The Yellowjacket men's hockey team, for the second time in three seasons, will open the 2012 Peters Cup Playoffs on the road, this time traveling to K.B. Willett Arena in Stevens Point, Wis. for a weekend showdown with the Pointers. A pair of teams with a long playoff tradition, the Yellowjackets and Pointers will meet in the first round of the NCHA post-season for the first time since 2003-04.
“At this point, there aren't a lot of secrets between teams in this league. We see each other three times during the season and by the end of that third game, we have a pretty good feel for what each other wants to do,” Head Coach Dan Stauber said. “So when you get to playoffs it is tough to sneak something past the other teams. When we get to this time of year it often comes down to execution and who wants it more than anything else.”
This weekend will mark the fourth and fifth meetings of the season between the two. In three regular season meetings, the Yellowjackets held a 1-0-2 advantage.
“They're a good team and they proved in their last game of the season (a 9-3 win over UW-Stout) that if you give them the room to play their going to put some goals on the board,” Stauber said. “They're a bigger team than we are and are a more physical team than us, but we aren't going to shy away from anything. We need to stay with what has been working for us defensively and at the same time try to find a way to score some goals, which for us has been a struggle.”
Struggle could be an understatement – the Yellowjackets have scored just 25 times in the 12 games played in 2012, an average of 2.08 goals per-game. The trend has been more positive of late, however, as they have scored 13 goals their last five times out.
“We like our goaltending and are happy with the way we've played defensively. Our penalty kill has been really strong of late and our power play is finally starting to come around,” Stauber said. “We're happy with the effort we've been getting and now we just need to turn some of that effort into goals.
“We've had some great battles with them over the years and no matter the time of year that building is always a tough one to play in,” Stauber said. “Regardless, we're looking forward to going in there and doing our best to win a couple of games and move onto the next round.”
By The Numbers
|
|
Yellowjackets |
Pointers |
|
Overall Record |
9-9-7 |
12-9-4 |
|
NCHA Record |
4-7-7 |
8-6-4 |
|
Home Record |
4-5-4 |
6-5-2 |
|
Road Record |
5-4-3 |
6-4-2 |
|
Goals For (Average) |
70 (2.80) |
78 (3.12) |
|
Goals Against (Average) |
65 (2.60) |
66 (2.64) |
|
Penalties/Minutes (Average) |
115/304 (4.6/12.2) |
217/576 (8.7/23) |
|
Power Play |
17.0% |
14.2% |
|
Penalty Kill |
78.3% |
84.3% |
|
Overtime Record |
0-3-7 |
1-1-4 |
|
Record When Scoring First |
6-4-4 |
9-2-3 |
|
Record When Allowing First Goal |
3-5-2 |
3-7-1 |
|
Record When Leading After First Period |
5-2-2 |
7-1-3 |
|
Record When Trailing After First Period |
1-3-2 |
3-4-1 |
|
Record When Tied After First Period |
3-4-3 |
2-4-0 |
|
Record When Leading After Second Period |
6-1-1 |
8-0-3 |
|
Record When Trailing After Second Period |
1-5-3 |
1-7-0 |
|
Record When Tied After Second Period |
2-3-3 |
3-2-1 |
|
Record In One-Goal Games |
2-5-0 |
5-4-0 |
|
Record When Scoring 2 or Fewer Goals |
0-7-3 |
3-6-2 |
|
Record When Scoring 3 or More Goals |
9-2-4 |
9-3-2 |
|
Record When Allowing 2 or Fewer Goals |
7-3-3 |
10-2-2 |
|
Record When Allowing 3 of More Goals |
2-6-4 |
2-7-2 |
The Coaches
The Yellowjackets are coached by Dan Stauber, who is in his 12th season with the Yellowjackets. He has an overall record of 217-85-49. All-time in the Peters Cup Playoffs he has a record of 26-7-5. All-time versus UW-Stevens Point he has a record of 24-7-5.
The Pointers are coached by Chris Brooks, who is in his first season. He has an overall record of 12-9-4. This season marks his first appearance in the Peters Cup Playoffs. His all-time record versus the Yellowjackets is 0-1-2.
All-Time Series
The Yellowjackets hold an edge in the all-time series of 60-47-8.
2011-12 Meetings
November 11, 2011 at Stevens Point: Tie 3-3, OT
November 12, 2011 at Stevens Point: Superior wins 5-2
February 4, 2012 at Superior: Tie 2-2, OT
Playoff History
2011: NCHA Semifinals at Superior: Superior wins 4-2
2004: NCHA Quarterfinals at Superior: Stevens Point wins series 2-1 (6-4, 1-3, 3-1)
2002: NCHA Semifinals at St. Norbert: Superior wins 4-3, OT
2001: NCHA Semifinals at Superior: Superior wins series 2-0 (3-1, 4-3)
2000: NCHA Finals at Stevens Point: Superior wins series 1-0-1 (4-4, 6-3)
1997: NCHA Semifinals at Stevens Point: Superior wins series 2-1 (4-1, 1-2, 1-0)
1996: NCHA Quarterfinals at Superior: Superior wins series 1-0-1 (2-2, 6-5)
1995: NCAA Quarterfinals at Superior: Superior wins series 2-0 (8-4, 5-2)
1995: NCHA Semifinals at Superior: Stevens Point wins series 2-1 (6-0, 2-5, 2-1)
1993: NCAA Quarterfinals at Stevens Point: Stevens Point wins series 2-1 (5-3, 3-8, 2-0)
1993: NCHA Semifinals at Stevens Point: Stevens Point wins series 2-1 (7-3, 2-6, 2-0)
Yellowjacket Quick Facts
1) The Yellowjackets have tied the school record for overtime games played in a season with ten.
2) Drew Strandberg (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Westgate CV&I) has played 1281:53 in the net for the Yellowjackets, the second-highest total in the nation.
3) The Yellowjackets have killed off 28 of 32 shorthanded chances in their last ten games, a percentage of 87.5.
Pointer Quick Facts
1) Kyle Heck was the top goal scorer in the NCHA in 2011-12.
2) The Pointers are the most-penalized team in the NCHA and have accumulated the fourth-most penalty minutes in the nation.
3) On the year the Pointers are 6-3-2 in games following a win.
Playoff Series Fun Fact
The teams have gone to a mini-game five times, with the Pointers winning four of them.
On The Air
Game time is 7:05 p.m. both Friday and Saturday nights, and the games can be heard live locally on KUWS, 91.3 FM. You can listen live on the Internet through the iFan Sports Network. Jon Garver will be on the call.
