Beaver Fever Friday – Austin Jouppi – Mens Hockey

Beavers travel to Bowling Green for key CCHA match-up

The Bemidji State University men’s hockey team travels to (RV) Bowling Green State University this weekend trying to hold second place in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association standings. The Beavers (12-10-0, 10-4-0 CCHA) are second in the conference standings with 30 points while the Falcons (11-8-3, 8-5-1 CCHA) are third with 24 points. Bemidji State and Bowling Green open their two-game, league series Friday, Jan. 14 at BGSU Ice Arena followed by game two, Saturday. Puck drop for each game is slated for 6:07 p.m., CST.

The Beavers look to carry momentum into this weekend’s series against the Falcons after earning a sweep over Lake Superior State University this past weekend. Bemidji State out-scored the Lakers 10-2 in the series for its first home series sweep of the 2021-22 season. The Beavers out-shot the Lakers 93-51 in the series including 51-29 in game one. It was the first time this season the Beavers produced 50 or more shots and first since March 14, 2015 when BSU totaled 50 shots against Ferris State University.

Bemidji State was led by sophomore Lukas Sillinger who totaled four points off of three goals and one assist including a career-high three points and his first multi-goal game of his career in game one against the Lakers. Freshman Mattias Sholl was dominant between the pipes for the Beavers’ defense and was named the CCHA Rookie of the Week after posting a 2-0-0 record and stopped 49-of-51 shots for a .961 save percentage.

In total, 13 Beavers recorded a point in last weekend’s series including 10 who recorded two points or more.

Bemidji State University men’s hockey senior Owen Sillinger has been nominated for this year’s Hobey Baker Memorial Award.

Awarded annually to college hockey’s top player, the Hobey Baker’s tremendously popular fan-voting will run from now until Sunday, March 6 at midnight. Beaver hockey fans can vote for Owen at: https://hobeybaker.com/awards/vote-for-hobey/. Follow the prompts to make your selection from this year’s outstanding crop of 77 college hockey players representing 42 NCAA Division I schools.

Phase two of fan balloting will come from the list of Top Ten Hobey Baker finalists beginning March 17 and closing March 27. The fans’ vote accounts for a full one percent of the total ballot in each phase in selecting this year’s award recipient.

Through the team’s first 22 games of the 2021-22 season, Owen paces the Beavers in scoring with 29 points off of a team-high 11 goals and 18 assists.The Regina, Sask., native ranks third in the CCHA and third in Division I in points (29) and his point per game average of 1.32 is 12th in the nation. A co-captain of the 2021-22 Beavers, Sillinger was twice named the CCHA Forward of the Week (Nov. 12, Dec. 1) and was named the HCA Player of the Month for November after posting 14 points (7g-7a) in six games during the month. Owen is also a force in the faceoff circle and is second in the nation with 283 faceoff wins. Sillinger also boasts a +8 rating on the ice and two of his 11 goals this season are game winners.

Bemidji State is 12-6-0 when Sillinger records a point this season and boasts a nine-game point streak from Oct. 30 to Dec. 10 where he posted 19 points (8g-11a) in nine games. During that span, Owen also posted a seven-game goal scoring streak.

Award criteria include candidates exhibiting the exceptional character traits of the award’s namesake, Hobey Baker. A legendary American hero, Baker was a World War I fighter pilot and was known as America’s greatest amateur athlete in his day, excelling at hockey and football at Princeton University. Award candidates must demonstrate strength of character both on and off the ice, contribute to the integrity of his team and display outstanding skills in all phases of the game. Consideration should be given to scholastic achievement and sportsmanship.

The 2022 Hobey Baker Award winner will be announced from a field of three Hobey Hat Trick finalists on Friday, April 8, 2022 during the NCAA Frozen Four Championship in Boston, MA. The award ceremony will be broadcast nationally on NHL Network and streamed live at hobeybaker.com.