Hockey Preview: Blue Devils look to rebound against Concordia

Blue Devil home games: Live Stats | Live Video vs. Concordia

THIS WEEK'S GAMES:  A relatively new hockey program, UW-Stout (2-8-1, 0-2-0 WIAC) and Concordia University of Wisconsin (6-8-0, 2-6-0 NCHA) have met four times since the Falcons revved up the program for the 2007-08 season and the teams will match up Saturday, Jan. 10 at 7:30 p.m. The Blue Devils have won all four games, the most recent a 6-1 Stout win during the 2011-12 season.

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 (2-8-1, 0-2-0 WIAC): The Blue Devils trend for a balanced scoring attack has continued through the first half of the season, getting goals from 14 different players. Jake Useldinger leads the Blue Devils in scoring with four goals and five assists for nine points. Justin Moody and Craig Lindegard each have four goals, with Moody credited with four assists and Lindegard two. Tyler Cayemberg, Joey Haydock, Danny Ray and Jordan Tredinnick each have four assists. Cayemberg and Haydock each have two goals, with Ray and Tredinnick with one goal. Patrick Regan has a goal and three assists. Shayne McLaughlin has two goals, Jordan Stejskal with a goal and an assist, and Nolan Kirley with two assists. Carl Bombardier, Riley Colvard, Matt Millis and Tyler Shipstad each have a goal and Fabian Hellgren and Derek Sand each have an assist. 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 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 eight starts and has a GAA of 3.39, with a saves percentage of .901. Chase Hollander has started two games and has seen ation in four games, with a saves percentage of .849 and a GAA of 5.26. Gustav Griborn has seen limited action so far, with a GAA of 5.26. | Blue Devil Statistics

STOUT'S LAST TIME OUT: The Blue Devils could not find the back of the net last night, while opponent Milwaukee School of Engineering found it six times, four times on the penalty play. The teams combined for 23 penalties and MSOE was 4-of-9 on the power play while the Blue Devils were scoreless in five opportunities. The Raiders got hat tricks from Jerad Tafoya and Cody Ganchar. Stout was outshot, 29-20. | Story and Box Score

SCOUTING CONCORDIA: After starting the season off with a six game losing streak, the Falcons' have turned the season around, winning six of their last eight games, including a five game winnings streak that was ended last night with a 6-2 loss at UW-Superior, Stout's opponent next weekend. The Falcons are led offensively by Devin Stuermer, Chris Hughes and Anthony Pickering. Stuermer and Hughes have each popped in eight goals, while Pickering has tallied seven. Stuermer has nine assists and Hughes and Pickering six assists. Tanner Bull has added seven goals.  The Falcons have played three goalies, with Domingo Torrenueva and Dylan Frank each seeing action in six games. Torrenueva is posting a 4-1-0 record with a GAA of 2.50 and a saves percentage of .927. Frank has a 2-4-0 record with a 3.53 GAA and saves percentage of .892.  | Falcon Statistics

CONCORDIA LAST TIME OUT: UW-Superior used 2-0 advantages in the first and third periods to snap the Falcons' five-game winning streak Friday night. The Yellowjackets tallied two goals in each period en route to a 6-2 non-conference win over the Falcons. Superior built a 3-0 lead early into the second period before the Falcons got on the scoreboard with two unanswered goals, making the score 3-2 midway through the second. Cody Dixon and Chris Hughes netted the Falcons scores, Hughes goals coming on the power play. But the Yellowjackets had one more 3-0 surge in them, scoring once later in the second period and twice in the third period.  | Story and Statistics

LAST TIME STOUT AND CONCORDIA MET: The Blue Devils took a 2011-12 season-opening 6-1 win over the Falcons on Oct. 21, 2011.   Concordia opened the game with a goal by Russell Johnson four minutes into the game, but it was Stout after that, scoring six unanswered goals. Mike Hartviksen scored twice, and Jordan Tredinnick had three assists. Carl Bombardier also notched an assist.  For Tredinnick and Bombardier, it was their first collegiate games.  |  Game Story and Box Score

THE SERIES: The Blue Devils hold a 4-0-0 record over the relatively new Concordia program.


SCOUTING MSOE: The Raiders started the season off with four straight losses before rolling off six straight wins. Omar Mullen has 10 goals and 11 assists. Nick Kohn and Austin Campbell have been splitting time in net, with Kohn holding a 5-3-0 record with a 2.75 GAA and a saves percentage of .903. Campell has a 2-1-0 record on a GAA of 2.55 and a saves percentage of .885.  | Raiders Statistics

MSOE LAST TIME OUT: The Raiders lost to WIAC members, UW-Eau Claire, 4-0, and UW-Superior, 4-1, in mid-December. The Raiders opened up play for the 2015 calendar year by shutting out St. Mary's University, 4-0, Sunday, Jan. 4. Freshman Jerad Tafoya scored two goals and junior Nick Kohn stopped all 17 shots he faced as the MSOE hockey team shut out St. Mary's 4-0 Sunday afternoon at the Kern Center.  The Raiders scored in each period and killed off all six power plays for the Cardinals in posting their second shutout of the season.  Junior Nick LaRue and freshman Zach Simpson also lit the lamp and added assists for MSOE. Freshmen Omar Mullan tallied assists on a pair of scores, as well. | Story and Statistics

LAST TIME STOUT AND MSOE MET: The Blue Devils are 7-0-0 against MSOE, The teams have not met since Nov. 27, 2004, with the Blue Devils taking a 7-2 win. | Box Score

THE SERIES:  Stout leads, 7-0-0.





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 (217-258-29) 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. MSOE:  Mark Ostapina is in his 14th season as the head coach at MSOE.In his 13th season as head coach, Ostapina has helped put the the on the map as one of the premier programs in NCAA Division III. Since coming aboard, he has led the Raiders to three MCHA championships and three Harris Cup trophies. He also led the Raiders to their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance in 2011-12 Ostapina also been named the MCHA Coach of the Year and was a semifinalist for the Edward Jeremiah American Hockey Coaches Association Coach of the Year four times in his career. CONCORDIA:   Jasen Wise is in his third season at the helm of the Falcons. In each of his first two seasons, the Falcons have set a new program record for most wins. CUW won 10 games in 2013-14, following a seven-win season in 2012-13, the first year under Wise's direction. He has helped turn a program around that won just 10 games in five seasons prior to his arrival. The Falcons have also succeeded in the classroom under Wise, having 14 players earn NCHA All-Academic Team honors in 2013-14. That number is the most in school history, as a player must earn a 3.30 to qualify for All-Academic honors.

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. MSOE and Concordia are members 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: After playing MSOE and Concordia, the Blue Devils will play a home-and-home series with UW-Superior, hosting the Yellowjackets, Friday, Jan. 16, and traveling to Superior, Saturday, Jan. 17.