The CCHA has announced that Bemidji State’s Tom Serratore is the CCHA coach of the year, as voted on by his peers.
Through 23 years at the helm, he has now been named conference coach of the year eight times.
Serratore led the Beavers to their second-ever MacNaughton Cup championship and first since 2017 this season, clearing the field by nine points when it was all said and done, posting a 15-7-2 league record, finishing the regular season on a nine-game unbeaten streak (7-0-2). He notched his eighth 20-win season (20-16-2), which included an 11-game overall unbeaten streak (10-0-1) and a place in the Mason Cup championship game.
Bemidji State boasted a school-record four CCHA first team selections in captain Kyle Looft, Eric Pohlkamp, Lleyton Roed and Mattias Sholl. The Beavers had the CCHA defenseman of the year (Looft), best defensive defenseman (Looft) and goaltender of the year (Sholl), with Kasper Magnussen earning third star in the Mason Cup championship. Looft was twice named defenseman of the month (October and November) and Pohlkamp claimed the honor once (February), while Adam Flammang picked up a forward of the month honor (February). The Beavers also had 19 weekly award-winners, including a team-high four from Looft.
The Beavers went 15-7-0 at home this season, losing just twice at the Sanford Center after Jan. 1. They swept Ferris State in in the Mason Cup quarterfinals, before topping Lake Superior State 4-1 in the semifinals, ultimately falling to Michigan Tech in the title game, 2-1.
