BEMIDJI, Minn. – Before a sold-out crowd of 4,373 at the Sanford Center on the shores of Lake Bemidji, Michigan Tech defeated No. 20 Bemidji State 2-1 to win their first CCHA Mason Cup championship and qualify for the NCAA tournament. Dueling pep bands and a group of 100-plus Huskies fans, affectionately known as “Misfits,” … Read more
Here’s a look at the 22 teams still alive for the NCAA Division I men’s hockey championship and their chances of making the tournament.
With only conference championship weekend left to play, there are 4,096 scenarios left. Try some (or all) with USCHO’s PairWise Predictor and see how the PairWise Rankings react (photo: Rob Rasmussen/P8Photos.com).
The CCHA has announced that Minnesota State graduate student Sam Morton has been voted CCHA player and forward of the year. In addition, Bemidji State fifth-year senior Kyle Looft has been voted defenseman of the year and Bemidji State junior goalie Mattias Sholl has been tabbed goaltender of the year. Morton paced all CCHA skaters … Read more
The CCHA has announced that Michigan Tech freshman Isaac Gordon has been selected by the conference’s member head coaches as rookie of the year. He was previously named to the all-rookie team as well to the all-CCHA second team. Gordon was second among all CCHA skaters in goals (11) during conference play, pacing league rookies … Read more
The CCHA has announced its two all-conference teams and one all-rookie team for the 2023-24 season. ALL-CCHA FIRST TEAM Forward: Sam Morton, Sr., Minnesota State Forward: Lleyton Roed, So., Bemidji State Forward: Jared Westcott, Sr., Lake Superior State Defenseman: Kyle Looft, 5th, Bemidji State Defenseman: Eric Pohlkamp, Fr., Bemidji State Goaltender: Mattias Sholl, Jr., Bemidji … Read more
It was an unusually active offseason, at least by CCHA standards. A coaching change at Minnesota State kicked off the summer, with Mike Hastings leaving for Wisconsin and taking four players and most of his coaching staff with him. Then the summer ended with the situation in Bowling Green that saw head coach Ty Eigner … Read more
The CCHA has announced the results of the 2023-24 coaches and media polls and preseason awards chosen by the coaches and media. 2023-24 CCHA Preseason Coaches Poll Michigan Tech – 67 (4 first-place votes) Northern Michigan – 66 (3) Bowling Green – 55 Bemidji State – 49 St. Thomas – 45 (1) Minnesota State – … Read more
Brock Kautz, currently an assistant coach with the NAHL’s St. Cloud Norsemen, will join the Bemidji State men’s hockey staff as an assistant coach. Kaut spent the past season with the Norsemen, helping lead the team to a third-place finish in the NAHL Central Division and advancing to the playoffs and pulling off a first-round … Read more
The CCHA has announced the 2022-23 all-CCHA first and second teams. Six players from four different programs have been recognized on the first team, while six players from six different programs have been recognized in the second team. Forwards Ryland Mosley (Michigan Tech), David Silye (Minnesota State) and Austen Swankler (Bowling Green) are joined by … Read more
The CCHA has announced the 2022-23 all-rookie team with six players from four different programs recognized. Forwards Kyle Kukkonen (Michigan Tech), Joey Larson (Northern Michigan) and Lleyton Roed (Bemidji State) were joined by defensemen Dalton Norris (Bowling Green) and Josh Zinger (Northern Michigan), as well as goaltender Beni Halasz (Northern Michigan). All year-end awards were … Read more
After a CCHA campaign unlike any other came down to, quite literally, the final minute and a half of the regular season, it’s almost hard to believe the playoffs are starting this weekend. Minnesota State ended up winning the MacNaughton Cup – their sixth in a row – with just a tiny bit of drama … Read more
It always feels like this. In the 10 years I’ve spent covering the old WCHA, then the new WCHA, and now finally the new CCHA, it can often feel like I’m writing the same story every year at the season’s end: Nothing is decided, and everyone is pretty close. Michigan Tech leads Minnesota State by … Read more
Tom Serratore had a bit of a sly smile on his face on Tuesday afternoon as he compared his team to another well-known Minnesota team. “Our team exceeded our expectations,” Bemidji State’s head coach said in his weekly Zoom press conference. “We’re still trying to figure out a lot about our team. We were 9-5-4 … Read more
It’s that time of year again. I’m not talking about the holidays. I’m talking about the end of the first half of the college hockey season, when my editors generously let me write a thousand or so words where I get to pretend like I’m Nostradamus. And, if you’ve been following the CCHA at all … Read more
It’s a holiday tradition unlike any other: Minnesota State versus Bemidji State in mid-December for a chance at first place in the conference at the break. If this scenario sounds familiar, it’s because it’s happened before. It’s unclear if it’s some kind of grand design or just how the schedule has happened to play out, … Read more
The Ice Breaker Tournament, the traditional start to the NCAA Division I men’s hockey season, will be co-hosted by Bemidji State and North Dakota in 2023-24, it was announced jointly this week by the host schools and College Hockey Inc. Army West Point and Wisconsin will also participate in the event, scheduled for Oct. 13-14 … Read more
Few teams lost quite as many impact players over the offseason as Bemidji State. Aside from the Sillinger brothers (Owen and Lukas) – the team’s joint leading goal scorers with 17 apiece – the Beavers also lost a big chunk of their leadership group. Fifth-year senior captain Ethan Somoza – an older, hard-working veteran who … Read more
The first season of the CCHA’s return to competition was nearly perfect. We’ll stress the word “nearly” there. Minnesota State came within a period of winning its first-ever national title, leading Denver 1-0 going into the third period of the NCAA championship game before ultimately losing 5-1. That, of course, wasn’t the way the Mavericks … Read more
Minnesota State has been selected by the CCHA head coaches to win the MacNaughton Cup, which is awarded to the regular-season champion, in the 2022-23 preseason coaches poll. The defending champions and Frozen Four finalists also won the 2022 Mason Cup as the league’s tournament winners. The Mavericks collected six first-place votes and totaled 69 … Read more