2021–22 Bemidji State Beavers men's ice hockey season

2021–22 Bemidji State Beavers men's ice hockey season
Conference	3rd CCHA
Home ice	Sanford Center
Rankings
USCHO	NR
USA Today	NR
Record
Overall	19–20–0
Conference	14–12–0
Home	11–11–0
Road	8–9–0
Coaches and captains
Head coach	Tom Serratore
Assistant coaches	Travis Winter Mike Gibbons Michael Fanelli
Captain(s)	Ethan Somoza
Alternate captain(s)	Brad Johnson Owen Sillinger
Bemidji State Beavers men's ice hockey seasons « 2020–21 2022–23 »

The 2021–22 Bemidji State Beavers men's ice hockey season was the 66th season of play for the program. The team represented Bemidji State University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season and for the first season in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). The Beavers were coached by Tom Serratore, in his 21st season, and played their home games at Sanford Center.

Bemidji State joined with six other members of the WCHA to restart the CCHA for the 2021–22 season. The Beavers began the year with a difficult string of games, going 1–3 against non-conference teams that would both make the tournament. While the losses put them near the bottom of the standings, BSU was able to stay in the polls and keep their NCAA hopes alive with a sweep of Northern Michigan. The Beaves spent November hovering around 20th in the polls but a couple of losses knocked them out for good come December.

The chief problem for Bemidji State during the first half of their season was inconsistent goaltending. Tom Serratore had used all three of his netminders at times but none performed at a high level. Eventually, the team went with freshman Mattias Sholl as the primary starter but the young goalie still was getting used to the college game.

After losing four consecutive games to ranked teams in December, Bemidji State had dropped down to .500 but, because of the poor record against good teams (2–8 against eventual tournament teams), the Beavers had very little to buoy themselves in the standings. Both the offense and defense played well for a three-game stretch, however, that ended rather abruptly; BSU went 1–8 over a month-long stretch, only once score more than 2 goals (the solitary win) and surrendering 5 goals in five separate games. The losing streak made it impossible for the Beavers to make the tournament without a conference championship and put them in jeopardy of having to play on the road in the quarterfinals. The only thing that arrested their free-fall was a date with the worst team that season, St. Thomas, who was playing its first season at the Division I level.

The uninspired play to end their year did not bode well for Bemidji State in the conference tournament. Despite their play of late, the team recovered in the postseason and the defense led them to a pair of victories over Bowling Green. The conference semifinal could hardly have gone better for the Beavers as the offense finally reappeared during the third period, potting 3 goals in 5 minutes to lead them to a stunning upset of Michigan Tech.

Bemidji State was now just one win shy of making the tournament but standing in their way was the best team in the country, Minnesota State. Despite the pressure from the Mavericks, Sholl played probably his best game of the season and held MSU off of the scoresheet for the first half of the game. The Beavers took a lead halfway through the second but lost it on a power play goal just before the end of the period. After neither team was able to score in the third, Bemidji State found themselves in the improbable position of needing just one goal to continue their year. Unfortunately, just three minutes into overtime, Minnesota State scored and ended the Beaver's run. 50 minutes later, after the Mavericks had been awarded the trophy and both teams had returned to their locker rooms, the game-winning goal was called off after additional replay angles revealed that the puck had not crossed the goal-line between the pipes but instead gone under the goal cage.^[1] Bemidji State's season was given new life and, after a warm-up period for both teams, the game was resumed. Unfortunately, like a boxer on their last legs, the Beaver's comeback only lasted until the next shot. Two minutes after resuming play, the Mavericks scored their second overtime goal, this time with no controversy, and the Beavers were knocked out.

Player	Position	Nationality	Cause
Zach Driscoll	Goaltender	United States	Transferred to North Dakota
Ethan Gauer	Defenseman	United States	Transferred to St. Thomas
Darby Gula	Defenseman	Canada	Left program (retired)
Nick Leitner	Defenseman	United States	Left program (retired)
Aaron Miller	Forward	United States	Graduation (signed with Jokipojat)
Tyler Vold	Defenseman	United States	Graduation (retired)

Player	Position	Nationality	Age	Notes
Tony Follmer	Defenseman	United States	20	O'Fallon, MO
Donte Lawson	Forward	United States	20	Taconite, MN
Jakub Lewandowski	Forward	Poland	19	Torun, POL
Alexander Lundman	Forward	Sweden	20	Norrköping, SWE
William Magnuson	Defenseman	United States	19	Chaska, MN
Mattias Sholl	Goaltender	United States	20	Hermosa Beach, CA
Jere Väisänen	Forward	Finland	21	Espoo, FIN

As of September 13, 2021.^[2]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		Gavin Enright	Sophomore	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	161 lb (73 kg)	1999-08-26	Farmington, Minnesota	Green Bay (USHL)	—
2		Tony Follmer	Freshman	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	2000-10-26	O'Fallon, Missouri	Lincoln (USHL)	—
3		Jack Powell	Sophomore	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	1999-09-11	Alexandria, Minnesota	Aberdeen (NAHL)	—
4		Will Zmolek	Junior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	1999-04-02	Rochester, Minnesota	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	—
5		Will Magnuson	Freshman	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-10-16	Chaska, Minnesota	Bismarck (NAHL)	—
6		Sam Solenský	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	176 lb (80 kg)	1998-08-25	Michalovce, Slovakia	Johnstown (NAHL)	—
7		Kyle Looft	Junior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	1998-06-27	Mankato, Minnesota	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	—
8		Donte Lawson	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2000-11-03	Taconite, Minnesota	Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)	—
9		Ethan Somoza (C)	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	189 lb (86 kg)	1996-05-17	Simi Valley, California	Bloomington (USHL)	—
11		Eric Martin	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	154 lb (70 kg)	2000-06-05	Calgary, Alberta	Drumheller (AJHL)	—
12		Owen Sillinger (A)	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	182 lb (83 kg)	1997-09-23	Regina, Saskatchewan	Penticton (BCHL)	—
13		Carter Jones	Junior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	1999-05-15	Hillyard, Washington	Trail (BCHL)	—
14		Alex Ierullo	Senior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	1997-07-30	Woodbridge, Ontario	Newmarket (OJHL)	—
15		Tyler Jubenvill	Senior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	1999-11-30	Gilbert Plains, Manitoba	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	—
16		Jere Väisänen	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	2000-07-10	Espoo, Finland	Amarillo (NAHL)	—
17		Ross Armour	Senior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	1998-02-07	Trail, British Columbia	Trail (BCHL)	—
18		Brad Johnson (A)	Senior	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	186 lb (84 kg)	1996-01-23	Chesterfield, Missouri	Fargo (USHL)	—
19		Brad Belisle	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	1998-01-26	Thunder Bay, Ontario	Aberdeen (NAHL)	—
20		Lukas Sillinger	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2000-09-14	Regina, Saskatchewan	Penticton (BCHL)	—
21		Alexander Lundman	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	2001-06-17	Norrköping, Sweden	HV71 J20 (J20 Nationell)	—
22		Austin Jouppi	Sophomore	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2000-04-18	Duluth, Minnesota	Bismarck (NAHL)	—
23		Aaron Myers	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	176 lb (80 kg)	1999-09-28	Thief River Falls, Minnesota	Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)	—
25		Alex Adams	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	191 lb (87 kg)	1997-12-30	Grand Rapids, Minnesota	Minot (NAHL)	—
26		Nick Cardelli	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	171 lb (78 kg)	1997-06-06	Wood Dale, Illinois	Youngstown (USHL)	—
27		Tyler Kirkup	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	203 lb (92 kg)	1998-04-03	Virden, Manitoba	Virden (MJHL)	—
28		Elias Rosén	Junior	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	176 lb (80 kg)	1999-01-04	Mora, Sweden	Tri-City (USHL)	—
29		Jakub Lewandowski	Freshman	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	201 lb (91 kg)	2001-10-25	Toruń, Poland	Vítkovice U20 (Extraliga juniorů)	—
30		Mattias Sholl	Freshman	G	5' 10" (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2000-09-30	Hermosa Beach, California	Youngstown (USHL)	—
35		Michael Carr	Junior	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	179 lb (81 kg)	1998-06-08	Columbus, Ohio	Cornwall (CCHL)	—

^[4]

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 24.^[5]