Hockey Preview: Blue Devils to open WIAC play with ranked opponents

at UW-River Falls:  Live Video | Live Stats | Live Audio               at UW-Stevens Point:  Live Video | Live Stats | Live Audio

THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (2-5-1, 0-0-0 WIAC) will put their three game unbeaten streak on the line when they open WIAC play this week with a pair of road games against top ranked team, traveling to No. 5 UW-River Falls (7-0-0, 0-0-0 WIAC), Thursday, Dec. 4 and to No. 7 UW-Stevens Point (6-2-0, 0-0-0 WIAC), Saturday, Dec. 6. The Falcons and the Pointers are both ranked in the top 10 statistically in scoring average.

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 will also be available for home games.

THE 2014-15 BLUE DEVILS (2-5-1, 0-0-0 WIAC): The Blue Devils trend for a balanced scoring attack has continued through the team's first couple of wins last weekend, getting goals from 13 different players this year. Justin Moody leads the seam with a team-high three goal and three assists. Tyler Cayemberg has two goals and two assists, as does Craig Lindegard. Jake Useldinger has two goals and a team-best four assists. Jordan Tredinnick has a goal and three assists, while Patrick Regan has a goal and two assists.  Danny Ray, Jordan Stejskal, Carl Bombardier, Riley Colvard, Shayyn McLauglin, Matt Millis and Tyler Shipstad each have a goal, with  Ray and Stejskal each with an assist. Joey Haydock has three assists and Fabian Helgren, Nolan Kirly and Derek Sand each have one assist. Useldinger is tied for tops in Division III with four other players in shorthanded goals, punching in two shorties on the season so far.  Twelve players have at least one assist and 17 different players have at least one point. The Blue Devils are a young team with four seniors, two juniors, 13 sophomores and six freshmen. Defenseman Jordan Tredinnick returns as the team's leading scorer. All three goalies on the roster have seen time between the pipes, but Spencer Viele has now worked five starts and has a GAA of 2.38, with a saves percentage of .928. Chase Hollander has started two games and has seen ation in three games, with a saves percentage of .853 and a GAA of 6.68. Gustav Griborn has seen limited action so far, with a GAA of 5.26.. | Blue Devil Statistics

STOUT'S LAST TIME OUT:  Northland College scored twice in the third period, and UW-Stout and the Lumberjacks played to a 2-2 overtime tie at Bay Area Civic Center Nov. 25. Stout opened the scoring when Jake Useldinger scored shorthanded five minutes into the game. He was assisted by Justin Moody . The next 35 minutes-plus of game time were scoreless, but the third period was a different story. The Lumberjacks tied the score when Darius Cole scored 1:29 into the third period. Stout took the lead back on Craig Lindegard 's power play goal two minutes later, with an assist by Moody.  Northland tied the score midway through the third on a goal by Matt Lennon, and neither team would tickle the twine the rest of the way. Stout's Spencer Vielerecorded 30 saves. | Northland Story and Box Score

SCOUTING UW-RIVER FALLS:The Falcons are currently the only undefeated team in the WIAC, and one of only three undefeated, untied teams in Division III. The Falcons have scored at least three goals in each of their games this season, and have allowed no more than three goals.  Only twice has River Falls had one goal decisions, their last time out, a 4-3 win over Augsburg College and the season opener, a 4-3 win over Concordia-Moorhead. The Falcons are outscoring their opponents, 4.3-2.0.Nationally, the Falcons are ranked 10th in scoring offense and eighth in scoring defense. Defenseman Alex Murphy is tied for third in Division III in power play goals with four, and the Falcons are third in power play, going 11-of-31 opportunities (35.5 percent). Murphy is the team's leading goal scorer with five goals, along with three assists. Terry Leabo has two goals and a team-best seven assists. With the exception of about a minute of empty net time,  Tanner Milliron has worked all the minutes in the net, posting a GAA of. 1.99 and a saves percentage of 92.4. The Falcons took the WIAC title last season.  | Falcon Statistics

RIVER FALLS LAST TIME OUT:  The Falcons had to come from behind three times to take a 4-3 overtime win at Augsburg College, Nov. 25.  The Auggies scored first in every period and the Falcons would answer back in every goal, including a goal by Mitch Kontney with less that three minutes remaining in regulation to knot the game. Mike Williams scored at the 3:15 mark in overtime for the win.  |  Story and Statistics

LAST YEAR WHEN STOUT AND RIVER FALLS MET: The Falcons won all three contests last season, taking a 5-4 decision in Menomonie in December, then sweeping the series in River Falls in February, 9-3, and 3-2 in overtime. | Game One Story and Box Score | Game Two Story and Box Score | Game Three Story and Box Score

THE SERIES: River Falls leads the series, 69-20-1.

SCOUTING UW-STEVENS POINT:The Pointers last year finished second nationally, falling in the championship game, 3-1, to St. Norbert College, and received the preseason nod to finish first this season in the WIAC. The Pointers are averaging 4.75 goals per contest, ranking seventh among Division III schools. Stevens Point is giving up 2.1 goals per outing. Joe Kalisz  and Kyle Sharkey  each have a team-high five goals. Kalisz has four assists and Sharkey has dished off three assists.  Lawrence Cornellier has punched in four goals on the season. Kevin Gibson has two goals and a team-high eight assists. Brandon Jaeger, a 2014 Elite 89 ward winner, is the only goalie the Pointers have used, and Jaeger is posting a 2.01 GAA and a saves percentage of 91.3 percent.  |  Pointer  Statistics

STEVENS POINT LAST TIME OUT:  The Pointers are coming off a non-conference split to Adrian College, losing the first 6-4 in Stevens Point, Nov. 22, but coming back for a 6-3 win in the second game at the Michigan-based school.  Joe Kalisz earned WIAC Men's Ice Hockey Athlete of the Week honors for the second time in his career after scoring the eventual game-winning goal as No. 6-ranked UW-Stevens Point handed No. 3-ranked Adrian College (Mich.) its first loss of the season by a 6-3 score on Nov. 29 in Adrian.  Kalisz's goal at 1:06 of the third period gave the Pointers a 4-2 lead after the Bulldogs had cut the deficit to one just 26 seconds earlier.The  Pointers hung around Adrian to play an exhibition game with the US Under-18 National team, falling to the Stars and Stripes, 5-2. | Adrian Story and Stats | USA Story and Stats

LAST YEAR WHEN STOUT AND STEVENS POINT MET: Stout took two of three games from the Pointers last year, winning the opener, 3-2, in Menomonie in December. The teams split in Stevens Point in February, with the Pointers taking the Friday night game, 6-2, but Stout bouncing back to take the series, 4-2. | Game One Story and Box Score | Game Two Story and Box Score | Game Three Story and Box Score

THE SERIES: The Blue Devils lead the series, 40-31-3.

USCHO.com TOP 15 DIVISION III POLL: UW-Stout ranked opponents include: UW-Stevens Point (7th); UW-Eau Claire (14th); UW-River Falls (5th); St. John's (13th); Augsburg is receiving votes.

AWARDS AND HONORS: Spencer Viele was selected the WIAC player of the week Nov. 25 after recording wins over Finlandia (4-1) and Lawrence (2-1)...Jordan Tredinnick was a WIAC honorable mention choice in 2013-14.

TEAM CAPTAINS: info coming

THE COACHES: UW-Stout: Terry Watkins (217-256-29) 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. UW-RIVER FALLS: Steve Freeman (327-165-40) is in his 19th season as the head coach for the Falcons. In 2014,  Freeman  coached in his 500th career game at UWRF and won his 100th WIAC contest. Freeman has been named Coach of the Year 11 times in his career at UW-River Falls. Freeman is the WIAC all-time leader in games won. He has led the team to the WIAC Championships in 10 of the past 14 seasons.UW-STEVENS POINT:  Chris Brooks (57-30-7) in his fourth season as the head coach for the Pointers.  In 2013-14, Brooks led UW-Stevens Point to a national runner-up finish in its first appearance in the NCAA Division III postseason in 16 years. The berth in the Frozen Four was the first for the Pointers since 1998. The Pointers recorded a 22-6-2 record and the 22 wins were the most by a UWSP team since 1999-2000. Brooks was also named a finalist for the Edward Jeremiah Award, given to the Division III Coach of the Year in 2013-14. The Pointers finished the season ranked second in the country and were ranked in both the USCHO.com and D3hockey.com the entire season and were in the top five of both polls from Dec. 2. on. UW-Stevens Point was one of three teams to finish in the top 10 in the nation in both team offense (third) and team defense (seventh).

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. Northland is a member of the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (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: The Blue Devils will be off until they return to the Dunn County Ice Arena Friday, Jan. 9 to host MSOE. Stout will host Concordia-Wis, Saturday, Jan. 10.