Bemidji State has won 13 national titles in men’s hockey. They have had several NHL’ers. They’ve had more All-Americans than most in kindergarten can count. Yet this year…even in November…is special.

To say that Bemidji State has had a good season wouldn’t be saying enough. Anytime you have comparisons with the undeafeated season, you know you’re seeing something pretty special.

BSU’s eleven wins is tops in the country (tied with Penn State). Their 1.39 goals against is also tops in the country. Mike Bitzer is in the top five in almost every category that matters.

How special has this start been?

Over the course of the division one era, BSU has been to the national tournament four times (March of ’05, ’06, ’09, ’10). In those seasons, BSU had 23 wins, 19, 20 and 23. They also had 20 wins in 2003-2004.

Only in the 2009-2010 season did they hit the ten win mark in November. NEVER before have they hit that number as early as this season.

Season	Record	Date of 10th Win
1999-2000	13-20-1	February 4
2000-2001	4-26-4	—
2001-2002	12-18-5	February 1
2002-2003	14-14-8	March 1
2003-2004	20-13-3	January 3
2004-2005	23-13-1	January 7 (lost to Denver in NCAA Tournament)
2005-2006	19-14-4	January 14 (lost to Wisconsin in NCAA Tournament)
2006-2007	14-14-5	December 16
2007-2008	17-16-3	January 5
2008-2009	20-16-1	December 28 (lost to Miami in Frozen Four)
2009-2010	23-10-4	November 21 (lost to Michigan in NCAA Tournament)
2010-2011	15-18-5	February 15 (lost to Duluth in the Final Five semifinals)
2011-2012	17-18-3	December 30
2012-2013	6-22-8	—
2013-2014	10-21-7	March 1
2014-2015	16-17-5	January 30
2015-2016	17-16-6	January 16
2016-2017	??-??-??	November 18

What does this info mean? Good question. To date, it doesn’t mean anything. Generally speaking, NCAA tournament teams have 20 wins on the season. BSU is more than halfway to that mark and we haven’t even baked our Thanksgiving turkey yet.

What makes this start even more impressive? How few goals this team is giving up…and how FEW games they’ve played.

Digging into some more numbers, BSU is the fourth youngest defensive corps in the WCHA…and they are giving up BY FAR the fewest goals in the WCHA.

In the ten team WCHA, Michigan Tech is the most veteran team (all players, by number of games played). Alaska Anchorage is the youngest.

(numbers from November 20, 2016)

Team	Games Played	Average Games Per Player
Michigan Tech	1457	58.5
Bowling Green	1349	56.3
Huntsville	1452	56.2
Bemidji State	1277	55.5
MSU Mankato	1229	52.4
Ferris State	1248	50.1
Northern Michigan	1131	49.2
Fairbanks	1068	42.9
Lake State	934	42.4
Anchorage	1035	40.1

When you break it down even further, just for defensemen, things change drastically!

Team	Defense Games Played	Average Games Per Defensman	Goals Allowed
Michigan Tech	620	86.5	2.44 (3rd)
Huntsville	460	57.8	4.06 (10th)
Bowling Green	391	55.8	3.14 (5th)
MSU Mankato	378	53.9	2.0 (2nd)
Northern	347	49.5	3.29 (7th)
Lake State	295	48.9	3.17 (6th)
Bemidji State	268	38.1	1.36 (1st)
Anchorage	266	37.9	3.33 (8th)
Fairbanks	301	35.7	3.42 (9th)
Ferris State	201	28.6	3.0 (4th)

What do these numbers mean? Well, there’s no doubt that BSU has gotten the most bang for the buck with their defensemen. Ferris, as well, has done better than could be expected. The fact that Michigan Tech’s AVERAGE defenseman has played more than two full seasons while Ferris State’s have played less than one full season…and those two teams are third and fourth on the goals allowed list doesn’t make any sense.

BSU has won games with their special teams…their offense…their defense…their goaltending…and just about every way one could imagine.

They have won more games, faster, than any team in the D-1 era. They have wowed us in overtime and in regulation.

I guess the moral of the story is this team is pretty darned good…and you are missing out if you don’t come see them this weekend!