Eighteen regular-season home contests and its first meeting with Bowling Green State University highlight Bemidji State University’s 37-game 2011-12 men’s ice hockey schedule announced today by head coach Tom Serratore.

In addition to the Beavers’ 28-game Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) slate, BSU has eight nonconference contests which include a home series versus long-time rival University of Alabama Huntsville and an exhibition game.

“With a schedule primarily made up of conference games there isn’t a lot of room for variety from year to year, but I think we’ve put together a nice nonconference schedule,” said Serratore who is entering his 11th season at the helm of the BSU program.  “In addition to continuing our rivalry with Alabama-Huntsvile, we’ve got a strong representation from CCHA.  We will be playing Bowling Green for the first time in the history of the program and in addition to Lake Superior State, we’ve begun to develop a nice rivalry with Miami after playing in two of the last three seasons.

Serratore added, “From a WCHA standpoint, since it is only our second year in the league, we will be bringing in teams like Wisconsin and Denver into our building for the first time and I think that will be exciting for our fans.”

In 2011-12, Bemidji State will play 18 games versus 2011 NCAA Tournament participants, including a two-game set at 2011 National Champion University of Minnesota Duluth.

“Typically, we’ve played a competitive and demanding schedule at Bemidji State, now as members of the WCHA that will be no different,” said Serratore. “With six teams on our 2011-12 schedule that were in the NCAA tournament this spring, it is going to be a challenge.”
The Beavers lift the lid on their 56th season of play Oct. 2 as they host an exhibition game versus University of Regina. The exhibition comes just one day after the Beavers officially kick off the season with their first practice and marks the first time BSU has hosted the Cougars since the 2006-07 campaign.  

The team then makes its first trip to Oxford, Ohio Oct. 7-8 to open the regular-season with a rematch of the Beavers’ 2009 Frozen Four semifinal, as the Beavers will meet Miami University in a nonconference series at the RedHawks’ new Steve Cady Arena.

Bemidji State draws the curtain on the 2011-12 WCHA slate and kicks off a string of six league games Oct. 14-15 as it meets Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colo.  The road trip west marks the first of two treks to Colorado in 2011-12. The Beavers will also travel to Denver to meet University of Denver Jan. 13-14.

BSU returns home Oct. 21-22 to host Michigan Tech University’s inaugural visit to Sanford Center before hitting the road for the second of two four-game road swings of the season.

The Beavers’ road stint begins with a trip east on Highway 2 to Duluth, Minn. for BSU’s first appearance in Minnesota Duluth’s new AMSOIL Arena Oct. 28-29.  The WCHA series extends a string of 13 consecutive seasons that the teams have met and as always, the coveted “Babe the Blue Ox” traveling trophy will be on the line Saturday evening. The Beavers will then swing around to the east shore of Lake Superior to Sault Sainte Marie, Mich. where BSU will face Lake Superior State University Nov. 4-5 for the first time since the 2005-06 season.  In a series that dates back to 1966-67, BSU and the Lakers have met on 39 occasions with LSSU holding a 21-16-2 edge over the Beavers.

Bemidji State jumps back into WCHA play Nov. 11-12 when it returns to Sanford Center to open a four-game homestand, beginning with University of Nebraska Omaha.  Bemidji State then welcomes University of North Dakota Nov. 19-20 in a rare, Saturday/Sunday series.  The two-game set versus the defending WCHA regular season and Final Five Champion Fighting Sioux will get underway at 7:07 p.m. Saturday, with the series finale set for a 5:07 p.m. opening faceoff.

December brings a quick trip to St. Cloud State University (Dec. 2-3) before the Beavers open the season’s longest homestand.  December 9-10, BSU welcomes Denver to Bemidji, Minn. for the first time as the teams will play the front half of a four-game regular-season series versus the Pioneers.  The homestand continues Dec. 16-17 when Alabama-Huntsville returns to Bemidji, Minn. for the first time since a 2009 College Hockey America series (Nov. 20-21) played in the John S. Glas Fieldhouse.  After a week off for the holidays, BSU wraps up the homestand with the first meeting versus Bowling Green in the history of the program.  The Beavers and Falcons will ring in the new year with games set for Dec. 30 and 31.

An idle weekend is followed by Bemidji State making its second trip to the Rocky Mountains to complete the four-game season series with Denver Jan. 13-14.

The Beavers finish the season playing three of the final six weekends at home.  Minnesota State University, Mankato makes its first trip to Sanford Center Jan. 27-28, Colorado College makes an appearance in Bemidji, Minn. for the second consecutive season Feb. 10-11 and the Beavers close out the home portion of their 2011-12 schedule Feb. 24-25 versus University of Wisconsin.

On the flip side, BSU is on the road for three of the final six weekends of the season.  Feb. 3-4 the team travels to Omaha, Neb. to wrap up the season series with Nebraska Omaha.  The Beavers make their first appearance at Mariucci Arena as members of the WCHA Feb. 17-18 when BSU will face intrastate rival University of Minnesota and the team makes its first visit to the Land of the Midnight Sun Mar. 2-3 when the Beavers conclude their regular-season schedule with a league series at University of Alaska-Anchorage.

The Beavers jump right into the WCHA playoffs the following weekend.  The league’s top six teams will host best-of-three opening-round series  March 9, 10 and the 11, if necessary.

The 2012 Red Baron WCHA Final Five awaits Bemidji State March 17-19 if it escapes the first round. The tournament is again set for Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.  The league’s top two advancing teams will earn quarterfinal byes, while the remaining four schools battle it out on Thursday to advance to Friday’s semifinals. The winner of Saturday’s championship earns an automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament.

The NCAA Tournament opens March 23-25.  Advancing teams will be seeded to any of the four regional sites, which include Bridgeport, Conn., Green Bay, Wis., Worcester, Mass. and St. Paul, Minn.

After a weekend off the ice, the four regional championship teams will participate in the Frozen Four, which will take place April 5 and 7 at St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla.

The Beavers recently completed their inaugural season in the WCHA with an overall record of 15-18-5 and a 8-15-5 mark in league play.  The team finished tenth in the WCHA standings and capped the season with a trip to the Red Baron WCHA Final Five in St. Paul, Minn.  Bemidji State, the tournament’s No. 6 seed, opened the event with a win over the No. 3 seed and eventual national champion Minnesota Duluth, before bowing out to the second seed, Denver, in the semifinals.

The 2011-12 men’s hockey season ticket process is already underway.  The deadline for current season ticket holders to renew for the upcoming season is May 2, while potential and current season-ticket holders have an opportunity to get inside Sanford Center and purchase seats with a vantage point they like at Select-a-Seat Night June 1 from 5-8 p.m.  For more information on season tickets contact Beaver Pride Coordinator Jake Bluhm at 218-755-2827

Single-game tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. September 17 at the Sanford Center Box Office, online at ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000.