News

FIRST USA HOCKEY POLL FOR 2012-13 HAS BULLDOGS SLOTTED 12TH

Monday, September 24, 2012

Caleb Herbert

There are plenty of folks around the college hockey community who again have high expectations for the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs in 2012-13 and count the voters on the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll among them.

That group slotted UMD 12th in its annual preseason poll, which was released today and contained four other Western Collegiate Hockey Association schools --  the University of Minnesota (No. 2), the University of North Dakota (No. 4), the University of Denver (No. 8), and the University of Wisconsin (No. 15).

The Bulldogs, who posted a 25-10-6 overall record, placed second in the final WCHA standings at 16-7-5 and advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA playoffs in 2011-12, return 17 lettermen from a year ago,  including sophomore left winger Caleb Herbert, the team's top returning point getter (14 goals and 19 assists in 41 games). Also back is senior left winger Mike Seidel, who established career highs for goals (17), assists (13) and points (30) as well junior right winger Joe Basaraba (7-9=16), sophomore left winger Justin Crandall (6-7=13) and senior left winger Keegan Flaherty (7-4=11). Senior Wade Bergman (3-15=18), sophomore Chris Casto (2-11=13 and a +21) and senior Drew Olson (1-7=8)  headline the list of six holdovers on defense while junior Aaron Crandall, who was 2-1-0 with a 3.10 goals against average and .855 saves percentage while backing up All-WCHA second team senior Kenny Reiter is the lone veteran goaltender the Bulldogs retain.

UMD will officially open preseason practice this Saturday (Oct. 6) before launching its 69th season of intercollegiate hockey on Oct. 12-13 with a two-game non-conference against Ohio State University.

2012-13 USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Preseason Poll

Return to all news.