The Bemidji State University men’s ice hockey team opens its bid for the coveted Broadmoor Trophy and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season title this weekend as it hosts long-time rival Minnesota State University, Mankato for a two-game WCHA series at Sanford Center. The weekend will also serve as Alumni Weekend. The Beavers will honor their four National Championship teams from the 1990s throughout the weekend.
After going 1-1-1 against two of the top three teams in the country during its first two weeks of nonconference play, BSU now shifts its focus to the WCHA. The Beavers were 12-11-5 in league play a year ago and grabbed their first home playoff series since joining the league prior to the 2010-11 campaign. Now BSU hosts the preseason favorite to win the league, while it was picked by league coaches to finish fourth behind MSU, Bowling Green and Michigan Tech.
Head Coach Tom Serratore opened 2015-16 with seven of his top eight point-producers and over 80 percent of BSU’s 2014-15 goal-scoring production on the ice. However, through the first three games, the team’s top goal-scoring threat, Charlie O’Connor, and 2014-15 All-WCHA pick Brendan Harms, are buried on the stat sheet. Gerry Fitzgerald leads the team with four goals, while defender Graeme McCormack is second on the team with three points (2g-1a) and has played a significant role on a BSU power-play unit that ranks fourth in the nation at 4-of-11 (.364). Michael Bitzer, has shouldered all of the goaltending responsibility, posting a 1-1-1 record with a 3.26 goals against average and a .890 save percentage, while backstopping a penalty-kill unit that is 13-of-15 on the year.
Minnesota State arrives at Sanford Center seeking its first victory. At 0-4-0, the Mavericks dropped a pair of home games to Nebraska Omaha (3-2 and 2-0) to open the season before being shut out in back-to-back games at St. Cloud State (4-0 and 3-0) last weekend.
The Mavericks return 18 skaters from their 2014-15 regular-season and MacNaughton Cup championship team. C.J Franklin and Jimmy Mullin have MSU’s two goals, while four players, including Zach Stepan have assists. Cole Huggins is 0-4-0 in net with a 2.80 goals against average and .889 save percentage.