Oct. 16—BEMIDJI — Every Bemidji State men’s hockey player made the trip to Anchorage, Alaska, for the season-opening series against the Seawolves. And almost every player followed the scheduled itinerary.
Sophomore defenseman Luke Roelofs, however, did not.
No, he was not out past curfew, and he did not stray away from the group. He didn’t oversleep a morning skate, nor did he miss the bus.
Instead, Roelofs was in search of minor medical attention.
The Beavers flew into Anchorage on Wednesday night, and after they wrapped up a morning practice on Thursday, Roelofs was on the receiving end of a freak play.
“The second we got done with practice, I looped around the net,” he said. “A puck rang around the glass and went in the ear hole in my helmet. It basically cut my head open behind my ear.”
BSU athletic trainer Heidi Krueger determined that Roelofs needed stitches. Rink personnel at the AVIS Alaska Sports Complex directed Roelofs and Krueger to an urgent care facility. Associate head coach Travis Winter rented a car, and Krueger got behind the wheel. Roelofs held a towel over the wound to prevent any further bleeding.
“It was leaking a little,” Roelofs quipped.
When they arrived at urgent care, they were swiftly sent to a different facility.
“The first place we went to was weird,” Roelofs said. “They said we only do stuff from the neck down. Heidi was like, ‘This is where the rink told us to come to.'”
After the duo was sent to another facility in search of stitches, Roelofs and Krueger, again, were redirected.
“Apparently, they didn’t have the tools to do stitches,” Roelofs said of the second facility. “I was like, ‘Well, OK. Is there anywhere else I can go?’ They sent us to one that was actually closer to the hotel.”
“The third place we went to had a three-hour wait because they only had one doctor there. I spent my fair share of time in the hospital. I’m glad the team wasn’t doing any sightseeing that day because I would’ve been mad if I missed out.
“It was a long day. I was falling asleep in the waiting room. We got to look at some mountains in the car, so that was cool.”
About 24 hours later, Roelofs suited up in the season opener for the Beavers. He also scored his first collegiate goal. However, it followed an atypical night of sleep.
“I rolled over on it in bed when we were in Anchorage,” Roelofs said. “That was pretty painful.
“It was really weird. I never thought I’d get hit there. Everyone takes their earpieces out. I don’t even know why; I think it’s more of a style thing. … I thought it would’ve cut my actual ear instead of behind it. Wrong place, wrong time, I guess.”
Roelofs has yet to have a normal game weekend during his sophomore campaign.
He got his stitches removed after the Beavers returned to Bemidji. He was in the lineup again on Friday night for the home opener against St. Cloud State at the Sanford Center.
However, in the 3-2 loss, Roelofs took a pair of penalties in the first period. He took another in the third period.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had three penalties in a game,” Roelofs said. “I feel like two of them maybe could’ve been called back. … But it’s just saying out of the box, because it’s hard to get in a rhythm when your PK guys are out there so much. Trying to match the lines back after a kill, it’s hard to get in a rhythm. If we can just play a 5-on-5 game, if we can roll four lines and guys get comfortable, we’ll be in a good spot.”
Barrett Hall scored the go-ahead goal on the Huskies’ power play following the first of Roelofs’ two tripping infractions in the first period. Austin Burnevik paid off the second power play late in the first period with the eventual winning goal.
“Knock on wood, I don’t think I’ll ever get three penalties in a game again,” Roelofs said. “It was a weird experience for me.”
Penalties were a problem for BSU against St. Cloud State.
Bemidji State took 10 penalties in six periods in the home-and-home series. Seven of them came in the first periods.
“We have to play 60 minutes and we have to stay out of the box,” head coach Tom Serratore said. “Both nights in the first period were tough on us. It was all self-inflicted. … At the end of the day, we were chasing the game.”
Bemidji State is averaging 10 penalty minutes per game through its first four contests this season. While there are still 30 games left on the regular-season schedule, the Beavers are on pace to record their highest per-game mark in four seasons by almost three minutes.
“Who knows?” Serratore said when asked where the penalty issues are stemming from. “I could sit here and lie to you and tell you whatever you want to hear, but I don’t know. I tell the guys, whatever happens, happens. I also like to say the other team has something to say about it, so let’s give credit to St. Cloud a little bit.”
After Saturday’s 4-2 loss against St. Cloud State, Serratore praised depth players like Van Yuhas. Yuhas saw added ice time as the game went on in lieu of other players seeing their shifts skipped.
The 28-player team has 10 newcomers who were added through BSU’s freshman class and the transfer portal. As Bemidji State heads into another home-and-home series against an NCHC opponent, Minnesota Duluth, inter-team competition is heating up.
“Some guys are going to step up because maybe they’re in roles where they have the ability to step up,” Serratore said. “It’s a tough adjustment for all guys. Weekend one against Anchorage is one thing, but St. Cloud and Duluth and heavyweights. We’re in some heavyweight matchups. It’s a high level. These guys recognize that speed, strength and a lack of time and space is at this level. Everybody’s adjusting. It doesn’t matter how old you are — it’s new.”
Defensively, the Beavers added three players — Hudson Thornton, Max Vig and Ben Vigneault. They replace defensive-minded seniors Tony Follmer and Will Magnuson from a year ago, after they graduated last spring.
For a sophomore like Roelofs, change spells opportunity.
“Coming in as a freshman, it’s hard to tell what your role is right away,” Roelofs said. “I feel like I understand what my role is here and I’m trying to play it to the best of my ability. I feel good right now. We have a new team this year with a lot of new guys, and a lot of familiar faces as well. We have a lot of mature guys to look up to. We have a good group and we can do something special this year.”
In Roelofs’ 2024-25 season exit meeting with the BSU brass, he took his areas of improvement to heart.
“Tom really emphasized defending quicker and shutting down plays, being more aggressive in our D-zone,” Roelofs said. “… That’s something I worked on a lot this summer, retrieving pucks. I feel like, in those areas and trying to jump up more on offense, that’s big for me.”
He also told the coaching staff he wants to be a relied-upon leader for the players who were in his shows a year ago.
“I told them I want to be somebody the new guys can look up to and ask questions or come to if they’re struggling with something,” Roelofs said. “We have veteran defensemen as well that guys can go to, and I did that last year as well. I talked to the juniors a lot last year, just asking them questions and trying to learn from them. I feel like I can try to be one of those guys for the new guys.”
Roelofs spent the summer back home in Mound, where he reconnected with old friends while working on his freshman-to-sophomore jump.
“I feel like I had a really good summer training back home,” Roelofs said. “I was in the weight room a lot — at least three or four times a week. You get to see buddies and stuff, and I feel like I really developed over the summer.”
As the Beavers navigate their newfound identity, along with early-season injuries to sophomore defenseman Isa Parekh and senior forward Adam Flammang, the lineup will remain fluid.
Spots are there for the taking. It’s up to the players to take them.
“At the end of the day, we have to make decisions based on play and trust,” Serratore said. “That’s what we’re trying to do, and that’s what’s tough because I want everybody to play good.
“That’s just sports. This happens in Little League. Last time I looked, Little League teams don’t only have nine guys. They have 11 or 12, and there’s a certain amount of competition there as well.”
