By Nov. 13—BEMIDJI — If Bailey Rupp had it her way, she would've fast-forwarded through the summer.
"The offseason took forever," she said. "Just counting down the days, honestly."
The Bemidji High School senior has waited for Saturday to come around for months. The BHS girls hockey team opens its season with a 2 p.m. home game against East Grand Forks at Bemidji Community Arena. Rupp, the Lumberjacks' top returning forward and a preseason candidate for Minnesota's Ms. Hockey Award, has had a lot of time to think.
On Feb. 19, Bemidji
lost its Class AA state quarterfinal matchup against Edina
by a score of 6-4. She had a goal and an assist in that game, along with eight shots on goal. However, after the Hornets found an empty-net goal in the waning moments at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, the Jacks' hopes for the program's first state title vanished.
"I've thought about it a ton. Ugh," Rupp scoffed. "It took me a long time to be able to rewatch it."
Most players wouldn't rewatch a gutting loss, but Rupp isn't most players. The
Minnesota Duluth commit
who
played for Team USA in the U18 World Championships
fixated on that game in the peak of summer.
"I thought about it all the time," she said. "I couldn't stop thinking about that game. I would just think about that game and all the plays I could've made. It was a hard watch."
Eight days before the state quarterfinals, the Lumberjacks won their first section title in 19 years,
knocking off defending champion Moorhead 4-3
at the BCA.
For years, this core of players strongly expressed their desire to be the group to get BHS over the hump. And even though they did it, they feel like there's unfinished business.
"After the bar we set last year, I feel like we have even higher expectations," senior defender Millie Knott said. "We changed the program last year. We're coming into this year working even harder because we want to go even further."
Rupp added: "It made me so much hungrier. We gave it our all down there (at state), and we were so close. I don't want to be in that situation again where we give all of that again and come up short. It's just pushed us all to work harder."
In more ways than one, though, this is a different Bemidji team, and it
starts with the new head coach.
After eight seasons at the helm, Mike Johnson retired following the Class AA state tournament. Chris Hennum, who has been a longtime figure in Bemidji's youth hockey community, took over.
He, like Rupp, was also getting antsy for the season to start.
"It's taken a long time to get here," Hennum said. "It's a good time, and we're ready for it, but we've been itching for a while. Expectations are certainly high, and the girls are feeding off of that. They're loving it. They're ready to show what they have again and defend that title. The excitement is really high."
For Hennum, inheriting a roster like Bemidji's is certainly advantageous. The Lumberjacks lost two varsity difference-makers from last season to graduation — center Megan Berg and defender Taylor Bjerke. However, Rupp returns after posting a 70-point season in 23 games (46g, 24a), while Knott had 56 points (18g, 38a) and Naomi Johnson had 45 (18g, 27a). Mali McLean, Bergen Bakke, Emma Greiner and Ella Mae Swanberg all crossed the double-digit threshold as well.
BHS also brings back
one of the top goaltenders in the state.
Lily Lauer started every game for the Jacks a year ago, posting a record of 21-7-1 with a 1.75 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage.
"We have such high-end players, and everything starts with them — no matter how you structure it, it's going to go through them — but I'd like to incorporate more structure to how we play on the ice," Hennum said. "We're going to make sure everybody is in their assignments and not just relying on top players, because they can have off nights; they can get injured or sick and miss games. Everybody has to be ready to do their job and do it correctly."
The Lumberjacks were delivered some tough news in the preseason. Forward Olivia Wangberg is expected to miss the entire 2026-27 season with an injury.
BHS also faces one of its toughest schedules in program history. It plays state contenders Benilde-St. Margaret's and Hill-Murray twice, along with Centennial/Spring Lake Park, the reigning Class AA runner-up, at Brainerd International Raceway during Hockey Day Minnesota Week.
Bemidji will play Hill-Murray, the defending Class AA champ, BSM, a Class AA qualifier, and Dodge County, a Class A state qualifier, at a holiday tournament in St. Louis Park. The Lumberjacks will also hit the road to play Class A runner-up Warroad on Jan. 16.
And those are just the non-section marquee matchups.
Bemidji was in a three-horse race for the 8AA crown at the end of last season with Alexandria and Moorhead. The Cardinals and Spuds both reloaded, while Roseau and Brainerd/Little Falls could also enter the fold.
"However you look at it, there's no easy road for us," Hennum said. "Youth Hockey Hub did their predictions for each section champ, and out of the two people who predicted, neither picked us. We'll use that as fuel and use that as motivation. But still, Moorhead's going to be tough — Alexandria's going to be really tough. It's going to come down to who works the hardest."
Hennum knows that Bemidji is going to get every team's best after last season.
"They say that pressure is a privilege, and I certainly believe that," he continued. "It's where we want to be. If you're not feeling the pressure, then you're not in it for the right reasons. … Good teams are led by coaches, but great teams are led by players. That's what we have — great leaders who know what it takes to win. They understand that everybody has to be on the same page and buy in."
The difference for the Lumberjacks could come down to varsity newcomers. However, veterans like Knott remember what it was like to be the new kid on the block on a team full of juniors and seniors.
"Some of the younger girls will come up to us and tell us they're nervous, and that's OK," Knott said. "I tell them that I was in their shoes, too. Once you get into a season, it's going to take a couple of games to not feel that way, but that's when it starts getting fun.
"Every time I think about being a senior, I'm like, 'There's no way.' Eighth grade feels like forever ago, but it's still going by so fast. It doesn't feel real, but I hope the younger girls can look up to us seniors because we are here to help them."
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/still-hungry-more-lumberjacks-head-033300060.html
