Hockey Preview: Stout takes to the road for the first time this season

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THIS WEEK'S GAMES:  UW-Stout (1-1-0, 0-0-0 WIAC) will hit the road for the first time this season, traveling to Concordia-Moorhead (2-0-0, 0-0-0 MIAC), Friday, Nov. 2 and at St. John's University (1-1-0, 0-0-0 MIAC), Saturday, Nov. 3. 
 

A LOOK AT UW-STOUT:

• The Blue Devils return four seniors, defensemen Mathias Ahman and Joe Kleven, and forwards Gavin Smith and Dylan Zins. Stout has eight juniors, seven sophomores, and 11 freshmen.
• The Blue Devils are averaging 2.5 goals per game and are giving up 2.5 goals per game. Stout scored three goals in a win over Trine and two goals in a loss to Aurora. In a pair of overtime preseason wins, Stout scored two goals in each exhibition games. So far in the regular season, Stout has gotten single goals from Conner Valesano, Arturas Laukaitis, Mathias Ahman, Trent Olson and Jack Cernohous. Laukaitis has Stout's only power play goal of the season and Cernohous the lone shorthanded goals. 
• In goal, Brady Meyers has made two appearances, picking up the 3-0 shutout win in his collegiate debut against Trine. He came on in relief to allow one goal and has a goals against average (GAA) of 0.61 and a saves percentage of .967. Ridge Gerads' collegiate debut didn't go quite as well. Gerads gave up three goals against Aurora before giving way to Meyers. Gerads will look to lower his GAA from an 8.18. 
• Defenseman Mathias Ahman was the team's leading scorer during the 2017-18 season, tallying 22 points on 11 goals and 11 assists. Seven of his goals came on power play.
• Junior Connor Chambers contributed 15 points, scoring two goals and a team-best 15 assists. Conner Valesano had 12 points, with three goals and nine assists. Hunter Anderson scored 12 points on five goals and seven assists. Anderson had a two-goal night in the first game with UW-Eau Claire.
• Dylan Zins scored five goals and five assists. Austin Jackson had nine points with four goals and five assists. Alex Toscano had four goals and four assists. Toscano has three power play goals.
• The Blue Devils had 19 players who  scored at least one goal, 20 players who have scored at least one assist and 21 players with at least one point.
• Complete Blue Devil 2017-18 Statistics

AHMAN IN NATIONAL STATS LAST SEASON

• Ahman received national attention last season as one of the highest scoring defensemen in all of NCAA Division III, finishing the season with 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points, ranking 16th nationally, averaging 0.85 points, a mark that led the WIAC. Ahman was second in the conference with seven power play goals, ranking 14th among all players nationally in power plays. Among defensemen, Ahman tied for third nationally in total goals.  In the WIAC among all players, Ahman ranked seventh in goals scored (11), 10th in points (11-11-22), second in power play points (7-6-13) and 15th in assists (11). Ahman was an All-WIAC first team selection.

BLUE DEVILS BETWEEN THE PIPES

• Tommi Ahlgren (6-10-2)  figured into 18 decisions last season, and finished with a GAA of 2.87 with a saves percentage of 898 and earned all-WIAC first team honors
• Evan Bisek (0-2-0) joined the Blue Devils at semester and made two starts.
• Two freshmen goalies join the Blue Devils, Brady Meyers and Ridge Gerads.

BLUE DEVIL SPECIAL TEAMS

• The Blue Devils are 1-for-7 (14.3) on the power play, with Arturus Laukaitis notching the lone power play goal. Jack Cernohous scored Stout's lone shorthanded goal, his first career goal. The Blue Devils have successfully stopped 12-of-13 (91.7)  power play opportunities by their opponents. 

BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT

• Stout defeated Trine University, 3-0, Oct. 26, in the season opener, but lost to Aurora University, 5-2. 
• Aurora scored two goals in the first two minutes of the second period to take a 3-0 lead. Mathias Ahman and Arturas Laikaitis scored goals for the Stout | Game Story and Statistics
• The Blue Devils Brady Meyers got his first collegiate start and picked up his first collegiate shutout in a 3-0 win over Trine. The Blue Devils got goals from Conner Valesano, Jack Cernohous and Trent Olson. For Cernohous and Olson, it was their first collegiate goals. | Game Story and Statistics

Game Stats Tracker

SCOUTING CONCORDIA COLLEGE

• Mario Bianchi comes back for his senior year after scoring seven goals and having 14 assists in 19 games last year. The Cobbers lost 54 points in Zach Doerring and Jon Grebosky. Last year, Doerring had 14 goals and 14 assists. In between the pipes is Junior Jacob Stephan. Last year, Stephan started in 18 games and had a .924 save percentage and a 2.60 GAA. 
• Concordia Statistics

COBBERS LAST TIME OUT

• The Cobbers opened the season by winning a pair of games at the MIAC Showcase last weekend, downing St. Mary's, 4-3, in overtime, then blanked Gustavus Adolphus, 3-0, the following night. | Gustavus Story and Statistics | St. Mary's Story and Statistics, 

WHEN STOUT AND CONCORDIA MET LAST

• UW-Stout spotted Concordia-Moorhead a 3-0, then launched a comeback in the third period that fell just short as the Cobber downed the Blue Devils, 3-2, in Stout's 2017-18 home opener  
• Game Story and Statistics

SCOUTING ST.  JOHN'S UNIVERSITY

• St. Johns returns their leading scorer from last year in junior Brady Heppner. Heppner had 13 goals to go along with 11 assists. Even though they lost a key piece on offense in Sam Valerius (9g, 15a), the Johnnies return Robb Stautz who had eight goals and 14 assists. The Johnnies also return goalie Andrew Lindgren who held a 11-5-1 record last year to go along with a 1.97 GAA and a .931 save percentage. 
• St. John's Statistics 

• The Johnnies split at the MIAC Showcase last weekend, opening with a 3-2 loss to St. Thomas, but bouncing back for a big 6-1 win over Bethel University. | St. Thomas Story and Statistics | Bethel Story and Statistics

• UW-Stout failed to convert on their power play and fell 4-1 in a non-conference contest to St. John's University, Nov. 4, 2017 at the Fanetti Community Center. The Blue Devils had seven power play opportunities - albeit one was only the three second power play chance - and came up shot on all seven chance. | Game Story and Statistics

TEAM CAPTAINS: Captains for the 2018-19 season are Mathias Ahman, Conner Valesano, Lucas Carroll and Adam Kresl.

AWARDS AND HONORS: 2017-18:

• Mathias Ahman earned second team All-America honors and first team all-WIAC honors. Goalie Tommi Ahlgren was a first team all-conference selection. Dylan Zins and Hunter Anderson were all-WIAC honorable mention selections. Lucas Carroll and Evan Butcher were AHCA All American Scholars.
• Defenseman Mathias Ahman scored a hat trick and was selected as the WIAC hockey player of the week after a 6-5 loss to St. Olaf, Jan. 5. Ahman scored the first goal of the game, then added two power play goals in the third period.
• Defenseman Mathias Ahman scored two goals and two assists in a 4-4 tie with Concordia University Wisconsin, Dec. 16, and was the UW-Stout/Toppers Athlete of the Week. Ahman also added an assist on a shorthanded goal in Stout's 2-1 loss the Falcons the previous night.
• Goalie Tommi Ahlgren posted two conference wins to open the WIAC season, a 4-3 victory over conference favorite UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 29, and a 2-1 triumph over UW-Superior on Dec. 1. Ahlgren, a sophomore from Tampere, Finland, was selected as the WIAC athlete of the week, Dec. 5, and the UW-Stout/Toppers Athlete of the Week. Ahlgren recorded 20 saves against Eau Claire and 32 against Superior.

UW-STOUT COACH TERRY WATKINS

• The 2018-19 season marks Terry Watkins' (253-311-40) 23rd 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. Watkins played in UW-Stout's first-ever game, but he was a member of the Blue Devils' opponents, St. Paul Groveland, Jan. 19, 1969. St. Paul beat the Blue Devils, 8-4. Watkins enrolled at the Stout the following school year and joined the hockey team.
• 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.

CONCORDIA'S CHRIS HOWE

• Chris Howe was hired in the spring of 2008 and became only the third Concordia men's hockey coach in the past 40 years. Howe has turned the Cobbers into a perennial conference tournament teams in his first eight seasons. He steadily improved the squad over his first two seasons and then guided the team to a breakout campaign in 2010-11. Howe helped Concordia earn their first MIAC playoff berth since 2002-03 and then proceeded to lead the team to their first-ever conference tournament championship game. Howe has helped Concordia go from a one-win season the year before he took over to a 12-win campaign in 2010-11. 

ST. JOHN'S DOUG SCHUELLER 

• Doug Schueller (SHOE-ler) is in his 11th season as SJU's head hockey coach in 2018-19. Schueller became the 22nd head coach in school history on May 16, 2008. The Johnnies earned their first MIAC regular-season title since 2005 (eighth overall) and later earned their sixth appearance at the NCAA Division III Tournament with the first MIAC Playoff Championship since 2003 (fifth overall) in 2012-13. SJU advanced to the MIAC Playoff Championship game once again in 2016.

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.
• Concordia-Moorhead and St. John's are both members of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). 

LENDING AN ASSIST: Two different Stout goalies earned assists during the 2015-16 season. Spencer Viele was awarded an assist Nov. 6 against Bethel University, then added a second assist Jan. 29 at UW-Superior and Chase Hollander earned an assist Nov. 21, 2015, against Concordia. The three 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.

PREVIOUS BLUE DEVIL HAT TRICKS (since 2008)

• Mathias Ahman vs. St. Olaf College, Jan. 5, 2018
• Joe Anderson vs. Gustavus Adolphus, Jan. 9, 2016
• Tyler Cayemberg vs. Concordia University Wisconsin, Nov. 21, 2015
• Austin Nelson vs. Aurora University, Jan. 23, 2015
• Branden Gay vs. St. Scholastica, Dec. 2, 2011
• Branden Gay vs. St. Norbert, Feb. 12, 2011
• Scott Motz vs. St. Mary's University, Jan. 13, 2009
• Nick Klaren vs. Northland, Nov. 4, 2008
• Scott Motz vs. Northland, Nov. 4, 2008
• Derek Hanson vs. Augsburg, Oct. 31, 2008
• Derek Hanson vs. Concordia, Oct. 24, 2008

THE LAST TIME IN A SINGLE GAME...

• Two Stout players recorded a hat trick: Scott Motz, Nick Klaren vs. Northland College, Nov. 4, 2008
• A Stout player recorded two or more power play goals: 2, Mathias Ahman vs. St. Olaf College, Jan. 5, 2018
• A Stout player recorded a shorthanded goal: Lucas Carroll vs. St. John's University, Nov. 4, 2017 (4-5)
• Stout scored two empty net goals: Jake Useldinger, Nolan Kirley vs. Saint Mary's University, Jan. 16, 2016
• A Stout goalie recorded 40-45 saves: 45, Tommi Ahlgren vs. Gustavus Adolphus, Jan. 7, 2017
• A Stout goalie recorded 46-50 saves: 49, Spencer Viele vs. Aurora University, Jan. 24, 2015
• A Stout goalie recorded 50-55 saves: 51, Corey Koop vs. UW-Eau Claire, Feb. 20, 2014
• A Stout goalie recorded 55-plus saves: 59, Corey Koop vs. UW-Stevens Point, Dec. 7, 2013
• A Stout player recorded four goals: 4, Brad Weappa vs. Hamline University, Jan. 18, 2000
• A Stout goalie recorded an assist: Spencer Viele vs. UW-Superior, Jan. 29, 2016
• A Stout team scored 5-7 goals: 5 vs. St. Olaf College, Jan. 5, 2018
• A Stout team scored 8-10 goals: 8 vs. Concordia Wisconsin (W 8-5), Jan. 10, 2015
• A Stout team scored 10-plus goals: 11 vs. Northland College (W 11-2), Nov. 4, 2008
• Stout posted a shutout: vs. Trine University (3-0), Oct. 26, 2018' vs. St. Olaf College (3-0), Dec. 10, 2016; Gustavus Adolphus (0-0), Nov. 7, 2015
• Stout was shut out: vs. Aurora University (2-0), Nov. 24, 2017
• Both teams played to a scoreless tie: vs. Gustavus Adolphus, Nov. 7, 2015

BLUE DEVIL RECORD BOOK
Individual Records
Goals by Game: 8, Glenn LaChapelle vs. UW-Stevens Point, Feb. 18, 1973
Assists by Game: 9, Chuck Gerber vs. UW-Stevens Point, Feb. 18, 1973
Points by Game: 9, Glenn LaChapelle (8/1) vs. UW-Stevens Point, Feb. 18, 1973; Chuck Gerber (0/9) vs. UW-Stevens Point, Feb. 18, 1973;
Saves by Game: 67, Tom Slupe vs. Wisconsin JV, Feb. 14, 1970
Goals by Season: 43, Glenn LaChappelle, 1972-73
Assists by Season: 28, Derek Hanson, 2008-09
Points by Season: 65, Glenn LaChapelle (43/22), 1972-73
Saves by Season: 850, Tad Larson, 1977-78
Goalie Win/Loss Record by Season: 21-5-2, Matt Koenig, 2008-09
Goals by Career: 80, Glenn LaChapelle, 1970-73
Assists by Career: 80, Derek Hanson, 2006-10; Scott Motz, 2006-10
Points by Career: 140, Derek Hanson (60/80), 2006-10
Saves by Career: 2480, Tad Larson, 1974-78
Goalie Win/Loss Record by Career: 44-16-4, Matt Koenig, 2005-09
Fastest First Period Goal: 10 seconds, Mark Ryder vs. UW-Stevens Point, Feb. 17, 1973
Fastest Second Period Goal: 6 seconds, Mike Kautz vs. UW-Stevens Point, Jan. 20, 2006
Fastest Third Period Goal: 6 seconds, Duane Johnson vs. St. Cloud State, Dec. 2, 1978
Fastest Overtime Goal: 6 seconds, Curt Moore vs. Concordia, Nov. 26, 1976

Team Records
Most Goals in a Period: 11, vs. UW-Stevens Point, Feb. 17, 1973
Most Goals in a Game: 21 vs. UW-Stevens Point, Feb. 17, 1973
Most Goals Allowed in a Game: 18, vs. Wisconsin JV, Feb. 14, 1970
Most Penalty Minutes: 21-54 vs. UW-Eau Claire, Dec. 13, 1997
Most Penalty Minutes, Both Teams: 35-96 vs. UW-Eau Claire, Dec. 13, 1997


STOUT'S RANKED HISTORY: The Blue Devils returned to the USCHO.com poll, albeit it was only one vote in the Oct. 31, 2016 poll. The last time Stout was mentioned was Jan. 18, 2016...The Blue Devils returned to the USCHO.com Division III poll, Jan. 18, 2016, after nearly a four year hiatus, receiving five votes. A tie and two straight losses the following week dropped the Blue Devils out of the poll. 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, 2012, garnering eight votes in the Jan. 21, 2012, poll, effectively ranking the Blue Devils 19th. Stout returned to the poll in the early part of the 2012-13 season, receiving seven votes in the Dec. 3, 2012 poll before dropping out. | USCHO.com Division III poll

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.

ALL TIED UP: When the Blue Devils notched a 3-3 tie with St. Scholastica, Jan. 19, 2016, it tied a school record for most ties in a single season with four. The 2009-10 team and the 2004-05 team each finished with four ties. The Blue Devils snapped that record a week later, Jan. 28, when they forged a 2-2 tie with ninth ranked UW-Eau Claire, then finished with six in the final game of the season against UW-River Falls.

HOME ICE: The Dunn County Board in 2015 approved renaming the Dunn County Ice Arena 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.

LIGHTING THE LAMP: It will now be easier to see when the the Blue Devils score. The Fanetti Community Center this summer received an upgrade in their lighting. The lighting in the ice arena was recently replaced with LED lights. The replacement was helped by Xcel Energy through their incentive program, Focus on Energy. The incentives offered by Xcel Energy and Focus on Energy — including bonus incentives through the program's limited-time Community Small Business Offerings (CSBO) campaign — helped offset the cost of the Menomonie Youth Hockey Association Ice Board's investment. | Complete Story

UP NEXT:  The Blue Devils return to the Fanetti Community Center to face St. Olaf College, Friday, Nov. 9 and Gustavus Adolphus College, Saturday, Nov. 10.