This Week: No. 2 seed North Dakota will face No. 3 seed and host New Hampshire in the NCAA Northeast Region semifinal on Saturday in Manchester, N.H. The puck drops at 1 p.m. Central at Verizon Wireless Arena.
Saturday's other Northeast Region semifinal features top-seeded Boston University against No. 4 seed Ohio State at 4:30. The two winners will face each other in the regional championship game on Sunday at 4:30 p.m.
Media Information: All Fighting Sioux men's hockey games - home and away - can be heard on 96.1 FM (The Fox) and on stations across the Fighting Sioux Hockey Network, with veteran broadcaster Tim Hennessy calling the action.
Saturday's Northeast Region semifinal games will be broadcast on live on ESPN2. The regional championship game will air live on ESPNU. ESPN's John Buccigross and Barry Melrose will call all three games.
A FREE audio webcast of the UND-UNH semifinal is available at FightingSioux.com and FREE live stats are offered at UNHWildcats.com.
If UND advances to Sunday's championship game, Ralph Engelstad Arena will host a viewing party and broadcast the game on the arena's center-hung video board (ESPNU is not available to most cable subscribers in the Grand Forks area). The event is free to the public and concessions will be available, including $2 hot dogs and $1 sodas. Doors open at 4 p.m.
About UNH: The 12th-ranked Wildcats (19-12-5) are making their ninth straight NCAA postseason appearance, the second-longest activbe streak in the nation behind only Michigan's 19 in a row ... UNH went 19-10-5 during the regular season before suffering a pair of losses to Boston College in a Hockey East first round, best-of-three playoff series (March 13-14), falling 5-3 and 1-0 ... The Wildcats tied for third place in the Hockey East standings with a 15-8-4 conference record ... Sophomore F James van Riemsdyk was named to the All-Hockey East second team. He leads the Wildcats in points with 39 ... Fellow sophomore F Mike Sislo has a team-leading 18 goals ... Junior G Brian Foster has appeared in 33 games and is 18-10-4 with a 2.63 goals against average and a .910 save percentage.
UNH Coaching Staff: Five-time Hockey East Coach of the Year Dick Umilie (UNH ?72) is in his 19th year as UNH head coach and is 443-219-71 (.619). He is assisted by David Lassonde (Providence ?84) and Scott Borek (Dartmouth ?85).
The All-Time Series: UND holds a 10-3-2 (.733) edge in the all-time series with UNH, although Saturday's Northeast Region semifinal will mark the first time the two teams have ever met in the NCAA postseason.
The two teams last met in a two-game, non-conference series Dec. 28-29, 2007 in Grand Forks, with the Sioux capturing the first game 3-1 before falling 7-4 in the rematch.
Poll Position: The Sioux dropped one spot to No. 7 in both the USCHO.com/CBS College Sports and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls.
UND in the NCAA Postseason: The Fighting Sioux are making their seventh straight NCAA postseason appearance, the third-longest active streak in the nation behind only Michigan (19) and New Hampshire (nine).
It is the 24th all-time NCAA appearance for the Fighting Sioux, who have a nation's-best .678 postseason winning percentage (40-19).
UND has advanced to each of the last four NCAA Frozen Fours and is seeking the eighth NCAA men's hockey championship in school history. Fifth-year head coach Dave Hakstol is 9-4 in the NCAA postseason, including a perfect 8-0 record in NCAA regional games.
This year's Sioux roster boasts 13 players with a combined 84 games of NCAA tournament experience and a 6-3 record.
Senior F Ryan Duncan (Calgary, Alberta) leads all active Sioux in NCAA postseason goals (seven) and points (12), while senior F Matt Watkins (Aylesbury, Saskatchewan) has a team-leading six assists. Duncan and Watkins are two of six Sioux who have played in nine career NCAA postseason games.
UND Against the Field: The Sioux are 4-4-2 against this year's NCAA 16-team field: 2-0-0 vs. Bemidji State; 0-1-0 vs. Boston University; 1-1-0 vs. Cornell; 1-1-0 vs. Denver; and 0-2-1 vs. Minnesota Duluth.
UND's last action: The Fighting Sioux went 0-2 last weekend at the WCHA Final Five, losing 3-0 to eventual champion Minnesota Duluth in the semifinals on Friday and 4-1 to Wisconsin in Saturday's third-place game.
It was the first time UND has ever gone 0-2 at the conference tournament. It also marked the first time the Sioux dropped back-to-back games since Dec. 27-28 at the Great Lakes Invitational in Detroit.
UMD goalie Alex Stalock made 31 saves in Friday's 3-0 Bulldog victory, the first of two shutouts for Stalock on his way to tournament MVP honors. Freshman G Brad Eidsness (Chestermere, Alberta) countered with 21 saves for the Sioux, who outshot UMD 31-24.
Senior F Ryan Duncan (Calgary, Alberta) scored UND's lone goal in Saturday's 4-1 loss to Wisconsin. Eidsness made 34 saves, while UW goalie Shane Connelly made 35 stops.
Final Five Fallout: UND's one goal in two games at the WCHA Final Five last weekend was its lowest output in consecutive games since early in the 2007-08 season, when the Sioux lost 4-1 to Colorado College (Nov. 3) and 4-0 at Wisconson (Nov. 9).
The Sioux power-play went 0-for-14 last weekend at the conference tournament, going 0-for-5 Friday against UMD and 0-for-9 Saturday against UW. Saturday's 0-for-9 performance against the Badgers represented UND's most power-play chances without a goal this season.
UND is 4-for-51 (7.8 percent) on the power-play over its last eight games.
With Honors: Junior D Chay Genoway (Morden, Manitoba) was named WCHA Defensive Player of the Year and head coach Dave Hakstol was named WCHA Coach of the Year last Thursday, highlighting the league's annual awards banquet in St. Paul, Minn.
Genoway, who was also named to the All-WCHA first team, joins Brad Williamson (1998-99) and Matt Henderson (1997-98) as the only Sioux to win defensive player of the year honors.
Hakstol received his first coach of the year honor and became the first Sioux head coach since Dean Blais in 2000-01 to win the award.
Joining Genoway on the all-conference team were senior F Ryan Duncan (Calgary, Alberta), who was named to the second team, and freshman G Brad Eidsness (Chestermere, Alberta), who was named to the third team.
Eidsness was also named to the league's all-rookie team.
Click on the PDF link provided at the top of the page to view the entire North Dakota Postseason Media Guide.
