DULUTH — After wearing the letter “A” on his uniform for just two games of the 2023-24 season due to a season-ending shoulder injury, Minnesota Duluth's Dominique James will be back in action for the 2024-25 season. will get a second chance to wear the letter. He won't have an “A” on his chest in his senior season, though.
James will likely wear the 'C' as captain of the Bulldogs next year and then move on to the National Hockey League. The Chicago Blackhawks' 2022 sixth-round draft pick will be responsible for leading a revamped UMD team consisting of 12 new players, including 11 freshmen.
“Our players have a tremendous amount of respect for him,” Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin said, adding that the team's alternate captain for 2024-25 will be named at a later date. “I think he's going to have a great year for us and he's going to be a great leader for us. We're all excited to work for him because he's a pillar of our team. , excited to be back.”
James briefly served as the Bulldogs' top-line center during the 2023-24 season, but suffered a torn shoulder during a penalty faceoff in the second period of the season's second game in a 5-5 overtime tie with Northern. He suffered a torn labrum. October 13, 2023 at Amsoil Arena, Michigan.
Despite suffering a shoulder injury in this draw, James won the faceoff. He won 6 of 7 faceoffs that night and shot 54.3% in his second season, winning 23 of 32 over five periods played last season. Recorded.
The Bulldogs, who were without James for more than 95% of the season, finished 63rd in faceoff percentage (42.5%) out of 64 teams in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey last year.
But faceoffs aren't the reason James is captain. As Sandelin said in October 2023, before James underwent shoulder surgery, UMD's top-line center is the emotional leader of the locker room. He is an emotional leader on the ice.
Clint Austin / File / Duluth News Tribune
That was evident late last season when the team traveled to the University of Colorado. James was on the ice with the team during the March 1 morning skate in Colorado Springs.
Sandelin said James, who is medically cleared to practice but not play, raised everyone's work ethic that morning.
“It's good for everyone to have these guys on the ice every day,” Sandelin said. “It was totally different, totally different. He was just doing target practice and doing what he could. Everybody saw that.”
James has played in 76 games with UMD dating back to his freshman year in 2021-22, recording 16 goals and 31 assists, and had one assist in at least one game last season. He had 6 goals and 12 assists as a freshman, playing primarily between Quinn Olson and Blake Biondi, was drafted by the Blackhawks, and as a sophomore played with Luke Rohit and Ben Steeves and had 10 assists. He had a goal and 18 assists.
James was a starter in 2023-24, along with Rohit and Olson, before his injury.
Of the four wingers James has played regularly in the past, none are yet at UMD. James is one of just seven forwards to return to the Bulldogs for the 2023-24 season, pending center Cole Spicer's academic eligibility for the 2024-25 season. He will be the eighth returning player.
Sandelin will bring in seven freshman forwards and one transfer, St. Cloud State senior Joe Molenaar, next season. The coach said James will be a good leader for all the young players joining the Bulldogs, who also have two freshman defensemen and two freshman goaltenders.
“He's going to be a go-to player for us, and he was last year,” Sandelin said. “I'm just excited to have him back. I think he's going to do a great job as a leader of this group, and I think that's already taking shape in his last training here.
“It's going to get better. We missed it. We missed it last year.”
