GRAND FORKS, N.D. – University of North Dakota senior defenseman Andrew MacWilliam has been named captain of the men’s hockey team for the 2012-13 season. Senior forwards Corban Knight, Danny Kristo and Carter Rowney were each named assistant captains.
MacWilliam, who served as an assistant captain as a junior, has appeared in 122 career games, the most among returning UND players, and owns a career plus/minus rating of +24. Last season, the Calgary, Alberta, native played in all 42 games and collected two goals and five assists along with a career-best +12 rating. He was also named to the WCHA Final Five All-Tournament Team.
The 6-foot-2, 230-pound MacWilliam was a seventh-round draft pick (188th overall) of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2008.
Knight, like MacWilliam, served as an assistant captain as a junior in 2011-12. The High River, Alberta, native played in all 42 games and amassed career highs in points (40), goals (16) and assists (24). His career +40 rating leads all returning UND players. Knight was a fifth-round draft pick (135th overall) of the Florida Panthers in 2009.
Kristo, a native of Eden Prairie, Minn., is UND’s top returning scorer with 109 points (42 goals, 67 assists) in 117 career games, including a career-high 45 points last season. In 42 games as a junior, Kristo also established career bests in goals (19), assists (26), game-winning goals (3) and plus/minus (+16). He also won UND’s Virg Foss 3-Star Award after receiving the most 3-star voting points from the media following home games. Kristo was a second-round draft pick (56th overall) of the Montreal Canadiens in 2008.
Rowney enjoyed a breakthrough season as a junior, finishing third on the team with a career-high 18 goals and fourth in scoring with a career-high 33 points. Nine of his goals came on the power-play and three stood as game-winners. The Sexsmith, Alberta, native tied for the WCHA playoff scoring lead with eight points in five games, including a league-leading six assists.
UND went 26-13-3 overall in 2011-12 and captured its league-record third consecutive Broadmoor Trophy as WCHA Final Five champions. It was also the program’s league-leading 11th WCHA playoff title.
UND opens the 2012-13 season, its last as a member of the WCHA, with exhibition games against Manitoba (Oct. 6) and the U.S. Under-18 Team (Oct. 12) before opening the regular season Oct. 19-20 at the Alaska Goal Rush tournament in Fairbanks.
