Hockey Preview: Stout to host Superior tonight in season finale

UW-Superior: Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video

THIS WEEK'S GAMES: Last night's 3-2 win over UW-Eau Claire gave UW-Stout (8-16-0, 4-7-0 WIAC) a two point lead in the WIAC standings over UW-Superior (7-13-3, 2-6-2 WIAC), but tonight's game is still key in determining which team will host next Tuesday's WIAC Tournament first round game. The winner of tonight's game will host the first round game.  Tonight is Stout's final regular season game, while the Yellowjackets will host UW-Stevens Point tomorrow to wrap up their regular season. Tonight is senior night for the Blue Devils, with Kevin O'Donnell, Russell Whited, Logan Maly and Casey Kirley playing their final regular season game at the Dunn County Ice Arena. 

WEBCASTS:  All UW-Stout home games are scheduled to be broadcast in a live video stream by Blue Devil Video. Brady Burzynski and Josh Halling will be on the call throughout the season.  Live Stats should also be available for most home games. Check out the Blue Devil Webcast page for a complete listing of home and away broadcasts. The Eau Claire game will be broadcast live on WMEQ 880 AM radio.

THE 2013-14 BLUE DEVILS (8-16-0, 4-7-0 WIAC): Kevin O'Donnell leads Stout with a team-high 11 goals and 12 assists.  Zach Vierling is second on the team in scoring with nine goals and 11 assists. Jordan Tredinnick has eight goals and seven assists, while Matt Millis has five goals and eight assists. Danny Ray has four goals and nine assists.  Team captain Logan Maly has three goals and nine assists. Joey Haydock has four goals and four assists. Tyler Cayemberg has three goals and four assists and Craig Lindegard has five goals and three assists. Twenty different Blue Devils have scored at least one point, while 15 have scored at least one goal, and 19 have scored at least one assist. Corey Koop has a 3.50 goals against average and a saves percentage of .908. Fellow freshman Chase Hollander has a GAA of 3.01 in 199 minutes with a saves percentage of .913, along with a win over No. 3 UW-Stevens Point on Feb. 8. As a team, Stout is being outscored, 86-62 (3.6-2.6). Stout has lost six games by one goal and has won six games by one goal.   |  2013-14 Statistics

SPECIAL TEAMS: The Blue Devils have scored 20 power play goals, going 20-of-82 (21.7 percent). Kevin O'Donnell, Zach Vierling and Matt Millis each have three power play goals, while Jordan Tredinnick, Danny Ray, Craig Lindegard and Logan Maly each have two power play goals. Justin Moody, Hunter Scott, and Jake Useldinger each have a power play goal.  Stout is last in the WIAC in penalty kill, allowing 23 power play goals in 119 opportunities (19.3  percent). Stout has two shorthanded goals with Moody and Nolan Kirley scoring the shorties. 

STOUT'S LAST TIME OUT: Corey Koop  recorded another memorable game as he stopped 51 shots and UW-Stout went on to a 3-2 win over UW-Eau Claire at Hobbs Ice Center Thursday. Koop, who earlier in the season recorded 59 saves against nationally ranked UW-Stevens Point, put together another gem, in particular late in the game. With Stout  leading 3-1 late in the game, the Blugolds pulled to within one goal on a shot by Jack Callahan with 1-minute, 35-seconds remaining. Koop tightened up the rest of the way with an extra Eau Claire attacker on the ice, stopping five shots in the final 95 seconds. Many of the shots came immediately after faceoffs in the Stout zone. Stout never trailed in the game. Jordan Tredinnick (Jr, Onalaska) gave Stout the early lead with a power play goal at 7:02 of the second period, taking a rebound from Zach Vierling  The Blugolds tied the game two minutes later on a Joe Krause goal. Stout took the lead for good on a goal by Kevin O'Donnell  at 1:34 of the third period. Stout got what would prove to be the game-winner at 5:32 when Joe Haydock, with assists by Logan Maly and Matt Millis. Krause scored to pull Eau Claire to within one, and Koop did the rest. Tyler Green stopped 25 shots for Eau Claire. Stout was 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Blue Devils killed off all four Blugold power play opportunities..  |  Game Story and Box Score 

LAST TIME STOUT AND EAU CLAIRE MET: The Blugolds carried wins of 4-0 and 3-1 out of the Dunn County Ice Arena when the teams met Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. In the opener, the Blulgolds scored two goals in the first period, then added single goals in the second and third periods. The shutout was Eau Claire's sixth shutout of the season. In game two, the Blugolds used two power play goals and a delayed penalty to take the win.  |  Game One Story and Box Score | Game Two Story and Box Score

LAST TIME STOUT AND SUPERIOR MET: UW-Stout and UW-Superior split their weekend series in January at Superior, with the Yellowjackets taking a 6-1 opening game decision. Stout bounced back with a 2-1 win the following night. In the opener, Superior scored five unanswered goals, including four in the third period for the win. Stout got their only goal of the game in the first period, a shot by Joey Haydock to tie the game fore the Yellowjackets rolled off five consecutive goals. Michael Rey had two goals to lead the way. In the second game, Jordan Tredinnick scored the eventual game-winning-goal and the Stout defense made the score stand up.  Superior's Joey Massingham scored on a power play goal four minutes into the game. Fifteen minutes later, Stout equalized the score when Tyler Cayemberg scored.. |  Game One Story and Box Score | Game Two Story and Box Score

ICE TIME: Nolan Kirley, Matt Millis, Zach Vierling, Derek Sand, Jordan Tredinnick, Logan Maly, and Jake Useldinger have played in all 23 games this season.

SUCCESSFUL DEBUT: Freshman goalkeeper Chase Hollander made a successful debut Saturday, Jan. 25, when he kept St. John's off the scoreboard for the more than 31 minutes he played. Hollander got the call with the Blue Devils trailing 4-1 midway through the second period, then stuffed the Johnnies with nine saves in the second and 12 saves in the third. Hollander's imitation of a brick wall allowed Stout to climb back into the game with two third period goals. Hollander was pulled with 34 seconds remaining to put an extra attacker on the ice.

LENDING A HAND: When goalie Corey Koop was awarded an assist on Nov. 23 against St. Norbert, it was the first time a Stout goalie had earned an assist since Jake Schuman picked up an assist against Lawrence University, Nov. 28, 2004.

FRIGHTFUL FRIDAYS: Of the nine Friday games the Blue Devils have played, they have only won one, a 10-3 win over Hamline University, Nov. 8.

SCOUTING UW-SUPERIOR (7-13-3, 2-6-2 WIAC):  Pat Dalbec leads the Yellowjackets with 10 goals and 11 assists. Michael Rey has nine goals and nine assists. Cody Hotchkins has five goals and 11 assists, while Jeff Forsythe has four goals and nine assists. Drew Strandburg and Dayn Belfour are working between the pipes. Strandburg has worked nearly 800 minutes and has a GAA of 2.41 and a saves percentage of 91.1 percent. Belfour has worked nearly 560 minutes with a GAA of 3.11 and a saves percentage of 88.8 percent. The 'Jackets have been outscored, 67-53 (2.9-2.3). Superior has lost three games by one goal, won one game by one goal and have three tied games. |  2013-14 Statistics

LAST TIME OUT: The Yellowjackets had last weekend off and are coming off a pair of losses to UW-Eau Claire, Feb. 7-8, in Eau Claire. The Blugolds outshot the Yellowjackets 43-29 in a 3-0 first night win. then erased an early 1-0 lead in the second game with a three goal outburst in the second period. Pat Dalbec made it 3-2 with a power play goal to lead off the third period, but the Blugolds rattled off three goals to end the period.    | Game One Story and Box Score | Game Two Story and Box Score


USCHO.com POLL: UW-Eau Claire is ranked sixth in the latest USCHO.com poll.   Blue Devil opponents in the poll: UW-Stevens Point (3rd), St. Norbert (1st), St Thomas (5th), UW-Eau Claire (6th), Utica (13th), UW-River Falls (10th) and Gustavus Adolphus (15th). St. John's and Lake Forest are receiving votes.

RECORDS AND MILESTONES: Kevin O'Donnell has continued to work his way up the UW-Stout all-time career scoring list. His 91 total points (39-52 - 91) places him ninth on the UW-Stout all-time scoring list ahead of Jim Cuilla (1968-72) and Jack Roach (1973-75) who have 89 points.  His 39 goals ranks him 20th, behind Nate Legler's (2000-04) 39 goals. His 52 assists ranks O'Donnell as seventh, ahead of Chuck Gerber (1971-75) and Jack Wolgemuth (2005-09,who both have 50 assists.

AWARDS AND HONORS: Logan Maly was the WIAC player of the week after being named to the Oswego Classic all-tournament team...Corey Koop was the WIAC and the UW-Stout Northwestern Mutual player of the week, Dec. 10, after making 59 saves against nationally ranked UW-Stevens Point...Kevin O'Donnell was a first team all-WIAC selection last season; Jordan Tredinnick and Zach Vierling honorable mention all-WIAC.

TEAM CAPTAINS: Logan Maly is the team captain, while Kevin O'Donnell and Zach Vierling are assistant captains for the 2013-14 season.

THE COACHES: UW-Stout:  Terry Watkins (215-249-28) is in his 18th 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-Eau Claire:. Matt Loen (100-78-13) is in his seventh year as the head coach of the Blugolds. His 2012-13 team won the national championship. UW-Superior: Dan Stauber (236-113-54) is in his 14th year as the coach of the Yellowjackets. His team won the 2002 national championship.

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.

2012-13 BLUE DEVILS (10-13-2, 5-13-0 NCHA): After a hot start to the season, Stout finished the 2012-13 season with a 10-15-2 overall record, 5-13-0 in their last season in the NCHA and 2-10-0 in the WIAC.   | 2012-13 Statistics

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 play UW-Superior in the first round of the WIAC Championship Tournament, which will get underway, Tuesday, Feb. 25, with the fifth seeded team at the fourth seeded team. When the two teams meet this Friday, Feb. 21, the winner of that game will determine who is the home team. The semi-final found will be Feb. 28-March 1, with the championship game Saturday, March 8. All games are hosted by the highest seeded team.