Three University of Minnesota Duluth men's hockey players have been tabbed alternate captains for the 2024-25 season, the program announced Tuesday morning.

The trio of defensemen set to wear the "A" are junior Aiden Dubinsky, senior Owen Gallatin and junior Joey Pierce. The three blueliners will join senior forward Dominic James, who was announced as the team captain in May.

A Highland Park, Ill. native, Dubinsky was named the 2023-24 Mike Sertich Award winner last season as the Bulldogs most Improved Player. A two-time NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete, as well as a two-time NCHC Academic All-Conference Team member, Dubinsky has played in 66 games over his two year career. With 20 points, Dubinsky has scored three goals and added 17 assists over his Bulldog career.

Gallatin, a product of Hugo, Minn., was UMD's second leading scorer last season with a collegiate career-high of 30 points on seven goals and 23 assists. Those 23 helpers also doubled as the ninth most assists per game in the National College Hockey Conference last season (0.62).  Gallatin has played in 118 games for the Bulldogs over his career, and has compiled 64 points (15g, 49a) Like Dubinsky, Gallatin is a two-time NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete, and a two-time NCHC Academic All-Conference Team selection. 

Pierce, who hails from Hermantown, Minn., was also a two-time NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete, as well as a two-time NCHC Academic All-Conference Team selection. With 63 games under his belt at UMD, Pierce has recorded eight points – all assists – in his two prior seasons.

The three will share duties with James, who missed all but the first two games last year after suffering a season-ending injury. As a sophomore, James compiled 28 points in 35 games – the second most on the team. Tied for the most assists with 18, James added 10 goals, which included three power play tallies. A native of Plymouth, Mich., James  is a draftee of the Chicago Blackhawks, taken in the sixth round of the 2022 National Hockey League's Entry Draft following the freshman campaign at UMD. 

"Sometimes I think we felt it was important to have a leadership group when we left school at the end of a year and through the summer, " said UMD head coach Scott Sandelin in addressing the timing of his captain group. "With a lot of new guys, the coaching staff wanted their input, wanted them to be part of the process, which it's not every year that we've included them. After letting everybody vote, those are the guys we came up with, and we're fortunate, I think we've got some really good people in there. But we've got some guys in that locker room that aren't wearing letters that are gonna be equally important, guys that have been leaders too."

UMD will begin the 2024-25 season on Saturday, October 5 at AMSOIL Arena against Bemidji State University. The puck is set to drop at 5:07 p.m.