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BRAINERD – The Bemidji State and Minnesota women’s hockey teams played against each other five times last season.
The first two contests were part of a typical Sanford Center home series for the Beavers in November. To kick off the new year, Bemidji State and the U of M traveled to the Lakeville Hasse Arena for the U.S. Hall of Fame Museum Face-Off Classic on Jan. 1.
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Then, on Jan. 24, the Gophers hosted their Field Trip Day at Ridder Arena, featuring 3,700 grade-school students in attendance for a Friday matinee. The following day, the two teams squared off one more time outdoors during Hockey Day Minnesota at ValleyFair in Shakopee.
With the start of the new season looming for both programs on Sept. 26, they worked out another unique setting for a hockey game.
At 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20, Bemidji State and Minnesota will play an exhibition game at the Essentia Health Sports Center in Brainerd.
“Both us and Bemidji were working with teams from Canada to have them come down and play (exhibitions), and that fell through,” U of M head coach Brad Frost said. “We just felt like it made sense to play against each other. For them to go all the way down here, or us to go all the way up there, it didn’t seem to make a ton of sense.”
More importantly, the exhibition gives players and coaches a chance to increase women’s hockey exposure in a rural community that doesn’t have it.
“Growing the game in a local community, there’s nothing better than that,” BSU head coach Amber Fryklund said. “I know our program and Minnesota have had opportunities to play in really unique games last season as well, with the Hall of Fame game and the Gophers’ Field Trip Day at Ridder. Those games are really unique and make a significant impact on the game of women’s hockey.”
“We discussed how we could get to that halfway point, while also getting an opportunity to grow the game,” Frost added. “It allows young girls and people to come and watch, and hopefully enjoy some D-I hockey right in their backyard.”
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Tickets are $5 at the door. The Essentia Health Sports Center also promoted an autograph signing following the game.
“It’s really special,” U of M junior Ava Lindsay said. “It’s a really cool opportunity to promote women’s hockey and spread it around the communities. We’re really excited to have that exhibition game and continue to prepare for the season and get ready for our first game. It’s really great that we’re able to bring that to a community that doesn’t have college hockey.
“I’m hoping that we can inspire some girls to start hockey, or just continue to keep playing and following our team and women’s hockey in general.”
Bemidji State junior captain Hailey Armstrong noted that it’ll be an important experience for BSU newcomers. The Beavers open their 2025-26 season at home against top-ranked Wisconsin, the defending national champion.
“The games we got to play against the Gophers last season definitely were pretty cool in all of those circumstances,” Armstrong said. “Everyone’s excited. It’s a new rink. The freshmen and international students probably haven’t played in Brainerd. Going to that community is pretty fun. Getting everybody involved and everybody playing in that game is something special for a lot of reasons.”
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