Bemidji State Beavers men ' s ice hockey The Bemidji State Beavers men ' s ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Bemidji State University . They play at the John S . Glas Field House in Bemidji , Minnesota . They will move to the Bemidji Regional Events Center at the beginning of the 2010 – 11 season , the same season in which they will become a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association . Early history . The Bemidji State men ' s ice hockey program began after World War II in 1946 . From the inaugural 1946 - 47 season through the 1966 - 67 season BSU played as an independent member of Division I . In 1968 the team became a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics ( NAIA ) . The program continued to operate as an independent member , now in the NAIA from 1968 - 69 through the 1979 - 80 season . For the 1980 - 81 season the program joined the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association ( NCHA ) , in which Bemidji State is a charter member . BSU won the 1981 - 82 and 1982 - 83 NCHA regular season championships . Following the 1982 - 83 season BSU moved to NCAA Division II remaining in the NCHA . During the program ' s 16 - season tenure in the NAIA the team won NAIA national ice hockey championship s 9 times , including the first NAIA Championship in 1968 . The Beavers won their third straight NCHA regular season championship in 1983 - 84 and qualified for the NCAA tournament . In the 1984 tournament BSU won its first NCAA title at the Division II level with BSU sweeping Merrimack in a best - of - three series winning 6 - 3 and 8 - 1 . Beginning in the following season , the Division II tournament was combined with the NCAA Division III level . The Beavers won the NCHA regular season championship for the third straight season and qualified for the school ' s first NCAA Division III ice hockey championship . BSU came in second after a 1 - 5 loss in the finals to RIT . Bemidji State won the first ever NCHA playoff tournament at the conclusion of the 1985 - 86 season and continued momentum into the NCAA DIII tournament winning the Division III Championship in an 8 - 5 win over Plattsburgh State . BSU made the NCAA Division III tournament three more times in the 1980s , 1987 - 1989 but finished fourth once and third twice . The Division II Ice Hockey Tournament was reinstated beginning in 1992 - 93 season and BSU won The Division II championship three straight years 1993 - 1995 . In the 1996 championship the Beavers came up short to Alabama - Huntsville . The following season Alabama - Huntsville would get revenge , beating Bemidji State in the 1998 championship game . That would be the last year BSU participated in the DII tournament , the Beavers failed to qualify for the last NCAA DII Tournament in 1999 and the following season the Beavers moved to NCAA Division I level . Recent history . CHA era . Bemidji State joined two other former Division II ice hockey members Alabama – Huntsville and Findlay along with former DI independent teams Air Force , Army , and Niagara and expansion program Wayne State to form College Hockey America at the Division I level after the NCAA ended sponsorship of a Division II ice hockey tournament due to lack of membership . BSU won their first CHA regular season championship in the 2003 - 04 season but lost 2004 CHA Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in overtime 3 - 4 to ( # 2 ) Niagara . The 2004 - 05 marked a historic season for the BSU hockey program . The team swept through the CHA winning the CHA regular season championship and winning the 2005 CHA Championship over Alabama - Huntsville . The 3 - 0 shutout win gave the Beavers their first berth in the NCAA Division I Ice Hockey Tournament in program history . the team came close to a major upset , losing 3 - 4 in overtime to the # 1 ranked Denver in the opening round . Bemidji beat Niagara 4 - 2 to win the 2006 CHA Championship and advance to the 2006 NCAA Division I Men ' s Ice Hockey Tournament for the second year in a row . BSU again lost in the opening round , this time to Wisconsin 0 - 4 . The 2008 - 09 season was the most successful season the team has had at the Division I level . The Beavers finished the regular season 1st in the CHA with a record of 12 - 5 - 1 and won the 2009 CHA Championship in 3 - 2 in overtime over Robert Morris . The team picked up the first NCAA Division I tournament win in the 2009 NCAA Division I Men ' s Ice Hockey Tournament with a 5 - 1 upset over Notre Dame Fighting Irish men ' s ice hockey , a # 1 seed and ranked 2nd in the national rankings . The Beavers advanced for the first time in the Division I tournament and beat Cornell 4 - 1 to advance to the school ' s first ever Frozen Four held at the Verizon Center in Washington D . C . . Bemidji faced Miami ( Ohio ) in the National Semifinal game with a 1 - 4 loss to the RedHawks . WCHA era . In addition to the on - ice success , in 2008 Bemidji began exploring options to strengthen the program . The CHA had lost many of the original member to programs at Findlay and Wayne State folding and other teams transferring to other college hockey conferences . Travel expenses to remaining members in Huntsville , Alabama and Western New York and Pennsylvania was also a concern . BSU began looking at the Western Collegiate Hockey Association ( WCHA ) as a solution . In a first step the university signed a scheduling agreement against WCHA schools , many within a few hours drive to Bemidji , Minnesota Other than the WCHA BSU ' s only option was to end the historic program . In 2009 it was announced the university and city of Bemidji would build a 4 , 000 - 5 , 000 seat state - of - the - art arena to meet WCHA requirements , that the 2 , 400 - seat John S . Glas Field House did not meet . With the news of the Bemidji Regional Events Center BSU applied to join the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in early 2009 . Bemidji State along with University of Nebraska - Omaha ( transferring from the CCHA ) was accepted into the WCHA as the 11th and 12th members . BSU officially became a member on July 1 , 2010 .