#4 North Dakota
(7-4-1, 5-4-1 WCHA)
vs.
Ohio State
(5-8-1, 4-5-1 CCHA)

Nov. 27, 2009 • 7:37 pm CT • Ralph Engelstad Arena (11,634) • Grand Forks, N.D.
RADIO: 96.1 The Fox (KQHT-FM) • Webcast: FightingSioux.com
TV: Fighting Sioux Sports Network, Fox College Sports Atlantic

#4 North Dakota
(7-4-1, 5-4-1 WCHA)
vs.
#1 Miami
(9-1-4, 6-1-3 CCHA)

Nov. 28, 2009 • 7:37 pm CT • Ralph Engelstad Arena (11,634) • Grand Forks, N.D.
RADIO: 96.1 The Fox (KQHT-FM) • Webcast: FightingSioux.com
TV: Fighting Sioux Sports Network, Fox College Sports Atlantic

THIS WEEK: Ralph Engelstad Arena is the site of the premier college hockey holiday tournament in the country as the sixth-ranked Fighting Sioux welcome No. 1 Miami, No. 6 Bemidji State and 2009 NCAA tournament participant Ohio State in the annual Subway Holiday Classic.

On Friday, BSU will face Miami at 4:07 p.m., while the Sioux will host OSU at 7:37 p.m.

On Saturday, BSU will take on OSU at 4:07 p.m. and UND will square off with Miami at 7:37 p.m.

MEDIA INFORMATION: All Fighting Sioux men's hockey games, home and away, can be heard on 96.1 FM (The Fox) and on stations across the Fighting Sioux Hockey Network. Veteran broadcaster Tim Hennessy returns for his 30th season as the voice of the Fighting Sioux and Steve Olson provides color analysis. Paul Ralston is the studio host.

Both UND games this weekend will be televised live on both the Fighting Sioux Sports Network and Fox College Sports Atlantic. Pat Sweeney handles the play-by-play with Jim Scanlan providing color analysis.

A live video webcast and FREE live stats for all four games will be available at FightingSioux.com.

TICKET INFORMATION: With UND students away on Thanksgiving break, plenty of reserved tournament packages and single-seat tickets remain available as of Tuesday, Nov. 24.

Tickets can be purchased at the UND Box Office at the Ralph Engelstad Arena, online at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000.
SUBWAY HOLIDAY CLASSIC HISTORY: A pair of 2009 NCAA Frozen Four participants -- national runner-up Miami and national semifinalist Bemidji State -- join 2009 NCAA tournament qualifer Ohio State as the three visiting teams to this year's event.

Miami and Ohio State are both first-time participants in the Subway Holiday Classic, while Bemidji State returns for its second appearance. The Beavers took part in the inaugural Classic in 2002-03, falling 4-3 in the championship game to the host Sioux.

The 2009 season marks the first time the event will use a "classic" format, with each of the four matchups pre-determined. The first two years of the event used a "tournament" format, with the host Sioux winning the championship both years.

In each of the last five seasons, UND hosted a non-conference opponent for a two-game series during the Subway Holiday Classic.

UND is 9-5 all-time in the Subway Holiday Classic, which began in 2002-03.

ABOUT OHIO STATE: The Buckeyes are 5-8-1 on the season after suffering a CCHA road sweep at Ferris State last weekend, falling 8-1 and 6-5 in overtime ... The sweep snapped OSU's season-long three-game winning streak ... The Buckeyes rank last in the CCHA in both power-play (11.8%) and penalty killing (71.4%) ... Sophomore F Zac Dalpe (8 G, 8 A) is tied for third in the CCHA scoring race with a team-leading 16 points ... Junior Dustin Carlson and sophomore Cal Heeter have split time in goal this season. Carlson is 1-6-0 with a 2.77 goals against average and a .913 save percentage, while Heeter is 4-2-1 with a 3.05 goals against average and a .913 save percentage.

OSU COACHING STAFF: Head coach John Markell (Bowling Green ‘79) is 270-257-51 (.511) in his 16th year as Ohio State head coach. He is assisted by Jason Lammers (Geneseo ‘98) and Steve Brent (OSU ‘98).

SERIES HISTORY: The Sioux won the only two previous meetings with Ohio State, both of which came during a regular season series during the 1979-80 campagin. UND came away with 7-2 and 8-2 wins in Grand Forks. Current UND associate head coach Cary Eades played in that series as a sophomore.

ABOUT MIAMI: Last year's NCAA Frozen Four runner-up, Miami (9-1-4) is the nation's top-ranked team and is riding an eight-game unbeaten streak, tied for the longest current streak in the country ... Last week the RedHawks took three of four CCHA points from host Western Michigan with a 3-0 win and a 1-1 overtime tie ... Miami ranks second nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 1.71 goals per game ... Sophomore G Cody Reichard leads the CCHA and ranks second nationally in goals against average (1.45). He ranks fourth nationally in save percentage (.936) ... Junior F Andy Miele is tied for the CCHA lead with 10 assists.

MIAMI COACHING STAFF: Head coach Enrico Blasi (Miami ‘94) is 219-152-33 (.583) in his 11th year as Miami head coach. He is assisted by Brent Brekke (Western Michigan ‘94) and Chris Bergeron (Miami ‘93).

SERIES HISTORY: UND has won the only two previous meetings with Miami, both of which have come on neutral ice. In 1999-00, the Sioux defeated the RedHawks 5-2 at the Badger Showdown in Wisconsin. In 2005, UND blanked Miami 3-0 at the Lefty McFadden Invitational in Dayton, Ohio.

POLL POSITION: UND is ranked fourth in both the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com/CBS College Sports polls, after having been ranked No. 2 in both for the previous two consecutive weeks. The Sioux also slipped from No. 2 to No. 4 in this week's Inside College Hockey Power Rankings. Please refer to page three for complete national poll information.

UND'S LAST ACTION: The Fighting Sioux are coming off of a pair of one-goal losses at third-ranked Denver last weekend, which ran UND's losing skid to three games, all of which have come by one goal. All six goals scored in the DU series came on the power-play.

Sophomore G Brad Eidsness (Chestermere, Alberta) stopped 62 of 66 shots on the weekend, including a season-high 33 saves in Friday's 1-0 loss.

UND built a 2-0 lead on Saturday behind power-play goals from senior F Chris VandeVelde (Moorhead, Minn.) and freshman F Danny Kristo (Eden Prairie, Minn.), but were unable to overcome a penalty-filled second period. DU enjoyed seven power-plays during the second period, including five straight at one point, and converted on three of them.

Eidsness made 19 of his 29 saves in the second period alone.

HOME SWEET HOME: UND enters this weekend with a 28-5-5 record (.803) at Ralph Engelstad Arena since the beginning of January 2008.

The last time the Sioux played at home was a 3-2 loss to St. Cloud State on Nov. 14, a loss that snapped a 17-game home unbeaten streak by UND, tied for the fourth-longest in program history.

The Sioux have sold out 39 of their last 47 home games (conference and non-conference), including 23 consecutive conference sellouts at the 11,634-seat Engelstad Arena.

This season, UND ranks second nationally in average home attendance, averaging 11,675 fans per game (100.3% capacity). Wisconsin ranks No. 1 at 12,596 per game (82.6% capacity).

GETTING ALL DEFENSIVE: The Sioux boast the best defensive team in the WCHA and rank third nationally, allowing just 1.75 goals per game.

UND has allowed three goals or fewer in all 12 games this season and two goals or fewer in all but three of those games.

EIDS WIDE SHUT: Over his last three games (two starts, one relief appearance), sophomore G Brad Eidsness (Chestermere, Alberta) has stopped 83 of 87 shots (.954) and has a 1.55 goals against
average during that stretch.

Eidsness has not allowed an even strength goal in his last 177 minutes and 53 seconds of action, dating back to the 16:42 mark of the second period on Nov. 13 against St. Cloud State.

In 11 games this season, Eidsness is 6-3-1 with a 1.69 goals against average and a .929 save percentage and has logged a league-leading 638 minutes and 23 seconds of playing time.

Eidsness ranks fourth all-time at UND in career GAA (2.38) and has moved into a tie for fourth with Jon Casey (1980-84) with a .910 career save percentage.

Earlier this season, Eidsness had a streak of consecutive starts end at 38, the third-longest in Sioux history.

THREE'S A CROWD: UND enters the weekend having lost three consecutive games (each by one goal) and is looking to avoid its first four-game losing streak since 2006-07 when the Sioux were swept on back-to-back weekends in December by Wisconsin and Michigan Tech.

FINE AND VANDY: Senior F Chris VandeVelde (Moorhead, Minn.) scored his fourth goal of the season and team-leading 12th point last Saturday at Denver, giving him 88 career points and inching him closer to becoming the 78th player in Sioux history to reach the 100-point plateau.

VandeVelde and teammate Chay Genoway (Sr., Morden, Manitoba) are in a race to become the next member of UND's "Century Club." Genoway has 90 career points, which leads all active WCHA defensemen, but has not played in the last three games.

CLIMBING THE COACHING LADDER: UND head coach Dave Hakstol enters this weekend with 137 career victories, fourth most in UND history and 12 shy of Rube Bjorkman (1968-78) for third all-time.

Only John "Gino" Gasparini (392 wins from 1978-94), Dean Blais (262 wins from 1994-04) and Bjorkman (149) won more games at UND than Hakstol.

CAPTAIN CLUTCH: Senior D and Sioux captain Chay Genoway (Morden, Manitoba) enters the week tied for second among WCHA defensemen in scoring with 10 points despite missing the last three games.

Genoway has already topped the three goals he scored last season when he was a second-team All-American and the WCHA Defensive Player of the Year.

With 90 career points, Genoway is the leading scorer among active WCHA defensemen and is aiming to become only the 11th rearguard in UND history to amass 100 career points.

Genoway's six career game-winning goals are tied for second all-time by a Sioux defenseman, trailing only the eight scored by Nick Fuher from 2001-05, and his 12 career power-play tallies rank sixth among Sioux defensemen.

GOOD LUCK CHARM: When senior F Darcy Zajac (Winnipeg, Manitoba) scored his second goal of the season in Friday's 4-2 win over SCSU, the Sioux improved to 14-1-2 all-time when Zajac scores a goal.

SUPER MARIO: Sophomore F Mario Lamoureux (Grand Forks) notched a goal and an assist in UND's 4-2 win over SCSU on Nov. 13 and now has two career two-point games, both of which have come against the Huskies.

With three goals and three assists in 12 games this season, Lamoureux has already matched his totals in all three categories from a year ago, when he appeared in 24 games as a freshman.

Lamoureux has also posted a +5 plus/minus rating and has recorded a team-leading 29 penalty minutes.p

BLINK AND YOU'LL MISS IT: Sophomore F Jason Gregoire's (Winnipeg, Manitoba) goal 39 seconds into UND's season opener was the second-fastest UND goal on record to open a season (UND's box score records are incomplete prior to the 1966-67 season).

The fastest Sioux goal to open a season is six seconds, scored by Lee Davidson on Oct. 13, 1989 against Alabama-Huntsville. That goal is also the fastest Sioux goal to open any period.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS: UND welcomes back 15 letterwinners from last year's team that captured the MacNaughton Cup and advanced to the NCAA tournament.

Highlighting the returnees are reigning WCHA Defensive Player of the Year and AHCA All-America defenseman Chay Genoway (Morden, Manitoba) and All-WCHA third-team goaltender Brad Eidsness (Chestermere, Alberta).

Senior F Chris VandeVelde (Moorhead, Minn.), who scored a career-high 35 points last season, is the team's top returning scorer and is one of nine returning players who notched at least 10 points in 2009-10.

FAB FROSH: The Sioux roster also includes 10 freshmen in 2009-10, UND's largest incoming freshman class since 2005-06, when 13 rookies donned the Kelly Green and White.

That 2005-06 class included the likes of 2007 Hobey Baker Award winner Ryan Duncan and current NHLers Jonathan Toews (Chicago), T.J. Oshie (St. Louis) and Brian Lee (Ottawa).

In fact, 11 members of that 13-player 2005-06 freshman class, eight of whom graduated as seniors last season, are currently playing professional hockey.

GENOWAY, CICHY HONORED: A pair of Sioux were recognized when InsideCollegeHockey.com announced its 2009-10 preseason All-America and all-rookie teams.

Senior D Chay Genoway (Morden, Manitoba) was named to the INCH preseason All-America third team. Last season, Genoway was named a second-team All-American and the WCHA Defensive Player of the Year after collecting a career-high 32 points. He was also named an ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American and a WCHA Scholar-Athlete.

Said INCH: "Genoway is college hockey's version of Illinois quarterback Juice Williams-it seems like he's been at North Dakota forever. Fighting Sioux fans wouldn't mind a few extra years of his production. The reigning WCHA Defensive Player of the Year is also a dangerous threat on offense; he's scored 80 points in three seasons, including a career-high 32 points last season."

Genoway, this year's team captain, enters the season with 80 career points and is aiming to become just the 11th defenseman in school history to reach the 100-point plateau for his career.

Freshman F Mike Cichy (New Hartford, Conn.) was named to INCH's preseason All-Rookie team. A seventh-round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Cichy led the Indiana Ice to a United States Hockey League championship and was named the league's playoff MVP with 25 points (including a USHL-record 16 assists) in 16 games. He totalled 76 points in 56 regular season games.

FEELING A DRAFT: UND enters the 2009-10 season with a roster that includes 15 players who have been drafted by National Hockey League teams. The group includes goalie Brad Eidsness (Buffalo), defensemen Andrew MacWilliam (Toronto), Derrick LaPoint (Florida), Corey Fienhage (Buffalo), Joe Gleason (Chicago) and Ben Blood (Ottawa) and forwards Danny Kristo (Montreal), Michael Cichy (Montreal), Corban Knight (Florida), Brett Bruneteau (Washington), Jason Gregoire (New York Islanders), David Toews (New York Islanders), Brad Malone (Colorado), Brett Hextall (Phoenix) and Chris VandeVelde (Edmonton).

A total of 24 Sioux have been drafted during the tenure of sixth-year head coach Dave Hakstol, including first-rounders Jonathan Toews (Chicago, 2006), T.J. Oshie (St. Louis, 2005), Brian Lee (Ottawa, 2005) and Joe Finley (Washington, 2005).

WELCOME TO THE SHOW: Twelve former Sioux have seen action in the NHL this season: Jason Blake (Toronto), Taylor Chorney (Edmonton), Mike Commodore (Columbus), Matt Greene (Los Angeles), David Hale (Tampa Bay), Ryan Johnson (Vancouver), Brian Lee (Ottawa), T.J. Oshie (St. Louis), Zach Parise (New Jersey), Drew Stafford (Buffalo), Jonathan Toews (Chicago) and Travis Zajac (New Jersey).

Seventeen former Fighting Sioux played in the NHL last season, the most of any team in the WCHA and UND's most since sending 21 in 1993-94. Additionally, four former Sioux can be found in the NHL coaching ranks, including Phoenix head coach Dave Tippett, Tampa Bay assistant coach Rick Wilson, Buffalo assistant coach James Patrick and Phoenix video coach Steve Peters.

FOREVER SIOUX: Every member of UND's coaching staff and support staff is a graduate of the University of North Dakota.

Head coach Dave Hakstol (1989-92), associate head coach Cary Eades (1978-82), assistant coach Dane Jackson (1988-92) and volunteer assistant Scott Koberinski (1985-89) each played for the Fighting Sioux.
Additionally, hockey operations manager Pat Sawnson (2002), athletic trainer and strength coach Mark Poolman (1992), team physician Dr. Greg Greek and media relations director Jayson Hajdu (2000) are also UND graduates.

FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA: So much for the notion that hockey is a "regional sport." UND junior F Brad Malone (Miramichi, New Brunswick) is the first New Brunswick native to ever play for the Sioux while sophomore F Brett Hextall (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) is the first Californian to suit up for the Sioux.

Freshman Michael Cichy (New Hartford, Conn.) is just the second native of Connecticut to ever play for the Sioux and the first since Frank Morgan way back in 1951-52.

Below is a geographical breakdown of the entire 2009-10 Sioux roster:

• Minnesota (6): Ben Blood (Plymouth), Corey Fienhage (Apple Valley), Joe Gleason (Edina), Ryan Hill (Hermantown), Danny Kristo (Eden Prairie), Chris VandeVelde (Moorhead)
  
• Alberta (5): Aaron Dell (Airdrie), Brad Eidsness (Chestermere), Corban Knight (High River), Andrew MacWilliam (Calgary), Carter Rowney (Sexsmith)
  
• Manitoba (5): Brent Davidson (Morden), Chay Genoway (Morden), Jason Gregoire (Winnipeg), David Toews (Winnipeg), Darcy Zajac (Winnipeg)
  
• North Dakota (2): Mario Lamoureux (Grand Forks), Jake Marto (Grand Forks)
  
• Alaska (1): Evan Trupp (Anchorage)
  
• California (1): Brett Hextall (Manhattan Beach)
  
• Colorado (1): Tate Maris (Denver)
  
• Connecticut (1): Michael Cichy (New Hartford)
  
• Nebraska (1): Brett Bruneteau (Omaha)
  
• New Brunswick (1): Brad Malone (Miramichi)
  
• Wisconsin (1): Derrick LaPoint (Eau Claire)

ALL IN THE FAMILY: UND's 2009-10 roster features five players who have had family members previously play for the Fighting Sioux: defenseman Chay Genoway (Morden, Manitoba) and forwards Mario Lamoureux (Grand Forks), Brett Hextall (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), David Toews (Winnipeg, Manitoba) and Darcy Zajac (Winnipeg, Manitoba).

• Genoway, Toews and Zajac each have older brothers who once played at UND, Lamoureux's father and brother played for the Sioux and Hextall has a great uncle who played for the Sioux.
  
• Genoway's brother, Colby, was a forward at UND from 2002-05 and scored 81 points in 115 career games. He most recently played for the Manitoba Moose of the AHL.
  
• Hextall's great uncle, Dennis, was a forward at UND from 1964-66 and scored 101 career points in 63 career games. Hextall's hockey bloodlines extend to his father (Ron), grandfather (Bryan Jr.) and great grandfather (Bryan Sr.), each of whom enjoyed lengthy NHL careers. His father, Ron, is currently the assistant general manager of the Los Angeles Kings.
  
• Lamoureux's brother, Jean-Philippe, was a goalie at UND from 2004-08 and is the school's all-time co-leader in goals against average (2.14). His father, Pierre, was a goalie for the Sioux from 1979-82 and was a member of UND's 1982 NCAA championship team. Another brother, Pierre-Paul, is in his first year as UND's student-assistant coach while twin sisters Jocelyne and Monique are sophomore forwards on the Fighting Sioux women's hockey team. Both are currently pursuing rosters spots on the U.S. Olympic team.
  
• Toews' brother, Jonathan, was a forward at UND from 2005-07, scoring 85 points in 76 career games and earning All-America honors in 2007. He is now the captain of the Chicago Blackhawks.
  
• Zajac's brother, Travis, scored 96 points in 91 games from 2004-06 and currently plays for the New Jersey Devils.

~Go Sioux~