Blake Young鈥檚 junior season with the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs has already been a memorable one.
After dressing in 31 games over the course of his first two years at the school, the 22-year-old forward from Battleford scored his first career college hockey goal on Oct. 1 in a 6-0 win over the Michigan Tech Huskies.
鈥淚t felt like a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders,鈥� Young said. 鈥淎fter scoring that goal, I pretty much felt like I could do anything, and to get that goal in our home rink was pretty amazing.
鈥淢y linemate Billy Exell gave me the puck in the middle (of the ice) and I heard my other linemate Sammy Spurrell calling for it along the wing. I didn鈥檛 see him there, so I decided to shoot the puck low to the blocker side of their goalie (Matt Wintjes) and it ended up finding the back of the net.鈥�
In addition to the personal success, Young has also been able to enjoy the strong start to the season for the Bulldogs.
Following a pair of wins last weekend against the Nebraska Omaha Mavericks, the Bulldogs have a 10-2-2 record and are the currently the top ranked team in NCAA Division I hockey.
鈥淲e鈥檝e really connected as a group,鈥� Young said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 play our first game until the beginning of October, so we spent a lot of September getting to know each other and I think the chemistry that we built up allowed us to get a few early wins.
鈥淲e actually have a lot of new faces this year on the team, as we lost a number of guys to either graduation or signing pro contracts. Everyone鈥檚 been able to fit in well, whether it鈥檚 an older player getting a new role or a freshman getting used to playing college hockey.鈥�
Two of their biggest wins came on Oct. 29 and 30 when they swept a weekend series against the defending national champion North Dakota Fighting Hawks.
鈥淭hey always have high expectations, especially this year as they are trying to repeat, so that was a huge statement for us,鈥� Young said.
鈥淲e also had a couple of big wins three weeks ago against St. Cloud State. We came back from 3-1 down in both games to beat the Huskies in their rink, and that really shows the character that we have on our team.鈥�
The former Battlefords North Stars player, who has two points in nine games so far this year, says he鈥檚 much more confident on the ice than he was in his first two seasons with the Bulldogs.
鈥淚 have a better idea of what to expect and I鈥檓 not as nervous as I was before,鈥� Young said. 鈥淎s a result, my puck handling has become a lot better and I鈥檝e been able to make more plays.
鈥淚 want to become more consistent and that鈥檚 the biggest thing I鈥檝e been working on lately. You need to have a strong level of play night in and night out here.鈥�
Young and the Bulldogs are off for the next two weeks before they visit the Denver Pioneers, who are currently ranked second nationally, on Dec. 9.聽
