Stephane Pattyn named UND's Team Captain

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In a move that should surprise no one, UND has named Steph Pattyn team captain for the 2014-15 season. (Official UND hockey press release)

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – University of North Dakota Head Men’s Hockey Coach Dave Hakstol announced today that rising senior forward Stephane Pattyn has been named team captain for the 2014-15 season. In addition, Hakstol announced that classmates Connor Gaarder, Mark MacMillan and Michael Parks have been named assistant captains.  

Pattyn, affectionately dubbed “The General” by his teammates, served as an assistant captain as a junior in 2013-14. He played in all 42 games and established career highs in points (16), goals (7), assists (9), power-play goals (3) and plus/minus (+10). The Ste. Anne, Manitoba, native has missed just one game in his collegiate career and will enter his senior year as UND’s active leader in career games played with 125.

Gaarder also enjoyed a breakthrough season as a junior, appearing in all 42 games and setting career highs in points (17), goals (9), assists (8), game-winning goals (2) and plus/minus (+5). A native of Edina, Minn., Gaarder was named to the NCAA Midwest Region All-Tournament Team after scoring the double-overtime game-winning goal in UND’s 2-1 win over Ferris State in the regional final. Gaarder also earned academic all-conference honors for the second time and was recently named UND’s 2013-14 Male Unsung Hero (all sports).

MacMillan appeared in 38 games last season and ranked third on the team in scoring with a career-high 26 points, matching his career high with 16 assists. Four of his 10 goals were game-winners. A native of Penticton, British Columbia, MacMillan was one of 18 national candidates for the 2014 Hockey Humanitarian Award while earning academic all-conference honors for the second year in a row.

Parks, like Pattyn, served as an assistant captain in 2013-14 and earned All-National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Second Team honors after collecting a career-high 30 points in 42 games. The St. Louis, Mo., native, who will be UND’s top returning scorer in 2014-15, also set a new career high with 18 assists and matched his career high with 12 goals.

North Dakota (25-14-3, 15-9-0 NCHC) qualified for the NCAA postseason tournament for the 12th consecutive season in 2013-14, the longest active streak in Division I men’s hockey, and won the NCAA Midwest Regional to advance to the 20th NCAA Frozen Four in program history.