{"id":49970,"date":"2025-07-31T12:05:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T12:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/49970\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T12:05:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T12:05:14","slug":"umd-was-always-the-dream-for-swedish-goaltender-duluth-news-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/49970\/","title":{"rendered":"UMD was always the dream for Swedish goaltender – Duluth News Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 In addition to current Bulldogs <\/p>\n

Adam Kleber<\/a><\/p>\n

and <\/p>\n

Max Plante,<\/a><\/p>\n

future Minnesota Duluth goaltender <\/p>\n

Carl Axelsson<\/a><\/p>\n

is with Sweden at this week\u2019s <\/p>\n

USA Hockey World Junior Summer Showcase<\/a><\/p>\n

in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-4 goalie hasn\u2019t dressed for any of Sweden\u2019s games against the United States through Wednesday, but he said he\u2019s looking forward to getting into a game later this week. Sweden wraps up against Canada on Friday and Finland on Saturday at Ridder Arena.<\/p>\n

Axelsson, 18, <\/p>\n

committed to the Bulldogs last summer<\/a><\/p>\n

after he said he visited Michigan, Michigan State and Maine. Those visits were just formalities, he said. Axelsson\u2019s father, Niklas, played two seasons at UMD from 1993-95, and father passed down stories to his son about the raucous fans the Bulldogs would play in front of at the DECC.<\/p>\n

\"Carl<\/p>\n

Carl Axelsson began the 2024-25 season in the USHL with the Sioux Falls Stampede before finishing the season with the Austin Bruins in the NAHL. He’ll return to the USHL in 2025-26 to play for the Muskegon Lumberjacks.<\/p>\n

Scott Galvin \/ USHL<\/p>\n

It\u2019s something Axelsson said he\u2019s excited to experience in the future at Amsoil Arena.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been my dream school since I was a kid because my dad played there,\u201d Axelsson said. \u201cIt was no question. I was visiting other schools, just to make sure it was the right decision. It was. I\u2019m excited for Duluth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Axelsson is slated to spend the 2025-26 season with the Muskegeon Lumberjacks in the United States Hockey League. He began the 2024-25 season \u2014 his first in North America \u2014 in the USHL with the Sioux Falls Stampede <\/p>\n

before playing the second half in the North American League<\/a><\/p>\n

with the Austin Bruins, where he posted a .937 save percentage and 1.74 goals against average in 19 games.<\/p>\n

Axelsson said he did have offers to play major junior in Canada in the Western Hockey League, but opted to return to the USHL rather than switch countries and go through the immigration process again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know a couple of the Swedes going there,\u201d Axelsson said of Muskegon. \u201cI\u2019m excited. It\u2019ll be fun to have a fresh start.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overheard at the World Junior Summer Showcase<\/p>\n

\"United<\/p>\n

Minnesota Duluth sophomore defenseman Adam Kleber watches from the bench as USA Blue takes on Sweden on Sunday, July 27 during the USA Hockey World Junior Summer Showcase at the University of Minnesota’s Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n

Bjorn Franke \/ USA Hockey<\/p>\n

The next recruiting cycle for men\u2019s and women\u2019s NCAA Division I hockey begins on Friday, Aug. 1,<\/a><\/p>\n

when players entering their junior year of high school will be eligible to receive scholarship offers and make their commitment to schools.<\/p>\n

Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin, who was at the World Junior Summer Showcase on Monday, said the team has at least three players coming to campus in August for official visits.<\/p>\n

Sandelin was one of a number of NCHC college coaches at Ridder Arena for the first two days of games, along with Denver\u2019s David Carle, Colorado College\u2019s Kris Mayotte and Minnesota State\u2019s Luke Strand. It\u2019s likely more will drop in later in the week when Canada \u2014 <\/p>\n

and all its uncommitted major junior players, who are now fair game<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 begins playing games at Ridder.<\/p>\n

College coaches like Sandelin and Carle were far outnumbered by NHL scouts over the first two days, with almost every one of the league\u2019s 32 teams represented by one or more personnel. Among the group was former Bulldogs captain and two-time national champion Parker Mackay, who works as an amateur and college scout for the Boston Bruins. Derek Plante, now scouting for the Ottawa Senators, was also at Ridder. The former UMD captain and assistant coach joined the Senators this summer after spending the previous three seasons as an assistant coach for the Chicago Blackhawks.<\/p>\n

\"Canada<\/p>\n

Canada conducted a split-squad scrimmage on Tuesday during USA Hockey’s World Junior Summer Showcase at the University of Minnesota’s Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n

Bjorn Franke \/ USA Hockey<\/p>\n

In addition to the World Junior Summer Showcase in Minneapolis, USA Hockey is also conducting its 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup selection camp this week in Plymouth, Michigan. Those chosen from the camp will play for the U.S. Under-18 Men\u2019s Select Team on Aug. 11-16 in Czechia and Slovakia. Bulldogs assistant coach Cody Chupp is on Team USA\u2019s staff. Duluth\u2019s Kaenan Smith <\/p>\n

is one of four goalies competing<\/a><\/p>\n

for a roster spot.
Still to come in August for <\/p>\n

USA Hockey is its women\u2019s national festival<\/a><\/p>\n

in Lake Placid, New York. That will take place Aug. 3-9, followed by the Under-18 and collegiate series against Canada. Bulldogs senior captain Mary Kate O\u2019Brien and former Bulldog Gabbie Hughes are taking part in the festival, as well as future Bulldog Alaina Gnetz. Bulldogs senior defensemen Tova Henderson and Ashley Messier <\/p>\n

will be playing for Canada<\/a><\/p>\n

in the development series. Taylee Manion (Proctor\/Hermantown) an uncommitted 2009-born defenseman, was also invited to the U-18 portion of the festival and is tied for the youngest of all 46 U-18 players invited.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Co-host of the Bulldog Insider Podcast<\/a> and college hockey reporter for the Duluth News Tribune covering the Minnesota Duluth men’s and women’s hockey programs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 In addition to current Bulldogs Adam Kleber and Max Plante, future Minnesota Duluth goaltender Carl Axelsson…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49971,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,35835,38695,38696,38697,38698,38699,38700,38701,3,38702,38703,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-49970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-bulldogs-hockey","tag-bulldogs-hockey-recruits","tag-chris-mayotte","tag-college-hockey-recruiting","tag-colorado-college-hockey","tag-david-carle","tag-denver-hockey","tag-minnesota-state-hockey","tag-news","tag-sweden-world-junior-championship","tag-sweden-world-juniors","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}