« Hockey 2017-18

Mitch McLain

School
Bowling Green
Position
Forward
Major
Mild-to-Moderate Intervention Specialist

Classroom

A Mild-to-Moderate Intervention Specialist major, Mitch McLain holds a 3.500 GPA entering his senior year. The captain is a two-time WCHA All-Academic honoree, in addition to being a WCHA Scholar-Athlete for the 2016-17 campaign. While he was a Dean’s List student, McLain was also recognized as an All-American Scholar Athlete by the American Hockey Coaches Association for his 2016-17 academic successes.

Character

A native of Baxter, Minn., McLain captains the Bowling Green hockey program for the 2017-18 season after being voted as such by his teammates and coaches. McLain continually promotes the program in a positive way on the ice, in the classroom and in his community and pushes his teammates to do the same. When media requests are brought forth, McLain provides quality interviews and social media content that sheds a genuine personality and positivity on the Bowling Green program. Additionally, McLain encourages and leads the team to perform at its best ability and continually goes the extra mile in the offseason and in the weight room.

Community

McLain was a finalist for Bowling Green Athlete of the Year in April 2017, as voted by the Bowling Green athletic department staff and student-athletes. Engaged with his fellow student-athletes, McLain is a Student Achievement Assessment Committee (SAAC) representative, which is charged with developing, coordinating student assessment activities and fostering a culture of assessment that is faculty-driven and administratively supported within the university. Additionally, McLain has volunteered more than 150 hours at Wood Lane School, and has coordinated fundraisers and activities including the Rally Cap and Special Olympics Bowling. Annually, McLain connects with his special education students at Wood Lane School to organize a field trip in which they visit the Ice Arena to meet the Bowling Green hockey team and experience activities on the ice. In addition to his time at Wood Lane, McLain also works with the Crim Elementary Reading Tutor Program and its first-grade students.

Competition

For his success in the 2016-17 season, McLain was named to the All-WCHA First Team, while being voted to the All-WCHA First Team Preseason Poll for 2017-18. In his standout junior season, McLain was named WCHA Offensive Player of the Week on three occasions, including WCHA Player of the Month for both November and December. The Baxter, Minn. native marked a team-leading 33 points on the season, in addition to topping the Bowling Green lineup in shorthanded goals (2), game-winning goals (3), power play goals (5), plus/minus (+20), penalties (34), and penalty minutes (87). McLain highlighted the ice when he notched two hat tricks in a three week span, both resulting in victories earning him WCHA Offensive Player of the Week honors. Hitting his stride midway through the season, McLain went on a seven-game point streak from Dec. 17 through Jan. 20, and a five-game scoring streak from Dec. 17 to Jan. 13, resulting in a team-leading seven multi-point games on the year to average 0.82 points per game. In his career, McLain leads the Bowling Green squad with 35 goals and 35 assists for 70 points through 123 games played.