#16 Nebraska Omaha
(12-8-2, 9-5-2 wcha)
at
#2 North Dakota
(17-6-2, 12-4-0 wcha)

Jan. 21-22, 2011 • 7:37/7:07 pm CT • Ralph Engelstad Arena (11,634) • Grand Forks, N.D.
RADIO: 96.1 The Fox (KQHT-FM) • WEBCAST: FightingSioux.com
TV: Fighting Sioux Sports Network, Midco Sports Network, Fox College Sports Central (Friday), Fox College Sports Atlantic (Saturday), WDAZ (Saturday), WDAY (Saturday)

THIS WEEK: The first-place Fighting Sioux (17-6-2, 12-4-0 WCHA) wrap up a six-game homestand with a WCHA series against Nebraska Omaha on Friday and Saturday.

The Sioux enter the week with a one-point lead over second-place Denver, a two-point lead over third-place Minnesota Duluth and a four-point lead over UNO.

UND enters the week with just one loss in the last 11 games (9-1-1) and is 12-2-1 in the last 15. One of those two losses came with one-tenth of a second left in a 1-0 loss at UNO on Nov. 20.

The Sioux are 13-3-1 since the beginning of November, with each of the three losses coming by just one goal.

MEDIA COVERAGE: 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. He is joined during home games by color analyst Steve Olson.

This weekend's games will be broadcast live on the Fighting Sioux Sports Network, the Midco Sports Network, Fox College Sports (FCS Central on Friday, FCS Atlantic on Saturday), WDAZ (Saturday only) and WDAY (Saturday only). Friday's game will be re-broadcast on the NHL Network at 11 a.m. Central on Saturday.

Live video webcasts can be purchased at FightingSioux.com, where FREE audio and live stats are also available.

New this year, 'Inside Fighting Sioux Hockey' airs every Tuesday on the Fighting Sioux Sports Network and nationwide on Fox College Sports. Head coach Dave Hakstol also appears weekly on the Green Mill Coaches Show every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. on the Fighting Sioux Radio Network.

TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets remain available for Friday night's game as of Wednesday morning. Saturday's game is sold out.

ABOUT UNO: The Mavericks are in the midst of a four-game winless skid (0-3-1) and have just one win in their last six outings (1-4-1).

Last weekend, UNO dropped three of four points in a home series with Bemidji State, skating to a 2-2 overtime tie on Friday and falling 3-2 in overtime on Saturday.

Sophomore goalie John Faulkner, a three-time WCHA Defensive Player of the Week, is 12-7-2 with a 2.47 goals against average and .912 save percentage.

Senior Matt Ambroz has a team-leading 24 points (13g, 11a) in 22 games.

UNO Coaching Staff: Dean Blais (Minnesota '73) is in his second season as UNO head coach and is 32-24-8 (.563). Blais coached UND to NCAA titles in 1997 and 2000 and is 294-139-41 (.663) in 12 seasons as a collegiate head coach.

Blais is assisted by Mike Hastings (St. Cloud State '93) and Mike Guentzel (Minnesota '87).

SERIES HISTORY: This weekend marks UNO's first-ever trip to Grand Forks. The two teams met for the first time back in November, splitting a thrilling series in Omaha.

UND rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win 6-5 in Friday's opener. UNO's Alex Hudson scored with one-tenth of a second left in regulation in Saturday's finale, breaking a scoreless tie and giving the Mavericks a 1-0 win.

UND'S LAST ACTION: UND split a home WCHA series with Minnesota last weekend, falling 3-2 on Friday and winning 4-1 in Saturday.

Friday's loss snapped UND's seven-game winning streak and 10-game unbeaten streak. The Gophers jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead, but the Sioux rallied with power-play goals from Brad Malone (Sr., Miramichi, New Brunswick) and Jason Gregoire (Jr., Winnipeg, Manitoba). UM took the lead for good early in the third period.

On Saturday, the Sioux trailed 1-0 before rallying with four unanswered goals from Malone, Evan Trupp (Sr., Anchorage, Alaska), Corban Knight (So., High River, Alberta) and Danny Kristo (So., Eden Prairie, Minn.).

UND went 4-for-12 on the power-play in the series and 10-for-12 on the penalty kill. The Sioux also won 84 of 129 faceoffs (.651).

RANK AND FILE: UND remained ranked No. 2 in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls released on Monday.

The Sioux were also ranked No. 2 in the most recent INCH Power Rankings released on Sunday.

NO REST FOR THE WEARY: UND has won an NCAA-best 17 games despite having faced the toughest strength of schedule (SOS) in the nation to date, according to the latest KRACH ratings:

RK Team SOS
1. North Dakota 231.4
2. Alaska Anchorage 213.7
3. Minnesota Duluth 206.0
4. Bemidji State 201.0
5. Denver 200.7
6. Minnesota 179.3
7. Colorado College 169.4
8. Wisconsin 165.8
9. Alaska 164.0
10. Michigan Tech 159.3

UND faced a top-13 team in seven of the first eight weekends of the season, including a stretch of six straight weekends at one point.

UND's first-half schedule included (ranking at time of matchup) No. 2 Minnesota Duluth (home), No. 4 Nebraska Omaha (road), No. 11 Notre Dame (home), No. 12 Alaska (neutral), No. 12 Denver (home), No. 12 Maine (road) and No. 13 Wisconsin (road).

JASON LIVES: Junior winger Jason Gregoire (Winnipeg, Manitoba), who led UND with 20 goals last season, return to the lineup last Friday after a seven-game injury absence and responded with a power-play goal in UND's 3-2 loss.

That loss snapped UND's 20-game unbeaten streak (19-0-1) in games in which Gregoire scores a goal. The streak dated back to the 2009-10 season opener. Prior to last Friday, the last time UND lost a game in which Gregoire scored was March 28, 2009 against New Hampshire in the NCAA Northeast Regional.

In 18 games this season, Gregoire has seven goals and seven assists.

GENOWAY ON HIS WAY: Senior defenseman Chay Genoway (Morden, Manitoba) had one assist in each game against Minnesota last weekend to stretch his career-long point streak to 11 games. Preliminary research not yet completed indicates it is the longest point streak by a Sioux defenseman since at least the 1995-96 season.

With 23 points in 25 games, Genoway continues to climb UND's all-time defenseman scoring lists:

Genoway's next game-winning goal will be the eighth of his career and will tie Nick Fuher's school record for defensemen.

Genoway's 113 career points leads all active WCHA defensemen.

OH DANNY BOY: Sophomore forward Danny Kristo (Eden Prairie, Minn.) brings an eight-game point streak into the weekend, amassing three goals and 10 assists during that stretch.

Prior to his current streak, Kristo had accounted for only five points (1g, 4a) in his first 17 games.

Kristo was the 2009-10 WCHA Rookie of the Year after leading all conference rookies in points (36) and goals (15).

WELL ISN'T THAT SPECIAL: UND's special teams have been red-hot over the last five games, during which time the Sioux are 4-1-0.

During that stretch, the Sioux power-play has gone 8-for-25 (32.0 percent), while the penalty kill has gone 26-for-28 (92.9 percent). UND leads the WCHA in penalty killing (86.4 percent) and ranks fourth in power-play (21.3 percent).

IN THE WINNER'S CIRCLE: After going 84-for-129 (65.1 percent) on faceoffs in the Minnesota series, the Sioux have now won 64.0 percent of their draws over the last four games and 57.3 percent on the season.

Sophomore Corban Knight (High River, Alberta) leads the team at 63.6 percent. Senior Brad Malone (Miramichi, New Brunswick), who ranks second at 59.1 percent, went 35-for-49 (71.4 percent) last week against the Gophers.

THE 'PONY EXPRESS' DELIVERS: UND's "Pony Express" line of seniors Matt Frattin (Edmonton, Alberta), Brad "Pony" Malone (Sr. Miramichi, New Brunswick) and Evan Trupp (Sr., Anchorage, Alaska) has combined for 38 points and a +28 plus/minus rating.

The trio has also accounted for five of UND's eight game-winning goals during that stretch, including four by Malone.

STAY GOLD, PONY BOY: Malone is enjoying the most productive stretch of his career, hitting the scoresheet in eight of the last nine games with 15 points (7g, 8a) during that stretch. Four of his seven goals in that span have been game-winners and his +11 in those nine games leads all Sioux forwards.

With nine goals and 23 points in 24 games this season, Malone is already two goals and two points shy of matching the career highs he recorded last season.

FRATT PARTY: Malone's regular right winger, senior Matt Frattin (Edmonton, Alberta), was held without a goal in the Minnesota series, the first series this season in which Frattin failed to find the net.

Frattin, who hit the post in each game against Minnesota, remains atop the NCAA goal-scoring race with a career-high 20:

Frattin reached the 20-goal plateau in his 23rd game, faster than any Sioux since Brandon Bochenski did it in 19 games in 2002-03.

Earlier this season, he put together an eight-game goal-scoring streak, tied for the fourth-longest in UND history.

FOUR SCORE: After last Saturday's 4-1 win over Minnesota, UND improved to 13-0-1 this season when scoring at least four goals.

PLAYING WITH THE LEAD: Saturday's victory also improved the Sioux record to 12-0-1 when leading after the second period.

DUDE, WE'VE GOT A DELL: Sophomore goalie Aaron Dell (Airdrie, Alberta) won his NCAA-leading 16th game last Saturday against Minnesota and lowered his WCHA-leading goals against average (league games only) to 1.95.

Since the beginning of November, Dell is 13-3-1 with a 1.65 goals against average, a .934 save percentage and three shutouts.

Earlier this season, Dell put together a shutout streak that lasted 224 minutes and 31 seconds, the second-longest in school history. Gerald "Spike" Schultz set the record of 249:41 in 1953-54 when he shut out Michigan Tech four straight times.

ON THE PLUS SIDE: Over UND's last nine games, UND's top defense pairing of Chay Genoway (Sr., Morden, Manitoba) and Ben Blood (Jr., Plymouth , Minn.) have combined for a +25 plus/minus rating and neither one has produced a minus rating during that time.

Blood's overall +15 rating this season leads the Sioux and ranks third in the WCHA.

THE TWO JAKES: Senior defenseman Jake Marto (Grand Forks, N.D.) has played forward for each of UND's last nine games.

During those seven games, Marto has two goals (one GWG) and three assists with a +4 rating.

Marto played four games at forward as a freshman in 2007-08.

HEX MARKS THE SPOT: Junior winger Brett Hextall (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) returned to the Sioux lineup two weeks ago against Robert Morris after missing five games due to an injury, and has a goal and two assists in four games since.

UND's power-play has gone 7-for-21 (33.3 percent) since Hextall's return to the lineup after going just 3-for-24 (12.5 percent) in the five games without him.

During Hextall's career, UND's power-play is at 20.9 percent (114-for-545) when he is in the lineup (96 games) compared to just 10.0 percent without him (15 games).

CROWDED HOUSE: The Sioux are averaging 11,680 fans in 12 home games this season, which is 46 fans per game over arena capacity.

Last Saturday's crowd of 11,975 was the third-largest in Engelstad Arena history:

Rk. Date Opponent Attend. Result
1. 2/09/02 Minnesota 12,189 L, 3-4
2. 11/08/03 Minnesota 11,986 W, 5-3
3. 1/15/11 Minnesota 11,975 W, 4-1
4. 12/04/10 St. Cloud State 11,941 W, 6-2
5. 2/16/08 Denver 11,926 W, 4-1
6. 10/17/09 Minnesota 11,898 T, 3-3
7. 2/28/09 Colorado College 11,885 T, 4-4
8. 11/07/03 Minnesota 11,875 W, 7-3
9. 11/15/08 Alaska Anchorage 11,865 W, 3-1
10. 12/08/07 Minnesota 11,857 L, 3-4

SIOUX-PER MARIO: The Sioux are 9-0-0 all-time when junior forward Mario Lamoureux (Grand Forks, N.D.) scores a goal.

In 25 games this season, Lamoureux has a goal and seven assists for seven points.

ROAD WARRIORS: With a 5-0 win at UMD on Dec. 30, the Sioux ran their 2010-11 road record to 8-3-1, including a 7-1-0 mark in the WCHA.

Last season the Sioux were 8-7-1 on the road, including a 7-6-1 conference record.

EIDS WIDE SHUT: Junior goalie Brad Eidsness' (Chestermere, Alberta) enters the week with 87 career apperances between the pipes, which ranks him sixth all-time at UND. Toby Kvalevog (1993-97) is the program's all-time leader with 121 career games played:
Eidsness is also just one win from becoming only the seventh Sioux goalie to win 50 career games.

300: Senior center Brad Malone (Miramichi, New Brunswick) recently became only the seventh player in Sioux history to amass 300 career penalty minutes (see right):

With 23 points (9g, 14a) in 24 games this season, Malone is well on his way to eclipsing the career-high 25 points (11g, 14a) he registed last season.

Malone is tied for third on the team in scoring and leads the Sioux with four game-winning goals.

PROVING THEIR MEDAL: Freshmen Derek Forbort (Duluth, Minn.) and Brock Nelson (Warroad, Minn.) helped the United States win the bronze medal at the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo, N.Y., in January.

Forbort and Nelson, both first-round NHL draft picks last summer, became the 30th and 31st players to represent UND on the U.S. National Junior roster dating back to 1979.

The Sioux hockey program has now had 45 total participants in the prestigious World Junior Hockey Championship, representing the United States, Canada and Slovakia.

SCOUTS HONOR: One current Sioux and three future Sioux appeared in the midseason NHL draft rankings released by Central Scouting earlier this month.

Freshman defenseman Dillon Simpson (Edmonton, Alberta), who has one goal and four assists in 17 games for UND this season, was ranked No. 115 among North American skaters.

The rankings also included three Sioux recruits: forwards J.T. Miller (No. 13), Rocco Grimaldi (No. 25) and Colten St. Clair (No. 83).

Simpson (65), Miller (28) and Grimaldi (31) were all ranked among the top 65 draft prospects in a list released by TSN hockey analyst Bob McKenzie earlier this week.

FEELING A DRAFT: UND's 2010-11 roster includes 16 players who have been drafted by National Hockey League teams. The group includes goalie Brad Eidsness (Buffalo), defensemen Ben Blood (Ottawa), Derek Forbort (Los Angeles), Joe Gleason (Chicago) Derrick LaPoint (Florida) and Andrew MacWilliam (Toronto), and forwards Brett Bruneteau (Washington), Mike Cichy (Montreal), Matt Frattin (Toronto), Jason Gregoire (New York Islanders), Brett Hextall (Phoenix), Corban Knight (Florida), Danny Kristo (Montreal), Brad Malone (Colorado), Brock Nelson (New York Islanders) and Derek Rodwell (New Jersey).

A total of 26 Sioux have been drafted during the tenure of seventh-year head coach Dave Hakstol, including first-rounders Forbort (Los Angeles, 2010), Nelson (New York Islanders, 2010), Jonathan Toews (Chicago, 2006), T.J. Oshie (St. Louis, 2005), Brian Lee (Ottawa, 2005) and Joe Finley (Washington, 2005).

ALL IN THE FAMILY: UND's 2009-10 roster features four players who have had family members previously play for the Fighting Sioux: defenseman Chay Genoway (Sr., Morden, Manitoba) and forwards Mario Lamoureux (Jr., Grand Forks, N.D.), Brett Hextall (Jr., Manhattan Beach, Calif.), Brock Nelson (Fr., Warroad, Minn.).

Genoway's brother, Colby, was a forward at UND from 2002-05 and scored 81 points in 115 career games. He played professionally in the Czech Republic and Finland last season.

Lamoureux's family ties to the program are extensive. His 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 second year on UND's coaching staff as an assistant video coordinator, while twin sisters Jocelyne and Monique are sophomore forwards on the Fighting Sioux women's hockey team. Additionally, mother Linda was a swimmer at UND.

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.
Nelson had two uncles and one great uncle don the Kelly Green and White. Uncle Dave Christian played at UND from 1977-79 and won Olympic gold with the United States' famed "Miracle on Ice" team in 1980 before going on to play in more than 1,000 career NHL games with Winnipeg, Washington, Boston, St. Louis and Chicago. Another uncle, Eddie Christian, played for the Sioux from 1980-84. Nelson's great uncle, Gordon "Ginny" Christian played at UND from 1947-50 and won Olympic silver with the United States in 1956.

FOREVER SIOUX: Every member of UND's coaching 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 Karl Goerhing (1998-2001) each played for the Fighting Sioux.

Additionally, nearly ever member of the support staff is also a graduate of UND: director of hockey operations 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.

PRO-FILES: Fourteen former Sioux have played in the National Hockey League in 2010-11: Jason Blake (Anaheim Ducks), Taylor Chorney (Edmonton Oilers), Mike Commodore (Columbus Blue Jackets), Matt Greene (Los Angeles Kings), David Hale (Ottawa Senators), Ryan Johnson (Chicago Blackhawks), Brian Lee (Ottawa Senators), T.J. Oshie (St. Louis Blues), Zach Parise (New Jersey Devils), Chris Porter (St. Louis Blues), Matt Smaby (Tampa Bay Lightning), Drew Stafford (Buffalo Sabres), Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks), Travis Zajac (New Jersey Devils).

Toews captained the Blackhawks to a Stanley Cup championship last season, while also leading Canada to a gold medal at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, where he was named the tournament's top forward.

An additional five former Sioux are currently in the NHL coaching ranks: reigning Jack Adams Trophy winner Dave Tippett (head coach, Phoenix Coyotes), Brad Berry (assistant coach, Columbus Blue Jackets), James Patrick (assistant coach, Buffalo Sabres), Steve Peters (video coach, Phoenix Coyotes) and Rick Wilson (assistant coach, Minnesota Wild). A sixth coach, Edmonton Oilers head coach Tom Renney, graduated from UND but did not play for the Sioux.

Also of note:

Former Sioux defenseman, Brad Bombardir, is the director of player development for the Minnesota Wild.

Former Sioux assistant coach Don Boyd is the
Columbus Blue Jackets' assistant general manager.

Former Sioux forward Troy Murray is the radio color analyst for the Chicago Blackhawks.

Ron Hextall, father of current Sioux forward Brett Hextall, is the vice president/assistant general manager of the Los Angeles Kings.