Worst Seasons in the Past 25 Years Part 8: Bemidji State

Welcome to the Worst Season in the Past 25 Years, a series in which r/CollegeHockey reviews the worst season for all 60 Division I teams over the summer to alleviate the crushing boredom known as the off-season and take a horrific tour down memory lane.

If you are interested in writing an entry for your team, please let me know via PM. I’ll be posting entries on weekdays at approximately at 6 pm Eastern time and will be going in alphabetical order. If an entry is not posted at that time, assume that “real life” has gotten in the way and that I am not able to post. If I am aware in advance that I will not post at 6 pm on a particular day, I will announce it in prior posts as a heads up.

And now.../r/CollegeHockey presents the Bemidji State Beavers! Bemidji State has competed at the DI, now-defunct DII, and DIII levels, winning national titles at DII and DIII. For most of their history, BSU was coached by Bob Peters, who coached the Beavers from 1966 to 2001 (with a one season break in 1982-83). Two things maintained consistent as BSU upgraded their program throughout the years: their rivalry with Alabama Huntsville and coach Bob Peters. Since upgrading to DI, BSU has participated in the now defunct College Hockey America* and now is part of the WCHA.

However, the worst season for the Beavers was the final under Peters, which was…

2000-2001 Record: 4-4-26 (W-D-L); CHA: 4-3-12 (W-D-L; 6th/6th)

Wins: (Lil) Wayne St., Niagara, Findlay, @(Lil) Wayne State

Ties: Union**, Air Force, Niagara, @(Lil) Wayne State

Losses: Minnesota, St. Cloud St., @St. Cloud St., Alabama Huntsville (x2), Miami (x2), @Findlay (x2), @Colorado College, @Air Force, @Minnesota Duluth (x2), @Mankato St (x2), Lake Superior St.**, @Niagara (x2), Air Force, @Minnesota, @Alabama Huntsville (x2), Findlay, North Dakota (x2)

*The men’s CHA no longer exists but still is a conference for women’s teams.

**Games in the Mariucci Classic

Biggest Beatdown: Findlay 9 - Bemidji St. 1

Head Coach: Bob Peters

As previously mentioned, this season was Peters’ final as head coach for the Beavers. Marty Goulet and Clay Simmons both had 10 goals each to lead the team. Heikki Löfman led the team in assists, with 12. In goal, Grady Hunt had a save percentage of .902 and a GAA of 3.52.

Bemidji began their season with a home game against Minnesota, a 9-3 defeat. The following weekend consisted of a home-and-home series with Saint Cloud State, which the Huskies won handedly. Conference play started with a home series to Alabama Huntsville; the Chargers won both games.

November started with a non-con series with Miami, which the Redhawks won by 12-4 on aggregate. Next was a trip to Ohio to face Findlay, where the worst defeat of the season occurred. Wayne State came after that disastrous series, where the Wumbo and the Beavers split.

December started with a trip to Colorado to face off against Colorado College and Air Force. The following weekend, the Beavers played Minnesota Duluth on the road. After that was away to Mankato State. For the holidays, BSU participated in the Mariucci Classic facing off against Lake Superior St. and Union. The entire month was spent on the road and, apart from the Union game, ended in defeat.

The new year started with a trip to Western New York for a series against Niagara, which ended in two losses. BSU then faced off against Air Force, which both games went into overtime (one ended in a tie, the other in a loss). The month finished off with a loss to Minnesota.

A trip to UAH started February (a relief from the snow and wind, I presume); both games where one-goal losses. A home series against Niagara ended in a win and a draw; a home series against Findlay the following weekend was split. February ended with a trip to the Motor City to play against Wayne State, which ended in a win and a tie for the Beavers. The season ended with a series with North Dakota, which ended in a 11-4 aggregate loss for BSU.

After the end of the 2000-01 season, Peters was replaced by current coach Tom Serratore. Under Serratore, the Beavers have won the regular season title in both the CHA and WCHA. Additionally, Serratore led the Beavers to their first Frozen Four appearance in 2009. Since then, the Beavers have been part of the WCHA, waiting for their first appearance in the Ice Dance since the Grand Realignment.

For Week 2 of this series, we will look at the worst seasons in recent memory for the following schools: Bentley and Boston College. Once again, if you are interested in doing the entry for your favorite school, shoot me a PM. Your school, name, and date will be added at the end of each post to serve as a reminder. So far, the following people have inquired about a spot:

School	Username	Tentative Date
Brown	u/kdb77	6/21
Cornell	u/ABigRedWallaby	6/29
LSSU	u/binkelman	7/10
UML	u/LantisEscudo	7/13
Penn State	u/saucysalesman	8/8
RPI	u/Nicholas1227	8/16
Union	u/azureamor	8/22
Vermont	u/LocksTheFox	8/23

Finally, a shoutout to u/saucysalesman who inspired the idea of this series for doing one for football over at r/cfb. Additionally, thanks to r/CollegeBasketball for the idea of the sub-par MS Paint logos for each school.

Previous Entries in the Worst Seasons Series:

AHA	WCHA	Independent
Air Force	Alabama Huntsville	Arizona State
American International	Alaska Anchorage
Army West Point	Alaska Fairbanks