GRAND FORKS, N.D. –
University of North
Dakota forward Danny Kristo announced today that he will return for his senior
season in 2012-13.
A second-round draft
pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 2008, Kristo enjoyed the best season of his
collegiate career in 2011-12, achieving career highs in points (45), goals (19),
assists (team-leading 26), game-winning goals (3) and plus/minus (+16). He was
named to the NCAA West Region All-Tournament Team and received UND’s Virg Foss
3-Star Award for earning the most 3-star voting points at home
games.
UND’s leading active
scorer with 109 points (42 goals, 67 assists) in 117 career games, Kristo
finished ninth in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) scoring race
and put together 15 multi-point games. He became the 84th player in
program history to amass 100 career points when he scored twice in a 4-2 win
over Minnesota State on March 2.
As a sophomore in
2010-11, Kristo collected eight goals and 20 assists in 34 games and finished
the year with 23 points (7 goals, 16 assists) over his last 17 games. He
returned from a 10-game injury absence in March to record three goals and three
assists in UND’s five playoff games.
Kristo was named the
WCHA Rookie of the Year in 2009-10 after winning the league’s rookie scoring
race with 36 points (15 goals, 21 assists) in 41 games and leading the team with
nine power-play goals. He was also Inside College Hockey’s National Rookie of
the Year runner-up and helped lead the United States to a gold medal at the 2010
IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.
Kristo, a 5-foot-11,
188-pound, product of Eden Prairie, Minn., will enter the 2012-13 season as the
leading active scorer among WCHA forwards.
