#14/16 WESTERN MICHIGAN (16-11-5, 10-7-3-2 NCHC) at #1/3 NORTH DAKOTA (23-4-4, 14-3-3-2 NCHC)
Feb. 28-29, 2020
Grand Forks, N.D.
Ralph Engelstad Arena (11,634)
Friday: 7:37 pm CT
Saturday: 7:07 pm CT
Series: UND leads 21-7-0 (.750)
Last series with WMU: UND, 1-0 & 8-2
Dec. 6-7, 2019 in Kalamazoo, Mich.
RADIO
AM 790 KFGO & FM 94.1 & Home of Economy Radio Network
PxP: Tim Hennessy
Analyst: Steve Olson
Web: FightingHawks.com
LAST WEEK
Top-ranked North Dakota tied St. Cloud State, 3-3, Friday then fell 2-1 Saturday at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. UND remains within six points of securing at least a share of a Penrose Cup and an NCHC regular season title.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
All UND men’s hockey games, home and away, can be heard on stations across the UND Sports Home of Economy Radio Network AM 790, FM 94.1
Longtime broadcaster Tim Hennessy, in his 41st season as the voice of UND men’s hockey, calls the action while Steve Olson provides color analysis.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow the action live by following @UNDmhockey and @UNDInsider on Twitter. Fans can also read the action via live chat at GrandForksHerald.com with beat writer Brad Schlossman.
SERIES HISTORY
North Dakota has won 21 of the 28 all-time meetings with Western Michigan, including both of this season’s matchups. UND secured a 1-0 overtime win Dec. 6 before an 8-2 drubbing the next night in Kalamazoo, Mich.
WHAT’S HAPPENING
Despite Minnesota Duluth winning Saturday and UND falling to St. Cloud State, the Penrose Cup remains in play Friday. A UMD loss (0 points) and a UND win (3 points)– both in regulation or overtime– will clinch the Fighting Hawks at least a share of the Penrose Cup with a 9-point lead in the standings and 9 points remaining (three games).
HOME IMPROVEMENT
North Dakota has a sparkling 16-1 record at home this season. The last team to record 16 home wins was the NCAA champion 2015-16 team (16-2-1). The 2014-15 team also had 16 wins (16-3-3). UND is gunning for the all-time REA mark for wins, set by the 2003-04 team (18-3-2). The most home wins by a North Dakota team came in the record-setting 1986-87 campaign as UND went a staggering 26-2-0 at the old Ralph Engelstad Arena.
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
North Dakota had its 12-game Saturday win streak snapped at St. Cloud State Feb. 22. UND has outscored opponents, 64-25, overall on Saturdays this season. Collin Adams has 8 of his 11 goals in Saturday games this season to pace the Fighting Hawks in Saturday goals.
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30 ROCK
Junior Jordan Kawaguchi has 15 goals this season to double his career total. He now has 30 goals in his three seasons at North Dakota to go along with 60 assists for 90 career points.
CHEERS
North Dakota has already clinched home ice for the first round of the NCHC playoffs after a one-year hiatus. UND had played host to the opening round of the league playoffs for 16 consecutive seasons before missing out last year and narrowly finishing fifth to head to the road for the first time since 2001-02.
EIGHT-TEEN IS ENOUGH
Collin Adams was named the NCHC’s Forward of the Week Feb. 17 (his first career honor) and Peter Thome picked up his second Goalie of the Week award. North Dakota has had a whopping 18 NCHC weekly awards this season by eight different players (Adam Scheel 4, Jordan Kawaguchi 3, Matt Kiersted 3, Shane Pinto 3, Thome 2, Adams 1, Jacob Bernard-Docker 1, Judd Caulfield 1).
THE LEAGUE
Four NCHC teams are ranked in this week’s USCHO.com poll. UND sits third with Minnesota Duluth fifth and Denver sixth. Western Michigan re-entered the poll last week and sits in 16th. St. Cloud State and Omaha area also receiving votes in the poll.
HGTV
Home goals have been prevalent for North Dakota this season. UND is outscoring its opponents, 73-26, in home games this season (16-1-0 record). UND is allowing just 1.5 goals per home game and has squandered just four power-play goals at home all season (53 opportunities) for a .923 percent kill percentage.
MAJOR DAD
UND picked up its sixth major penalty of the season last Saturday at SCSU and allowed its first goal in that situation (21 shots).
vs Miami 2 shots
at Denver 2 shots
at Denver 7 shots
vs Omaha 1 shot
at SCSU 4 shots
at SCSU 5 shots
THE ADAMS’ FAMILY
Junior Collin Adams has seen his goal production spike over the last three weeks. He has goals in four of the last five games and now leads the Fighting Hawks with 6 game-winners this season among his 11 goals.
RALPH-AGUCHI ARENA
Junior Hobey Baker Award hopeful Jordan Kawaguchi has been fantastic at the Ralph Engelstad Arena this season, tallying 30 total points in 17 games at home. He has 9 goals and 21 assists with a current 16-game home point streak.
FOUR-PLAY
UND tallied its 18th game with four or more goals this season with the 4-1 win Feb. 14 vs. Denver. UND is 15-1-2 in those contests.
THAT WOULD BE TERRIFIC, MMMKAY?
North Dakota is now six points up on second-place Minnesota Duluth with four games to play in the regular season. If UND can build a 9-point lead after Friday or six-point lead after Saturday, it will clinch its third Penrose Cup. All-time Penrose Cup (NCHC regular season champ) winners below
2019 St. Cloud State
2018 St. Cloud State
2017 Denver
2016 North Dakota
2015 North Dakota
2014 St. Cloud State
JUST WENT AHEAD AND FIXED THE GLITCH
Last season, UND’s power play operated at a .124 percentage in NCHC play with 11 goals in 89 man advantage opportunities. This year, North Dakota already has 22 PPGs on 78 chances in league play for a .282 percentage, second in the conference. Overall, North Dakota’s power play has gone from 52nd in the NCAA last year to 16th so far this year.
PT GOING FT
Peter Thome now officially qualifies for UND single-season records and national statistics this season. Currently, his 1.52 GAA (2nd) and .931 (3rd) save percentage would both be among the best in schools history for a single season.
I HAVE A MEETING WITH THE BOBS LATER
Thome is chasing Bob Peters’ single-season goals against average record of a paltry 1.27 GAA set way back in 1956-57. Overall, he’d look to become just the seventh UND goalie to etch a sub-2.00 GAA.
PC LOAD LETTER??
Jordan Kawaguchi trails only Providence College’s Jack Dugan in total points this season in the NCAA. Dugan has 50 points with 41 assists, 17 of those on secondary assists. Kawaguchi’s 30 assists feature an NCAA-leading 23 primary assists on passes leading directly to goals, second-most in the country.
ONE AND DONE
North Dakota has allowed one goal or fewer on 16 occasions this season, including in four of the last six games. At home, UND has done it 12 times in the 17 games at REA (16-1-0).
LET ONE-RIP…
The Jan. 31st 1-0 win for UND was just the 11th all-time 1-0 victory in the school’s history with two of those coming this season. Back on Dec. 6, UND defeated No. 17 Western Michigan, 1-0, in overtime. Here’s a look at some key figures surrounding the 1-0 win over CC.
*Last 1-0 win 12/6/19 at WMU
*Games between 1-0 Ws 9
*No. of 1-0 wins all-time 11th
DO YOU WANNA BUILD A SNOWMAN?
North Dakota has scored eight goals or more a whopping four times already this season. The last UND team to score 8 in a game more than once in a single season was 2011-12 (three times). The last North Dakota squad to pile up four snowmen or more was the 2003-04 team (six times).
JORDAN RULES
Jordan Kawaguchi has 45 points on the season. With still four games left in the regular season and the postseason, the junior has the most points by a UND player since Brock Boeser’s 60-point 2016 championship season and is ahead of Ryan Duncan’s 2006-07 Hobey Baker Award-winning pace.
DOUBLE FIGURES
Jasper Weatherby’s empty-net goal to seal the Feb. 15 win vs. Denver gave North Dakota its sixth player to 10 goals already this season. Jordan Kawaguchi led UND with his 10 goals a season ago.
GET IT GOING QUICKLY
North Dakota holds a 41-19 goal edge in the first period this season on its opponents. UND is out-scoring its opponent, 35-22, in the first two periods combined of road games this season.
NO, NO. WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER
UND has enjoyed having scoring production from the entire roster. After Casey Johnson’s Jan. 11th goal vs. Omaha, 22 different players have scored this season, most since the 2003-04 team. 17 have multiple tallies and 11different players have at least five goals on the year.
ADAMS’ APPLES
Collin Adams notched three assists in the Jan. 3 win over Alabama-Huntsville, tying his single-game record for helpers. He now has 27 points on the season, more than triple his previous career best (8 in 2017-18).
