Friday marked the 26th edition of the Galen Nagle Memorial Golf Tournament held at Bemidji Town & Country Club. The annual event serves as a fundraiser for the BSU men’s hockey team, as well as a chance to remember the late Galen Nagle, a former goalie for the Beavers who passed away in 1996 after battling cancer.

This year, the tournament featured not one, but two Stanley Cup champions. The most recent is Zach Whitecloud, who hoisted the cup with the Vegas Golden Knights in June. Whitecloud played two seasons at Bemidji State before heading to the NHL as an undrafted free agent.

The other champion is Joel Otto, who etched his name on the cup in 1989 with the Calgary Flames. Otto was a former teammate of Nagle’s and played with him on the 1984 Beaver team that went 31-0 and won the Division II National Championship.

Otto and Whitecloud had an opportunity to meet for the first time in between rounds of golf, a representation of the pride and camaraderie many of the alumni within the Bemidji State hockey program.

It was another great turnout on Friday, where 210 golfers and over 70 alumni participated in the event. Lakeland News also had the chance more extensively with Otto and Whitecloud, and we’ll hear more from next week.

By — Lakeland News