Oct. 3—BEMIDJI — When Bemidji State men’s hockey players Reilly Funk and A.J. Macaulay hosted a Four Nations Face-Off viewing party at their house last February, they were outnumbered.
The two small-town Canadians were pulling for their home country, while the teammates who joined them were predominantly American, cheering for the red, white and blue.
“It was just me and A.J. versus everybody,” Funk quipped. “It was an uphill battle. But we have the numbers for the viewing parties this year.”
The Beavers have 14 Canadians and 11 Americans, along with three players from Europe. The Canadian major junior reinstated eligibility has opened up the recruiting pool to hundreds of new players, most of whom come from Canada.
On Nov. 7, 2024, the NCAA shifted its amateurism rules to allow Canadian Hockey League players from the Western Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League to play in college.
BSU has the third-most players in the CCHA with CHL experience — seven total — trailing only Bowling Green and Michigan Tech, who each have 11.
“Now, we have some more Manitobans, some more western Canadian boys,” Funk said. “It’s always fun to have the western Canadian boys in the locker room giving it to everybody.”
Funk played for the Portage Terriers in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. He’s a Portage native, which is a town of just over 13,000 people.
Macaulay comes from a similar background.
The senior defenseman played for the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Macaulay is a Bonnyville native, a town of about 6,700.
Macaulay and Funk both played for their hometown junior teams, which could change in the coming years due to CHL eligibility in NCAA hockey. Now that CHL players can play in college, players eyeing spots on NCAA teams don’t have to limit themselves to Tier II junior leagues in North America.
“Bonnyville is a community that’s really driven by their hockey and their Junior A team,” Macaulay said. “Toward the end of last year, you could kind of see there was a little hesitancy with the team there and how the fans were reacting towards it. I hope they realize it’s still good hockey. It’s just going to take time to see how the dynamics change in things. I hope that a town like Bonnyville, which is so passionate about their team, doesn’t get lost.”
It’s a conflicting line of thinking for Macaulay.
On one hand, he’s trepidatious about the lasting impact NCAA changes have on local junior hockey teams around North America. On the other hand, he nearly went the CHL route himself.
Macaulay attended the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings camp. He was undrafted, but thought he had a shot to make the team.
“I was kind of close, to be honest with you,” Macaulay said. “I was really considering it. After I went to camp, I didn’t really have any contact with Brandon, so my decision was made for me a little bit. In the back of my mind, the CHL was always the route I wanted to go.”
If Macaulay had made the team, his hockey career would look a lot different. He would’ve run out of NCAA eligibility unless he transferred from a U Sports program — Canada’s collegiate athletics system.
“You don’t have to make a decision when you’re 16 anymore,” Macaulay said. “It was a lot of pressure. When I went through it, it was a lot of pressure to decide, going one way or another. Now, you can play in the CHL at 16 or 17, because you can still play college hockey later, or stay in the CHL. You can go play in the (BCHL) or the USHL. It’s opening up more avenues for kids to play in the NCAA.”
Funk shares a similar experience.
“That’s the main option for everybody up there,” Funk said of the CHL. “I like that it’s opened up for everybody. I think I would’ve given the CHL more of a stab if I knew it was an option for me, too. But now, college hockey has the best players available. Everybody can play college hockey; everybody wants to play college hockey. That’s what’s fun about it.”
The CHL infusion has already provided a different feel in preseason practices. Both Funk and Macaulay transferred into BSU a year ago. Funk came from Northern Michigan, while Macaulay transferred from Alaska Fairbanks.
With as much roster turnover as Bemidji State has had — 10 new players — spots in the lineup are up for grabs.
“It’s been intense,” Macaulay said. “We’re looking fast on the ice, with a lot of skill. I’m just excited to see what comes when we get to Anchorage. I think a lot of us still might not know what we’re going to look like, just because of the uncertainty with everything that’s happened in college hockey, but I know we’re fast and we work hard, and it shows with how we’ve been practicing the past couple of weeks.”
Funk said: “It’s the highest-paced, highest-skilled start with a team I’ve ever had. College hockey is new this year for everybody. Having that every single day, that competitiveness, it’s good for everybody because everybody’s getting pushed.”
Funk and Macaulay are two of seven Bemidji State seniors who came up one game short of making the NCAA Tournament a year ago, which has been motivating, to say the least.
“Us as a senior group have been through a lot, just with our own college careers,” Funk said. “You don’t know what opportunities you’re going to get down the road in college when you’re not a senior. And for us, this is it. What we’ve been through is going to push it in the right direction.”
