March 4-5, 2011 • 6:07/4:07 pm CT • MacInnes Student Ice Arena (4,128) • Houghton, Mich.
RADIO: 96.1 The Fox (KQHT-FM) • WEBCAST: www.fightingsioux.com
LIVE STATS: www.michigantechhuskies.com • TV: None

THIS WEEK: North Dakota (24-8-3, 19-6-1 WCHA) closes out the regular season at Michigan Tech with the chance to clinch the MacNaughton Cup outright as Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) regular season champions.

The Sioux, who have already clinched a share of the title and have wrapped up the No. 1 seed in the WCHA playoffs, enter the weekend with a four-point lead over second-place Denver and need just one of four points at MTU to clinch the outright title.

This weekend's series will also serve as a preview of the first round of the WCHA playoffs, when the top-ranked Sioux will host MTU in the best-of-three series.

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.

Video webcasts of this weekend's games can be purchased at www.fightingsioux.com. There is no television coverage of the series.

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.

SOCIAL MEDIA: Receive real-time updates during all UND men's hockey games at www.twitter.com/undmhockey.

Fans can also follow the action via live chat at FightingSioux.com, hosted by Grand Forks Herald hockey writer Brad Schlossman and UND media relations director Jayson Hajdu during every home and road game.

TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets for this wekeend's series can be purchased at www.michigantechhuskies.com.

ABOUT MTU: The Huskies were swept at Minnesota last weekend, falling by identical 5-2 scores each night.

Freshman Milos Gordic scored a goal in both games at Minnesota to maintain his team lead in points with 21 (15g, 6a). The last time a freshman led Michigan Tech in scoring was Mike Zuke who finished with 53 points (23g, 30a) in the 1972-73 season.

Fellow freshman Ryan Furne has four (3g, 1a) points in his last four games.
MTU Coaching Staff: Jamie Russell (MTU '89) is in his eighth season as MTU head coach and is 70-191-37 (.297).

He coached in his 300th career game last Saturday.

Russell is assisted by former Husky standout Pat Mikesch (MTU '96) and Damon Whitten (Michigan State '01).

SERIES HISTORY: UND holds a 140-90-9 (.605) edge in the all-time series with Michigan Tech and has won each of the last seven meetings.

The Sioux are 59-55-5 (.571) all-time in Houghton and have lost just once (19-1-2) in their last 22 games at MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

UND'S LAST ACTION: The Sioux clinched the No. 1 seed in the WCHA playoffs and at least a share of the MacNaughton Cup with a home sweep of Bemidji State.

UND won 5-2 and 5-1 in a rare Saturday/Sunday afternoon series.

Jason Gregoire and Matt Frattin each scored twice in Saturday's 5-2 win over the Beavers. Jake Marto (1g, 2a) and Corban Knight (3a) keyed Sunday's 5-1 win.

UND went 6-for-11 on the power-play in the series against BSU.

RANK AND FILE: For the second straight week, UND is the top-ranked team in the country.

After sweeping BSU, the Fighting Sioux remained atop both the USCHO.com and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls, which were released on Monday.

The Sioux also remained No. 1 in the most recent INCH Power Rankings released on Sunday.

TITLE TIDBITS: UND's WCHA regular season championship is the 15th in Fighting Sioux history, more than any other WCHA school.

It is also UND's second MacNaughton Cup championship in the last three seasons.

The Sioux are bidding to become the first team to win 20 WCHA games since Colorado College went 21-6-1 in 2007-08.

UND can match that 21-6-1 record with a sweep at Michigan Tech this weekend.

HOME SWEET HOME: The Sioux have earned home ice in the first round of the WCHA playoffs for the ninth straight year, the longest active streak in the WCHA.

TREND SETTING: Several key trends have emerged as the Fighting Sioux bring the regular season to a close:

UND is 17-1-1 when scoring at least four goals in a game.

UND is 16-0-2 when leading after two periods.

UND is 13-1-2 against unranked teams.

ROAD WARRIORS: UND also takes a sparkling road record into its final road trip of the regular season.

UND is 10-4-2 on the road this season, including a stellar 9-2-1 mark in the WCHA.

A split this weekend at MTU would give UND its most overall road wins since 2005-06, when the Sioux went 11-5-1. A sweep this weekend would give UND its most overall road wins since winning a school-record 13 in 2000-01 (13-3-3).

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

NO REST FOR THE WEARY: UND is the nation's top-ranked team and the WCHA regular season champion despite having faced the nation's toughest schedule for most of the season.

The Sioux currently rank No. 2 in strength of schedule (SOS), according to the latest KRACH ratings. UND's SOS had ranked No. 1 all season prior to the last two weeks:

RK Team SOS
1. Alaska Anchorage 180.0
2. North Dakota 177.6
3. St. Cloud State 166.7
4. Bemidji State 160.9
5. Minnesota 157.8
6. Colorado College 157.3
7. Denver 157.1
8. Michigan Tech 154.3
9. Nebraska Omaha 153.9
10. Alaska 146.3

UND's second-half schedule has included No. 4 UMD (road), No. 16 Nebraska Omaha (home) and No. 20 Colorado College (road).

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).

LEADER OF THE PACK: UND leads the WCHA in scoring offense in both overall games (3.74 goals per game) and league games (3.65).

The Sioux also lead the WCHA in scoring defense in overall games (2.34) and league games (2.27).

The last team to lead the WCHA in all four categories was Colorado College in 2002-03.

SENIORS IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Led by WCHA goal-scoring leader Matt Frattin's (Edmonton, Alberta) 27 goals, UND's senior class has accounted for more goals this season than any other senior class in the naton:

RK Team G
1. North Dakota 67
2. Niagara 65
3. Miami 60
4. Yale 55
5. Ohio State 53

The next-highest-scoring senior class in the WCHA is Minnesota with 47.

UND's senior class includes: Matt Frattin (27 goals), Evan Trupp (14), Brad Malone (10), Chay Genoway (6), Jake Marto (6), Brent Davidson (2) and Derrick LaPoint (2).

POWER SURGE: The Sioux power-play has been red-hot as of late, going 8-for-17 (47.1 percent) over the last three games, including a 6-for-11 (54.5 percent) series last weekend against Bemidji State.

The recent hot stretch comes after UND had endured a 2-for-23 (8.7 percent) skid over the previous five games.

FRATT PARTY: Senior Matt Frattin (Edmonton, Alberta) enters the final weekend of the regular season with a WCHA-leading 27 goals, only two behind the national lead.

Frattin, who is riding a seven-game point streak, also has a chance to win the WCHA scoring title. He has 33 points in 26 league games, which trails only Denver's Jason Zucker (36) and Minnesota Duluth's Jack Connolly (35).

Frattin's 42 points are already the most by a Sioux since T.J. Oshie scored 45 in 2007-08. He reached the 100-point plateau for his career last Sunday.

During the month of February, in which UND went 5-0-1, Frattin had a hand in five of the team's six "game-deciding" goals. He scored one GWG, assisted on three others, and scored the game-tying goal with 3:31 left in a 3-3 tie at St. Cloud State.

Frattin reached the 20-goal plateau in his 23rd game this season, 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.

Frattin has 17 goals in 17 road and neutral games this season, and 10 goals in 18 home games.

ROARING 20's: With 24 wins on the season, UND has reached the 20-win plateau in each of head coach Dave Hakstol's seven seasons behind the Sioux bench.

Hakstol's streak of seven straight 20-win seasons is the second-longest in UND history, behind only John "Gino" Gasparini's 13 in a row (1978-79 to 1990-91).

The Sioux have racked up a .750 WCHA winning percentage and a .729 overall winning percentage this season, both of which are the highest of Hakstol's seven-year tenure at UND.

JASON LIVES: Junior winger Jason Gregoire (Winnipeg, Manitoba) brings a career-long 10-game point streak into this weekend's series against Bemidji State.

Gregoire has racked up 10 goals and seven assists during his current streak, and is now tied for third on the team with 31 points despite having missed seven games earlier this season.

Gregoire is three points from the 100-point plateau for his career, and his career scoring average of 0.85 points per game leads all active Sioux.

Gregoire is averaging 1.14 points per game during league games, which ranks seventh in the WCHA.

EVAN ALMIGHTY: Like Gregoire, senior left winger Evan Trupp (Anchorage, Alaska), with 98 career points, enters the weekend on the verge of joining UND's "Century Club."

Trupp has a career-high 14 goals this season, six more than his previous career high, and is tied for third on the Sioux in scoring with 31 points.

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: UND is allowing a WCHA-low 24.03 shots per game, which ranks second nationally.

Only Miami (23.44) tops the Sioux in the national rankings.

DUDE, WE'VE GOT A DELL: Sophomore goalie Aaron Dell (Airdrie, Alberta) is chasing the WCHA goaltending title.

Dell boasts a league-leading 2.01 goals against average during league play. His closest competitor is Minnesota Duluth's Kenny Reiter (2.23). The last Sioux goalie to win the WCHA goaltending crown was Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, who boasted a 1.74 GAA in 2007-08.

Dell, who has started UND's last 22 games, ranks among the top five nationally in wins (2nd, 23), winning percentage (3rd, .774), goals against average (4th, 1.98) and shutouts (t-4th, four).

His four shutouts this season tie him for fourth in UND single-season history, halfway to Karl Goerhing's school record:
With five career shutouts, Dell trails only Goehring (15), Lamoureux (10) and Parise (10) on the school's all-time list. Four of Dell's shutouts have come on the road, second only to Lamoureux's five.

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.

THE TWO JAKES: After playing 11 straight games at forward due to injuries in the Sioux lineup, senior defenseman Jake Marto (Grand Forks, N.D.) was moved back to the blueline prior to the CC series and has six points (2g, 4a) and is a +9 in the eight games since.

Marto was named WCHA Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday after scoring the game-winning goal and adding two assists in UND's MacNaughton Cup-clinching win over Bemidji State on Sunday.

The goal was Marto's third game-winning goal of the season, tying the UND single-season record for defensemen:

THERE WILL BE BLOOD: Junior defenseman Ben Blood (Plymouth, Minn.) enters the final weekend of the regular season leading all WCHA defensemen with a +20 plus/minus rating.

Blood was a +3 last season as a sophomore, and was a +11 as a freshman in 2008-09.

STAY GOLD, PONY BOY: The namesake of UND's 'Pony Express' line, senior center Brad "Pony" Malone (Miramichi, New Brunswick), has a career-high 29 points this season and leads UND with four game-winning goals.

Malone recently became only the fourth player in the history of UND hockey to amass more than 70 career points and 275 career penalty minutes, joining Jim Archibald (1981-85), Marc Chorney (1977-81) and Marty Schriner (1990-94).

Malone has 74 career points and 317 penalty minutes.

FAB FRESHIE: Freshman defenseman Derek Forbort (Duluth, Minn.) has 13 assists on the season, ranking him fourth among WCHA rookie defensemen.

Forbort's 13 assists are the most by a UND rookie defenseman since current Ottawa Senator Brian Lee notched 23 in 2005-06.

HOME SWEET HOME: A crowd of 12,114 took in last Saturday's game against Bemidji State, the second-largest crowd in Engelstad Arena history.

Six of the top 10 largest crowds in Sioux hockey history have occurred this season:

Rk. Date Opponent Attend.
1. Feb. 9, 2002 Minnesota 12,189
2. Feb. 26, 2011 Bemidji State 12,114
3. Feb. 12, 2011 Alaska Anchorage 12,090
4. Nov. 8, 2003 Minnesota 11,986
5. Jan. 15, 2011 Minnesota 11,975
6. Dec. 4, 2010 St. Cloud State 11,941
7. Feb. 11, 2011 Alaska Anchorage 11,927
8. Feb. 16, 2008 Denver 11,926
9. Jan. 22, 2011 Nebraska Omaha 11,916
10. Oct 17, 2009 Minnesota 11,898
UND is 8-1-1 in the aforementioned 10 games, with the lone loss coming on Feb. 9, 2002 against Minnesota.

A KNIGHT TO REMEMBER: After scoring 13 points in 37 games as a freshman last season, sophomore Corban Knight (High River, Alberta) has exploded with 37 points (13g, 24) in 37 games this season.

He leads the team with 24 assists and leads all Sioux forwards with a +19 rating.

Knight has also excelled on faceoffs, winning 61.6 percent of his draws and putting him on pace to set a UND single-season record:
As a team, UND has won 56.7 percent of its faceoffs this season.

SIOUX-PER MARIO: UND is 10-0-0 all-time when junior forward Mario Lamoureux (Grand Forks, N.D.) scores a goal. Lamoureux played in his 100th career game last Sunday.

ON THE PLUS SIDE: Senior defenseman Derrick LaPoint (Eau Claire, Wis.) has gone 23 straight games with a plus or even plus/minus rating.

The last time Lapoint was a minus in a game was Nov. 13 at Wisconsin.

LaPoint is a +14 and has two goals and six assists in 34 games this season.

EIDS WIDE SHUT: Junior goalie Brad Eidsness' (Chestermere, Alberta) enters the week with 88 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 (see chart at top of next page):

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:
Malone has a career-high 29 points (10g, 19a) in 34 games this season, surpassing the 25 points he notched in 43 games as a junior.

STAR GAZING: With only one home weekend (WCHA first round) remaining this season, senior Matt Frattin (Edmonton, Alberta) is in the lead for the first ever Virg Foss 3-Star Award, given to the player who receives the most 3-star points during home games.

Frattin leads the team with 20 3-star points, on the strength of a team-leading five 1st-star selections.

Fellow senior Evan Trupp (Anchorage, Alaska) and junior Jason Gregoire (Winnipeg, Manitoba) are tied for second with 13 points, while sophomore goalie Aaron Dell (Airdrie, Alberta) has 12 points.

The three stars are selected by the print media following each home game. Three points are awarded to the game's first star, two to the second star and one to the third star.

The award, new in 2010-11, is named in honor of longtime college hockey writer Virg Foss.

Refer to the sidebar on this page for complete standings.

HOBEY HOPEFULS: Senior forward Matt Frattin (Edmonton, Alberta) and senior defenseman Chay Genoway (Morden, Manitoba) have been nominated for the 2011 Hobey Baker Award.

Frattin leads the WCHA with 27 goals and leads the top-ranked Sioux with a career-high 42 points and nine power-play goals. Earlier this season, Frattin scored a goal in eight consecutive games, tied for the fourth-longest goal-scoring streak in Sioux history.

Genoway leads all active Division I defensemen with 115 career points and this season has 25 points in 28 games after missing most of the 2009-10 campaign because of post-concussion syndrome. As a junior in 2008-09, Genoway was a second-team All-American, the WCHA Defensive Player of the Year and an ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American.

The Hobey Baker Award will be announced on April 8 at the NCAA Frozen Four.

LOWE'S AND BEHOLD: Genoway is also one of 10 national men's hockey finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition.

In addition to his on-ice accomplishments, Genoway is one of UND's community service leaders, having already amassed a team-leading 68.5 hours of community service during the 2010-11 year. He is also a four-time WCHA Scholar-Athlete and was an ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American in 2008-09.

Lowe's, an official corporate partner of the NCAA, will announce the winner on April 7 at the NCAA Frozen Four® in Saint Paul, Minn.

HEAD OF THE CLASS: Genoway also became only the second four-time men's WCHA Scholar-Athlete in history earlier this month.

Genoway was one of five Sioux to receive the honor, joining two-time recipients Brad Eidsness (Jr., Chestermere, Alberta) and Derrick LaPoint (Sr., Eau Claire, Wis.) and first-time recipients Brett Bruneteau (So., Omaha, Neb.) and Tate Maris (So., Denver, Colo.).

To earn recognition as a WCHA Scholar-Athlete, conference-member student-athletes must have completed at least one year of residency at their present institution prior to the current academic year and must also have a grade-point average of at least 3.50 on a 4.0 scale for the previous two semesters or three quarters, or may qualify if his or her overall GPA is at least 3.50 for all terms at his or her present institution.

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 in January.

Freshman defenseman Dillon Simpson (Edmonton, Alberta), who has two goals and seven assists in 24 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 in January.

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 every 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.