BEMIDJI, Minn. – The Bemidji State University Men's Hockey team closes out the 2023 calendar year with a home-and-home series with in-state rival No. 14 St. Cloud State University.
 
The Beavers (8-10-0, 7-5-0 CCHA) host the Huskies (9-5-2, 7-0-1 NCHC) at Sanford Center Friday, Dec. 29 for game one before heading south to St. Cloud for game two at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Puck drop for game one is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. at Sanford Center while game two in St. Cloud will begin at 4 p.m.
 
Game one will be streamed online at FloHockey.tv with play-by-play provided by the Beaver Radio Network with Brian Schultz and Brian Bissonette on the call. Game two will be streamed online at NCHC.tv with play-by-play provided by SCSU Athletics. Fans can also tune in to a radio broadcast each game at 92.1 FM or online at www.beaverradionetwork.com.
 
Bemidji State Notes

• Bemidji State enters the final weekend of 2023 first in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association standings.
• The Beavers will take on the top team from the National Collegiate Hockey Conference in the Huskies.
• Bemidji State will look to improve upon a 46-51-8 all-time series record against the Huskies.
• The Beavers and Huskies split last year's home-and-home series over the New Year's weekend with BSU upsetting then ranked No. 2 SCSU at Sanford Center but fell on the road in the series finale.
• Bemidji State is just 1-7-2 against St. Cloud State over the last 10 meetings and have not won in St. Cloud since Dec. 3, 2011 (0-5-1).
• BSU is 7-4-0 when playing at home this season but just 1-6-0 on the road.
• The Beavers return to action after a 14-day break for the Holidays and are coming off a series sweep over Bowling Green State University at Sanford Center back on Dec. 14-15.
• Junior Mattias Sholl made his return from injury in the series and didn't skip a beat as he was named the CCHA Goaltender of the Week after stopping 34-of-37 shots.
• He was joined by sophomore Vince Corcoran who posted a goal and assist in the series for his first career CCHA weekly award.
• Bemidji State will be without two freshmen in this weekend's series as Eric Pohlkamp and Kasper Magnussen compete for their respective nations at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship.
• Bemidji State will play its first and only Friday-Sunday series of the season and is 3-6-0 when playing on Friday nights. The Beavers are 12-18-0 in its DI era when playing on Sundays.
• The Bemidji State-St. Cloud State rivalry originates all the way back to the first season of Beaver Hockey in 1947-48.
• The teams have played 105 meetings in the all-time series.
• Bemidji State head coach Tom Serratore is 5-21-4 when coaching against the Huskies in his 23 seasons at the helm of the BSU Men's Hockey program.
• Bemidji State remains out of the USAToday/The Rink Live and USCHO.com top-20 national polls with the Huskies ranked No. 14 in both polls.
• Sunday will begin a five-game road trip for the Beavers.
• Bemidji State is fourth in the CCHA in goals for per game averaging 2.93 while ranking seventh in goals against (3.50).
• The Beavers are fifth in the conference in power-play percentage at .175 (14-80) while its penalty kill is seventh at .717 (38-53).
• Bemidji State blocks the second-most shots in the league averaging 14.3 blocked shots per game and have totaled 257 on the season.
• Bemidji State is led by sophomore Lleyton Roed and fifth-year senior Kyle Looft who have each totaled 18 points in 18 games.
• Looft is the CCHA's highest scoring defensemen and is tied for eighth nationally. His five goals from the backend are tied for the fourth most by a defensemen in DI this season.
• He is tied for seventh among DI defensemen in points and tied for fifth in goals.
• Roed leads the team with nine goals and is tied for fifth in the CCHA.
• Roed and Looft are each tied for the fifth-most points in the league.
• He has six points (1g-5a) over the last four games.
• Senior Eric Martin has also found the scoring touch and has five points (2g-3a) over the last four games.
• Carter Jones has the hottest stick as of late and over the last nine games, he has 10 points (3g-7a) including a four-point series last weekend.
• Martin is fourth on the team with 12 points (2g-10a).
• 2023-24 is the 68th season of Bemidji State Men's Hockey and 25th in Division I. The Beavers are 1,179-694-150 (.620) in 67 seasons and 393-400-102 (.496) in Division I.
• Head coach Tom Serratore enters his 23rd season at the helm of the Bemidji State Men's Hockey program. He is 376-354-97 (.513) in his coaching career.
• Serratore stands 12th in career victories among active head coaches in Division I and his career winning percentage of .513 is 31st.
• 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.
• 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".
• 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 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. 

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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