WCHA Final Five Preview: UND vs. Minnesota-Duluth

When these two teams met in Grand Forks in February, Duluth was ranked #6 and was in the top ten in the Pairwise rankings, while North Dakota was ranked #11 and, at 13th in the Pairwise, was squarely on the bubble for the national tournament.

In February and March, North Dakota has gone 9-2-0, while Minnesota-Duluth staggered to the finish line with a 5-6-0 mark over the same time span. Two of North Dakota’s victories came during a home sweep of UMD during which the Fighting Sioux outscored the Bulldogs, 10-3. North Dakota and Minnesota-Duluth have switched positions in the race for the NCAAs.

Coming into the weekend, North Dakota can finish no lower than 6th in the Pairwise and is a lock for the NCAA tournament. Duluth can finish as high as 5th or as low as 19th. The Bulldogs could make it easy by winning the Broadmoor for the second consecutive year; otherwise, it might be a restless Saturday night for Scott Sandelin’s squad.

North Dakota junior forward Matt Frattin collected four goals last weekend against Minnesota. He also collected a five minute major penalty for charging and a one game suspension from the league office. The Fighting Sioux will also be without the services of freshman defenseman Joe Gleason (undisclosed injury). Expect to see Carter Rowney in for Frattin and Corey Fienhage supplanting Gleason when the Green and White hit the ice in St. Paul on Thursday night.

Minnesota-Duluth Team Profile

Head Coach: Scott Sandelin (10th season at UMD, 166-189-46, .471)
This Season:  22-16-1 Overall, 16-11-1 WCHA (t-5th)
National Rankings: #11/#11
PairWise Ranking: t-11th
Team Offense: 3.23 goals scored/game
Team Defense: 2.74 goals allowed/game
Power Play: 23.5% (55 of 234)
Penalty Kill: 82.3% (167 of 203)
Last Season: 22-13-8 Overall (NCAA West Regional Finalist), 10-11-7 WCHA
Key Players: Sophomore F Jack Connolly (18-31-49), Junior F Justin Fontaine (21-25-46), Junior F Rob Bordson (12-28-40), Sophomore F Mike Connolly (14-26-40), Sophomore D Brady Lamb (11-13-24), Junior G Kenny Reiter (13-9-0, 2.38 GAA, .910 SV%, 3 SO)

North Dakota Team Profile

Head Coach: Dave Hakstol (6th season at UND, 152-83-24, .633)
National Ranking: #5/#5
PairWise Ranking: t-4th
This Season: 22-12-5, 15-10-3 WCHA (4th)
Last Season: 24-15-4 overall (NCAA Northeast Regional semifinalist), 17-7-4 WCHA (1st)
Team Offense: 3.26 goals scored/game
Team Defense: 2.10 goals allowed/game
Power Play: 20.2% (42 of 208)
Penalty Kill: 86.3% (170 of 197)
Key Players: Sophomore F Jason Gregoire (19-16-35), Senior F Chris VandeVelde (14-22-36), Freshman F Danny Kristo (14-19-33), Junior F Evan Trupp (5-23-28), Junior D Jake Marto (5-11-16), Sophomore G Brad Eidsness (21-9-4, 2.09 GAA, .914 SV%, 2 SO)

By The Numbers

Last Meeting: February 20, 2010 (Grand Forks). Mario Lamoureux came back from a one game suspension and single-handedly downed the visiting Bulldogs with his two goals. North Dakota won the series finale 5-1 after downing UMD in the opener, 5-2.

Last Meeting at the WCHA Final Five: March 20, 2009 (St. Paul). North Dakota was the second of three victims of the Alex Stalock Express, falling 3-0 to the eventual tournament champions. Duluth became the only team in Final Five history to capture the Broadmoor trophy after participating in the Thursday play-in game.

Most Important Meeting: March 22, 1984 (Lake Placid, NY) Minnesota-Duluth and North Dakota met in the national semifinal game, with the Bulldogs defeating the Fighting Sioux 2-1 in overtime to advance to the championship. UND went on to defeat Michigan State 6-5 (OT) for third place, while Duluth fell to Bowling Green 5-4 in four overtimes, the longest championship game ever played.

All-time Series: UND leads the all-time series, 128-70-8 (.641), although Duluth holds a 2-1-1 (.625) edge in games on neutral ice.

Last Ten: North Dakota is 5-4-1 (.550) in the last ten games between the teams.

Game News and Notes

North Dakota senior forward Chris VandeVelde needs four points to move into a tie with Zach Parise on UND’s career scoring list. Minnesota-Duluth has gone 82 games without being shut out, and has blanked nine opponents in that span. If North Dakota advances to Friday’s semifinal, expect to see Aaron Dell between the pipes. Coming into this year, Bulldog winger Rob Bordson had played in 42 games and notched one goal and six assists. This season, he’s put up 12 goals and 28 assists in 39 games.

The Prediction

Having Frattin (suspension), Gleason (undisclosed injury), and Genoway (concussion) out of the lineup will test UND’s depth. As with so many playoff games, this one will come down to special teams and goaltending. The crowd will definitely be a factor, and I can’t see North Dakota’s run coming to an end just yet. UND 3-2.

Bonus Final Five Predictions:

Friday afternoon: Wisconsin 4, St. Cloud State 2
Friday evening: Denver 4, North Dakota 3
Saturday afternoon: North Dakota 2, St. Cloud State 2
Saturday evening: Wisconsin 3, Denver 2

Thank you for reading. As always, I welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions.

Leave a Reply