matt wellens reporting

Matt Wellens

College hockey reporter

Matt Wellens is a college hockey reporter for the Duluth News Tribune covering the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's and women's hockey programs. He also co-hosts a weekly UMD hockey podcast during the season called Bulldog Insider.

Matt has been covering the Bulldogs since the start of the 2014-15 season. His days covering college hockey go back to the 2003-04 season when he was a freshman at Northern Michigan University. It was at the start of the 2018-19 season that he, Zach Schneider of My 9 Sports and News Tribune multimedia producer Sam Erkkila launched the Bulldog Insider Podcast.

Prior to coming to Duluth in 2014, Matt was the Northern Michigan Wildcats hockey beat reporter in Marquette, Michigan. A Wisconsin native, Matt enjoys Star Wars, camping, Kwik Trip and the Green Bay Packers during his time away from the rink.

matt wellens reporting
Duluth News Tribune sports reporter Matt Wellens interviews Minnesota Duluth head coach Scott Sandelin during NCHC Media Day on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

Former Husky Joe Molenaar is just what UMD was looking for with 11 freshmen on the roster this season. The Bulldogs are exactly what Molenaar was looking for at this point in hockey career and life.
UMD sophomore defenseman Ida Karlsson, a member of the Swedish national team, has become an important part of the Bulldogs' blue line, forcing turnovers and disrupting plays.
Ohio State finished off a WCHA sweep of the Bulldogs on Saturday. The UMD team was battling a flu bug all weekend. UMD also lost two key players during the loss to an injury and ejection.
UMD sophomore goaltender Eve Gascon made a career-high 58 saves, but the Bulldogs repeatedly found themselves on the penalty kill and shorthanded on the blue line Friday against Ohio State.
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UMD opened the season with a sweep of Ohio State in Columbus, but the Buckeyes visit Duluth this week leading the Bulldogs in all the national rankings and are just a point back in the WCHA.
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The Bulldogs men's hockey program is on the road for just the fifth time this season, traveling to Colorado College this week. UMD has found more success away from Amsoil Arena than at home.
Hermantown's Ty Hanson and Chaska's Adam Kleber gained valuable experience on the ice in the USHL and off it as well, to prepare themselves for the jump to college hockey.
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The Bulldogs lost two players to injury in the first period, but Adam Kleber and Joey Pierce scored their first college goals to help lead UMD to an NCHC sweep of rival St. Cloud State.
St. Cloud State suffered its sixth consecutive shutout loss to Minnesota Duluth at Amsoil Arena as Eve Gascon again stopped all 24 shots she faced to keep UMD in second place in the WCHA.
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Hermantown's Max Plante scored his first game-winning goal at UMD for his first win on ice, while Klayton Knapp shut out St. Cloud State with 28 saves.