Jonathan Toews is the captain of the Chicago Blackhawks. At 22, Toews helped lead team Canada to an Olympic gold medal, then followed it up by helping the Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup just four months later.

Zach Parise is captain of the New Jersey Devils. In that very same gold-medal game against Toews and the Canadians, Parise helped team USA force overtime by scoring with the extra attacker and only seconds to go.

Jake Randolph is a senior hockey player for Duluth East High School. Randolph has never scored an NHL goal, and at this point, can only dream of playing in the league.

So what's the connection? The first two played for Dean Blais at North Dakota. Now Randolph will get his chance to learn from Blais after spending a season with the Omaha Lancers.

It was announced on Jan. 23 that Randolph had personally accepted a full-ride scholarship when Blais came to visit Randolph during practice. It was just the third time that Blais had come on a personal visit to make an offer to a recruit. Toews and Parise were the other two.

Speaking to the Duluth News Tribune, Randolph said he didn't take long to make up his mind.

"He put the offer on the table, and I wanted to say ‘yes' right away," Randolph said. "But I thought I should talk to my dad first and tell him that's what I wanted to do."

Randolph's father, Mike Randolph, is also the coach of his son's high school team. He didn't have to go too far or wait too long to make a decision.

"It's a perfect fit for me," Randolph said.  "I couldn't play for a better coach than him."

In his senior season at Duluth East, Randolph has been nothing short of impressive. In 19 games Randolph has scored 26 goals and added 25 assists for 51 points, a point per-game average of 2.68.

He has two hat tricks, six games with two goals and six four-point games. The Thursday before Blais' visit, Randolph had also received a scholarship offer from Northern Michigan.

"I figured he wasn't coming in for a cup of coffee," Coach Randolph told the Duluth News Tribune. "Dean and I go way back and I think it's a great fit for Jake. He's been in Omaha already so he knows the area and likes the area."

The Mavs had just begun to shown interest in Randolph four days before Blais' visit. Blais made a call up to Coach Randolph to let him know that he'd be coming up to practice after the series with Minnesota-State Mankato.

Coach Johnson told the Duluth News Tribune that he spoke to Blais before going into the locker room at Heritage Center in Duluth and meeting with his son. Once Coach Randolph was able to see the younger Randolph, the look on his face told the story.

"It didn't take him long to make his decision," Coach Randolph said. "I talked to Dean in the hallway at the heritage and he said he had offered Jake."

"I walked into the locker room, and I've never seen such a big smile on his (Jake's) face and he said, ‘dad I want to go there.' I said ‘I don't think Dean's going to stick around very long so you better tell him right now.' He told him right there on the spot."

Randolph will become a member of the Mavs just as UNO transitions from the WCHA to the National Collegiate Hockey Conference in 2013/14. The Omaha Lancers own the rights to Randolph so he'll spend his first year in Omaha playing just down the street at the Ralston Sports and Events Center.

Being part of an exclusive group that includes the likes of Toews and Parise might get some to start dreaming about what Randolph can bring to UNO. As former players for Blais at North Dakota, both Toews and Parise had great expectations and lived up to their full potential.

Toews played two seasons in Grand Forks piling up 85 points on 40 goals and 45 assists in just 76 games.  He helped lead North Dakota to the Frozen Four in both 2006 and 2007 before foregoing his last two seasons of eligibility to join the Blackhawks.

Parise, whom Blais has said has the best hands he's ever coached, was a freshman nominee for the Hobey Baker award, college hockey's version of the Heisman Trophy. Parise also left North Dakota after two years, helping his school win the WCHA regular season crown and being named an All-American both in his sophomore season.

While that might be a lot for Randolph to think about and live up to, it's not something that's on his mind.

"I'm in a pretty good group," Randolph told the Duluth News Tribune. "Over the weekend I was thinking what if (Minnesota-Duluth) offered me this or what if (Minnesota) offered me this?  "I would still take UNO over them. They have the better coaching staff."