The 2025–26 Bemidji State Beavers men's ice hockey season was the 70th season of play for the program, the 26th at the Division I level and 4th in the CCHA. The Beavers represented Bemidji State University, played their home games at Sanford Center and were coached by Tom Serratore in his 25th season.
Season Looking to rebound from a subpar season in 2025, Bemidji State began the year with a goaltender rotation that produced results early. Alternating between Max Hildebrand and Raythan Robbins, the Beavers got to Thanksgiving with a decent overall record and a stellar mark in conference play. Losing just once in their first 12 CCHA matches, Bemidji State looked to well on their way to competing for an NCAA tournament berth. Oliver Peer, a senior transfer who had helped New Brunswick to a record of 71–1–2 over the previous two seasons, demonstrated that he was just as effective south of the border by leading the team in scoring and accounting for more than one out of every five of BSU's goals. Despite losing both games to North Dakota in their late-November series, Bemidji State had given the nation's then-#6 team all that they could handle but the club went into a steep decline afterwards.
December and January saw the team's scoring dry up with Bemidji State averaging 1.8 goals over a 10-game stretch. Compounding their problems was the decline in goaltending that saw Robbins' play slip so much that Hildebrand was given full control over the Beavers' crease. The 0–10–2 slide in the middle of their season resulted in BSU plummeting down the standings. Things got so bad for the Beavers that they were even shutout by a lowly Northern Michigan squad at the end of January. However, that embarrassing loss seemed to snap the team out of their funk and they responded by winning four of their final seven regular season games, including two victories over ranked teams.
Thanks to their losing streak, Bemidji State finished sixth in the CCHA and they had to travel to face Augustana for their quarterfinal match. After a poor outing by Hildebrand in the first game, the freshman netminder got a reprieve with Bemidji State outshooting the Vikings 43–19 in the rematch. Unfortunately, the Beavers' offense could not break through and their season ended after a 1–2 loss.
Departures Rhys Chiddenton Forward Transferred to Canisius Tony Follmer Defenseman Graduation (signed with Orlando Solar Bears) Austin Jouppi Forward Graduation (retired) Jackson Jutting Forward Graduation (signed with Kansas City Mavericks) Donte Lawson Forward Graduation (signed with Dunaújvárosi Acélbikák) William Magnuson Defenseman Graduation (signed with Norfolk Admirals) Eric Martin Forward Graduation (signed with Indy Fuel) Carter Randklev Forward Graduation (signed with Wichita Thunder) Mattias Sholl Goaltender Graduation (signed with Greenville Swamp Rabbits) Jere Väisänen Forward Graduation (signed with Kiekko-Espoo)
Recruiting Max Hildebrand Goaltender 21 Martensville, SK Oscar Karlsson Forward 20 Linköping, SWE Vincent Labelle Forward 23 Ottawa, ON; transfer from Ottawa Connor McClennon Forward 23 Wainwright, AB; transfer from Alberta; selected 178th overall in 2020 Max Namestnikov Forward 21 Wolverine, MI Oliver Peer Forward 22 Burlington, ON; transfer from New Brunswick Hudson Thornton Defenseman 21 Winnipeg, MB Maxon Vig Defenseman 19 Bismarck, ND; selected 209th overall in 2025 Ben Vigneault Defenseman 21 Boischâtel, QC Vann Yuhas Forward 21 Medicine Hat, AB; transfer from Merrimack
Roster As of August 29, 2025.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
!colspan=12 style=";" |
Scoring statistics C/RW 34 20 16 36 30 LW 36 10 21 31 8 RW 29 8 20 28 34 C 36 12 8 20 26 RW 36 11 7 18 29 D 36 2 16 18 30 LW/RW 34 5 10 15 10 F 33 5 8 13 4 C 30 3 7 10 22 F 36 1 9 10 14 F 28 2 6 8 7 D 36 6 1 7 22 D 36 2 5 7 16 D 32 1 6 7 8 F 24 4 2 6 0 D 34 2 4 6 12 F 22 1 5 6 8 C/LW 21 1 4 5 4 F 32 0 5 5 2 D 15 1 1 2 0 D 11 0 2 2 6 D 27 0 2 2 12 D 15 1 0 1 8 G 24 0 1 1 0 G 3 0 0 0 0 C/W 3 0 0 0 0 D 8 0 0 0 0 G 12 0 0 0 0 Total 98 166 264 316
Goaltending statistics 3 68:02 0 0 0 2 17 0 .895 1.76 12 724:58 5 5 2 32 263 1 .892 2.65 24 1372:22 8 14 2 62 530 2 .895 2.71 Empty Net - 27:57 - - - 7 - - - - Total 36 2193:19 13 19 4 103 810 3 .887 2.82
Rankings
PollWeekPre 1 23456789101112131415161718192021222324252627 (Final) USCHO.comRVRVNRNRRVNRRVRVRVRVRVRV–RVRVRVRVRVNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR USA HockeyRVRVNRNRNRNRNRNRRVRVRVRV–NRRVRVRVRVNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 12.Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.
References