Just before Thanksgiving, the Hogs were featured on the 4029 Pigskin Pregame show.  Enjoy the segment!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntNuB5kcEZc&feature=youtu.be

“Arkansas 4, Central Oklahoma 3 OT” was more than just another line score from the ACHA action on the night of Nov. 22.

Way more!

Arkansas is a Division III non-varsity hockey team. Central Oklahoma is a Division I team. More than that, the Broncos are a ranked DI team, No. 10 going into their two-game series with the Hogs.

DIII teams rarely beat DI teams — ranked or otherwise — and certainly not on the road as the Razorbacks did. (According to the ACHA, four of the 144 other DIII teams — all Atlantic Division teams — have turned the trick five times this season, but none defeated a DI top 25 opponent.)

“Unquestionably, this was the biggest win of our [seven-year] existence,” said head coach Brian Gallini, whose Arkansas team (shown celebrating a goal against Central Oklahoma in photo) is 17-5-0-0, ranked No. 1 in the ACHA’s Pacific Region and in first place in the South Eastern Collegiate Hockey Conference’s West Division.

He said the Central Oklahoma coaches were very complimentary of the Razorbacks, telling him … [read the rest of the story here].

This past weekend, Arkansas traveled to the University of Central Oklahoma (Division I) for a two-game set.  Looking to rebound from a disappointing weekend against Missouri State (Division II), the Razorbacks faced a more than stiff test in UCO.  Entering the weekend, the Broncos were impressively ranked #9 in the nation and were riding a six game winning streak.  When the two teams played last season, UCO dominated the Hogs by 9-1 and 10-2 scores respectively.

Things were, however, different in this series.  Johnny Stromp opened the scoring for the Hogs at the 8:09 mark of the first period but UCO quickly struck back with a pair of goals of its own to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.  Ryan Machos evened things up for the Razorbacks in the second period and the teams entered the second intermission tied 2-2.  In the final frame, Marcel Toure blocked a UCO defenseman’s shot and carried the puck the length of the ice and scored at the 12:29 mark of the third.  UCO tied the game again at 6:19 to play and that’s how the game would remain at the end of regulation.  James Haddock scored the overtime game winner at the 3:19 mark and lifted the Hogs to its first ever victory over a Division I program.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=747OIveRTlg&feature=youtu.be

Saturday’s game nearly told an identical story.  Defenseman Travis Robbins opened the scoring for Arkansas at the 13:20 mark of the first period and Johnny Stromp added a powerplay goal early in the second period.  UCO answered with a pair of second period goals and again sent the two teams into the second intermission tied 2-2.  But similar magic was not to be on Saturday evening.  Although the teams played one another tight, UCO scored three goals on six shots in the third period to lift the Bronchos to a 5-2 victory.

The weekend’s games sent Arkansas into the Thanksgiving break with an overall record of 17-5-0.  When the team returns from the holiday, the Razorbacks will close out the first semester by hosting Division II Dallas Baptist on December 6 & 7.  The puck drops at 8:30 pm on Friday at 4:00 pm on Saturday.

On November 15 & 16, the Hogs traveled to Springfield, Missouri, to take on the Division II Missouri State Ice Bears (11-4).  On Friday, the Hogs dropped a close 4-3 contest despite outshooting the Bears by a 31-22 margin.  The Razorbacks staked an early 1-0 lead but Missouri State responded to make it 1-1 at the end of the first.  Arkansas extended its lead to 3-1 in the second period only to see Missouri State notch its second goal with just seconds remaining in the middle frame.  The Bears would add two more goals en route to a come from behind 4-3 victory that snapped the Razorbacks’ sixteen game win streak.  Remarkably, no penalties were called during the contest.

Arkansas again outshot Missouri State on Saturday, although by a much closer 23-22 margin.  The teams played one another even at the end of the first period, but the Bears scored all three of its goals in the second–two coming on the power play (one five on three and one five on four, respectively).  Although Arkansas carried the majority of the play in the final frame, they could never get the scoring started and Missouri State secured a sweep with a 3-0 victory.

This weekend, the Razorbacks face an even tougher test by traveling to Oklahoma City, OK, to take on Division I University of Central Oklahoma.  UCO enters the weekend set ranked #10 in the nation at the Division I level and riding a six game winning streak.  Overall, UCO has amassed a 16-6-1 record that includes wins over Iowa State, Lindenwood, and Rutgers–among many others.  Game times are 7:30 pm both nights at the Arctic Edge Ice Arena and fans can pay to watch both games on fasthockey.com.

On Wednesday, November 20, the Hogs were featured on a segment titled “Liz Learns It” on the Fox Morning Edge (KNWA).  The segment is premised on the morning show’s anchor, Liz Hogan, going out into the community to learn or attempt to learn a new skill.  In earlier segments, Liz learned dog grooming, how to the play trumpet, and how to play tennis.  When she visited the Ice Hogs, the team did its best to teach her something about the sport of hockey.  It was a pleasure having Liz stop by.  Enjoy the segment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSj2HGfxcC8&feature=youtu.be

 

On November 8 & 9, the Ice Hogs welcomed the Division III Missouri State Bears to Springdale for a pair of critical Pacific Region contests.  On Friday night, Arkansas got off to a quick start behind Connor Crumblish’s tally at the 16:39 mark of the first period.  Although Missouri State answered about a minute later, the Hogs scored three more unanswered first period goals.  The Hogs would add one more in the second period before the Bears answered to make it 5-2 at the end of two periods.  Arkansas finished the game with a trio of markers in the third period en route to an 8-2 win.  The Razorbacks outshot the Bears in Friday night’s contest by a 55-27 margin.

Saturday’s game was a much closer affair.  Although the Hogs jumped out to a 3-1 lead at the end of the first period behind goals from Durancyzk, Toure, and Machos, Missouri State evened things up in the second period and took the lead 4-3 early in the third period.  The Hogs then rallied behind a pair of goals from senior captain Martin Sundstedt and another marker from Marcel Toure.  The Bears added one more late goal, but Arkansas went on to secure a 6-5 victory.  The Bears potted five goals behind just fifteen shots; Arkansas, for its part, had thirty-eight shots in the game.

The pair of victories ran the Hogs win streak to sixteen straight games and extended its home winning streak–a streak that dates back to October of 2011.  This weekend, the Razorbacks hit the road to Springfield, Missouri, where they’ll meet the Division II Missouri State Bears in a match-up that has grown in intensity since its inception back in 2009.  Arkansas leads the lifetime series–by one game.  A more precise historical look back at the series reflects how competitive these games always are:

2009-10

February 12, 2009:  Arkansas 4, Missouri State 3 (OT)

February 13, 2009:  Missouri State 9, Arkansas 0

2010-11

October 29, 2010:  Arkansas 4, Missouri State 3

October 30, 2010:  Arkansas 6, Missouri State 3

2011-12

October 28, 2011:  Missouri State 5, Arkansas 3

October 29, 2011:  Arkansas 5, Missouri State 3

December 9, 2011:  Arkansas 9, Missouri State 1

2012-13

October 5, 2012:  Missouri State 4, Arkansas 1

October 6, 2012:  Missouri State 4, Arkansas 2

The puck drops against the Bears at 7 pm on both Friday and Saturday night.  Information on tickets is available here.  Both games will be at Mediacom Ice Park in Springfield, Missouri.

Last weekend, the Hogs swept arch-rival Alabama in a pair of physical contests.  On Friday, Arkansas yielded an early Alabama goal, then outscored the visiting Frozen Tide 5-1 the rest of the way for a 5-2 victory.  Saturday brought another three goal win–this one 4-1–which saw Arkansas outshoot Alabama by a 34-17 margin (coincidentally the same margin as in Friday night’s contest).  The pair of wins ran the Hogs’ winning streak to fourteen straight games and extended Razorbacks’ lifetime series lead over the Tide (Arkansas is 13-4 overall in head-to-head match-ups with Alabama).  The two wins also extended the Razorbacks’ two-year home winning streak–the Hogs have not lost at home since October 14, 2011 (vs. Grand Valley State).

This weekend, the Hogs welcome another familiar rival–the Missouri State Ice Bears (Division III).  Although the two teams have faced-off consistently in close games dating back to 2009, this coming weekend’s series gains added importance given the Razorbacks’ move to the Pacific Region.  With the two programs now sharing the same region, rankings committee members will no doubt pay special attention to the series.  Missouri State enters the games riding a five game winning streak.  Amongst their eight wins, Missouri State has knocked off Northern Illinois, University of Wisconsin-Platteville, RMU-Peoria, and the University of Iowa.  By far the most impressive win for the Bears, though, was a 4-3 win over Northern Region powerhouse Oakland University on September 28.

The puck drops at 8:45 pm on Friday night and 1:00 pm on Saturday afternoon.  Tickets will be available one hour before game time on each day and range from $3-$8.

 

Coming off of a sweep of Ole Miss this past weekend, the Razorbacks welcome its biggest rival–the University of Alabama–to Springdale for a pair of games this Friday and Saturday.  The puck drops at 8:30 pm on Friday night and 4:00 pm on Saturday afternoon.  Individual tickets are available at the door beginning one hour before face-off.

Alabama enters the weekend with an overall 5-5-0 record, having notched wins over Georgia Tech, South Florida, and Tulane.  For its part, Arkansas enters the series riding a twelve game winning streak and a two year home ice winning streak.  This most recent winning streak has seen Arkansas knock off two 12-13 Nationals qualifiers in a row (Ole Miss and Marquette) and outscore its opponents by an overall margin of 82 to 14.  The Hogs’ last loss this season came at the hands of the University of Oklahoma (D1) on September 21 and its last home loss was to Grand Valley State on October 14, 2011.

But records mean little when Alabama comes to town.  Alabama last visited in February of 2012 when it was undefeated in conference play.  For its part that season, Arkansas had one conference loss and thus needed two consecutive wins over the Tide that weekend to win the regular season conference title.  Arkansas won two exceptionally close games that season (4-2 and 3-2 wins, respectively) en route to its third consecutive regular season title–a number that has since gone to four.

Alabama exacted revenge last season when, despite Arkansas having defeated Alabama in both regular season meetings, the Tide notched a 4-3 post-season win over the Razorbacks to secure a birth to Nationals.  The two teams met a fourth time in the SECHC conference championship, which saw Arkansas secure its third SECHC playoff conference title after dominating the Tide 8-0.

From a historical perspective, Arkansas holds an 11-4-0 lifetime series edge over the Tide and has outscored Alabama 68-32 over those fifteen games.

2008-09

January 17, 2009:  Alabama 5, Arkansas 1

January 30, 2009:  Alabama 5, Arkansas 2

2009-10

October 30, 2009:  Arkansas 10, Alabama 4

October 31, 2009:  Arkansas 3, Alabama 0

December 19, 2009:  Arkansas 5, Alabama 3

December 20, 2009:  Arkansas 7, Alabama 0

February 27, 2010:  Arkansas 5, Alabama 1 (SECHC Conference Semi-Final)

2010-11

November 5, 2011:  Alabama 1, Arkansas 0

November 6, 2011: Arkansas 6, Alabama 4

2011-12

February 2, 2012:  Arkansas 4, Alabama 2

February 3, 2012:  Arkansas 3, Alabama 2

2012-13

November 10, 2012:  Arkansas 6, Alabama 1

December 2, 2012:  Arkansas 5, Alabama 1

February 16, 2013:  Alabama 4, Arkansas 3 (South Regional Game 2)

February 24, 2013:  Arkansas 8, Alabama 0 (SECHC Conference Championship)

When you come to the rink this Friday, you’ll have the opportunity to attend a great hockey game and meet future NHL star Stefan Noesen.  Noesen will be seated nearby the ticket booth from 6:45-7:30 pm on Friday evening.  He is looking forward to visiting with fans and signing autographs.

Like several of the Ice Hogs, Noesen grew up in Plano, Texas.  He was drafted into the NHL in 2011 in the first round (21st overall) to the Ottawa Senators.  He then spent the next two seasons developing his game in one of the most prestigious under-20 leagues in the world–the Ontario Hockey League–playing for the Plymouth Whalers.  In the summer of 2013, he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks where he currently plays and continues to develop his game.  Noesen played in 5 pre-season exhibition games for the Ducks before sustaining a knee injury.

Noesen maintains friendships with a number of Hogs and is excited to visit Springdale this weekend to meet fans and cheer on the Razorbacks.  See some of his playing highlights before you meet him here!

In its first ever trip to Wisconsin, the Razorbacks made their way to Oshkosh and Marquette from October 19-21–a stretch that included four games in a three day stretch.  The grueling trip began with a pair of games against Division II University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.  The programs hooked up for a pair of games during the 12-13 season in Springdale, which saw the Hogs take both by 6-2 and 12-1 scores, respectively.  Game one this season began with both teams trading chances in the first period until Mason Brower opened the scoring at the 6:40 mark of the first period.  Ryan Machos added one more with just :49 seconds remaining in the period.  The Hogs added a pair in the second period on tallies from Jansen Polk and Marcel Toure.  With time winding down in the contest, Oshkosh broke the Arkansas shutout on a goal from Jason Atkinson.

Despite Saturday’s competitive 5-1 affair, Sunday’s rematch was not as close.  The Razorbacks quickly jumped out to a three goal lead in the first and added five more in the second against the Titans’ lone second period tally.  The Hogs added one more goal in the third en route to a dominant 9-1 result.

For only the second time in program history, the team played again that same day–this time against Marquette (DIII, Pacific Region) seventy-five miles away.  Marquette, a 2012-13 Nationals Qualifier, entered the contest on a seven game winning streak.  Marquette staked its only lead in the first period of game one with 11:02 remaining in the period.  Arkansas responded three minutes later on a goal from senior Co-Captain Justin McDowell.  With the game tied 1-1 entering the second, the Hogs added three more goals from freshman defenseman Brandon Van Rooyen, Justin McDowell, and senior forward Johnny Stromp.  In addition to the 5-1 victory, the Hogs outshot Marquette 50-15 and won two games in a single day for the first time in team history.

In its final game of the trip, Ryan Machos opened the scoring in the first period for Arkansas–a score that remained until deep into the second period when Marcel Toure scored.  Although Marquette quickly responded, Arkansas answered back on another goal from Toure.  The third period was all Arkansas as it added three more goals–from Forest Mudgett, Logan Drake, and Martin Sundstedt–to produce a 6-1 victory and four game sweep of the road trip.

This weekend, Arkansas puts its ten game winning streak and two year home winning streak on the line against conference rival Ole Miss–also a 2012-13 Nationals Qualifier.  The Razorbacks have not played host to an SEC opponent since the 2011-12 season.  The puck drops at 7:30 pm on both Friday and Saturday night.