The Quinnipiac Bobcats have named former Vernon Vipers forward Odeen Tufto captain.
Tufto was is in his third season at Quinnipiac University before COVID-19 cancelled the 2019-20 season. Tufto played one season in the United States Hockey League (2016-17) with three different teams (Fargo, Tri-City & Sioux City) before joining Quinnipiac University in 2017.
Tufto played one season in Vernon (2015-16) before leaving the team over the summer to join the United States Hockey League (USHL) Fargo Force. In 57 games with the Vipers Tufto recorded (25-goals-40-assists-65-points).
Odeen Tufto's Player Profile:
This was posted on the Bobcats website:
Tufto Named Men's Ice Hockey Captain for 2020-21 Season
Men's Ice Hockey 6/8/2020
Minnesota-Native Tabbed as 47th Captain, Bongiovanni and DiLiberatore Assistant Captains
HAMDEN, Conn. – Quinnipiac men's ice hockey head coach Rand Pecknold has announced the leadership group for the 2020-21 season with rising senior Odeen Tufto (Chaska, Minnesota) tabbed as the next captain of the program.
Tufto is the 47th captain in program history for the Bobcats, following Nick Jermain '20 who held the title for the 2019-20 season. Tufto is the first Minnesota-native to be named the Bobcats captain since Derek Smith '17 was a co-captain in 2016-17 and just the fourth Bobcat from the Land of 10,000 Lakes to be named captain in the program's Division I era along with Smith (Apple Valley), Reid Cashman '07 (Red Wing) and two-time captain Ty Deinema '06 (Wayzata)
Rising juniors Wyatt Bongiovanni (Birmingham, Michigan) and Peter DiLiberatore (Bedford, Nova Scotia) have been named assistant captains for the Bobcats after two seasons as developing leaders in the program.
Tufto returns for his senior season as the leading scorer in all of NCAA Division I men's college hockey as he has 121 points and averages 1.10 points per game in 110 games in his career. He also leads all returners with 90 assists.
He is coming off a 38-point season in 2019-20 with seven goals and 34 assists. He led ECAC Hockey and was fifth in the nation in assists while he was third in ECAC hockey in points and tied for 15th in the nation. Tufto was also one of the top centers as he led the league with 371 faceoff wins and was 12th in the nation while his .569 faceoff percentage was seventh in ECAC Hockey and tied for 35th in the nation.
Tufto has led the Bobcats in scoring in each of his first three seasons with the team, the first Bobcat to accomplish that feat since Sam Anas '17. Tufto is also the first Bobcat since Anas to record three straight 30-point seasons, and just the ninth player in program history to record at least three straight 30-point seasons.
He is a three-time All-ECAC Hockey selections, including back-to-back seasons on the second team in 2018-19 and 2019-20.
Bongiovanni has been a stellar scorer in each of his first two seasons with the program and set career-highs in 2019-20 with 15 goals and 10 assists for 25 points. Bongiovanni also had a personal best with a +9 plus/minus rating, 109 shots on goal and four game-winning goals. 11 of Bongiovanni's 25 career goals have come on the power play.
This season, Bongiovanni was named a finalist for the ECAC Hockey Student-Athlete of the Year Award as he excelled both on the ice and in the classroom.
DiLiberatore has been one of the top defenseman in the nation from the Class of 2022 as he had another outstanding season in 2019-20 with career-highs of six goals and 21 points to go with 15 assists. DiLiberatore also scored four power-play goals.
In his career, DiLiberatore has totaled nine goals and 31 assists for 40 points, ranking second among sophomores in ECAC Hockey over the past two seasons behind Harvard's Jack Rathbone in every offensive category, and is fifth nationally in assists, eighth in points and 10th in goals.
DiLiberatore was rewarded for his efforts this season with a spot on the All-ECAC Hockey Third Team after being named to the All-Rookie Team as a first year in 2018-19.
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