JOHN HELGASON/Arizona Daily Wildcat Junior forward Andrew Fredricks and the rest of the Arizona Icecats take on DePaul this weekend at the Tucson Convention Center. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. both Friday and Saturday.

While preparing for their two-game set this weekend with visiting DePaul, there has been a consensus among UA players and coaches regarding their opponent ÷ they know virtually nothing about them.

The No. 6 Icecats (6-3) will take on the Blue Demons of DePaul (3-7-1) twice this weekend, starting tonight at 7:30 at the Tucson Convention Center.

DePaul, located in Chicago, was a late addition to the Icecats' schedule, after Buffalo pulled out of its commitment to visit Tucson just weeks before the season kicked off.

The Blue Demons are coming off of a 5-3 road win over Kentucky last Sunday, just their third win in 11 tries this season.

"We don't know much about them at all," said co-captain and senior defenseman Bill Pardue. "Some of our guys from the Chicago area, like Mickey (Meehan) and Adam (Grubbs) know a couple of their players, but that's about it. We don't know much else."

Despite not being familiar with the Blue Demons, head coach Leo Golembiewski vowed that his team will not take this weekend's games lightly.

"We have to take (DePaul) the same as we would anyone else," Golembiewski said.

"We can't afford a let-down, whether we are playing a team we don't know like DePaul, or the top of the ACHA like Penn State."

It would be hard to imagine that DePaul is not at least aware of the Icecats' main line, consisting of Matt Naylor, Shaun Brooks and Andrew Fredricks. The trio currently has 18 goals and 22 assists ÷ good for 40 points ÷ through the team's first nine games.

Meehan, a sophomore forward, and senior forward and co-captain Dave Loftus will also be looked to for scoring and leadership on the ice.

Meehan is coming off of his first career hat trick, during the team's 7-2 drubbing of visiting Colorado State last Saturday. Meehan also had an assist in the game, in addition to an assist during Friday's 8-1 victory over that same CSU squad.

Loftus contributed two assists during the win on Saturday, and looks ahead to this weekend's games as a good test for the Icecats, with intra-state rival Arizona State traveling back down I-10 for games Dec. 6 and 7.

"We look at the question mark surrounding (DePaul) as motivation," Loftus said.

"They could be a great team, so we will prepare for it that way. We want to try and work on our power play and penalty kill units to prepare for ASU, and this weekend will allow us to do that."

Tonight's game ÷ along with tomorrow's contest ÷ will begin at 7:30, with live play-by-play available on 1490 AM radio in Tucson.