Senior Beau Geisler, the University of Minnesota-Duluth's top scoring defenseman from a year ago, has been selected to serve as the Bulldogs' team captain for the 2003-04 season. Senior right wing Junior Lessard and junior forward Luke Stauffacher will both fill the roles of alternate team captains.



A native of Coleraine, MN, Geisler collected 26 points on five goals and 21 assists to place fourth on the 2002-03 Bulldog scoring charts and turned in a plus-minus rating of +13 on the season. He served as an alternate team captain last winter and has now played in a team-high 68 consecutive games. Lessard, a native of St. Joseph deBeauce, QUE, established personal bests for goals (a UMD-high 21), assists (16) and total points (37) while taking runnerup honors in the UMD scoring race. Likewise, Stauffacher enjoyed his most productive season in a Bulldog season one year ago. The Sun Prairie, WI, native had 22 points (12 goals and 10 assists) to his 2002-03 credit and tied for first among all Western Collegiate Hockey Association skaters with five game winning tallies.



The Bulldogs and fourth-year head coach Scott Sandelin will officially being preseason practice on Sept. 26 at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center before launching their 2003-04 regular season schedule on Oct. 4 by taking on the University of North Dakota in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game in Grand Forks, ND.