BSU Men’s Hockey Opens CCHA Play with Augustana on Hall of Fame Weekend

BSU men’s hockey is home again for a third straight week, but this time, they’ll play at home the whole weekend as they begin CCHA play with Augustana.

Bemidji State was swept the last two weekends in a row, the most recent sweep coming at the hands of Minnesota Duluth. The Beavers were once again plagued by penalties, taking 11 penalties while surrendering six power play goals to the Bulldogs across both games. It brought the Beavers’ penalty kill to 11-20 over their last two series, and it’s an area they would like to improve in this weekends series with Augie.

“There’s a couple things,” said head coach Tom Serratore of what they can do to improve. “One, take less penalties. That’s number one. Number two, you got to win—we got to win more face-offs. It helps starting with [winning] face-off. And if you can win a face-off and clear a puck? I mean, you get closer to home than you are the other way, that’s for sure.”

“When you get seven, eight, or [however many] penalties, it’s hard to win a hockey game,” said junior forward Kasper Magnussen. “We’ve just got to be more disciplined in our game and play smarter. We have to get less penalties, otherwise it’s going to be tough to win hockey games, so that’s the main area for sure.”

It’s also Bemidji State Athletics Hall of Fame weekend, and former BSU men’s hockey forward Matt Read will be dropping the puck on Friday night as part of of the celebration. The 2011 graduate is part of the 2025 class being inducted on Saturday.

In his sophomore season, Read helped lead the Beavers to the Frozen Four, and in the following year as an alternate captain, he led them back to the NCAA tournament. He wore the “C” his senior season before going on to play eight years in the NHL, spending seven seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers and one with the Minnesota Wild.

BSU last played Augustana in the 2025 Mason Cup Quarterfinals, beating the 3-seed Vikings in three games to knock them out of the playoffs. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. on Friday and 6 p.m. on Saturday.