Hockey Preview: Blue Devils open WIAC by hosting Blugolds, Yellowjackets

Blue Devil home games: Live Stats | Live Video

THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (3-2-2, 0-0-0 WIAC) are in the midst of a seven game homestand and will open WIAC play by hosting UW-Eau Claire, (6-2-2, 0-0-0 WIAC) Thursday, Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. and UW-Superior, (3-4-2, 0-0-0 WIAC) Friday, Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m. Stout will step out of conference play when they host the Milwaukee School of Engineering, (4-3-0, 3-3-0 NCHA) Tuesday, Dec. 8 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. Blue Devil home games: Live Stats | Live Video


THE 2015-16 BLUE DEVILS (3-3-2, 0-1-0 WIAC): Tyler Cayemberg leads Stout with a team-best four goals and one assist, with three goals coming on the power play. Senior Jake Useldinger has three goals, with all three coming on special teams. Useldinger has two power play goals and a shorthanded goal. Justin Moody has a goal and a team-high three assists. Karl Andersen and Riley Colvard each have two goals apiece. Colavrd has one power play goal and two assists, while Andersen has one assist.  Six other Blue Devils have one goal apiece - Danny Ray, Dylan Zinz, Mathias Ahman, Joe Anderson, Steve Doane and Shayne McLaughlin. Anderson and Ray each have three assists. Both goalies - Spencer Viele and Chase Hollander - each have one assist.  Viele, who was the WIAC player of the week two weeks ago, has played in six of the seven games, posting a 2-1-1 record, with a GAA of 1.44 and a saves percentage of .959. But Viele was injured against Concordia and Chase Hollander finished out the game, collecting the win. Hollander has a goals against average of 4.16, and a saves percentage of .843 with a record of 1-2-1. Tom Schmit saw his first collegiate action in relief against UW-Eau Claire. |  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: UW-Stout was shutout by a high powered UW-Eau Claire offensive attack as both teams opened the WIAC schedule. The Blue Devils fell behind early in the first period, 1-0 after Adam Knochenmus scored his first goal. He would go on to score the next four, totaling five on the game. The Blugolds would go on to score two more goals to end the game 7-0. Stout goalies Chase Hollander (23) and Nick Schmit (6) combined for 29 saves, while Hollander took the loss for the Blue Devils. Eau Claire goaltender Tyler Green recorded 33 saves on the night and took the win and the shuout. Both teams combined for 12 penalties in the hard fought rivalry game. | Story and Box Score


SCOUTING UW-SUPERIOR: UW-Superior begins its 60th season of varsity men's ice hockey with 14 returning letterwinners, including junior forward Anton Svensson, who led the team in scoring with 19 points. Goalies Bryce Fink, a sophomore, and Cory Simons, a junior, are back after starting 11 games each last year. The Yellowjackets will have 14 of their 25 regular-season games on home ice during the 2015-16 campaign. Head coach Dan Stauber became the program's all-time wins leader with his final win of the 2014-15 season, passing Steve Nelson (1987-2000) with his 249th victory.

Anton Svensson is leading the Yellowjackets with a team-high six goals and has added two assists. Both Ian Ecklund and Daniel Litchke have eight assists. Ecklund has three goals and Litchke one. Eric Shand has three goals and five assists. Bryce Fink has spent the most time in the net, posting a 1-3-2 overall record with a 2.12 GAA with a saves percentage of .924. Cory Simons is 2-1-0 with a GAA of 2.95 and a saves percentage of .909. | 2015-16 Statistics

YELLOWJACKETS' LAST TIME OUT: In their second go-around of the season with Hamline University, the Yellowjackets fell, 3-1, to the Pipers on the eve of Thanksgiving in Superior. The Pipers scored a couple of goals, one each at the tail end of the first and second periods. Superior cut the lead in half three minutes into the third period on a goal from Jimmy Hughes. The Pipers sealed the win with an empty net goal with six ticks left on the clock. |  Game Story and Stats

LAST TIME SUPERIOR AND STOUT MET: The two teams split four games with the Blue Devils taking the first two, but the Yellowjackets snagged the final two including the first round WIAC playoff game, putting and end to the Blue Devils season, 4-3 in overtime in Menomonie. Craig Lindegard 's goal with 11 seconds remaining in regulation pushed the game into overtime, but UW-Stout came up just short when UW-Superior scored nearly seven minutes into overtime in a WIAC first round playoff game Feb. 24 at the Fanetti Community Center. The Yellowjackets' Anton Svensson scored at 6:49 of overtime to give Superior the 4-3 win and the right to advance to theWIAC semi-final round. | Game Story and Statistics

THE SERIES: The Yellowjackets hold a 54-20-4 advantage in the series.


SCOUTING UW-EAU CLAIRE: UW-Eau Claire welcomes back 21 letterwinners from a season ago and is slotted for second in the five-team league race. The Blugolds return three of their top-four point scorers in senior forward Ethan Nauman (20 goals, 13 assists, 33 points), along with junior forwards Brandon Wahlin (11 goals, 21 assists, 32 points) and Patrick Moore (8 goals, 21 assists, 29 points). Nauman's 33 points and 20 goals topped the conference, while Wahlin's 32 points and 21 assists tied for second. Returning in goal are junior Jay Deo and senior Taylor Green, who split time a season ago and each registering nine victories. Green led the WIAC with a 1.99 goals against average and .929 saves percentage. The 2015-16 schedule features a trip to Tempe, Ariz., to face NCAA Division I Arizona State University. 

The 2015-16 Blugolds are led by Garret Clemment, who has has five goals and nine assists. Adam Knochenmus has a team-bets nine goals, with three of them coming on the power play and another coming short-handed. David Henry, Preston Hodge and Ethan Nauman each have four goals. Henry has chpped in five assists, Hodge four and Nauman three.  Patrick Moore has seven assists and a pair of goals. The Blugolds have outscored their opponents by an average of 4.3-1.9. In the net, Tyler Green and Jay Deo have split time. Green is 3-1-1 with a GAA of 1.60 and a saves percentage of .944. Jay Deo has a 2-1-1 record with a GAA of 2.17 and a saves percentage of .920.  | 2015-16 Statistics

BLUGOLDS' LAST TIME OUT: The Blugolds fell to the Marian Sabres 5-2 Saturday, Nov. 28 recording just their second loss of the season. UW-Eau Claire led in shots on goal and faceoffs for the game in their comeback bid, but fell short allowing a goal in the third period and then a late empty net goal to concede their most goals in a game this season. |  Game Story and Stats

LAST TIME EAU CLAIRE AND STOUT MET: The Blugolds took two of three games from the Blue Devils last season, a 5-3 win at Eau Claire in January, but Stout turned the tables the next night with a 4-3 win. The Blugolds took the single game in Menomonie, a 5-1 decision that saw the Blugolds score three first period goals.  | Game Story and Statistics

THE SERIES: The Blugolds hold a 36-33-3 lead in the series.



USCHO.com TOP 15 DIVISION III POLL: UW-Eau Claire was ranked 10th in the Nov. 30 USCHO.com poll. MSOE was receiving votes. | 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: Forward Tyler Cayemberg was selected as the WIAC athlete of the week after scoring a hat trick against Concordia University Wisconsin, Nov. 21. Cayemberg had two power play goals and completed the hat trick with an empty net goal with three seconds remaining...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.

THE COACHES: UW-Stout: Terry Watkins (226-272-31) 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. UW-Eau Claire: Matt Loen enters his eighth season as head coach for the men's ice hockey team in 2015-2016 at the UW-Eau Claire. In 2012-2013 Loen led the Blugolds to win the NCAA Division III National Championship in Lake Placid, New York. That year, Loen was named the USCHO and D3Hockey.com National Coach of the Year. The Blugolds also won the NCHA and WIAC Conference Championships in 2012-2013. UW-Superior: Dan Stauber enters his 16th season as head coach of the Yellowjacket men's hockey program in 2015-16. A year ago, Stauber became the all-time wins leader at UW-Superior when his team defeated UW-Stout in overtime February 24. The win was his 249th, passing Steve Nelson on the all-time list.Stauber took the reins of the program in August of 2000 when Steve Nelson resigned and enjoyed immediate success. His first team set several school records, including most wins in a season (30), longest unbeaten streak (23 games) and longest winning streak (19 games). They claimed the school's second NCHA regular season championship and second straight NCHA playoff title. The team entered the NCAA Final Four regarded as a favorite, but fell short and had to settle for third place.


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. MSOE is a member of the NCHA.

SCORELESS TIE: If fans were looking for scoring in the UW-Stout/Gustavus Adolphus College game Nov. 7, 2015, 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.

LENDING AN ASSIST, continued: Chase Hollander was awarded his second career assist in the Blue Devils' 5-2 win over Concordia University Wisconsin, Nov. 21. That makes two different Stout goalies that have gotten assists during the 2015-16 season. Spencer Viele was awarded an assist Nov. 6 against Bethel University. The two helpers mark the first time two UW-Stout goalies have gotten an assist in the same year since the team returned to varsity status 20 years ago...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: Tyler Cayemberg's hat trick against Concordia University Wisconsin, Nov. 21, 2015, was the first since Austin Nelson's hat trick on Jan. 23, 2015, against Aurora University. Previous to Nelson's triple, Stout's previous hat trick came during 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:  Stout will step out of league play when they host the Milwaukee School of Engineering, Tuesday, Dec. 8. Stout will complete December play by hosting Concordia-Moorhead, Friday, Dec. 11 and St. Olaf College, Saturday, Dec. 12.