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MENOMONIE (January 4, 2013) - After a 26-day break, the Blue Devils (6-5-2, 3-5-0 NCHA, 1-5-0 WIAC) will kick off the new year with a pair of home games. They host Bethel University, Friday, Jan. 3, and return to Dunn Country Ice Arena the following night for a date with Hamline University. Both games are scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Both games will be available in a live video stream with
Matt Morin on the call.
2012-13 BLUE DEVILS (6-5-2): After a string of seven games that featured six wins, Stout had a disappointing weekend in Stevens Point to end the calendar year. They took an 8-0 thrashing in the first game of the series, their worst loss since 2009. The following night, they took the Pointers to overtime, but ended with the same result, losing, 4-3, in the extra period. After a slow start in October, the Blue Devils had things rolling through November, going 5-1-1 in that month, one which has historically brought much success early in the season. December - which has recently been a tougher month - brought Stout a 1-2-0 record after the weekend sweep in Stevens Point. Perhaps the best indicator of Stout's success has been where the game takes place. They are a perfect 5-0 at home and 1-5-2 at away or neutral sites. Stout is now being out-scored their opponents, 41-38, and being out-shot at a startling rate of 465-342. Stout has converted on one-fourth of their power plays, while they have killed their opponents' power plays well, allowing just a .175 success rate. Through nine games, 16 players have scored goals for the Blue Devils and 20 have recorded at least one point.
Zach Vierling, who played hero in the St. Scholastica series sweep, leads the team with six goals and is joined by
Garrett Grimstad with a team-high 11 points.
Kevin O'Donnell trails Vierling with five goals and has added five assists for 10 points.
Sam Carr,
Jordan Tredinnick, and
Jason Cohen have each added nine points. Cohen leads the team with a plus/minus of +13.
Nick Hopper entered the Stevens Point series unbeaten and was a huge key to Stout's hot streak, but faltered a bit in the series opener. The seven goals allowed jumped his GAA from 1.80 to 2.48 and his save percentage fell from .945 to .927. |
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 a perfect 5-0 at home, 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 54-23-5 at the Dunn County Ice Arena.
STOUT'S LAST TIME OUT: After having won six of their past seven games, the Blue Devils rode a hot streak into Stevens Point last weekend, but came home with a pair of losses. Stout took an 8-0 thrashing Friday night their worst defeat since they lost 9-1 to Norwich in 2009. It was a rout right from the beginning. The Pointers scored three first-period goals, out-shooting the Blue Devils 18-1 in that period. Although the shots were much more even in the second, Stevens Point increased their lead to 5-0 heading into the third. The final period was nothing new as the Pointers held an 11-3 shot margin, and added three more goals, the final coming against
Eric Wobschall, who replaced
Nick Hopper after he allowed his seventh of the night. |
Stevens Point 8, Stout 0 | The Blue Devils erased Friday night's game from their memory, and came out Saturday with a much better performance.
Jason Cohen tied the score at 3 apiece when he scored at 11:40 in the third. But the Pointers got the game-winner when Andrew Kolb scored 1-minute, 27-seconds into overtime to sweep the weekend series. The Blue Devils opened the scoring when
Jordan Tredinnick scored five minutes into the game on the power play. The Pointers scored two first period goals by Alex Kromm and Kevin Gibson to take the lead. Stout tied the score on
Zach Vierling's marker at 8:54 of the second, for Stout's second power play goal of the evening. Johnny Meo gave the Pointers a 3-2 lead at 10:06 in the third. Cohen scored about 90 seconds later to tie the score.
Tom Lescovich recorded 28 saves for Stout, while Stevens Point's Brandon Jaeger notched 12 saves. |
Stevens Point 4, Stout 3 (OT) | The 8-0 loss to Stevens Point marks the first time they were shuout since Feb. 13, 2010, again at UW-Stevens Point, 4-0. The loss was largest margin of goals Stout has given up since falling to Norwich, 9-1, Nov. 27, 2009. Stout was shutout by St. Scholastica, 9-0, Feb. 4, 2006.
SCOUTING BETHEL UNIVERSITY (6-7-0): The Royals have been the definition of streak this season. After a season-opening victory over St. John's, Bethel has reeled off a three-game losing skid followed by a three game win streak, another three game losing streak, and now have two consecutive wins, both coming against Hamline. While their overall record is not turning any heads, Bethel's 5-1 MIAC record has them sitting tied atop the conference, alongside St. Thomas. Unlike Stout, it has not seemed to matter where Bethel plays their games. They are 6-7 overall, 3-3 at home, 2-2 in away games, and 1-2 on neutral ice. Individually, Jack Paul has been the offensive standout, leading the team in goals (5) and assists (7) for 12 points. Colin Mayer and Mitch Hughes each add eight points, both with three goals and five assists. Garrett Windle ties Paul with five goals on just eight shots, and has two assists for seven points. Dan Harper and Matt Rowe have basically split time in the net, with Harper collecting four wins and Rowe earning two, even though Rowe's GAA is lower and save percentage is higher. |
2012-13 Statistics
BETHEL'S LAST TIME OUT: Bethel is coming off a pair of wins against Hamline University, which has not been a tough task for Hamline opponents this season. Bethel beat the Pipers,
4-2, at home then went on the road to get
a 6-2 win. Garrett Windle had two goals in each game and Mitch Hughes added three in the series. Dan Harper got the home win while Matt Rowe got the nod for the win at Hamline. Neither game was really ever in danger, as Bethel led for the entire third period of both games. Hamline had an early lead at home, but that lead evaporated quickly with three straight Bethel scores.
THE SERIES: UW-Stout and Bethel have each won seven of the teams' 14 all-time meetings. Each team has two wins in the last four and four wins in the last eight. Stout won last year's meeting, 5-2, which is their only meeting since the 2005-06 season.
LAST TIME WHEN THEY MET (Jan. 6, 2012): UW-Stout scored the final four goals of the game for a come-from-behind win as the Blue Devils topped host Bethel University, 5-2. Trailing 2-1 midway through the second period,
Micky Knox scored his first collegiate goal at 13:12. The Blue Devils took their first lead of the game when
Alex Breeden scored his first goal of the season at 18:26 of the second stanza. Stout continued the onslaught to snap a four-game winless streak when
Kevin O'Donnell scored his fifth goal of the game, shorthanded at 1:55 of the third period.
Mike Hartviksen closed up the scoring on the power play at 6:30 as Carr dished off his third assist of the night. Bethel opened the scoring in the game when Jack Paul scored 15:20 of the first period. Stout knotted the two minutes later when
Zach Vierling scored. The Royals took the lead at the 6:47 mark of the second period on a goal by Colin Mayer.
Nick Hopper recorded the win, making 35 saves. The Royals' Dan Harper stopped 29 shots. |
Story and Stats
SCOUTING HAMLINE UNIVERSITY (0-12-2): Perhaps Hamline's New Year's Resolution should be to get some wins in 2013, since they started this season with a winless 2012. It is hard to find a silver lining for the Pipers, who have been dominated in every major statistical category imaginable, and whose highlights are two ties and a close game with Eau Claire. Other than those three occasions, Hamline has lost by multiple goals in every game and has been shut out five times, including their past two games. They are being out-scored, 63-24, and have five losses by at least four goals. Joe Rubbelke and Brandon Zurn have been effective on offense. Rubbelke has five goals and seven assists for 12 points, while Zurn has nine points. Nick Widing adds four goals and two assists, but no other Piper has over five points through 14 games. In comparison, Stout has three times that many players with six or more points. Matt Hemingway and Nick Heimer have split time in the net, and neither one is making a very strong case to become the clear-cut starter. Both have a GAA of 4.31 and Hemingway's save percentage of .850, while Heimer's percentage is .834 (the two of them rank last and second to last in the MIAC). Hemingway is 0-7-0 while Heimer is 0-4-2. |
2012-13 Statistics
HAMLINE'S LAST TIME OUT: Hamline is coming off a shutout loss to MSOE, their second shutout defeat in as many games. After a 2-0 loss to St. Thomas, they suffered a 5-0 loss to MSOE in front of a home crowd on December 14. MSOE scored one goal in each of the first two periods, then put the nail in the coffin with an early power play goal in the third. They later scored another power play goal with six minutes remaining, and capped off the scoring with a goal 12 seconds later. Five different MSOE players scored against Hamline keeper, Nick Heimer, who recorded 20 saves. |
Box Score
THE SERIES: Stout leads the series, 13-9, overall. Hamline has won the past two, including a 5-7 win last year, but Stout won nine straight before that, and all 13 of their wins have come in the past 17 meetings.
LAST TIME WHEN THEY MET (Jan. 7, 2012): Sporting a 5-3 lead midway through the third period, UW-Stout allowed four unanswered Hamline University goals and dropped the non-conference contest at Vadnais Heights Sports Center. Stout scored three first period goals, but Hamline pulled to within one with a pair of second period goals. The Pipers tied the score with a goal 16 seconds into the third period before Stout jumped out to a two goal lead. The Pipers' Sam Leslie scored his second goal of the game at 11:35 to tighten the score to 5-4. Nick Widing tied the score at 12:31 and Brian Arrigoni gave Hamline the lead with a power play goal at 12:43. Zach Johnson scored on an empty net at 19:02 for the final marker of the afternoon. The Blue Devils looked like they were going to blow the Pipers off the ice in the first period. Stout opened with a pair of power play goals from
Sam Carr and
Branden Gay.
Joe Beaudette scored at 19:43. The Pipers cut into the lead with a goal by Jordan VanGilder at 9:04 of the second, then pulled to within one goal when Arrigoni scored his first goal of the game.
Nick Hopper took the loss for the Blue Devils, recording 36 saves. Beau Christian recorded the win with 37 saves. |
Story and Stats
BLUE DEVILS LOSE A FRIEND: Ken Erickson, who played a big role in establishing the UW-Stout hockey program, passed away Dec. 20 at his home in Menomonie. Erickson was an instructor at Stout when the Blue Devil program began in the late 1960s. Erickson lended support to the program over the years and coached the Blue Devils one season in the early 1970s. |
Complete story
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 5 assists, and 12 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 163 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 27 more. He needs 37 minutes to move into elite company, as the 200-minute club is currently occupied by just three Blue Devils. Lachance was quickly moving towards infamy as he spent 27 minutes in the box in Stout's first five games, but has recently settled down, and survived two games at Stevens Point without a penalty.
AWARDS AND HONORS: 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 (203-223-28) 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
.
THE CONFERENCES: Stout is a member of the seven-team Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA). They are also 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 existance of the NCHA. Both
Bethel and
Hamline are members of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Hockey Association (MIAC).
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 had been receiving votes since the Nov. 19, 2012, USCHO.com poll, but received no votes in the latest poll. |
USCHO.com Division III poll
UP NEXT: Stout will complete their four-game homestand with a weekend series against UW-River Falls, Friday, Jan. 11 and Saturday, Jan. 12. After the River Falls series, the Blue Devils will have four home games remaining, three of those games coming in February.
