaign. That Sioux team would also go on to win the NCAA championship.

POWER RESTORED: After opening the season with just one goal in their first 30 power play opportunities, including an 0-for-16 clip to start the series at Minnesota State, the Fighting Sioux came alive in the third period of the Saturday game at MSU with three straight man advantage goals.

That power play surge, which included one goal each from senior Fs Andrew Kozek (Sicamous, British Columbia), Ryan Duncan (Calgary, Alberta) and Ryan Martens (Selkirk, Manitoba), enabled UND to rally from a 2-0 third period deficit and avoid just the second 0-4 start in team history.

FINE AND VANDY: Junior F Chris VandeVelde (Moorhead, Minn.) scored the game-winning goal while shorthanded against Minnesota State on Oct. 18, the first shorthanded tally of his career.

The goal, which came with 8.6 seconds left in regulation, was also UND's first game-winner in the final minute of regulation since Jan. 29, 1999, when Adam Calder scored the winner with two seconds left in a 4-3 Sioux win at Minnesota Duluth.

EIDS WIDE SHUT: Freshman G Brad Eidsness (Chestermere, Alberta), making his first WCHA start, stopped 28 of 31 shots in UND's 4-3 win at Minnesota State on Oct. 18 to earn his first collegiate victory. Sixteen of Eidsness' 28 saves came while the Sioux were shorthanded, which enabled UND to kill eight of nine MSU power plays.

JASON LIVES: Another Sioux freshman achieved a personal milestone in the Oct. 18 win at Minnesota State. Forward Jason Gregoire (Winnipeg, Manitoba) assisted on Andrew Kozek's (Sr., Sicamous, British Columbia) power play goal in the third period to pick up his first collegiate point.

WINNER'S CIRCLE: UND has been outstanding in the faceoff circle through the first four games of the season, winning 57.6 percent of its draws.

UND's three primary centers -- Chris VandeVelde (Jr., Moorhead, Minn.), Darcy Zajac (Jr., Winnipeg, Manitoba) and Evan Trupp (So., Anchorage, Alaska) -- have combined to win 123 of 201 faceoffs for a sparkling success rate of 61.2 percent. VandeVelde has won a team-best 63.3 percent of his faceoffs, Zajac has won 61.9 percent and Trupp has won 55.0 percent.

STREAK SNAPPED: Senior F Matt Watkins (Aylesbury, Saskatchewan) sat out the Oct. 18 game at Minnesota State, ending a personal streak of 51 consecutive games played. The last time Watkins missed a game was March 10 against MSU in the first round of the WCHA playoffs.

JONES-ING FOR A GOAL: Senior D Zach Jones (Lisle, Ill.) remains in search of the elusive first goal of his career after 133 games played. Jones, who owns a career plus/minus rating of +24, has played in more games without scoring a goal than any player in UND hockey history.

FIFTY IS NIFTY: Junior D Chay Genoway (Morden, Manitoba) enters the weekend with 50 career points and is halfway to becoming the first Sioux defenseman to reach the 100-point plateau since former All-American Curtis Murphy (1994-98) did so on Jan. 23, 1998.

Genoway has a pair of assists in four games this year. Last season Genoway earned All-College Hockey News second team honors after ranking second among WCHA defensemen with 29 points (8-21) in 38 games.

DAFT DUNC: Senior F and team captain Ryan Duncan (Calgary, Alberta) scored the 29th power play goal of his career on Oct. 18 at Minnesota State, moving him into a tie for sixth place on UND's all-time list with Chris Jensen (1982-86) and Doug Smail (1977-80).

Duncan also registered an assist in that game and now has 136 career points, tying him for 35th on UND's all-time scoring list with Mickey Krampotich (1983-87) and current UND volunteer assistant coach Scott Koberinski (1985-89).

HE GOT GAME (WINNERS): Junior D Chay Genoway (Morden, Manitoba) has scored four career game-winning goals, a number topped by only three other defensemen in Sioux history (see left).

Genoway, who scored three game-winners last year, needs five game-winning goals to break Nick Fuher's (2001-05) school record of eight.

REDLINES, BLUELINES AND BLOODLINES: UND's 2008-09 roster includes an astounding eight players who have had family members previously play for the Fighting Sioux: defensemen Chay Genoway (Jr., Morden, Manitoba) and Zach Jones (Sr., Lisle, Ill.) and forwards Ryan Martens (Sr., Selkirk, Manitoba), Mario Lamoureux (Fr., Grand Forks), Darcy Zajac (Jr., Winnipeg, Manitoba), Ryan Duncan (Sr., Calgary, Alberta), David Toews (Fr., Winnipeg, Manitoba) and Brett Hextall (Fr., Manhattan Beach, Calif.).

Five players had an older brother play at UND (Genoway, Jones, Zajac, Toews), one had a father play at UND (Duncan), one had both a father and a brother (Lamoureux), one had an uncle (Martens) and one is following in his great uncle's footsteps (Hextall).

• Duncan's father, Bob, was a forward at UND from 1968-71 and scored 76 points in 88 career games.
• Genoway's brother, Colby, was a forward at UND from 2002-05 and scored 81 points in 115 career games. He is currently playing in Finland after three seasons in the American Hockey League.
• Hextall's great uncle, Dennis, was a forward at UND from 1964-66 and scored 101 career points in 63 career games. Hextall's hockey bloodlines extend to his father (Ron), grandfather (Bryan Jr.) and great grandfather (Bryan Sr.), each of whom enjoyed lengthy NHL careers.
• Jones' brother, Matt, was a defenseman for the Sioux from 2002-05 and scored 52 points in 162 career games. He now plays for the Phoenix Coyotes.
• Lamoureux's brother, Jean-Pierre, was a goalie at UND from 2004-08 and is the school's all-time co-leader in goals against average (2.14). His father, Pierre, was a goalie for the Sioux from 1979-82 and was a member of UND's 1982 NCAA championship team.
• Martens' uncle, Erwin, scored 99 points in 151 career games from 1976-80 and played on UND's 1980 NCAA championship team.
• Toews' brother, Jonathan, was a forward at UND from 2005-07, scoring 85 points in 76 career games and earning All-America honors in 2007. He is now the captain of the Chicago Blackhawks.
• Zajac's brother, Travis, scored 96 points in 91 games from 2004-06 and currently plays for the New Jersey Devils.

FEELING A DRAFT: UND's 2008-09 roster includes 13 players who have been drafted by National Hockey League teams. The group includes goalie Brad Eidsness (Buffalo), defensemen Joe Finley (Washington), Derrick LaPoint (Florida), Corey Fienhage (Buffalo) and Ben Blood (Ottawa) and forwards Andrew Kozek (Atlanta), Jason Gregoire (New York Islanders), David Toews (New York Islanders), Matt Watkins (Dallas), Matt Frattin (Toronto), Brad Malone (Colorado), Brett Hextall (Phoenix) and Chris VandeVelde (Edmonton).

A total of 21 Fighting Sioux have been drafted during the tenure of fifth-year head coach Dave Hakstol, including first-rounders Finley (2005), Brian Lee (Ottawa, 2005) and T.J. Oshie (2005) and Jonathan Toews (Chicago, 2006).

HE CAN HAK IT: Fifth-year Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol accomplished something last season only two other coaches in the history college hockey have done: lead his team to the NCAA Frozen Four in each of his first four seasons behind the bench.

Hakstol joined Boston University's Jack Parker and Minnesota's Doug Woog as the only coaches to achieve the feat, in the process becoming a four-time Spencer Penrose Award national finalist.

CROWDED HOUSE: Don't bother telling Sioux hockey fans its "only" an exhibition game. A near-sellout crowd of 11,571 took in UND's 6-2 exhibition victory over the University of Manitoba on Oct. 5 in Grand Forks, the largest ever to witness a Sioux men's hockey exhibition game.

Sioux fans were simply picking up where they left off in 2007-08, when UND led NCAA Division I men's hockey in total attendance (257,599) and ranked second in average attendance (11,709).

SEA TO SHINING SEA: So much for the notion that hockey is a "regional sport." When freshman F Brett Hextall (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) suits up for the Sioux this weekend, he will officially become the first-ever California native to play hockey for UND.

A pair of Hextall's Sioux teammates already hold similar distinctions. Senior F Brad Miller (Alpharetta, Ga.) is the first-ever Georgia native to play hockey for the Fighting Sioux and sophomore F Brad Malone (Miramichi, New Brunswick) is the first Sioux to hail from New Brunswick.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: Senior F Ryan Duncan (Calgary, Alberta) will serve as captain of the 2008-09 Fighting Sioux. Senior F Matt Watkins (Aylesbury, Saskatchewan) and senior D Joe Finley (Edina, Minn.) and Zach Jones (Lisle, Ill.) were named assistant captains.

THE PROFESSIONALS: Entering this week, 13 former Fighting Sioux have seen action in the National Hockey League this season, including: Ryan Bayda (Carolina) Jason Blake (Toronto), Mike Commodore (Columbus), Matt Greene (Los Angeles), David Hale (Calgary), Ryan Johnson (Vancouver), Brian Lee (Ottawa), T.J. Oshie (St. Louis), Zach Parise (New Jersey), Chris Porter (St. Louis), Drew Stafford (Buffalo), Jonathan Toews (Chicago), and Travis Zajac (New Jersey)

Additionally, four former Sioux can be found in the NHL coaching ranks, including Dallas head coach Dave Tippett, Dallas assistant coach Rick Wilson, Buffalo assistant coach James Patrick and Phoenix video coach Steve Peters.