Hockey Preview: Blue Devils open home schedule Friday, Saturday

Blue Devil home games: Live Stats | Live Video

THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (0-1-1, 0-0-0 WIAC) will open the home schedule when they host Bethel University, (0-1-1, 0-1-1 MIAC) Friday, Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m. and Gustavus Adolphus College, (1-0-1, 1-0-1 MIAC) Saturday, Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m.

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 2015-16 BLUE DEVILS (0-1-1, 0-0-0 WIAC): Senior Jake Useldinger scored a pair of goals against Finlandia and freshman Christian Salvato recorded his first goal of the season. Riley Colvard has a pair of assists. Tyler Cayemberg scored Stout's lone goal against St. Scholastica. Craig Lindegard, Justin Moody, Danny Ray and Dylan Zins each have an assist. Chase Hollander has worked four periods, with 27 saves and a 4.24 GAA. Spencer Viele finished up the St. Scholastica game, playing two periods, recording 30 saves with one goal allowed for .968 save percentage. Viele has a GAA of 1.50. | 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 tied at Finlandia University, 3-3, Oct. 30 and lost, 4-1 at St. Scholastica, Oct. 31. Stout outshot Finlandia University by more than a two to one advantage, but had to come from behind to take a 3-3 tie with the Lions Friday in the season opener for both teams. Jake Useldinger scored two goals and Christian Salvato scored the game-tying goal, with all three goals coming in the third period. St. Scholastica scored three goals in the first period and tagged on another in the second on their way to a 4-1 win over Stout Saturday The Saints (1-0-1) took advantage of the power play, scoring all four of their goals with the advantage.  | Finlandia Story and Box Score | St. Scholastica Story and Box Score


SCOUTING BETHEL UNIVERSITY: The Royals are coming off a 4-19-2 overall, finishing in last place last season in the MIAC. The Royals return all-conference forward Mitch Hughes, who last year scored 10 goals and 14 assists, as well as two-time honorable mention defenseman Tony Larson. Hughes led the MIAC in scoring during his freshman year. Hughes has yet to tickle the twine this season, but has one assist. JT Walters has two goals and an assist, while Michael Bond has a goal and two assists. Nate Eytcheson has two goals and Travis Payne has a goal and an assist. In the net, the Royals have used both freshmen goaltenders Jesse Garcia and Tucker Murphy. Garcia took the tie and Murphy was saddled with the loss.  |  2014-15 Statistics | 2015-16 Bethel Statistics

BETHEL'S LAST TIME OUT: Playing in the MIAC Showcase, the Royals played to a 5-5 tie with St. Olaf, then lost 3-2 to Concordia-Moorhead. In the season opener against the Oles, both teams scored at least one goal in every period, leading to an overtime, where there was no scoring. Against the Cobbers, the Royals played from behind all evening. the Cobbers took a 1-0 lead midway through the first period. Bethel tied the score on a Travis Paine goal 43 seconds into the second, but Concordia jumped out to a 3-1 lead. JT Walters scored on the power play to close out the period, but the Royals could never find the equalizer. Concordia held a 41-21 shots advantage as the Royals' Tucker Murphy stopped 38 shots.  |  St. Olaf Game Story and Statistics | Bethel Game Story and Statistics

LAST TIME BETHEL AND STOUT MET: Kevin O'Donnell scored two goals and UW-Stout came back after a 26-day layoff to down Bethel University, 5-1, Friday at the Dunn County Ice Arena. The Blue Devils scored three goals in the first period to take control of this game, Jan. 4, 2012.  |  Game Story and Statistics

THE SERIES: Stout holds an 8-7-0 lead in the series. Previous to the 2012 meeting, the teams had not met since Nov. 25, 2005 when the Royals took a win in Blaine, Minn.



SCOUTING GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS: The Gusties finished last season at 8-9-8 overall, finishing seventh and that's where they were picked in a MIAC preseason poll. The Gusties last year had eight games that ended in a tie, breaking the single season NCAA Division III tie record of seven, held by three different schools. So far this season, Drew Aspinwell has a goal and three assists. Tim Donohue has a pair of goals and an assist. Sam Majka has a goal and two assists. In the net, freshman Chris Amsden has a tie and a GAA of. 2.77. Junior Erik Johnson recorded the team's win, making 38 saves and has an early season saves percentage of .905.  |  2014-15 Statistics | 2015-16 Gustavus Stats

THE GUSTIES LAST TIME OUT: The Gusties are scheduled to be at UW-Stevens Point, Friday, Nov. 6. Playing in the MIAC Showcase last weekend, the Gusties opened the season with a 5-4 win over St. Mary's, then tied 3-3 with Hamline University. In the opener with twenty-five seconds to go, Tim Donohue scored his second goal of the night, giving Gustavus the 5-4 victory.Erik Johnson earned the win for the Gusties, stopping 38 of 42 shots in 60 minutes of play. The Pipers took a 3-1 lead early in the second period, but the Gusties' Evan Erickson scored midway through the second period to pull within a goal. Jake Bushey's power play goal with less than two minutes remaining sent the game into overtime.  | St. Mary's Game Story and Statistics | Hamline Game Story and Statistics

LAST TIME GUSTAVUS AND STOUT MET: UW-Stout matched Gustavus Adolphus goal-for-goal throughout the contest, but ran out of time and the Gusties took a 4-3 overtime win Nov. 8, 2014. The Blue Devils never got the lead, but tied the game three times. The Gusties' Gavin Tufte gave the home team the win with 35 seconds left in overtime.  | Game Story and Statistics

THE SERIES: Gustavus holds a 10-7-1 lead in the series, including the last two meetings.



USCHO.com TOP 15 DIVISION III POLL: Gustavus Adolphus received a single vote in the latest USCHO.com poll. | USCHO.com Division III Poll

TEAM CAPTAINS: Captains for the 2015-16 season are yet to be announced.

AWARDS AND HONORS: (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 (223-269-30) 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.  Bethel: After five seasons of coaching the Bethel women's hockey program, Charlie Burggraf moved over to the men's program in 2010.  Gustavus: Twice the MIAC coach of the year, Brett Petersen is in his 16th season at the helm of 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. Even though Superior is leaving the conference is other sports after this year, the hockey programs will remain affiliated with the WIAC.

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.

LENDING AN ASSIST: When Chase Hollander was awarded an assist for his pass as Danny Ray scored against UW-Superior, Jan. 17, 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, six goalies, including Hollander, have earned at least one assist. Corey Koop did it last year. 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.

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 take to the road for the last time in the 2015 calendar year when they travel to Augsburg College, Friday, Nov. 13, then will be at St. Olaf College, Saturday, Nov. 14. Stout begins a seven game homestand when they host Concordia University of Wisconsin, Saturday, Nov. 21.