Blue Devils take on first place and third ranked Pointers this weekend

Blue Devil home games: Live Stats | Live Video       at UW-Stevens Point: Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video

THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (8-10-1, 3-3-0 WIAC), winner of six of their last eight games, play a home and home series with third-ranked UW-Stevens Point (15-4-0, 5-1-0 WIAC), hosting the Pointers, Friday, Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m. and traveling to Stevens Point, Saturday, Feb. 7 for a 7 pm. contest.

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 (8-10-1, 3-3-0 WIAC): After starting the season off 2-8-1, the Blue Devils have won six of their last eight games, which includes a win over 12th ranked UW-Eau Claire in their own arena. Justin Moody leads the team in goals with nine and has eight assists for 17 total points. Haydock and Jake Useldinger each have six goals. Haydock has nine assists for 15 points and Useldinger eight assists for 14 points. Tyler Cayember has a team-high 10 assists and has four goals. Craig Lindegard has six goals and seven assists. Jordan Tredinnick has four goals and eight assists. Eighteen players have scored goals, and 21 players have tallied at least one assist and 23 players have scored at least one point. . All three goalies on the roster have seen time between the pipes, but Spencer Viele have worked the majority of games. Viele has started 13 games and has a 3.41 GAA with a .907 saves percentage. Hollander has started six games and has a GAA of 3.97 with a saves percentage of .898. Gustav Griborn has seen limited action, with a GAA of 5.26. | Blue Devil Statistics

SAVED BY THE BELL: Scott Bell played in his first game since Feb. 16, 2013, and tallied an assist in Stout's Jan. 30 game at UW-Eau Claire.

PENALTY FREE: When Jordan Tredinnick was whistled for tripping against Concordia University, Jan. 10, it was the first time he was sent to the penalty box since Jan. 31, 2013 against UW-River Falls. That is 42 consecutive games without getting an inside view of the penalty box.

HAT TRICK: Freshman Austin Nelson's hat trick on Jan. 23 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, 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.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The Blue Devils' special teams have taken some hits over the last several weeks. Among the conference leaders on the power play just a a few weeks ago, Stout scored four power play goals on 34 opportunities in the month of January for a power play percent of 11.8. While Stout's opponents scored six power play goals against the Blue Devils, their percentage was similar to Stout's. The Blue Devils allowed six power play goals on 45 opportunities (13.3 percent). On the season, Stout has a power play percentage of .203 (15-74) and a penalty kill of .826 (16-92), right n the middle of the WIAC pack for both categories. Stout has scored four shorthanded goals, with Jake Useldinger getting three of them. Useldinger is tied for third nationally in shorties.

STOUT'S LAST TIME OUT: Spencer Viele made 48 saves, including 21 in the second period and 18 in the third period as Stout took a 4-3 win over UW-Eau Claire, Jan. 31. Viele made 11 saves during Eau Claire power play opportunities, including one 5-on-3 opportunity. Craig Lindegard and Karl Andersen got third period goals to break a 2-2 tie. On the first night, the teams played even, but the Blugolds won the game with two goals in the final 24 minutes.as the Blugolds captured a 5-3 win, Jan. 30. | Game One Story and Box Score | Game Two Story and Box Score


SCOUTING UW-STEVENS POINT: The Pointers come into the Fanetti Community Center (formerly the Dunn County Ice Arena) as the third ranked team in the USHCO.com Top 15 poll. After splitting a series with UW-River Falls, the Pointers have won their last three games. Joe Kalisz is second in the WIAC in scoring, putting in 14 goals and 11 assists, by far exceeding Kyle Sharkey's nine goals. Kevin Gibson has a team-best 15 assists. Nine players have scored at least 10 points so far this season. Brandon Jaeger has played the vast majority of minutes in net, posting a 15-3-0 overall record with a GAA of 2.26 and a saves percentage of .909. The Pointers lead the league in goals scored with 4.6 per game, third nationally, and are allowing 2.5 goals. | Pointer Statistics

UW-STEVENS POINT'S LAST TIME OUT: The No. 5 UW-Stevens Point men's hockey team recorded its second consecutive 9-4 win, scoring eight goals over the final two periods to defeat Bethel on Put A Check To Cancer Night on Jan. 31 at K.B. Willett Arena. The Pointers scored three second period goals to take a 5-1 lead after two periods, then added four more goals in the final period. Joe Kalisz led the way with two goals and an assist but 15 different players recorded a point for the Pointers, who outshot Bethel by a 41-18 margin.The No. 5 UW-Stevens Point men's hockey team recorded its second consecutive 9-4 win, scoring eight goals over the final two periods to defeat Bethel on Put A Check To Cancer Night on Jan. 31 at K.B. Willett Arena. | Game Story and Statistics

LAST YEAR WHEN STOUT AND UW-STEVENS POINT MET: In what looked like a blowout in the making midway through the second period, turned into a game after UW-Stout scored three consecutive second period power play goals to pull to within one goal, but inevitably fifth ranked UW-Stevens Point prevailed, 7-5, Dec. 6. Stout won two of the team's three meetings last season. | Game Story and Statistics

THE SERIES: Stout owns a 40-32-3 lead in the series. The Pointers have won eight of the last 10 meetings.



USCHO.com TOP 15 DIVISION III POLL: UW-Stout ranked opponents include: UW-Stevens Point (3rd); UW-Eau Claire (13th); UW-River Falls (5th); Lake Forest (12th) St. Thomas (15th). MSOE was receiving votes.

TEAM CAPTAINS: Captains for the 2014-15 season include Jordan Tredinnick, Jake Useldinger and Tate Rusk.

AWARDS AND HONORS: 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 (223-261-29) 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. UW-Stevens Point: Chris Brooks (66-32-5) is in his fourth year as the head of the UW-Stevens Point team. In 2013-14, Brooks led UW-Stevens Point to a national runner-up finish in its first appearance in the NCAA Division III postseason in 16 years. The berth in the Frozen Four was the first for the Pointers since 1998. The Pointers recorded a 22-6-2 record and the 22 wins were the most by a UWSP team since 1999-2000. Brooks was also named a finalist for the Edward Jeremiah Award, given to the Division III Coach of the Year in 2013-14. The Pointers finished the season ranked second in the country and were ranked in both the USCHO.com and D3hockey.com the entire season and were in the top five of both polls from Dec. 2. on. UW-Stevens Point was one of three teams to finish in the top 10 in the nation in both team offense (third) and team defense (seventh).

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.

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 host UW-River Falls in a weekend series, hosting the Falcons Friday, Feb. 13 and Saturday, Feb. 14, both games getting underway at 7:30 p.m.