BEMIDJI – The Bevaers needed a break.
After suffering a cataclysmic 9-5 loss against Michigan Tech at the Sanford Center on Dec. 15 – one that included a six-goal third period for the Huskies – the Bemidji State men’s hockey team needed to reset.
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“The (holiday) break makes it a little easier in some ways because you get time to refresh,” fifth-year captain Jackson Jutting said. “You think about it for a few days, then it kind of goes away, just like any other game, whether we win or lose. The break kind of helps you clear your headspace about that. That weekend, that’s just college hockey – crazy things happen.”
BSU spent a week and a half away from college hockey. Now, it returns to finish off a series against Minnesota Duluth on New Year’s Eve while kicking off the second half of the season.
Tuesday night’s 7:07 p.m. contest is a chance for Bemidji State to add to its already impressive nonconference resume.
The Beavers opened the season on Oct. 5 with a 4-3 overtime win over the Bulldogs. Since then, they’ve knocked off Minnesota and North Dakota.
“They’re going to be a completely different team than they were at the beginning of the year, and the same goes for us,” Jutting said of UMD. “It’s tough to look at a team and watch film on them from a couple of months ago. They’re going to have tendencies that are the same, but they’re different.
“They’re a very disciplined team and they’re hard to play against. They’re similar to us in that way – really systematic and they play those systems really well. It’s going to be a low-scoring game, most likely. They’ll have a well-rounded team.”
Bemidji State head coach Tom Serratore doesn’t see much use in recalling from BSU’s season-opening win at Amsoil Arena.
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“We’re not pulling anything from that game,” Serratore said. “Normally, I would, but that was the first game of the season. … That game was kind of just drop the puck and let your hockey sense take over, just make sure you have good habits. That was a long time ago, and we’re not looking at anything in particular from that game. It’s a waste of time, they’re a pretty young team. They’re a lot different of a hockey team right now.”
The Bulldogs (5-10-0) will be without standout freshmen Max Plante and Adam Kleber, who are playing for Team USA in the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship. UMD head coach Scott Sandelin is hopeful freshmen goaltenders Adam Gajan and Klayton Knapp and fifth-year forward Joe Molenaar are healthy for Tuesday’s contest as well, of the Duluth News Tribune. Freshman Trevor Stachowiak is out with a long-term injury.
Serratore added that Bemidji State is a different team than it was three months ago, too.
Reilly Funk and Vince Corcoran played in most of the Beavers’ 8-8-3 start. Funk suffered an upper-body injury against Lake Superior State on Dec. 7, causing him to miss extended time. Corcoran exited BSU’s series against Michigan Tech with an upper-body injury as well.
Serratore said Corcoran “will be out a while” with his injury. He’s likely to be held out of the lineup through January.
Bemidji State will lean on its depth to fill those shoes. Freshman Luke Roelofs has played 11 games for the Beavers. Veterans like Patrik Satosaari and AJ Macaulay also saw extended minutes against MTU before the break.
“We need to reestablish our identity and live with that identity,” Serratore said. “I think that’s what we did last year when we went on that run. When you see teams go on those runs, they are really playing mistake-free.
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“Listening to Tom Brady (on Sunday) during the Vikings game, he was talking like a coach the whole time. Know the situation, know where you are in the pocket, know where you are on the field. … All of those situations are different, and those are situations that coaches have to establish and reestablish with their teams. The execution part comes down to the players.”
Doing the chasing
Bemidji State’s final nonconference game comes before a crucial stretch of 14 league games. Last year, the Beavers entered Christmas in first place in the league standings. Now they’re in sixth with a points percentage of .500.
While BSU brought back 18 players who helped put together an 11-game unbeaten run en route to the Mason Cup final, this time, they’ll be doing the chasing in the CCHA standings instead of being chased.
“For us, it doesn't change much,” Jutting said. “We just have to take it one game at a time, stick to our identity as a team and let the chips fall where they may. We can’t control any other team besides ourselves. Going into every weekend with a 1-0 mindset, trying to win the game in front of us, is super important.”
“I like Jutts’ mentality right there,” Serratore said. “That one-game-at-a-time thing is legit. It’s kind of a cliche – coaches say that, players say that – but it’s legit. You can’t get too far ahead of yourself. You have to live in the moment. Our moment right now is the UMD Bulldogs.”
Despite the veteran group standing in different boots last winter, the eighth-oldest team in college hockey feels confident in its ability to keep the second-half “sprint” in perspective.
“As the older guys on the team, we’re making sure we’re not panicking,” Jutting said. “We control our own destiny. We still have a lot of games left, but we have to understand the importance of every game we play. Hopefully, that translates into a top spot in the league.”
