College women's hockey: Bell to captain Bulldogs in 2020-21 after breakout debut on blueline

After a breakout junior season on the blue line in 2019-20, rising-senior defenseman Ashton Bell was named captain of the Minnesota Duluth women’s hockey team for the 2020-21 season on Thursday .

Bell will be assisted next year by fellow seniors Anna Klein, a winger, and defenseman McKenzie Revering. Graduating seniors Sydney Brodt and Jalyn Elmes co-captained the Bulldogs the previous two seasons, with Brodt also wearing the ‘C’ as a sophomore in 2017-18.

Bell, who was also named UMD’s Breakout Player of the Year along with sophomore forward Kylie Hanley for 2019-20, was a forward her first two seasons as a Bulldog before making the switch to defenseman not only at UMD, but with Team Canada as well. In her first college season on the blue line, Bell led all WCHA defensemen in scoring and was sixth in the nation among defenders with 32 points. Her 11 goals were also a league-high for defensemen as she nabbed a spot on the All-WCHA first team.

Sophomore center Gabbie Hughes made it two-for-two as the Bulldogs’s Most Valuable Player in 2019-20 after leading the team in scoring with 20 goals and 31 assists in 35 games. The program’s Maroon and Gold Award — which goes to the player the team thinks best combines the values of work ethic, attitude and commitment — also saw a repeat winner in Brodt, who put up 19 goals and 22 assists in 36 games. Nine goals and 11 assists came against nationally ranked teams.