Senior center Evan Schwabe, who experienced one of the greatest breakout years in University of Minnesota Duluth hockey history last winter, has been selected to serve as the Bulldogs' team captain for the 2004-05 season. Senior defenseman Neil Petruic and senior right wing Luke Stauffacher will both fill the roles of alternate team captains.

A native of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Schwabe placed second to linemate and Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Junior Lessard on the 2003-04 Bulldog scoring charts with 19 goals and an NCAA-leading 38 assists for 57 points (a number surpassed by only two other NCAA skaters). His 47-point improvement from his sophomore year represented the third highest single-season gain ever turned in by a Bulldog. Schwabe, who pieced together a 14-game scoring streak during the course of the 2003-04 season, also finished fifth among WCHA combantants in the points department. Petruic, a three-year fixture on the UMD blueline, equalled a career-high for scoring with 14 points on four goals and four assists . The Regina, Saskatchewan, native was one of just three Bulldogs (joining Schwabe and Lessard) to skate in all 45 outings last season and is a two-time WCHA All-Academic Team pick. Stauffacher, who will be embarking on his second season as a Bulldog alternate team captain, is coming off his most productive winter in a Bulldog uniform. A native of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, he established personal highs for goals (17), assists (18) and points (35) while topping the Bulldogs in game-winning goals with four. Stauffacher, one of a school-record 11 seniors on the 2004-05 UMD roster, corralled WCHA All-Academic Team recognition for a second straight season one year ago.

Fifth-year head coach Scott Sandelin and the Bulldogs, who rolled up a 28-13-4 overall record and advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four for the first time in 19 years last winter, will officially being preseason practice on Oct. 2 at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center before launching their 2004-05 regular season schedule on Oct. 7-8 with a two-game non-conference set at the University of Notre Dame.