4/16/2010 - MEN'S ICE HOCKEY Bemidji State men’s hockey adds two more for 2010-11 season

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BEMIDJI, Minn. -- The Bemidji State University men’s ice hockey program today announced the addition of Kyle Brodie (Northglenn, Colo.) and Garrett Ladd (Fenton, Mich.) to the Beaver hockey program for the monumental 2010-11 season. Both incoming student-athletes signed National Letters of Intent during the NCAA’s regular signing period beginning April 14.

All signees are contingent upon admission to BSU and compliance with NCAA rules, including certification by the NCAA Eligibility Center.

“We are excited about bringing Garrett Ladd and Kyle Brodie into our program,” said BSU Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Ted Belisle. “They both possess the skill set, competitive nature and speed that defines Beaver hockey. We add them to our early signees, Jeff Jubinville and Radoslav Illo, and look forward to this exciting class coming in for our first season in the WCHA.”

• Brodie  (6-0, 195, Defenseman, Northglenn, Colo.), a defenseman for the Wenatchee Wild of the North American Hockey League (NAHL), has played in 50 of 58 contests for a team that is tied for a league-low in goals allowed (125), leads the NAHL in wins and clinched a division title with a 45-10-3 record. Brodie ranks fifth on his team and is third among all NAHL blueliners in scoring with 13-25-38 points, which includes five goals and 14 helpers on the power play. He carries a +29 plus/minus rating to pace the Wild and ranks third among NAHL defensemen.

Brodie opened the 2009-10 season with a five-game scoring streak and netted at least a point in eight of the Wild’s first nine games posting a goal and 10 assists during that span.  He led the Wild to a 4-2 victory over Wichita Falls Oct. 31 registering a season-high three points on a 2009-10-best two goals and an assist.

The only native of Colorado on BSU’s 2010-11 roster, Brodie is thought to be just the second student-athlete in the history of the BSU men’s hockey program to hail from the Rocky Mountain State.  

“Kyle has had a great year in Wenatchee and has established himself as a very good power-play defenseman,” said Belisle. “He is a competitor and we look forward to him bringing some size and skill into our line up next year.”

The Wild, who are coached by former BSU graduate assistant Ryan McKelvie, advanced to the second round of the 2010 NAHL playoffs with a 3-0 sweep over the Kenai River Brown Bears April 2-4. During the opening-round series, Brodie contributed a pair of assists.  Wenatchee continues its quest for the Robertson Cup Championship April 16 when it opens a best-of-five series versus the Fairbanks Ice Dogs.

Brodie is the third in a growing list of former Wenatchee Wild players to commit to Beavers.  Current teammate Jeff Jubinville signed an NLI to play for the Beavers in 2010-11 during the early signing period and Mathieu Dugas (Fr., G, L’ Assomption, Quebec) recently completed his freshman campaign at BSU.

• Ladd  (5-10, 185, Forward, Fenton, Mich.), a three-year veteran forward of the NAHL’s Marquette Rangers, has skated in 168 games and piled up 49 goals and 91 assists for 140 points as a Ranger. A playmaker, Ladd had his most productive season in 2009-10. Seeing time in 55 of Marquette’s 58 contests, he piled up 23 goals and 40 assists to rank second on his team and fifth in the league in total points (63), which includes 24 power-play points (4-20--24), a team-leading five short-handed markers and four game-winners. His 40 assists place him fourth among his league counterparts.

Ladd has posted at least a point in 39 of 55 appearances this season and is plus-15 for the season.  The Fenton, Mich. native has assembled four scoring streaks of at least five games, which includes a 10-game string stretching from Jan. 22-Feb. 19 during which he accounted for four goals and 10 assists.  He has 15 multi-point games and notched three four-point outings in 2009-10. Dec. 10, Ladd spurred the Rangers to a 5-2 victory over Traverse City netting a pair of short-handed tallies.

The Rangers cruised to a NAHL North Division title with a 35-22-1 overall record, but Ladd and his Marquette teammates saw their season come to an abrupt end April 8 when Motor City earned a 4-3, triple-overtime victory to complete a three-game sweep and bounce the Rangers in the first round of the 2010 post season.

Ladd will be the fourth native of Michigan to wear the green and white and the first since Tom Heaviland played for the Beavers from 1975-79.

“Ladd is a dynamic skater that possess very good playmaking skills and has played a lot of junior hockey,” stated Belisle.  “He will bring experience, speed and playmaking skill to our program.”

BSU’s regular period signees join forwards Radoslav Illo (Bystrica, Slovakia), a fifth round 2009 entry draft pick of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Anaheim Ducks (136th overall), who just wrapped up a 43-point (24-19--43) campaign for the Tri-City Storm of the United States Hockey League (USHL) and Jeff Jubinville (Edmonton, Alberta), who registered 27-27--54 points to lead Wenatchee in scoring.  Illo and Jubinville committed to the Beavers during the early signing period (Nov. 12-19).

The Beavers, who finished 23-10-4 overall and 14-3-1 in College Hockey America (CHA) play to garner their fifth conference regular-season crown in the last seven years, wrapped up its 2009-10 campaign with a trip to the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Regional semifinal where it lost to University of Michigan.  The regional appearance marked its fourth trip to the NCAA Division I Tournament since 2005.   

The 2010-11 season will be a landmark year for Bemidji State.  In addition to the program finding a new conference home in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA), arguably the premier collegiate hockey league in the land, the Beavers also pack their bags for a new physical home, moving from the John S. Glas Fieldhouse, that has served as the hockey home of the Beavers since 1967, to the state-of-the-art, $65 million Bemidji Regional Events Center.  BSU is set to break the seal on the new venue Oct. 15-16 when it hosts WCHA-foe University of North Dakota. 

--bsu--