Hockey Preview: Stout to hit road this weekend before long homestand

at Augsburg: Live Stats | Live Video   at St. Olaf: Live Stats | Live Video

THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (1-1-2, 0-0-0 WIAC) will return to the road for the final time this calendar year when they will be at Augsburg College (1-3-0, 1-1-0 MIAC), Friday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. and at St. Olaf College (1-1-2, 0-0-0 MIAC), Saturday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m. Stout begins a seven-game homestand when they host Concordia-Wisconsin, Saturday, Nov. 21.

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. Blue Devil home games: Live Stats | Live Video


THE 2015-16 BLUE DEVILS (1-1-2, 0-0-0 WIAC): Senior Jake Useldinger has emerged as the early season scoring leader, putting in three goals over the first four games. Useldinger last year was the team's third leading scorer. Juniors Tyler Cayemberg and Shayne McLaughlin each have a goal, as do freshmen Steve Doane, Joe Anderson and Mathias Ahman. While last year's leading scorer, Justin Moody, has not found the back of the net yet this year, he has dished off two assists, as have Riley Colvard and Danny Ray. Five players have one assist. In the net, Spencer Viele, who was the WIAC player of the week after a win and a tie, has garnered the most minutes. Viele has a 1-0-1 record with a GAA of 1.09, recording 82 saves with an overall saves percentage of .965. Chase Hollander has worked two games and has a GAA of 4.24.  | 2015-16 Blue Devil Statistics

THE 2015-16 BLUE DEVILS PREVIEW: UW-Stout's 2015-16 roster features two seniors, 12 juniors, three sophomores and 13 freshmen. Ten returners played in all 26 games last year and 11 played in 20 games or more. The Blue Devils return 13 of their top-15 scorers and six of their top-eight scorers from last season, including junior forward Justin Moody, who led the squad with 11 goals, 12 assists and 23 points. UW-Stout will play nine of its first 13 games at the Fanetti Community Center (formerly the Dunn County Ice Arena), including seven consecutive home contests from Nov. 21-Jan. 8. The Blue Devils were picked to finish fifth in the WIAC in a preseason poll. Jake Useldinger scored seven goals and nine assists. Craig Lindegard added seven goals and eight assists, while Tyler Cayemberg had five goals and 10 assists. Spencer Viele and Chase Hollander split time in the net, with Viele posting a 5-11-1 overall record, with a goals against average of 3.62 and a saves percentage of. .908. Hollander had a 3-6-0 record with a GAA of 4.13 and a saves percentage of .893.   | 2015-16 Blue Devil Statistics

STOUT'S LAST TIME OUT: The Blue Devils scored a 4-2 win over Bethel University, Nov. 6, and played to a scoreless tie with Gustavus Adolphus, Nov. 7. Against Bethel, the Blue Devils came from behind to score three consecutive goals for the win, with Jake Useldinger, Joe Anderson and Steve Doane getting on the scoresheet. Shayne McLaughlin scored an empty-net goal to close out the night. Spencer Viele recorded 30 saves, seven in overtime, as Stout played to it's first-ever scoreless tie. | Bethel Story and Box Score | Gustavus Adolphus Story and Box Score

SCORELESS TIE: If fans were looking for scoring in the UW-Stout/Gustavus Adolphus College game Saturday night, they went away disappointed. The scoreless tie with the Gusties was a first for UW-Stout, which has never had a scoreless tie in any of the program's varsity games, stretching back to 1968. Gustavus last season set an NCAA Division III record for ties with eight and one was a scoreless tie. According to Tim Danehy of collegehockeystats.net, scoreless ties are "not common obviously, but not that rare overall" across all divisions, both men and women, and appear to be on the rise. So far this year, six scoreless ties have been reported, but the Stout/Gustavus double goose eggs were the first of the season for Division III men.  Last season there were 17 scoreless ties reported to collegehockeystats.net, of which six were Division III men, Danehy said.  In 2013-14 there were nine total and 2012-13 had 10 total. The same night UW-Stout and Gustavus were going scoreless, the UW-Eau Claire women and St. Catherine played to a 0-0 decision.


SCOUTING AUGSBURG COLLEGE: The Auggies received their lone win of the season at the MIAC Showcase, downing St. John's 5-0, Nov. 1. Coming off a 12-14-0 season, the Auggies were picked to finish fifth in a MIAC preseason poll. Nate Flynn has scored five goals and assist. Eli May has three goals and three assists and Eric Brenk has two goals. Brandon Jones and Jordyn Kaufer have split time in the goal, with each getting two games. Jones has a 1-1-0 record with a GAA of 1.98 and a saves percentage of .915. Kaufer has a 0-1-1 record with a 3.01 GAA and a saves percentage of .893. |  2014-15 Statistics | 2015-16 Statistics

AUGSBURG'S LAST TIME OUT: The Auggies are coming off a pair of losses to WIAC teams, a 3-4 overtime loss at UW-Superior, Nov. 6, and a 3-2 decision at UW-Eau Claire, Nov. 7. | UW-Superior Game Story and Stats | UW-Eau Claire Game Story and Stats

LAST TIME AUGSBURG AND STOUT MET: UW-Stout scored three third period goals, but it wouldn't be enough as Augsburg College scored four in the final stanza and took a 7-3 home-opening win from the Blue Devils Nov. 14, 2014, at the Dunn County Ice Arena.  |  Game Story and Statistics

THE SERIES: The Auggies hold a 10-7-1 record over the Blue Devils. Augsburg has won three of the last five meetings, and the last two meetings.


SCOUTING ST. OLAF COLLEGE: The Oles will host UW-Superior, Friday, Nov. 13. The Oles defeated Concordia-Moorhead, 4-2 at the MIAC Showcase, Nov. 1, for their lone win of the season. The Oles finished eighth last season in the MIAC and are picked to finish eighth in the MIAC preseason poll. Drew Otto leads the Oles in scoring with five goals and three assists. Peter Lindblad has three goals and an assist. Justin Plate has two goals with four assists, and Mark Rath and Steven Sherman each have two goals and an assist. Luke Andruik has played three games in net, posting a GAA of 3.89 with 115 saves and a saves percentage of .906.   |  St. Olaf Statistics

ST. OLAF'S LAST TIME OUT: The Oles lost and tied a game in a weekend series with Hamline University last weekend, first playing to a 5-5 tie in Northfield, Minn., Nov. 6, the dropping a 5-2 decision at Hamline the following day.  | Nov. 6 Game Story and Stats | Nov. 7 Game Story and Stats

LAST TIME ST. OLAF AND STOUT MET: UW-Stout built up a 4-2 lead, but couldn't hold the lead and lost, 5-4, in overtime to St. Olaf College, Jan. 11, 2011 at the Rosemount Ice Arena.  |  Game Story and Statistics

THE SERIES: The Blue Devils hold a 17-12-0 record over the Oles.


USCHO.com TOP 15 DIVISION III POLL: Neither Stout, St. Olaf or Augsburg received votes in the latest USCHO.com poll. | USCHO.com Division III Poll

TEAM CAPTAINS: Captains for the 2015-16 season are Jake Useldinger, Derek Sand, Justin Moody and Danny Ray.

AWARDS AND HONORS: Goalie Spencer Viele was selected as the WIAC athlete of the week after snagging a win over Bethel and playing to a scoreless tie with Gustavus Adolphus, Nov. 6-7. Viele posted a saves percentage of .963 over the two games...(2014-15) Spencer Viele was selected as the WIAC athlete of the week Feb. 3, after posting a 4-3 win over 12th ranked UW-Eau Claire...Chase Hollander was selected as the UW-Stout athlete of the week after sweeping UW-Superior Jan. 16 and Jan. 17...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.

THE COACHES: UW-Stout: Terry Watkins (224-269-31) 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.  Augsburg: Chris Brown enters his 10th season at the helm of the Auggies.  St. Olaf: Sean Goldsworthy is in his 19th season as head men's hockey coach at St. Olaf in 2015-16. He was named the MIAC's coach of the year in 2009 after leading the Oles to their first regular season MIAC championship since 1938-39. In that season, St. Olaf was ranked as high as 13th in the United States Collegiate Hockey Top 15 poll and won the league by seven points.


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. Even though Superior is leaving the conference is other sports after this year, the hockey programs will remain affiliated with the WIAC. Both Augsburg and St. Olaf are members of the MIAC.

LENDING AN ASSIST: When Spencer Viele was awarded an assist against Bethel University, Nov. 6, 2015, he was not the first Stout goalie, and won't be the last, to get an assist. Since the Blue Devil hockey program returned to varsity play during the 1996-97 season, seven goalies have earned at least one assist. Chase Hollander was awarded an assist for his pass as Danny Ray scored against UW-Superior, Jan. 17, 2015. Corey Koop did it during the 2013-14 season, Jeff Stone during the 2008-09 season, and Jake Schuman during the 2004-05 season each recorded an assist. Jeff Dotson did it in 2000-01 as a freshman, then did it again as a senior in 2003-04. Kelly Elde did it twice during the 1996-97 season.

HAT TRICK: Austin Nelson's hat trick on Jan. 23, 2015, against Aurora University was not only the first hat trick of the season for the Blue Devils, but Stout's first hat trick since the 2011-12 season when Branden Gay executed the feat Dec. 2, 2011 against St. Scholastica.

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

NEW NAME: The Dunn County Board last spring approved renaming the Dunn County Ice Arena to the Fanetti Community Center in recognition of Marilyn Fanetti's contribution to fundraising efforts undertaken by the Menomonie Youth Hockey Association to remodel and add to the arena at the Dunn County Recreation Park. Fanetti donated $370,000 to the project and asked that the hockey arena and new community room be named for her family.

UP NEXT: The Blue Devils begin a seven-game homestand when they host Concordia University of Wisconsin, Saturday, Nov. 21.