Senior defenseman Steve Czech, a fixture on the University of Minnesota Duluth blueline the past three winters, has been selected as the Bulldogs' team captain for the 2005-06 season. Senior center Tim Stapleton will fill one of the two alternate team captain roles while the other will be named on game-by-game basis.



A native of Oakdale, Minn., Czech equalled career bests for goals (three), assists (10), and points (13) as a junior while suiting up in all 38 games. Czech, who is a +45 in his three seasons with the Bulldogs, paced all UMD rookie blueliners in scoring two years ago with 13 points and finished with three goals and nine assists the following season. The 2003-04 Western Collegiate Hockey Association All-Academic Team honoree has played in all but one of UMD's 125 games since joining the Bulldog program in 2002-03.



Last winter, Stapleton came up just shy of becoming only the second Bulldog in team history (NCAA I era) to start off his career with three successive 40-point seasons. The LaGrange, Ill., product placed second among his UMD teammates in scoring with 39 points on a personal-high 19 goals and 20 assists. Stapleton, who marked in the scoring column in eight of the final 10 outings last year, had 11 multiple-point nights to his 2004-05 credit (only senior center Evan Schwabe, with 13, compiled more) and finished as the WCHA co-leader in shorthanded points (3 in league play). He’ll enter his senior year ranking 35th on the school’s all-time scoring list with 49 goals and 73 assist for 122 points in 123 engagements.

Sixth-year head coach Scott Sandelin and the 2005-06 Bulldogs will officially open preseason practice on the morning of Oct. 1 at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center before launching their 62nd year of intercollegiate hockey on Oct. 7-8 with a two-game non-conference home series against Bemidji State University.