Blake Young’s 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.
“It felt like a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders,” Young said. “After scoring that goal, I pretty much felt like I could do anything, and to get that goal in our home rink was pretty amazing.
“My 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’t 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.”
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.
“We’ve really connected as a group,” Young said. “We didn’t 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.
“We 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’s been able to fit in well, whether it’s an older player getting a new role or a freshman getting used to playing college hockey.”
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.
“They always have high expectations, especially this year as they are trying to repeat, so that was a huge statement for us,” Young said.
“We 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.”
The former Battlefords North Stars player, who has two points in nine games so far this year, says he’s much more confident on the ice than he was in his first two seasons with the Bulldogs.
“I have a better idea of what to expect and I’m not as nervous as I was before,” Young said. “As a result, my puck handling has become a lot better and I’ve been able to make more plays.
“I want to become more consistent and that’s the biggest thing I’ve been working on lately. You need to have a strong level of play night in and night out here.”
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.
