DULUTH — Minnesota Duluth sophomore wings Blake Bechen and Harper Bentz committed to the Bulldogs less than two months apart while playing with future Bulldogs in the United States Hockey League.
Bechen, an Iowa native, committed to UMD in November 2023 while playing with goaltender Adam Gajan and winger Jayson Shaugabay with the Green Bay Gamblers.
Bentz, a former Moorhead Spud, committed to the Bulldogs in January 2024 while playing with Zam Plante across the North Dakota border with the Fargo Force.
Both players could have returned to the USHL for a third season, but jumped on invitations to join a growing 2024-25 freshman class that included Gajan, Shaugabay and Plante. Bechen and Bentz both joined the News Tribune’s Matt Wellens this week on the Bulldog Insider Podcast to share their recruiting experiences and take a look at their careers thus far at UMD.
Below are edited excerpts from this week’s episode.
Matt Wellens: Blake, I love hearing about players’ recruiting processes. Take me through your recruitment to UMD.
You won that Clark Cup at Youngstown, and then you committed while you’re with Adam and Jayson in Green Bay. That was kind of late in the process?
Blake Bechen: Yeah, it was around in November. I got traded to Green Bay over the summer and when I went to Green Bay, the first day I was there, I still was uncommitted yet. The head coach (Mike Leone) was like, ‘Hey, would you be interested in Minnesota Duluth or anything like that?’
And I was like, ‘Yeah, for sure.’
Growing up, UMD was always the top dog. They have three national championships. Everyone respected Coach Scott Sandelin and stuff like that. Adam Krause reached out to me and that’s where it all started and he just was talking. We talked for a little bit, and then I took a visit out here. Once I took the visit, I just knew I wanted to be a Bulldog, and saw everything that they had to offer. Two weeks later, I called coach and let him know that I wanted to be a Bulldog.
Wellens: Who was your coach that season in Green Bay?
Bechen: Mike Leone.
Minnesota Duluth forward Blake Bechen (16) skates with the puck against Alaska on Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.
Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group
Wellens: So he was the one that originally asked you about UMD?
Bechen: He had a good connection with the coaching staff and that they were interested, that they would be reaching out.
Wellens: What other options did you have, or was he the first one to hook you up with a school?
Bechen: I had a couple. When I first started, that year in Youngstown, there were a couple schools that I took visits to and stuff like that. I just didn’t really think those schools were right at that time. I wasn’t playing a lot in Youngstown. I was a younger guy on the team and we had a really, really, really good team that year. I just wanted to wait until I could establish myself and then see what my options were.
When I started off in Green Bay, Duluth was one of the first to reach out and I really respected that because I hadn’t really shown anything the year before that and stuff like that. They saw it in me and I respected that.
Wellens: Harper, take me through your recruitment. You committed almost two months after Blake did in January 2024
Bentz: Yeah, very similar. My first year in Fargo wasn’t what I expected it to be. I left high school early and it was a big jump for me. I talked to a couple schools, but nothing too serious. Going to my second year, I was doing to make the jump and make sure I had a better year.
I was starting to talk to a couple schools and a couple schools that weren’t really from Minnesota. I went out and took a couple visits, just kind of to get away from it. Growing up in Minnesota, you know the Duluths, the St. Clouds. Even Grand Forks is only an hour way from Moorhead. The Sioux, like knowing all those schools, but I wanted to kind of experience somewhere else.
Minnesota Duluth forward Harper Bentz (19) shoots the puck at Lindenwood goaltender Klayton Knapp (31) on Friday, Jan. 9 at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.
Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group
I reached out to my advisor and said, ‘Yeah, Duluth would be a school that would interest me.’ I kept playing and Krause ended up reaching out and I came out here for a visit. I loved it, loved it every second of it. I played a couple tournaments here and all that, and just meeting Sandy — he has a good pedigree of winning hockey, and that’s something that I want to do, is win games. He’s also great at getting guys to the next level, and that’s something that I would also like to do.
Wellens: I’m curious, what was the timeline that UMD laid out for both of you?
When you guys committed, they had already signed six freshmen for their next class. You guys were both at an age where you could have went back to juniors again, if you wanted to, though both were in your second year at that point when you committed.
How does UMD handle and approach those things of when you commit? Do they give you a definite timeline? Is it flexible?
Bechen: I visited, I can’t even remember when. It was about two weeks later, I think, I committed, and at the time I committed, me and the coaching staff were both in agreement that I would go back to Green Bay for another year. As the year went on, it was the same thing.
Toward the end of the year, they had some stuff happen here with some players, so they weren’t 100% sure. Right when my year in Green Bay ended, Krause gave me a call and said that they would like me to come in. I signed the next day and that’s kind of what it was.
Minnesota Duluth forward Blake Bechen (16) Western Michigan forward Tyler MacKenzie (11) chase the puck on Friday, Jan. 23 at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.
Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group
Wellens: So, there was no second-guessing? You were happy to do that.
Bechen: Well, yeah. Like Harper said, coach Sandelin has a great reputation of putting guys into the next level. Whatever they had in mind for me, I was going to listen. They have a huge track record of putting players to that next level. Whatever they wanted and whatever they thought was best for me is what ultimately was the decision I was going to make.
Wellens: Harper, how about for you? How did they approach the timeline with you?
Bentz: I went on my visit. I didn’t wait.
I’m trying to think, it was probably less than a week. I had a couple other visits lined up after, but after I went to Duluth, I was set. I wanted to go to Duluth. So, I committed, and then mine was the same thing.
When I committed, the coaches told me that, ‘you might come in next year or you might just go back for another year of juniors.’ And I was living at home, so I was all right with going back with juniors. Juniors, it’s a blast.
Wellens: Mom and Dad said you could come back home for another year?
Bentz: Mom and Dad were going to have me for another year, yep. And they weren’t charging me rent, either.
But actually, (assistant coach Cody Chupp), he was in town. It was for some youth hockey tournament, and he asked me to stop by the rink, and I came over and watched a game with him. He’s like, ‘Hey, we’re thinking of bringing you in next year. What are your thoughts on that?’
Like Blake said, I trust Coach Sandy. I trust Krause, Chupper. If they wanted to bring me in, I knew they had a plan for me and a plan set. So I was I was all for it.
Wellens: Was Mom and Dad bummed that you were leaving home a year early? What was their reaction?
Bentz: I’m sure they were bummed a little bit, but they were excited for me, and it’s not too far from home. They are able to make it to a good amount of games.
Check out the full episode for more from Bechen and Bentz. You can find the Bulldog Insider Podcast at
DuluthNewsTribune.com/BulldogInsider
, and on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop Thursdays throughout the UMD men’s and women’s hockey seasons.