The University of Minnesota Duluth men's hockey team starts its postseason campaign against No. 3/4 University of Denver. UMD enters the best-of-three series as the seventh seed in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, facing second seed DU.

RECENT POSTSEASON PLAY The Bulldogs and Pioneers most recent postseason meeting was in the 2022 NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinals, when UMD blanked DU 2-0 at Xcel Energy Center. Current Bulldog Blake Biondi scored the game-winning goal in the first period. At the following NCAA West Regional, the two programs had a rematch. The regional final ended 2-1 in favor of the Pioneers. Another senior, defenseman Darian Gotz, scored UMD's lone goal.

NCHC ERA PLAYOFF MATCHUPS They have only met in the NCHC quarterfinals once before, in 2015. The series ended with a two-game sweep by DU. The next time the Bulldogs and Pioneers battled in the season was the 2018 Frozen Faceoff semifinals. DU won 3-1. Next year, in the same position, UMD beat the Pioneers 3-0 and went on to win the national title. The next season, the first of the current Bulldogs, Luke Loheit and Quinn Olson, started their collegiate careers. Against DU, UMD has a 2-2 record in the NCHC postseason. 

WHOLE LOTTA (PLAYOFF) HISTORY Since the Bulldogs joined the Western Collegiate Hockey Conference in 1965, UMD and DU have met for 26 WCHA Playoff games in 15 seasons. The programs have met in the Frozen Four only once,  a 5-3 semifinal loss ending the Bulldogs 2003-04 season. In a total of 31 playoff games, the Bulldogs have a record of 10-19-2. 

REGULAR SEASON SERIES The Pioneers traveled to Duluth for a regular season series in mid-February. DU won both games, 5-4 and 5-2. On Friday, a third period  surge with goals from Aaron Pionk and Loheit took the game to overtime. Six different UMD players scored that weekend. 

UNDERDOG MENTALITY After ending the regular season with a series sweep, Captain Luke Loheit talked to the media about heading into the playoffs as the seventh seed in the conference. "Underdogs, that's the way we're built here," Loheit said. "That's the way I've been brought up here. It's the culture and the mentality that I've learned to take on as a person, as a hockey player."  At Wednesday's press conference, Pionk reiterated the sentiment. "That 'Dog never dies," Pionk said. "We've battled all year, we've always been the underdogs. We're kinda used to it and we're not going to go down without a fight."

COACH'S CORNER Ahead of this series, Head Coach Scott Sandelin shared his philosophy going into the weekend. "The guys know what's at stake," Sandelin said. "I don't need to remind them. We're gonna go and play. We're gonna put our best foot forward and try to extend our season."

GOALTENDING TRIO Matthew Thiessen and Zach Stejskal have shared the net all season, splitting time earlier this season against DU. Last weekend, sophomore goaltender Zach Sandy got his first collegiate start on Friday. In the 6-5 OT win against St. Cloud, Sandy made 33 saves and posted a .868 save percentage. Thiessen got the start Saturday and made a career-high 52 saves. 

POWER PLAY PROWESS The Bulldogs are currently first in the NCHC in power play percentage (.272)  On the man advantage, UMD ranks sixth in the NCAA. Last weekend, the Bulldogs scored on 2/4 power plays. Steeves' OT winner was a 4-on-3 goal and Aiden Dubinsky's game winner the next night was also on the power play.

STEEVES FOR HOBEY The sophomore forward is UMD's Hobey Baker Memorial Award for the second season in a row.  Steeves has been one of the keys to the Bulldog power play's success, tied for second in NCAA in PPG (13). He's sixth in the country in goals per game (.69). Steeves is also tied for fourth in game winning goals (6). 

CONFERENCE HONORS This week, Steeves was named to the NCHC All-Conference Second Team. This is the first time the forward has made an All-Conference roster, receiving 13 points and two First Team votes. In 24 NCHC games, he totaled 19 points, including 14 goals. On Thursday, Gotz was voted a Sportsmanship Award Finalist by NCHC groups and staff. The last Bulldog to win the award was Kobe Roth (2019-20).