Minnesota Hockey Hub | MN Boys High School Hockey

Andy Welinski of Duluth became the latest Elite League player to make a college commitment when he committed to his home town University of Minnesota-Duluth.

“Growing up here had a lot to do with it,” Welinksi said of his decision to become a Bulldog. “The coaching staff has been very good to me, and I like the group of players they have coming in the next few years.”

A 6-foot, 175-pound defenseman, Welinski skated with Team North in the recently-completed Elite League season, then was selected to play on Team Minnesota Red, which won the Bauer National Invitational Tournament the first weekend in November.

“The first few weeks of the Elite League took some getting used to because of the speed and all the good players,” Welinski said. “But the coaching was really good, and then playing in the NIT was like another step up even from that.”

Welinski is in his junior year at Duluth East high school, and said he intends to play at least one year of junior hockey before joining the Bulldogs. He becomes the 18^th player from this year’s NIT to make a college commitment, and the fifth to decide on UMD. He joins Shattuck’s Joe Basaraba, St. Thomas Academy’s  Justin Crandall, Bloomington Jefferson’s Caleb Herbert and Hermantown's Adam Krause as future UMD Bulldogs.