S4 E11: Healthy and cancer-free, freshman Will Francis makes Bulldogs debut

After a battle with knee surgery and then a cancer diagnosis, Minnesota Duluth freshman defenseman Will Francis recently made his college hockey debut.

The towering 6 foot 5, 21-year-old who played for Centennial High School and who was drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in the sixth round of the 2019 NHL Draft, suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice just 10 games into the 2019-20 season with Cedar Rapids Roughriders of the United States Hockey League. Then in March of 2020, he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia — a cancer of the blood.

Francis was declared cancer-free on July 9, 2020, but getting his strength back and getting back into game shape took some time as he explains in this week’s episode.

News Tribune reporter Matt Wellens, joined by Zach Schnieder and Bruce Ciskie also discuss the recent news of NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton announcing he will be leaving the league after nine seasons in April. The three make the case for being the new commissioner, which is almost 100 percent unlikely, and offer some verbal letters of recommendation for Bulldogs who’d be good for the job.

Matt also creates a fan contest. Tune in around 30 minutes in to see how you could win a Rink Live hat. It won’t be easy.

You can find more episodes of Bulldog Insider wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes air every Thursday.

Bulldog Insider is co-hosted by Duluth News Tribune sports reporter Matt Wellens and My9 television voice of Bulldog hockey Zach Schneider. Episodes are edited and produced by Duluth News Tribune digital producers Samantha Erkkila and Dan Williamson. You can find more Bulldog hockey coverage at duluthnewstribune.com.