Jan. 16—BEMIDJI — Nestled into a banquet hall, sheltered from another winter storm rolling through Bemidji, a group of hockey players shared a unique pregame meal.

The Bemidji State women’s hockey team and the Bemidji High School girls hockey team are gearing up for the second Sanford Center Showcase this weekend.

In conjunction with 218 Sports, the Sanford Center Showcase brings in prep teams to share a playing surface with Bemidji State student-athletes. There will be six hockey games at the Sanford Center this weekend.

Orono and Hill-Murray are traveling up from the Metro area to play Bemidji and Warroad. BHS takes on Hill-Murray at 3:30 p.m. on Friday ahead of BSU’s 7:02 p.m. puck drop against the University of Minnesota.

On Saturday, the Beavers play the Gophers at 3:30 p.m. before the Lumberjacks take on Orono at 6:30 p.m. Warroad will play both Orono and Hill-Murray in the first game each day.

BSU redshirt sophomore defenseman Elly Klepinger looks forward to her chances to connect with youth hockey players in Bemidji.

“It’s such a cool opportunity for a team like that to see what it’s like to play college hockey,” Klepinger said. “We are very fortunate here in Bemidji with the facilities and the resources we have. I think it opens the eyes of some of the girls who are maybe on the fence about playing college hockey.”

As part of growing girls and women’s hockey on a local level, Bemidji State hosted youth camps in August for various girls hockey age groups. They also hosted a skills session at the Sanford through

Minnesota Sports and Events ahead of the World Junior Championships.

“We see little girls around the rink all the time,” Klepinger continued. “You see them at the rink, you see them at Target, you see them in other areas. I think that’s just so cool, all of the stuff that comes from being in a smaller community. You get to gain and grow connections with people and be a role model for those people, because I had those people when I was growing up.”

Bemidji State will play its first game in the Sanford Center in 44 days, dating back to Dec. 6. The Beavers have played road series against Merrimack and St. Thomas since.

“There’s a lot of people who put in a lot of work and effort to make this weekend come to life,” head coach Amber Fryklund said. “Ryan (Rude) with 218 Sports has done such a great job coordinating and putting this together. We get to highlight four great high school programs in girls hockey. There’s also a 12U youth tournament in town. It’s just an exciting weekend for girls hockey.”

In high school, playing for Breck and Minnetonka, Klepinger had 25 goals and 58 assists in 126 games, though she wouldn’t call herself a scorer.

Klepinger takes immense pride in being a shutdown defenseman, a role she grew into in her first two collegiate seasons at the U of M. Before transferring to Bemidji State in the summer, Klepinger battled injuries to play in 27 games with the Gophers after graduating high school in 2024.

“It’s definitely a different game going from high school to college,” Klepinger said. “In high school, I produced well and I had the opportunity to be on the power play, which helps. I’ve never been a super offensive defenseman; I’ve been a shutdown D since I was little. I don’t look at points.”

Still, even Klepinger noticed she didn’t have her first college point through her first 48 games.

“I think this year was the year I (noticed) it,” she said with a laugh. “It was actually when we got back from Christmas break, like, geez, do I really not have a point yet? There has to be one coming, right? But it’s just the realization that I’m playing well defensively, and that’s all that matters. But it’s nice to not see zeroes across the board.”

Last Saturday against St. Thomas, Klepinger fed a pass to Kate Johnson, who then found Isa Goettl for the game’s first goal. With a secondary helper, Klepinger recorded her first point in her 49th game.

“You can see in every single weekend and every single game that her confidence continues to rise,” Fryklund said. “She had to adjust to the college game, and then she had injuries and had to rehab and recover from those. She changed programs. It’s a lot, but she’s done such a good job of working hard and being committed. She plays a lot of minutes for us. . . You saw it last weekend in the little things she does. She gets better every weekend.”

Klepinger played against her former team for the first time Nov. 14-15. Isa Goettl, another U of M transfer, had the same experience a year ago, as did Carmen Bray when BSU played St. Cloud State Nov. 21-22.

“It was a bit different being back there,” Klepinger said. “It was a déjà vu moment for me being back in Ridder Arena. It was really nice to see everyone there, but they’re tough to play against. It was really interesting to see it from the other side. It just motivates me even more for this weekend.”

In the transfer portal era of collegiate athletics, reunions come around more often now than when Fryklund played for the Beavers from 2000 to 2003.

“It’s a unique thing transfer players experience when they face their former team,” Fryklund said. “They see friends and teammates going back to where they used to play. It’s unique, and it can also be emotional. Our student athletes are humans, first and foremost. I thought Klepinger did a great job. In the hockey world, a lot of our players are friends with other players they grew up with. I think you see that everywhere we go.”

Bemidji State (5-14-3, 2-13-1 WCHA) begins a stretch of games against ranked opponents to end the regular season. Third-ranked Minnesota (18-4-0, 12-4-0 WCHA) is up first for BSU. The Gophers currently sit in third place in the WCHA standings, five points back of top-ranked Wisconsin in first.

“They’re certainly a talented team with talented players,” Fryklund said. “They play hard and they have players who are special. This is probably the best Gopher team I’ve seen in years, as far as the individuals that make things really hard for you on the ice. We know they’re a good team, and our focus is on being hard to play against.”

​https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/beavers-break-bread-lumberjacks-ahead-033800700.html