The CCHA started announcing their end-of-the-year awards. Bemidji State players were found all over the lists. On the All-Rookie Team, Eric Pohlkamp was honored. On the CCHA All-Second Team, not a single BSU Beaver was honored. That’s because they all made it on the All CCHA-First Team!

Kyle Looft, Eric Pohlkamp, Lleyton Roed and Mattias Sholl were each named to the All-CCHA First Team. That’s the most First-Team All-League honors…in Bemidji State’s D1 history! In 2010…which was a special year in the program’s history…Dan Bakala, Brad Hunt, Matt Read were First-Team All-League.

Also this week, Eric Pohlkamp was named as the CCHA’s Defenseman of the week after scoring three goals last weekend in the quarterfinal series win over Ferris State.

Looft earns his first all-conference selection after the Beavers’ captain led all CCHA skaters in plus-minus in league action at +16 and paced conference blueliners in assists (14) and points (18), despite playing in only 20 games. Scoring four goals, including one on the power play, he was fifth among all skaters and first among defensemen in multi-point games (5). He blocked 28 shots at the defensive end and earned CCHA Scholar-Athlete and All-Academic Team recognition. The Mankato, Minn., native was named the CCHA Defenseman of the Week four times hits season and twice earned CCHA Defenseman of the Month.

Freshman standout Eric Pohlkamp led all CCHA blueliners with six goals and 68 shots during his first season in the CCHA and finished third in the league with 16 points to earn First Team and Rookie Team honors. Two of his tallies were game-winners and he recorded five points (3 goals, 2 assists) on the man-advantage. Playing in 20 of a possible 24 league contests, he recorded at least one point in every conference series that he appeared in, finishing with a plus-minus of +8. He helped the Beavers lift their second MacNaughton Cup as regular season champions and first since 2017. The Brainerd, Minn., native is a finalist for the league’s Rookie of the Year Award.

Roed finished his sophomore season fourth in the CCHA in points (21), recording 10 goals and 11 assists in 24 games for the Beavers. Posting a +3 plus-minus, three of his tallies came on the power play, one was shorthanded and two were game-winners. He was second in the league in multi-point games (7) and recorded 61 shots on goal, with 18 blocks defensively. On December 15, he scored a goal and dished out a pair of assists in a 5-2 victory over Bowling Green. The one-time CCHA Forward of the Week and Hobey Baker Memorial Award nominee has helped the Beavers reach the Mason Cup Semifinals.

Junior netminder Mattias Sholl led conference netminders in goal-against average (2.03) and winning percentage (.786), going 10-2-2 with a .924 save percentage in 14 league games for the Beavers. Posting one shutout in conference play, he had 342 saves, including a season-high 46 in a 2-2 tie with Michigan Tech. Allowing two goals or fewer in 11 of his 14 starts, he made 25 or more saves in seven league contests. The Hermosa Beach, Calif., native was twice named the CCHA Goaltender of the Week this year.

Voting for the 2023-24 All-CCHA Teams and year-end awards was conducted by the eight head coaches at each CCHA member institution, based on CCHA conference games only. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players.

The league’s year-end award announcements continue tomorrow with the Finalists for Defenseman of the Year (10am ET), Goaltender of the Year (12pm ET) and Forward of the Year (2pm ET).

The 2024 Mason Cup Playoffs resume this Saturday, with top-seeded Bemidji State hosting seventh-seeded Lake Superior State University at Sanford Center(7:07pm CT) in the win-or-go-home conference Semifinals.