Sept. 28, 2009

NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. — Two-time defending College Hockey America regular-season champions and winner of the 2009 CHA Tournament Bemidji State University has been selected as the favorite to claim the 2009-2010 CHA regular season title. The announcement came today from league officials after a vote from its member coaches.

In the same poll, Matt Read (Jr., F, Ilderton, Ont.) and Brad Hunt (So., D, Ridge Meadows, British Columbia) were named to the Preseason All-CHA Team, while Read was a unanimous choice for Preseason Player of the Year.

The Beavers, who are coming off a 20-16-1 season that was capped with a run through the NCAA Tournament and a trip to the 2009 Frozen Four, pulled down two first place votes to claim the top spot with eight total points. Niagara University also received two first-place nods to accumulate seven points and place second. Robert Morris University took third with six points, while University of Alabama-Huntsville grabbed three points to round out the poll.

Read led the Beavers in scoring for the second consecutive season in 2008-09, racking up 15-25=40 points to match Brendan Cook’s 2005 total for the best single-season scoring mark in BSU’s Division I history. He posted a team-leading 10 multi-point games, which included twice matching a career-best three points in wins over Robert Morris Jan. 30 and Mar. 7. With 40 total points, he became the first BSU player since Luke Erickson (16-19=35 in 2005-06) to post 30 or more points while his 2008-09 season marked only the third time in BSU’s Division I history that a sophomore player has broken the 30-point plateau.

In league play, the 2009 First-Team All-CHA pick, registered 5-10=15 points to tie former teammate Matt Francis for 10th in CHA scoring. His 1-2=3 short-handed points paced the league, while he anchored a BSU offensive attack that led the conference in scoring per game (2.11) and a power-play unit (21.2 percent) that set the standard for the league.

Read follows recent BSU greats Matt Climie (2005) and Luke Erickson (2006) to earn the leagues top individual preseason award.

Hunt, who was named 2009 CHA Rookie of the Year, is coming off a freshman campaign after which he earned a spot on the CHA All-Rookie Team en route to becoming the first BSU freshman to garner First-Team All-CHA accolades. He finished the regular season with 9-23=32 points to rank third on the team in scoring, while his 23 assists were second only to Read’s 25. His total of 32 points matched Riley Riddell (2001-02) and Luke Erickson (2003-04) for tops on BSU’s Division I-era rookie scoring list, was good for fifth in the nation among rookies, ranked sixth among all NCAA Division I defensemen in scoring and stood as the second-best, single-season total by a defenseman at BSU since 1999 (Stefan Bjork, 15-19=34). A constant on the BSU power-play unit, he led the team with 7-16=23 power-play points.

In league play, Hunt’s 4-15=19 points led all defensemen and rookies, while his 3-9-12 points on the man advantage paced all players.

In addition to Read and Hunt, the 2009-10 Preseason All-CHA Team was made up of Niagara’s Chris Moran (Sr., F); Nathan Longpre (Jr., F) and Denny Urban (Jr., D) from Robert Morris with Alabama-Huntsville’s Cameron Talbot (So., G) selected as the team’s goaltender.

The preseason honor is the first of Hunt’s career, while it marks the second consecutive campaign Read has posted the honor.

Bemidji State completed the 2008-09 campaign April 9 after falling to Miami (Ohio) in its first appearance at the NCAA Division I Frozen Four. BSU posted its fourth 20-win season in eight years under head coach Tom Serratore and its seventh consecutive season with a record of .500 or better. The Beavers also captured their fourth CHA regular-season crown since 2004 with a 12-5-1 mark in league play.

The Beavers and Serratore, the 2009 CHA Coach of the Year, return 17 players that were part of the magical 2008-09 run to the 2009-10 roster.

Bemidji State opens its 2009-10 campaign, its 54th as an intercollegiate program and its 11th at the NCAA Division I level, Oct. 9-10 when it hosts the United State Air Force Academy. Friday’s opener is slated for a 7:35 p.m. start while the puck will drop at 7:05 Saturday at the John S. Glas Fieldhouse.

--bsu--