Both Bemidji State teams begin seasons against debuting head coaches
· Yahoo Sports
Oct. 1—BEMIDJI — Tom Serratore doesn't remember what was going through his head during his first walk to the bench as the Bemidji State men's hockey team's head coach.
After all, it's been 26 years.
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"It was so long ago," Serratore said. "There's always a little (bit of) nerves. There's nerves all the time — I have nerves right now. There are always unknowns, but wanting to win a hockey game, whether it was 26 years ago or right now, is always the same."
Serratore is set to begin his 26th and
final campaign
with the Beavers. Amber Fryklund is
heading into her third season
at the helm of the Bemidji State women's hockey team.
Both groups of Beavers begin play this weekend against familiar opponents, but with new faces behind the opposing bench.
Third-ranked Minnesota
moved on from former women's hockey head coach Brad Frost
last spring. The Gophers
promoted Greg "Boom" May,
who spent the last three seasons as the program's associate head coach.
"There's support for him," Fryklund said of May. "He's been around the game and around Minnesota for a few years. A lot of us know him, so it's certainly exciting for him to start his first season as head coach."
St. Cloud State men's hockey also begins a
new era under Nick Oliver.
Former head coach Brett Larson left the program to replace Bob Motzko at the U of M. The Huskies nabbed Oliver, who played for SCSU from 2012-15 and spent the last three seasons as an assistant at Wisconsin.
"Nick's going to have nerves, but he's coached a lot of hockey games," Serratore said. "Whether (it's) been as an assistant coach — he was also a coach in the USHL — he's going to prepare his team. He's a heck of a coach. ... He's a consummate professional."
May, a native of Burnsville, began his coaching career in 2010 as an assistant coach of the Burnsville High School boys hockey team. He spent two seasons as Farmington's boys head coach before taking over at Blake from 2016-19.
May's first stint with the Gophers lasted two seasons as the director of hockey operations. From there, he became the head coach of his alma mater, Augsburg (D-III), from 2021-23 before returning to the U of M to serve as Frost's top assistant.
"It's a big advantage for me, honestly," May said at the U of M's Women's Media Day press conference last week. "I was here for three years. I'm on the staff, so I'm fully a part of the decisions that were made, but you get a front-row seat to things that work really well and things that are, 'If I were the head coach, I'd do it this way instead.' There's no right or wrong. ... You do what you feel like your team needs, and you're not always right, but it's been fun to experiment."
At the same press conference, he explained how he got his nickname.
"I have an older brother and an older sister," May said. "When my mom was pregnant with me and I was kicking around in her stomach, my brother and sister called me 'Boom Boom.' It stuck with me my entire life. I think it's here to stay now."
Oliver hails from Section 8 territory. A native of Wannaska and a 2009 Roseau High School graduate, he got his start in coaching immediately after his collegiate career ended in 2015. Oliver served as the Sioux Falls Stampede's assistant coach and director of scouting from 2015-18.
Oliver returned to SCSU's campus in 2018 as an assistant coach. He was hired by Larson, who made his collegiate head coaching debut with the Huskies that season. Oliver spent two seasons with the program before he took his first head coaching position with the Fargo Force in the USHL. He moved on after one season and spent the last three years as a Wisconsin assistant.
Despite both the Bemidji State men's and women's hockey teams playing against in-state rivals, there's a sense of unfamiliarity ahead.
"We all have unknowns right now," Serratore said. "We have 13 new guys, so there's a lot of unknowns for us, too. You can take a look at clips from last year and games from last year — we're not changing too much."
Fryklund said: "I'm sure there are going to be differences. Whether it's in the way they play or systematically, I think we'll have a really good feel for that on Friday after the first game. Being able to watch some film on them, there are some differences there. Knowing they're a good team with good players, focusing on us is how we're going to play."
Both Bemidji State and the Gophers were the only two WCHA teams that didn't play last weekend. BSU was supposed to host Merrimack's return trip from last year's nonconference road series, but Merrimack, under new leadership, backed out.
Still, both Bemidji State and Minnesota skated in exhibitions two weekends ago.
"We're in a really good place with our players understanding our systems," Fryklund said. "For the last two weeks in practice, it's really been dialing in our systems in key areas. ... Systematically, our players have a really good understanding. Now, we're trying to fine-tune things.
"We know that Minnesota is a very talented team. For us, we just need to focus on us and the things we need to do. Obviously, you look and see some of their tendencies and make sure we're prepared for (them) the best we can."
The Bemidji State women's hockey season begins at 6 p.m. on Friday at the Sanford Center, with the series finale beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Both games will be broadcast on Fox9.
The BSU men's hockey team hosts St. Cloud State at 6:07 p.m. on Saturday. The return trip to St. Cloud is scheduled for Dec. 16.