In October, University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) men’s hockey senior Will Francis’ cancer relapsed and he’d be torn away from his love of hockey, and his Bulldog teammates, for the third time. However, last weekend he returned to the ice for their series at St. Cloud State University, healthy once again after another tough battle with leukemia.

“In January for the first time, like before prior to this, I was honestly thinking like this just might be it. I don’t know if I can keep coming back from these things because it just takes such a toll on your body. Like the first time I hopped out there, I was just by myself on a three-on-three rink an hour outside Philadelphia. Kind of realized there I still love doing this, like this is what I want to do,” Francis shared.

“People forget that he’s three-for-three against cancer, and that’s a huge deal to us. He pushes us every single day. He’s a great leader, and whether he does it through action or his voice, he’s awesome,” Dominic James said, a senior forward for UMD.

Francis does plan to graduate from UMD with a communications degree this year and pursue a professional hockey career. The 24-year-old St. Paul native was drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in 2019.

UMD travels to Arizona State University this weekend to open round one of the NCHC tournament. Puck drop for game one of the best-of-three series is set for Friday, March 14 at 9 p.m. CT at Mullett Arena.