3/8/2010 - MEN'S ICE HOCKEY Bemidji State lands 17 on CHA All-Academic Team

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NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. -- Seventeen Bemidji State University men’s ice hockey players have been selected to the 2009-10 College Hockey America (CHA) All-Academic Team. Conference officials released its yearly academic honors list today as the teams prepare for the 2010 CHA Tournament.

BSU’s 17 picks continue its dominance of the league-wide academic honor roll, pacing the conference for the eighth consecutive season. Robert Morris University finished in second place with 14 all-academic selections, while University of Alabama-Huntsville and Niagara University round out the list with 13 student-athletes apiece named Academic All-CHA.

The Beavers’ 17 honorees make up 30-percent of the 57-man 2010 CHA All-Academic squad.

Bemidji State’s 2010 Academic All-College Hockey America honorees are:

Ryan Adams (Jr., D, Deloraine, Manitoba; 2nd honor); Dan Bakala (So., G, Calgary, Alberta; 1st); Emil Billberg (Jr., F, Stockholm, Sweden; 2nd); Matt Carlson (RS-Fr., D, Grand Forks, N.D.; 1st); Ryan Cramer (Jr., F, International Falls, Minn.; 2nd); Darcy Findlay (So., F, Bristol, Quebec; 1st); Kyle Hardwick (Sr., D, Warroad, Minn.; 3rd); Brad Hunt (So., D, Ridge Meadows, British Columbia; 1st); Ben Kinne (So., F, St. Paul, Minn.; 1st); Tyler Lehrke (Sr., F, Park Rapids, Minn.; 3rd); Ian Lowe (Jr., F, Bradwardine, Manitoba; 2nd); Dan MacIntyre (Jr., D, Fort Frances, Ontario; 2nd); Jamie MacQueen (So., F, St. Thomas, Ontario; 1st); Chris McKelvie (Sr., F, New Brighton, Minn.; 3rd); Chris Peluso (Sr., D, Wadena, Minn.; 3rd); Matt Read (Jr., F, Ilderton, Ontario; 2nd) and Shea Walters (So., F, Hibbing, Minn.; 1st).

Hardwick, Lehrke, McKelvie and Peluso, BSU’s 2009-10 senior class, pace the BSU contingent as each collect their third CHA All-Academic awards, while six players earn a repeat selection to the team and seven BSU honorees make their debut on the list.

Since setting a CHA record with 16 CHA All-Academic honorees in 2002-03, BSU has led College Hockey America in Academic All-CHA honorees each season. BSU tied its 2003 record with 16 honorees in 2004; led CHA with 14 academic selections in 2005; and again tied its own league record with 16 academic honorees in 2006, had a league-high 14 student-athletes selected for the league honor in 2007, posted a record-breaking 18 honorees in 2008 and are coming off a 2009 campaign in which 15 student-athletes garnered the award. In all, BSU has piled up 132 Academic All-CHA selections in nine years under head coach Tom Serratore, far and away the most in CHA. Niagara is a distant second with 103 during the same nine-year window.

BSU’s 17-member Academic All-CHA class for 2010 brings the total of Beaver skaters honored for their academic efforts by the conference to 140 since the league’s inception for the 1999-2000 season.

To earn placement on the CHA All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must have completed at least one year of residency at his present institution prior to the current academic year. The student-athlete must have a grade-point average of at least 3.00 (based on a 4.00 scale) for the previous two semesters or three quarters, or an overall GPA of at least 3.00 for all terms at his present institution. The student-athlete must be both academically and athletically eligible to compete during the present season.

Bemidji State finished its 2009-10 regular-season with a record of 23-8-3 and captured its fifth CHA regular-season crown in the past seven campaigns with a mark of 14-3-1 in league play. The Beavers open the “second season” this weekend as they compete for an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament in the 2010 CHA Tournament at Dwyer Arena in Lewiston, N.Y.  The top-seeded Beavers will play No. 4 Niagara University at 6 p.m. (CST), while Robert Morris University, the second seed, will battle No. 3 Ala.-Huntsville in the other semifinal at 2 p.m. (CST) Friday.  Semifinal winners will advance to the CHA Championship at 7 p.m. Saturday.  

--bsu--