Hockey Preview: Blue Devils have a pair of games in MIAC country

at Hamline: Live Stats | at Gustavus Adolphus: Live Stats| Live Video

THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (0-1-0, 0-0-0 WIAC) open the 2014-15 season by traveling to Lake Forest College Saturday, Nov. 1 for a 7 p.m. start.  The Blue Devils will be at Hamline University, (1-1-0, 0-0-0 MIAC) Friday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m., then will travel to St. Peter, Minn., to take on Gustavus Adolphus College (1-1-0, 0-0-0 MIAC) Saturday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. Stout comes home for a four-game homestand beginning Friday, Nov. 14.

WEBCASTS:  All UW-Stout home games are scheduled to be broadcast in a live video stream by Blue Devil Video. Brady Burzynski and Hayden Bowe will be on the call throughout the season.  Live Stats should also be available for most home games.

THE 2014-15 BLUE DEVILS (0-1-0, 0-0-0 WIAC): The Blue Devils have a young team with four seniors, two juniors, 13 sophomores and six freshmen. Defenseman Jordan Tredinnick returns as the team's leading scorer. The question between the pipes will need to be resolved soon. Chase Hollander worked five games last season. Spencer Viele transferred from UW-Stevens Point and saw action in two games. Gustav Griborn joins the Blue Devils out of Sweden. |  2013-14 Statistics | 2014-15 Statistics

STOUT'S LAST TIME OUT:  The Blue Devils lost their opener 6-2 at Lake Forest College, Nov. 1. Stout fell behind 4-0 before Riley Colvard tickled the twice. Shayne McLauglin added Stout's other goal. |   Story and Box Score 

HAMLINE UNIVERSITY: The Pipers are coming off a 2-22-1 season and a ninth place 1-15 finish in the MIAC. But there is a new sheriff in town as Cory Laylin takes over as the head coach. The Pipers have 12 players returning from last year's squad, including  Kevin Novakovich (F, Jr. 9 goals, 8 assists – top returning scorer); Brandon Zurn (F, Jr., 5 goals, 10 assists); and Joe Rubbelke (D, Sr., 2 goals, 9 assists in 17 GP – All-MIAC two years in a row). The Pipers split their two games last weekend, falling 6-2 to St. John's University, but coming back for a 2-1 win over St. Thomas.  | 2013-14 Stats | 2014-15 Stats

LAST TIME STOUT AND HAMLINE MET: Nine different UW-Stout players scored goals as the Blue Devils rolled over Hamline University, 10-3, Nov. 8, 2013, at the Dunn County Ice Arena. Not since the 2008 season has a Stout hockey team scored in double digits when they defeated Northland College, 11-2. Craig Lindegard scored two goals. |  Game Story and Box Score

THE SERIES: Stout holds a 15-9-0 record over the Pipers. The Blue Devils have won the last two meetings, last year in a blowout and two years ago in overtime.

GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE: The Gusties opened the season with a 4-2 loss to Bethel University, then topped St. Olaf, 6-3, the following day, scoring three goals in the second period. The Gusties were ranked 12th in the preseason USCHO.com poll, but fell out of the top 15 after the opening weekend. Gustavus is slated to finish second in the MIAC in a preseason poll. Gustavus has plenty of talent back in St. Peter to make a run at the MIAC title, starting with All-MIAC goalie John McLean in the crease. The Gusties have to replace high-scoring forward Corey Lievermann, but have a pair of senior skaters back in Tyler Lapic and Jack Walsh expected to take a step forward and assume larger roles in 2014-15. | Gustie Stats

LAST TIME STOUT AND GUSTAVUS MET: A night after rolling up 10 goals against Hamline, the Blue Devils were held to one goal in a 3-1 loss to Gustavus. The Gusties scored the first three goals of the game before Danny Ray put Stout on the board with 19 seconds remaining. |  Game Story and Box Score

THE SERIES: The Gusties hold a 9-7-1 record over the Blue Devils. the teams first met on Jan. 15, 1970 with Gustavus taking a 13-8 win. The Gusties have won four of the last five meetings. Always interesting to remember is that Gustavus and Stout met in the semi-finals of the 2009 NCAA Division III Men's Hockey Championship in Lake Placid, NY, with the Gusties coming out on top.


AWARDS AND HONORS:  Jordan Tredinnick was a WIAC honorable mention choice in 2013-14.

TEAM CAPTAINS: info coming

THE COACHES: UW-Stout:  Terry Watkins (215-252-28) is in his 19th 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. Watkins reached 700 games as the head coach of a UW-Stout hockey team (varsity and club) when the Blue Devils played UW-Stevens Point, Dec. 7, 2013. Hamline: Cory Laylin is in his first season with the Pipers.  Gustavus Adolphus: Brent Peterson is in his 15th season with the Gusties.

THE CONFERENCES: UW-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. Hamline, Gustavus Adolphus, Augsburg and St. Thomas are members of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athetic Conference (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 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:  The Blue Devils will host Augsburg Friday, Nov. 14 and St. Thomas, Saturday, Nov. 15. Both games begin at 7:30 p.m.