Oct. 4, 1999

AMHERST, Mass. - Senior forward Nathan Sell has been named captain of the University of Massachusetts hockey team for the 1999-2000 season, it was announced by Head Coach Joe Mallen today. Senior forward Jeff Blanchard and junior forward Jeff Turner will be the team’s alternate captains.

A center, Sell is one of the primary faceoff men on the team, who has also seen significant time on both the power play and penalty kill units. Sell led the team last season in both shorthanded goals (3) and game-winning goals (3) and now has five career shorthanded scores. He enters the 1998-99 campaign with 22 career points on 16 goals and six assists and is the only the third player since the UMass hockey program was revived in 1993-94 to be named sole captain of the team, following Jaynen Rissling (1993-96) and Dean Stork (1998-99). The 1996-97 and 1997-98 teams had co captains.

Blanchard is entering his second season as one of the team’s alternate captains. The right wing returns to the team as the top returning scorer and is already one of the top 10 career scorers since UMass reinstated hockey in ’93-94. Blanchard also holds the school record for consecutive games played with 95, a streak that is still active entering the 1999-2000 campaign. Blanchard was also an alternate captain for last year’s team and was named to the Hockey East All-Academic team in 1997-98.

Turner is the lone non-senior among the captains, and was UMass’ second-leading scorer last season. The centerman recorded 22 points on nine goals and 13 assists last year, his first full year on ice with the team, after missing half of his rookie campaign with a broken ankle. Turner shares a majority of the faceoff duties with Sell, and plays on both the power play and penalty kill units. Turner is also a two-time Hockey East All-Academic team selection.

“It’s a great tribute to Nathan Sell to be elected captain by his teammates,” said Head Coach Joe Mallen. “He has worked hard to earn their respect and the results show it. Both Jeff Blanchard and Jeff Turner are also great leaders on this team and will be a great asset as alternate captains. I’m looking forward to working with all three of them this season.”

UMass opens its season on Friday, Oct. 8, when it hosts Acadia in an exhibition match at 7:00 p.m. The regular season opener is on Saturday, Oct. 16 when the Minutemen travel to Colgate.