Nice to be back home for a few games. The Bulldogs started the season with seven of ten on the road, but now will play four straight at home, six of the ten games UMD has before break will come in this building.
I’ve beaten to death Scott Sandelin’s preseason comments about being good at home and making this a tough play to play. So I’m going to leave you with this one thought.
I’m a regular listener to the SportsNet podcast 32 Thoughts, with Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman. Elliotte has regularly quoted a saying from longtime Canadian broadcaster and former NHL executive Gord Stellick.
If you’re gonna stink, stink on the road.
UMD is a game above .500 in this building the last two-plus years. It doesn’t inspire excitement among the fans, but this is a big sequence of games that the Bulldogs are embarking on.
UMD will go into break having played 20 of 34 games. If the Bulldogs can even halve these ten games and go into break somewhere in the neighborhood of 13-7, the odds of an NCAA Tournament return increase greatly. Taking care of home-ice business will go a long way. And following Stellick’s wise words will help bring a little bit of buzz back in here.
St. Cloud State comes off a good weekend against Western Michigan, splitting the series with a head-turning 5-1 victory on Saturday in St. Cloud. The Bulldogs will need to work hard defensively to cut down on the scoring chances, something Western struggled to do last weekend.
Lines?
Lines.
UMD forwards
Plante (Max) – Plante (Zam) – Shaugabay
Truman – Gaffney – Arnott
Zaremba – Shlaine – Anderson
Bibby – Kovich – Bechen
UMD defense
Hanson – Kleber
Pionk – Pierce
Cleveland – Siepmann
Bodnarchuk
UMD goalies
Gajan – Dahlmeir – Sheffield
St. Cloud State forwards
Thoreson – Gross – Hall
Urness – Roed – Burnevik
Ingram – Gardner – Ahcan
Rogers – Rosborough – Reimann
St. Cloud State defense
Wylie – Smolinski
Loftus – Reiners
Byfuglien – Zinger
Tiessen
St. Cloud State goalies
Berzins – Shostak – Gray
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