BEMIDJI, Minn. – Two student-athlete from the Bemidji State Men's Hockey team were recognized by the Central Collegiate Hockey Association as the league's Best Defensive Forward and Best Defensive Defenseman in the first wave of league Year-End Award announcements Wednesday afternoon.
 
Senior Jackson Jutting was voted the conference's Co-Best Defensive Forward sharing the award with Lake Superior State University's Connor Milburn. Fifth-year senior Kyle Looft was also voted the league's Best Defensive Defenseman.
 
Jutting helped Bemidji State to its second-ever MacNaughton Cup title and first since 2017, posting a +6 plus-minus across 16 CCHA contests. Despite playing three-quarters of the Beavers' conference games, he led them in face-off wins (150) and winning percentage (50.3%), while collecting eight goals and six assists for 14 points. He led BSU in game-winning goals (3) and shooting percentage (22.2%) and blocked eight shots at the defensive end of the ice.
 
Overall, Jutting has played in 25 games for the Beavers, scoring 10 goals with 11 assists for 21 points. Two of his tallies have come on the power play and three have been game-winners. He has won 51.7% of his face-offs (240-of-464), helping Bemidji State reach the Mason Cup Semifinals.
 
The Beavers' captain, Looft led all CCHA skaters in plus-minus in league action at +16 and paced conference blueliners in assists (14) and points (18), despite playing in only 20 games. Scoring four goals, including one on the power play, he was fifth among all skaters and first among defensemen in multi-point games (5). He blocked 28 shots at the defensive end and earned CCHA Scholar-Athlete Team recognition.

Looft has recorded career-highs in goals (6), assists (22) and points (28) through 30 games this season, earning CCHA Defenseman of the Month honors in October and November. The four-time CCHA Defenseman of the Week has three power-play goals to his credit and 62 shots, with 51 blocks at the defensive end of the ice. 
 
Voting for the 2023-24 All-CCHA Teams and year-end awards was conducted by the eight head coaches at each CCHA member institution, based on CCHA conference games only. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players. 
 
The league's year-end award announcements continue tomorrow with the Defenseman of the Year (9am CT), Goaltender of the Year (11am CT) and Forward of the Year (1pm CT), followed by the Player of the Year on Friday (10am CT).
 
The 2024 Mason Cup Playoffs resume this Saturday, with top-seeded Bemidji State hosting seventh-seeded Lake Superior State University at Sanford Center (7:07pm CT) in the win-or-go-home conference Semifinal. 
 
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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