Denver Pioneers at North Dakota Fighting Sioux Hockey series preview
In Grand Forks, ND pre-season WCHA favorite and No. 3-ranked Denver
(14-6-4, 10-4-4 WCHA) will go up against defending WCHA regular
season champion and No. 4-ranked North Dakota (13-8-5, 8-7-3 WCHA)
for a two-game series on January 29-30 at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
The games are set for 8:30pm ET on Friday, Jan. 29 and 8:00pm ET on
Saturday, Jan. 30. Friday’s game will be televised on Fox
College Sports Central, while Saturday’s game will be
televised on Fox College Sports Atlantic.
The Pioneers fell to No. 3 in the media polls after failing
to win a weekend game for the first time this season, when they
tied 3-3 at Wisconsin on Jan. 22 and lost 4-3 at Wisconsin on Jan.
23. Denver is 5-3-1 on the road in the powerful WCHA. DU continues
its four-game road swing at UND this weekend, where North Dakota is
7-2-3 at home. Denver is tied for second with St. Cloud State in
the WCHA with 24 points each, while North Dakota is sixth with 19
points. The Pioneers rank first in the WCHA on the penalty kill
(86.2%) and third on the power play (21.6%).
DU Goaltender Marc Cheverie leads the WCHA in goals against
average (2.12), saves percentage (.928) and shutouts (5), while
Rhett Rakhshani is tied for second in goals (16) and is fourth in
scoring (31). Rakhshani, who is a candidate for the Lowe’s
Senior CLASS Award, awarded annually to the outstanding senior NCAA
Division I Student-Athlete of the Year across nine different
sports, has at least one point in 18 of 24 games.
The Fighting Sioux are coming off a series split at Cornell
last weekend. UND lost 1-0 on Jan. 22, but rebounded with a 3-1 win
on Jan. 23. UND ranks first in the WCHA in scoring defense (2.22
goals-against average), fourth on the penalty kill (83.8%) and
fourth on the power play (20.8%). The Sioux penalty kill was a
perfect 12-for-12 at Cornell and has now killed 13 straight
opponent power-plays. However, UND has been held scoreless in its
last 19 power-play opportunities, including 18 straight over the
last four games.
Jason Gregoire leads UND in goals (13), which is fourth in
the WCHA. Gregoire is tied for the team lead in points with Evan
Trupp (21 each). Brad Eidsness leads the team with a 12-6-4 record,
2.24 GAA (fourth in the WCHA) and a .906 Saves percentage. Head
coach Dave Hakstol has put up a 143-79-24 record in six seasons.
Hakstol joined rare company when he took the Sioux to the Frozen
Four in his first four seasons as a collegiate head coach, joining
Jack Parker and Doug Woog as the only three coaches to accomplish
that feat.
North Dakota leads the all-time series against Denver
129-112-8, including a 78-39-4 mark in Grand Forks. DU is 0-3-1 in
its last four games against UND at Ralph Engelstad Arena, including
an 8-3 loss and 2-2 on Jan. 23-24, 2009.
However the Pioneers swept the Fighting Sioux 1-0 and 3-2 in
a pair of games back on November 20-21 at Magness Arena in Denver.
In the last five games against each other, the Pioneers lead the
series 3-1-1 but in the last 10, the Fighting Sioux lead 5-4-1
against the Pioneers.
