Bobcats Men’s Ice Hockey announces captains for 2020-21 season

Photos: Liz Flynn

Kaylyn Terry
June 8, 2020

After an upsetting end to the college hockey season after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the NCAA tournament, the Quinnipiac Bobcats are looking forward to the upcoming season. Head coach Rand Pecknold announced the team’s new leadership core via Twitter on Monday.

Odeen Tufto, a senior forward, has been named the 47th captain in the team’s history, while Wyatt Bongiovanni and Peter Diliberatore will serve as assistant captains.

Previously, Tufto had been an assistant captain for Quinnipiac in 2019-20. On the ice, he was named to the ECAC Hockey Second Team in 2019 and 2020. Over his last three years with Quinnipiac, he has led the Bobcats with 90 assists and 121 points.

Juniors Bongiovanni and Diliberatore have both had exciting careers so far at Quinnipiac, and will take on larger roles next season. Bongiovanni ranked third in ECAC Hockey with four game-winning goals and fourth in overall goals with 15. He has scored 48 career points over the last two years, and leads the Bobcats with 29 goals over that span.

Diliberatore has paced ECAC Hockey defensemen in several scoring categories. He tied for sixth among defenseman in goals (6), assists (15) and points (21) in ECAC Hockey last year en route to an ECAC Hockey Second Team nomination. The Vegas Golden Knights’ draft pick has accumulated 40 points through his first two seasons.

The Bobcats’ leadership group for 2020-21 has been set, but unfortunately the schedule has not due to COVID-19 pandemic. However, whenever the season does begin, Tufto, Bongiovanni and Diliberatore will look to lead the Bobcats back to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in the program’s history.