BEMIDJI, Minn. – The Bemidji State University Men's Hockey team returns to Sanford Center this weekend to host (RV) Michigan Technological University for a two-game Central Collegiate Hockey Association series, Friday and Saturday.
 
The Beavers (3-5-0, 2-2-0 CCHA)) face the Huskies (2-4-3, 0-0-0 CCHA) for a two-game league series beginning Friday, Nov. 10 at 7:07 p.m., with game two to follow Saturday at 6:07 p.m.
 
Each game will be streamed online at FloHockey.tv with play-by-play provided by the Beaver Radio Network with Brian Schultz on play-by-play and Brian Bissonette on color commentary. A Beaver Radio Network radio broadcast will also be available for each game and can be found on the dial at 92.1 FM or online at www.beaverradionetwork.com.
 
Bemidji State Notes

• The Bemidji State and Michigan Tech series dates back to the 2006-07 season when the two teams met outside of conference play. When the Beavers joined the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in 2010-11 the two teams have played for league points ever since.
• The all-time series is as close as it can get and the series is tied 21-21-7 through 49 games.
• The Beavers are 14-11-1 when hosting the Huskies but Michigan Tech took both games in last season's series at Sanford Center.
• The Huskies are currently riding a three-game unbeaten streak versus the Beavers (2-0-1) and took seven of 12 league points from the Beavers last year.
• Bemidji State head coach Tom Serratore is 21-21-7 when coaching against the Huskies in his 23 seasons at the helm of the BSU Men's Hockey program.
• Fifth-year captain Kyle Looft has seen the most action against the Huskies and in 17 career games, he is a +6 skater with one point against MTU.
• Sophomore Lleyton Roed is the leading active skater against Michigan Tech and in four career games, he has totaled six points off four goals and two assists. Senior Eric Martin follows with three goals and two assists in 12 games.
• Junior Mattias Sholl leads BSU netminders with eight starts against the Huskies and is 3-4-1 with 2.64 goals against average and .898 save percentage.
• One week after returning to the USCHO.com national poll, the Beavers dropped back out after two losses at Lake Superior State University. The Beavers are unranked in the USA Hockey/The Rink Live top-20 poll as well.
• Michigan Tech travels to Bemidji receiving votes in both national polls.
• Bemidji State looks to regroup after earning one point in its series at Lake Superior State last weekend.
• The Beavers trailed 3-0 after the first 18 minutes of each game but last minute goals from Kirklan Irey and Liam Engström pulled the Beavers within two before the first horn.
• The Beavers managed to rally back and send game one to overtime to earn a point against the Lakers but ran out of steam in game two, falling 5-1.
• Roed scored the Beavers' second goal on Friday night to extend his goal scoring streak to four games but failed to score in game two to end it at four.
• Roed paces the Beavers with eight points in eight games and his seven goals are tied for the CCHA lead and tied for sixth in Division I.
• Looft is the Beavers leading point-getter from the blueline and is second on the team with seven points (2g-5a) in eight games. He has the second-most points among CCHA defensemen.
• Looft is also one the best defenseman in his own zone in the league and has blocked 15 shots, fourth most in the conference and is a +2 skater.
• 16 Beavers have recorded a point so far this season with eight scoring a goal.
• 15 of the Beavers' 19 goals this season have been scored by underclassmen with sophomore Lleyton Roed leading the team with seven goals.
• All four of the Beavers' goals last weekend were scored by underclassmen.
• The Beavers are seventh in the conference in goals for per game and are sixth in goals against per game. Bemidji State averages 2.38 goals per game while allowing 3.25 per game.
• BSU ranks fifth in the league with a .135 power-play percentage (5-37). BSU's power play came up empty in its eight chances last series.
• The Beavers penalty kill is eighth in the league at .692 percent (18-26).
• The Beavers allowed two power-play goals on three chances last weekend at LSSU.
• 2023-24 is the 68th season of Bemidji State Men's Hockey and 25th in Division I. The Beavers are 1,174-689-150 (.624) in 67 seasons and 388-395-102 (.501) in Division I.
• Head coach Tom Serratore enters his 23rd season at the helm of the Bemidji State Men's Hockey program. He is 371-349-97 (.515) in his coaching career.
• Serratore stands 12th in career victories among active head coaches in Division I and his career winning percentage of .515 is 17th.
• Since taking over the Bemidji State Men's Hockey program in 2001, Serratore's teams have achieved six regular-season conference championships, three CHA tournament titles, five NCAA Tournament appearances, one NCAA Frozen Four appearance (2009) and is a seven-time conference Coach of the Year.
• During the off-season, Serratore announced the addition of two assistants to his coaching staff. Andrew Magera (Penn State '21) and Brock Kautz (Minnesota '19) will each serve as assistant coaches for the 2023-24 season.
• They join Associate Head Coach Travis Winter as the four leaders of the program this season.
• Fifth-year senior Kyle Looft made his return to the Beaver Hockey program and was voted by his teammates to lead the 2023-24 Beavers on and off the ice as the team's captain.
• He is assisted by fellow fifth-year senior Carter Jones as well as seniors Eric Martin and Jackson Jutting who will wear the "A".
• Bemidji State was voted to finish fourth by league coaches in this year's CCHA Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Beavers were voted to finish fifth by members of the league's media.
• Freshman Eric Pohlkamp (Brainerd, Minn.) was voted as the league's Preseason Rookie of the Year in both the coaches and media polls while Looft was selected to the Preseason All-CCHA Team by the media.
• BSU returns 21 athletes from 2022-23 (11 forwards, eight defensemen, two goaltenders) and lost 8 athletes (five forwards, two defensemen, one goaltender) to graduation.
• Serratore has added seven newcomers to the squad with five forwards, one defenseman and one goaltender.
• One of those newcomers is Eric Pohlkamp who was selected in the fifth round (132nd) of the NHL's 2023 Entry Draft. He is the first Beaver NHL Draft pick since Radoslav Illo was selected in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft (139th).
• Pohlkamp is the sixth Beaver to be drafted into the NHL joining Illo, Chris Peluso (seventh round - Pittsburgh - 194th), Andrew Murray (eighth round - Columbus - 242nd), Gary Sargent (third round - Los Angeles - 48th) and Dale Smedsmo (seventh round - Toronto - 93rd).
• The Beavers return their leading scorer from 2022-23 in sophomore Lleyton Roed. Roed was the first BSU freshman since Matt Read (2007-08) to lead the team in scoring.
• He played in all 36 games and posted 31 points off 13 goals and 18 assists, the fifth highest point total by a Beaver freshman in its DI era.
• Roed was tied for seventh in the CCHA among all skaters in scoring and 11th in goals and was the leagues leading freshman point getter and finished 19th nationally.
• The Beavers graduated four of its top five scorers from last year and following Roed, junior Jere Vasanen is the next top returner after posting 17 points (7g-10a) in 36 games.
• Roed and Looft are the Beavers' top returning power-play goal scorers after the pair each netted three goals on a BSU power play unit that finished third in the CCHA last year.
• Bemidji State returns starting goaltender Mattias Sholl who started 30 of the team's 36 games last year.
• Sholl posted a 11-13-5 record in net and was third in the CCHA with a 2.26 goals against average and sixth in save percentage (.908).
• He is joined by senior Gavin Enright as well as newcomer Raythan Robbins (Anchorage, Alaska).
• The 2023-24 Beaver roster consists of 28 student-athletes with two fifth-year seniors, five seniors, seven juniors, seven sophomores and seven freshmen.
• The team consists of 11 Minnesotans, 22 from North America including five Canadians and six from Europe.
• By average, the Beavers stand as one of the smallest in Division I. They are the eighth smallest by height averaging 5'11.8" and second smallest by weight averaging 180.5 pounds.
• Looft returns as one the most seasoned defensemen in college hockey and has played in the second most games in DI by a defenseman at 143. He trails T.J. Lloyd of Alaska-Fairbanks by one game and Ethan Somoza by 28 games for the program's most games played record.

For more information on the Bemidji State men's hockey program, tickets or schedules, visit BSUBeavers.com, follow the Beavers on Twitter or Instagram (@BSUBeaversMHKY), or like them on Facebook (facebook.com/BSUBeavers).
 
Located on the shore of Lake Bemidji, Bemidji State University sponsors 15 varsity athletic programs with NCAA Division I men's hockey in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and women's hockey in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, while its 13 NCAA Division II programs hold membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).
 
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