Two of the seniors currently on the Bulldogs’ roster, Justin Fontaine and Mike Montgomery, had chances to leave after last year. However, neither wanted to, both due to how their season ended (a loss to North Dakota in the WCHA Final Five) and due to the excitement pending in Duluth (such as their new arena).
Obviously, both are happy with how things turned out.
“It’s huge for us,” said Montgomery. “Over the summer, things go through your head, but for the most part, I think we both knew we had guys coming back. It was going to be a big year for our team; it’s a good time to be a Bulldog right now. We had a new arena; there were just a lot of reasons to come back — good situation, good coaches, and there was too much here for us to let go.
“And, at the end of last year, we weren’t happy with the way we ended it, and we wanted to come back. There was more work to be done.”
“After playing the last three years here, we always progressed and came up short the last two years,” said Fontaine. “When the season was over last year, we were kind of unfortunate, but had that edge to want to be right back in our building.
“I had a lot of faith in our teammates, and I think everyone kind of got together even more after what happened last year. It was just exciting to come back early August and come for a goal. That was to be here, and that’s where we made it.”
Quotable Duluth
A few extra quotes that didn’t necessarily fit in anywhere else.
“There’s certainly a lot of work here to be done starting tomorrow.” — Scott Sandelin.
“It was kind of nice not having to get too mad.” — Sandelin regarding the last week of practice.
“Sometimes, you’ve got to get kicked in the teeth a couple times. Sometimes you’ve got to go through those rough patches to see what you’re made of.” — Sandelin, regarding the team’s rough stretch after December.
“He left, but I guess that’s his loss for not staying and being here.” — Sandelin regarding Dylan Olsen, who left in December.
“This team has a lot, I think, that they can still give.” — Sandelin.
