Jan. 22-23, 2010 • 6 pm CT • James Lynah Rink (4,267) • Ithaca, N.Y.
RADIO: 96.1 The Fox (KQHT-FM) • TV: Time Warner Sports (N.Y. only)
WEBCAST & LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com/Showcase • AUDIO: FightingSioux.com

THIS WEEK: The fifth-ranked Fighting Sioux face their final non-conference test of the season when they travel to Cornell on Friday and Saturday to face the ninth-ranked Big Red.

UND has lost just once since the Christmas break (3-1-2) and is 4-0-2 in non-conference play this season, including a sweep of Merrimack, victories over Ohio State and Niagara and ties with Miami and Notre Dame.

Cornell is 2-2-1 in non-conference play, earning victories over Niagara and New Hampshire and a tie with Boston University.

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. Veteran broadcaster Tim Hennessy is in his 30th season as the voice of the Fighting Sioux.

Friday night's game will be televised live locally on Time Warner Cable Sports in New York. No further TV coverage has been announced as of Tuesday morning.

A video webcast of this weekend's games can be purchased at CornellBigRed.com. FREE live audio is available at FightingSioux.com and FREE live stats are available at CornellBigRed.com.

TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets remain available for Friday's game at Cornell, but Saturday's game is sold out. For more information, contact the Cornell ticket office at 607-254-BEAR (2327).

ABOUT CORNELL: The Big Red are in second place in the ECAC and are coming off a 3-1 win at Clarkson last Friday and a 1-1 overtime tie at St. Lawrence on Saturday ... Senior G Ben Scrivens made 35 saves, one short of his career high, in the tie with St. Lawrence. Scrivens has started every game this season for Cornell and is 9-4-3 with a 2.04 goals against average and a .928 save percentage, ranking in the top five nationally in the latter two categories ... Cornell is the only team in the country to rank in the top six nationally in both power-play and penalty killing. Its power-play is clicking at 24.3 percent to rank fifth and the PK is converting at 88.0 percent to rank sixth ... Senior F Blake Gallagher has scored seven of his team-leading 11 goals on the power-play ... Gallagher and senior F Colin Greening are tied for the team lead with 20 points ... The Big Red are allowing only 2.12 goals per game, which leads the ECAC and is tied for third nationally.

CORNELL COACHING STAFF: The winningest head coach in program history, Mike Schafer (Cornell '86) is in his 15th year at Cornell and has led the Big Red to a 285-153-52 record (.635) and seven NCAA appearances.

Schafer is assisted by Casey Jones (Cornell '90) and Scott Garrow (Western Michigan '92).

THE ALL-TIME SERIES: The Sioux have won four of the six all-time meetings between the two programs, including three victories in the NCAA tournament.

The two teams most recently split a non-conference series last November in Grand Forks. UND used a Matt Frattin hat trick and five points from D Chay Genoway in a 7-3 win in the opener. The Big Red rallied for a 2-1 win the following day.

UND and Cornell have never met in Ithaca.

POLL POSITION: UND is ranked fifth in the most recent USCHO.com/CBS College Sports poll and sixth in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.

UND was ranked seventh in the most recent Inside College Hockey Power Rankings. Please refer to page three for complete national poll information.

UND'S LAST ACTION: The Sioux are coming off a 3-3 tie and a 5-1 loss at Minnesota last weekend and sit in sixth place in the WCHA standings.

Freshman F Danny Kristo (Eden Prairie, Minn.) keyed Friday's tie by scoring a pair of goals. He was also a career-best +3. Junior F Brad Malone (Miramichi, New Brunswick) scored the other Sioux goal in the tie. UND had led until Minnesota's Jacob Cepis tied the game with 2:04 left in the third period.

Senior F Darcy Zajac (Winnipeg, Manitoba) scored UND's lone goal in Saturday's 5-1 loss, UND's first setback since the Christmas break.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: UND has six weeks remaining on its regular season schedule, and the next five opponents are all currently ranked in the top 12 of the USCHO/CBS College Sports poll.

UND, which opened the second half against unranked Niagara and No. 20 Notre Dame, will No. 9 Cornell (Jan. 22-23), No. 1 Denver (Jan. 29-30), No. 12 St. Cloud State (Feb. 12-13), No. 4 Minnesota Duluth (Feb. 19-20) and No. 7 Colorado College (Feb. 26-27). The Sioux will then close out the regular season against unranked Michigan Tech.

UND closed out the first half of the regular season against No. 11 Wisconsin (Dec. 11-12), punctuating an eight-game stretch for the Sioux in which seven of those games came against opponents ranked in the top 12 nationally.

UND began the stretch at No. 3 Denver (Nov. 20-21), returned home to host unranked Ohio State (Nov. 27) and top-ranked Miami (Nov. 28), hit the road to face No. 12 Minnesota Duluth, then returned home to host No. 11 Wisconsin.

SECOND-HALF SURGE?: The Sioux are off to a 3-1-2 (.667) start since the Christmas break after a 9-6-3 (.583) first half.

In Dave Hakstol's five-plus years as head coach, UND has posted a .688 winning percentage (84-34-15) in games played after Christmas (including playoffs), compared to a .569 mark (49-36-9) prior to Christmas.

In each of the last five seasons, UND has dramatically increased its winning percentage following the holiday break.

Below is a year-by-year comparison of UND's pre and post-Christmas records:

Year Before After
2004-05 13-7-2 (.636) 12-8-3 (.587)
2005-06 12-7-1 (.625) 17-9-0 (.654)
2006-07 7-10-1 (.417) 17-4-4 (.760)
2007-08 8-6-1 (.567) 20-5-3 (.768)
2008-09 9-8-1 (.528) 15-7-3 (.660)
2009-10 9-6-3 (.583) 3-1-2 (.667)

BY THE SLIMMEST OF MARGINS: Saturday's 5-1 loss last Saturday at Minnesota was UND's first defeat this season by more than one goal.

Previously, all six of UND's losses this season had come by exactly one goal. The Sioux are 2-6-0 this season in one goal games, with the two victories coming in 3-2 wins over Minnesota State (Jan. 9) and Merrimack (Oct. 10).

MALONE'S MILESTONE: Junior F Brad Malone (Miramichi, New Brunswick) will play in his 100th career game on Friday at Cornell and will join Chris VandeVelde (147 gp), Darcy Zajac (147) and Chay Genoway (132) as the only active Sioux to have reached that milestone.

Malone scored his career-high sixth goal of the year last Friday at Minnesota and ranks fifth on the team in scoring with 14 points in 24 games.

BALANCING ACT: UND boasts a WCHA-leading 11 players with at least 10 points this season: Evan Trupp (20), Jason Gregoire (19), Danny Kristo (19), Chris VandeVelde (18), Brad Malone (14), David Toews (13), Brett Hextall (12), Derrick LaPoint (12), Darcy Zajac (12), Jake Marto (10) and Chay Genoway (10).

Twenty of the 21 Sioux skaters who have seen game action this season have scored at least one point. Only junior F Brent Davidson (Morden, Manitoba), who has played in three games, has yet to hit the scoresheet.

EVAN ALMIGHTY: With a two-assist game last Friday at Minnesota, junior F Evan Trupp (Anchorage, Alaska) moved into the team scoring lead with 20 points, matching his career-high total from a year ago.

Trupp also leads the team with a career-high 15 assists.

POWER OUTAGE: UND went 0-for-10 on the power-play in two games last weekend at Minnesota and remains winless (0-5-1) when failing to score on the power-play.

THE COUNT OF HOCKEY KRISTO: Freshman F Danny Kristo (Eden Prairie, Minn.) scored twice last Friday at Minnesota and now leads all WCHA freshman in goals (eight) and is tied for the league's rookie scoring race with 19 points.

Kristo, who was also a career-best +3 last Friday, is one point off the team scoring lead and is attempting to become the first freshman to lead the Sioux in scoring since future NHLer Landon Wilson did so in 1993-94.

RACKING UP La POINTS: In the midst of the most productive stretch of his career, junior D Derrick LaPoint (Eau Claire, Wis.) enters the week with eight points (all assists) in his last seven games.

LaPoint had a pair of assists last Friday to extend his career-long point streak to six games before having it snapped the following night.

LaPoint has a goal and 11 assists for a career-high 12 points this season, which leads all Sioux defensemen and ranks tied for 11th in the WCHA.

FAMOUS DAVE: UND head coach Dave Hakstol enters the week with 142 career wins behind the Sioux bench, just seven behind Rube Bjorman (1968-78) for third in school history.

Only John "Gino" Gasparini (392 wins, 1978-94) and Dean Blais (262, 1994-04) won more games at UND than Hakstol, the 2008-09 WCHA Coach of the Year.

Hakstol owns a career record of 142-78-24 (.631) and is a five-time finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award as national coach of the year.

FINE AND VANDY: Senior F Chris VandeVelde (Moorhead, Minn.) will enter this weekend's series with 94 career points, leaving him six shy of becoming the 78th player in UND history to reach the 100-point plateau.

The last Sioux player to join UND's "Century Club" was VandeVelde's former teammate Ryan Duncan, who reached the 100-point milestone in 2007-08.

In 23 games this season, VandeVelde is tied for second on the team with 18 points (6g, 12a).

VandeVelde has gone his last three games without a point for the first time since the final three games of his sophomore season.

JASON SENSATION: Sophomore F Jason Gregoire (Winnipeg, Manitoba) went without a point last weekend at Minnesota, but has still reached the scoresheet in 10 of the last 13 games, amassing 14 points (7g, 7a) during that stretch.
Gregoire has a team-leading and career-high 12 goals and is tied for the WCHA lead with four game-winners.

Ten of Gregoire's 12 goals have come during conference play, tied for third in the WCHA.

A KNIGHT'S TALE: Freshman F Corban Knight's (High River, Alberta) two goals in a Jan. 8 win over MSU snapped an 18-game goal-scoring drought dating back to the season opener. He was named WCHA Rookie of the Week the following Tueday.

However, Knight was injured late in the game and is expected to be sidelined at least 4-6 weeks.

Knight joins senior D Chay Genoway (indefinitely) and sophomore F Brett Hextall (4-6 weeks) on UND's injured list.

Genoway was UND's leading scorer and the leading scorer among WCHA defensemen at the time of his injury on Nov. 13 against St. Cloud State.

Hextall was tied for UND's goal-scoring lead when he went down on Jan. 3 against Notre Dame and had scored nine points (6g, 3a) in his last eight games.

NO AVERAGE JOE: Freshman D Joe Gleason (Edina, Minn.) leads the team with a +10 plus/minus rating and has been a plus or even in 23 of the 24 games in which he has played.

Gleason's +10 ranks second among all WCHA rookie defensemen behind only Wisconsin's John Ramge (+16).

Gleason also has six assists this season, half of which have come in the last five games.

EIDS WIDE SHUT: Sophomore G Brad Eidsness (Chestermere, Alberta) enters the week having played more minutes (1334:02) than any other goalie in the WCHA.

Earlier this season, Eidsness had a starting streak of 38 games come to an end, the third-longest in UND history:
In 23 appearances this season (22 starts), Eidsness is 11-6-4 with a 2.29 goals against average and a .906 save percentage.

Eidsness ranks fourth all-time at UND in career goals against average (2.46) and fifth in save percentage (.906).

Eidsness has been pulled from a game just once (Nov. 14 vs. SCSU) in 64 career games.

TRUE BLOOD: In his first 44 career games, sophomore D Ben Blood (Plymouth, Minn.) had yet to score a goal and had accounted for just three assists. However, in the five games that followed, Blood tallied three goals and an assist for four points.

It took Blood 45 games to score his first collegiate goal (Nov. 28 vs. Miami). He then scored his second career goal the very next game (Dec. 4 at UMD).

BLINK AND YOU'LL MISS IT: Sophomore F Jason Gregoire's (Winnipeg, Manitoba) goal 39 seconds into UND's season opener was the second-fastest UND goal on record to open a season (UND's box score records are incomplete prior to the 1966-67 season).

The fastest Sioux goal to open a season is six seconds, scored by Lee Davidson on Oct. 13, 1989 against Alabama-Huntsville. That goal is also the fastest Sioux goal to open any period.

FAB FROSH: The Sioux roster includes 10 freshmen in 2009-10, UND's largest freshman class since 2005-06, when 13 rookies donned the Kelly Green and White.

That 2005-06 class included the likes of 2007 Hobey Baker Award winner Ryan Duncan and current NHLers Jonathan Toews (Chicago), T.J. Oshie (St. Louis) and Brian Lee (Ottawa).

In fact, 11 members of that 13-player 2005-06 freshman class, eight of whom graduated as seniors last season, are currently playing professional hockey.

GENOWAY, CICHY HONORED: A pair of Sioux were recognized when InsideCollegeHockey.com announced its 2009-10 preseason All-America and all-rookie teams.

Senior D Chay Genoway (Morden, Manitoba) was named to the INCH preseason All-America third team. Last season, Genoway was named a second-team All-American and the WCHA Defensive Player of the Year after collecting a career-high 32 points. He was also named an ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American and a WCHA Scholar-Athlete.

Freshman F Mike Cichy (New Hartford, Conn.) was named to INCH's preseason All-Rookie team. A seventh-round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Cichy led the Indiana Ice to a United States Hockey League championship and was named the league's playoff MVP with 25 points (including a USHL-record 16 assists) in 16 games. He totalled 76 points in 56 regular season games.

FEELING A DRAFT: UND 2009-10 roster includes 16 players who have been drafted by National Hockey League teams. The group includes goalie Brad Eidsness (Buffalo), defensemen Andrew MacWilliam (Toronto), Derrick LaPoint (Florida), Corey Fienhage (Buffalo), Joe Gleason (Chicago) and Ben Blood (Ottawa) and forwards Danny Kristo (Montreal), Mike Cichy (Montreal), Corban Knight (Florida), Brett Bruneteau (Washington), Jason Gregoire (New York Islanders), David Toews (New York Islanders), Brad Malone (Colorado), Brett Hextall (Phoenix) , Matt Frattin (Toronto) and Chris VandeVelde (Edmonton).

A total of 24 Sioux have been drafted during the tenure of sixth-year head coach Dave Hakstol, including first-rounders Jonathan Toews (Chicago, 2006), T.J. Oshie (St. Louis, 2005), Brian Lee (Ottawa, 2005) and Joe Finley (Washington, 2005).

WELCOME TO THE SHOW: Fourteen former Sioux have seen action in the NHL this season: Jason Blake (Toronto), Brandon Bochenski (Tampa Bay), Taylor Chorney (Edmonton), Mike Commodore (Columbus), Matt Greene (Los Angeles), David Hale (Tampa Bay), Ryan Johnson (Vancouver), Brian Lee (Ottawa), T.J. Oshie (St. Louis), Zach Parise (New Jersey), Matt Smaby (Tampa Bay), Drew Stafford (Buffalo), Jonathan Toews (Chicago) and Travis Zajac (New Jersey).

Seventeen former Fighting Sioux played in the NHL last season, the most of any team in the WCHA and UND's most since sending 21 in 1993-94.

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

CITIUS, ALTIUS, FORTIUS: Former UND standouts Zach Parise and Jonathan Toews have been selected to represent their countries at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Parise, the leading scorer for the New Jersey Devils, will play for the United States and has been named an assistant captain.

Toews, now the captain of the Chicago Blackhawks, will play for Canada.

FOREVER SIOUX: Every member of UND's coaching staff and support staff is a graduate of the University of North Dakota.

Head coach Dave Hakstol (1989-92), associate head coach Cary Eades (1978-82), assistant coach Dane Jackson (1988-92) and volunteer assistant Scott Koberinski (1985-89) each played for the Fighting Sioux.

Additionally, hockey operations manager Pat Swanson (2002), athletic trainer and strength coach Mark Poolman (1992), team physician Dr. Greg Greek and media relations director Jayson Hajdu (2000) are also UND graduates.

FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA: So much for the notion that hockey is a "regional" sport.

UND junior F Brad Malone (Miramichi, New Brunswick) is the first New Brunswick native to ever play for the Sioux while sophomore F Brett Hextall (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) is the first Californian to suit up for the Sioux.

Freshman Mike Cichy (New Hartford, Conn.) is just the second native of Connecticut to ever play for the Sioux and the first since Frank Morgan way back in 1951-52.

Below is a geographical breakdown of the entire 2009-10 Sioux roster:

• Minnesota (6): Ben Blood (Plymouth), Corey Fienhage (Apple Valley), Joe Gleason (Edina), Ryan Hill (Hermantown), Danny Kristo (Eden Prairie), Chris VandeVelde (Moorhead)
• Alberta (6): Aaron Dell (Airdrie), Brad Eidsness (Chestermere), Matt Frattin (Edmonton), Corban Knight (High River), Andrew MacWilliam (Calgary), Carter Rowney (Sexsmith)
• Manitoba (5): Brent Davidson (Morden), Chay Genoway (Morden), Jason Gregoire (Winnipeg), David Toews (Winnipeg), Darcy Zajac (Winnipeg)
• North Dakota (2): Mario Lamoureux (Grand Forks), Jake Marto (Grand Forks)
• Alaska (1): Evan Trupp (Anchorage)
• California (1): Brett Hextall (Manhattan Beach)
• Colorado (1): Tate Maris (Denver)
• Connecticut (1): Mike Cichy (New Hartford)
• Nebraska (1): Brett Bruneteau (Omaha)
• New Brunswick (1): Brad Malone (Miramichi)
• Wisconsin (1): Derrick LaPoint (Eau Claire)

ALL IN THE FAMILY: UND's 2009-10 roster features five players who have had family members previously play for the Fighting Sioux: defenseman Chay Genoway (Morden, Manitoba) and forwards Mario Lamoureux (Grand Forks), Brett Hextall (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), David Toews (Winnipeg, Manitoba) and Darcy Zajac (Winnipeg, Manitoba).

Genoway, Toews and Zajac each have older brothers who once played at UND, Lamoureux's father and brother played for the Sioux and Hextall has a great uncle who played for the Sioux.

• Genoway's brother, Colby, was a forward at UND from 2002-05 and scored 81 points in 115 career games. He most recently played for the Manitoba Moose of the AHL.
• 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. His father, Ron, is currently the assistant general manager of the Los Angeles Kings.
• Lamoureux's brother, Jean-Philippe, 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. Another brother, Pierre-Paul, is in his first year as UND's student-assistant coach while twin sisters Jocelyne and Monique are sophomore forwards on the Fighting Sioux women's hockey team. Both are currently pursuing rosters spots on the U.S. Olympic 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.