THIS WEEKEND: With a win last Saturday over UW-Superior, UW-Stout (10-9-2, 5-9-0 NCHA, 2-7-0 WIAC) kept their hopes very much alive to host at least an NCHA playoff game. The Blue Devils are currently in fifth place in the NCHA, three points behind third place Superior and UW-Stevens Point, and one ahead of sixth place UW-River Falls and St. Scholastica. The top seeded team gets a bye in the quarterfinals of the NCHA tournament, Feb. 15-16, and the second, third and fourth seeded teams will host a first round series. The Blue Devils play their closest rivals this week, traveling to
UW-River Falls, Thursday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. and hosting first place
UW-Eau Claire, Friday, Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m. Stout has not beaten either River Falls or Eau Claire this season.
WEBCASTS: All UW-Stout home games are scheduled to be broadcast in a live video stream by
Blue Devil Video.
Live Stats should also be available for most home games.
TERRY WATKINS INTERVIEWS: Throughout the season, Jimmie Kaska of Sports Radio 1400 AM will speak with hockey coach
Terry Watkins. Listed are each of the interviews throughout the season. |
Listen to Interviews
2012-13 BLUE DEVILS (10-9-2): The Blue Devils' can be an enigmatic team Stout is being outshot, 717-576, by their opponents, but are only being outscored, 64-63. The Blue Devils have a power play percentage of 20.0 percent (15-75) and have a penalty kill percentage of 84.6 percent (16-104). Through 21 games, 18 players have scored goals for the Blue Devils and 20 have recorded at least one point.
Kevin O'Donnell leads the team in scoring with 10 goals and nine assists for 19 points.
Garrett Grimstad, Jason Cohen and
Joe Beaudette are leading the team in assists with 12 apiece. Grimstad has six goals (6-12-18), while Beaudette has three goals (3-12-15) and Cohen five goals (5-12-17).
Zach Vierling trails O'Donnell in goals with eight (8-6-14).
Sam Carr has five goals (5-8-13),
Jordan Treddinick four (4-9-13) and
Mike Hartviksen four (4-5-9). Hartviksen has scored a goal and an assist in each of the last two games. Cohen's plus/minus of +17 is the best on the team, trailed by
Beaudette, who boasts a +12 rate.
Nick Hopper has an 9-5-2 overall record with a goals against average of 2.54, the best of his career, and a .922 saves percentage. Hopper has played in 967 of the total 1280 minutes of action (70 percent). |
2012-13 Statistics
HOME ICE ADVANTAGE: While it's never been labeled one of the nicest or prettiest venues in sports, the Dunn County Ice Arena has been a comfortable place for the Blue Devils this season. They are 8-2 at home this season, including wins over their only two ranked opponents. Further validating their home ice advantage is their 1-5-2 record away from the Dunn Co. Since the 2006-07 season, UW-Stout is 57-23-5 at the Dunn County Ice Arena. Stout plays three of their final regular season games at the Dunn Co.
STOUT'S LAST TIME OUT: The Blue Devils handed UW-Superior a 4-1 loss, Jan. 26. The Blue Devils blew a two goal lead in a 4-3 loss to St. Scholastica, Jan. 25. Against the Yellowjackets, Stout scored three second period goals and goal tender
Nick Hopper shut Superior out the rest of the way. The Blue Devils scored first in the contest when
Scott Bell scored midway through the first period, but Superior answered back a minute later.
Gavin Tufte,
Mike Hartviksen and
Zach Vierling scored in the second period. Hopper posted 30 saves. |
Stout 4, Superior 1 | Against St. Scholastica, the Blue Devils blew a two goal lead as the Saints scored three unanswered goal to close out the game. |
St. Schlolastica 4, Stout 3
SCOUTING UW-RIVER FALLS (10-8-3, 3-8-3 NCHA, X WIAC): The Falcons' schedule has been extremely bottom heavy with River Falls hosting 11 of their last 13 games. During that stretch, their only games on the road came at Menomonie eaerlier this month. But the home ice hasn't helped as of late. The Falcons have dropped their last four contests at Hynt Arena. River Falls is led by Adam Cardwell, who has 12 goals - including five power play goals - and 10 assists. Zach Schroetenboer has eight goals and six assists, while George Maliarias is still looking for his first goal to go with his 13 assists. Of the 22 players who have seen the ice, 20 have scored at least one goal. In net, Scott Lewan has seen all but 15 minutes of the Falcons' 1257 total minutes and is posting a 2.91 GAA and a saves percentage of .904. The Falcons have a power play percentage of 13.6 (11-81) and a penalty kill of 86.1. |
2012-13 Statistics
UW-RIVER FALLS' LAST TIME OUT: The Falcons lost 5-2 to UW-Stevens Point, Jan. 25 and 4-2 to St. Norbert College, Jan. 26.
THE SERIES: River Falls leads the series, 65-20-1.
LAST TIME WHEN THEY MET (Jan. 11-12): Adam Cardwell scored two third period goals to give River Falls a 4-2 win over the Blue Devils, Jan. 11. Cardwell stayed hot the next night in Menomonie, scoring the first two goals of the game, a shorthanded goal in the first period and a power play goal in the second period in a 2-1 River Falls win.
SCOUTING UW-EAU CLAIRE (16-3-2, 11-2-1 NCHA): The Blugolds may be the hottest team in the NCHA at the moment and may have peaked at the right time. Currently, Eau Claire is in first place in the NCHA and are ranked fifth in the latest USCHO.com poll, receiving one first place vote after blanking perennial favorite St. Norbert. The Blugolds are currently riding a five game unbeaten streak and a four game winning streak. During the run, they have not allowed more than two goals. The Blugolds have a power play percentage of 25 percent )18-72) and a penalty kill of 82.4 percent |
2012-13 Statistics
UW-EAU CLAIRE'S LAST TIME OUT: The Blugolds are coming off a 3-0 home win over St. Norbert College, Jan. 25, and a 3-2 road win at UW-Stevens Point, Jan. 26. Brandon Stephenson stopped all 40 shots the Green Knights threw at him to give Eau Claire only their second shutout in school history over St. Norbert. The following night, Stephenson stopped 21 shots to earn his 40th career win. Drew Darwitz got the game-winner five minutes into the third period. |
Eau Claire 3, St. Norbert 0 |
Eau Claire 3, Stevens Point 2
THE SERIES: The teams have knotted up their toe-to-toe record, with an event 31-31-3 record.
LAST TIME WHEN THEY MET (Oct. 26-27): In the Blugolds' first games of the year, and Stout's second and third games, Eau Claire took 4-2 and 4-1 wins at Hobbs Ice Arena. In the opening game of the series, Eau Claire rattled off the first four goals of the contest. The Blue Devils cut the lead in half with two third period goals. In the 4-1 decision, Stout tied the game in the second period, but Eau Claire rolled off three third period goals for the win.
USCHO.com POLL: The Blue Devils received one vote in the Jan. 28 USHCO.com poll. St. Norbert is ranked fourth, EAu Claire fifth, and UW-Stevens Point 14th. UW-Superior is also receiving votes (2).
THE NCHA: The end of the regular season is quickly approaching, with only six games left for the seven teams. The quarterfinals of the NCHA tournament are set to begin Feb. 15-16, with the quarter-finals of the Peters Cup. The semi-final is Feb. 23 and the championship game is March 2. St. Norbert and UW-Eau Claire are tied for the top spot with identical 9-2-1 conference records and 19 points. The top seeded team receives a first round bye in the tournament, and the second, third and fourth place teams will host a quarterfinal game. UW-Stevens Point and UW-Superior are tied for third with 5-6-1 records (11 pts). UW-River Falls (3-6-3, 9 pts) is in fifth, UW-Stout (4-8-0, 8 pts) is sixth and St. Scholastica (3-8-1, 7 pts).
THE WIAC: The WIAC is just as tight, but the order flips around a bit. Stevens Point (4-2-1, 9 pts) and Superior (4-3-1, 9 pts) are tied for first, Eau Claire (4-2-0, 8 pts) and River Falls (3-3-2, 8 pts) are tied for third and Stout (1-7-0, 2 pts) is fifth. The WIAC has no conference tournament, but with the demise of the NCHA after this season, the WIAC will play a tournament format beginning in the 2013-14 season.
RECORDS AND MILESTONES: Sam Carr needs to duplicate his assist total from last season in order to pass Joel Gaulrapp and current head coach
Terry Watkins for fourth all time in assists. He currently has eight assists, and nine more would put him at 55 for his career. Also, Carr needs to match his jersey number, 24, in games played this season in order to hit the 100-game milestone for his career. The last player to do so was his brother, Robert Carr, along with two others in the 2010-11 season. Coincidentally, Robert played in 27 games his final season, which matched his jersey number as well...
Charles Lachance has previously spent 169 minutes watching from the penalty box in his Blue Devil career. Lachance moved into fifth place earlier this season and could grab the fourth spot with 21 more. He needs 31 minutes to move into elite company, as the 200-minute club is currently occupied by just three Blue Devils.
AWARDS AND HONORS: Tate Rusk was named the UW-Stout athlete of the week Jan. 22 after scoring two goals and one assists in a weekend split with top-ranked St. Norbert College...
Kevin O'Donnell was named the WIAC player of the week, Jan. 8, after scoring the game-winning goal in overtime against Hamline University and scoring two goals the day before against Bethel University...
Zach Vierling was named the NCHA player of the week, Dec. 3, after scoring two game-winning goals against St. Scholastica. Vierling scored his first collegiate game winner in overtime, then the following day scored a pair of goals in a 5-2 win, including the unassisted game winner. Vierling was also named the UW-Stout athlete of the week...
Nick Hopper was named the NCHA player of the week, Nov. 19, after posting a pair of wins over nationally ranked St. Thomas and UW-Superior. Hopper was also named the UW-Stout athlete of the week.
THE COACHES: UW-Stout: Terry Watkins (207-225-28) is in his 17th season as the head coach of the Blue Devils' varsity program. Watkins spent eight years coaching the club team (104-102-16) as Stout prepared to return to varsity status in 1997. Watkins was the 2006-07 NCHA coach of the year when Stout finished in a three-way tie for first. Watkins had a Hall of Fame career at Stout as a defenseman. Stout won a WIAC title in 2010-11, and an NCHA title during the 2006-07 season
. UW-River Falls: Steve Freeman is the coach of the Falcons.
UW-Eau Claire: Matt Loen is the coach of the Blugolds.
THE CONFERENCES: Stout, River Falls and Eau Claire are both members of the seven-team Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA). Stout is a member of the five team Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). The WIAC is made up of Stout, UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Superior and UW-River Falls. The NCHA includes the five WIAC schools as well as St. Norbert and St. Scholastica. This is the final year of the existence of the NCHA.
STOUT'S RANKED HISTORY: Stout finished the 2008-09 season as the second ranked team in the USCHO.com poll. With the exception of the Nov. 17, 2008, USCHO.com poll, Stout had been ranked in the top 15 since the Nov. 13, 2006, poll. Stout made their first appearance in the poll on Nov. 27, 2000, when they received one vote, then moved up to 10th the following week. The 2008-09 season ending poll matched Stout's previous high mark of second in the Jan. 29, 2007, poll. Stout opened the 2009-10 season ranked third, their highest-ever season-opening ranking, but fell out of the polls midway through the season and returned to the top 15, Nov. 22, 2010. Stout was in the 2011-12 USCHO.com poll early in the season, dropped out, returned again, but dropped out. Stout returned to the poll after a win over top-ranked St. Norbert, Jan. 18, garnering eight votes in the Jan. 21 poll, effectively ranking the Blue Devils 19th. |
USCHO.com Division III poll
UP NEXT: Stout will close out the regular season by hosting UW-Stevens Point, Thursday, Feb. 7, and St. Norbert College, Friday, Feb. 8. Both games are scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.
