Scanlan, Fryklund bench pairing not all that sets Bemidji State apart

The Bemidji State women’s hockey program is unique. If you talk to anyone about the team you’ll hear that word pop up and it’s justified.

“Bemidji is a unique school in the WCHA,” Head Coach Jim Scanlan said before a November series against the Gophers. “Obviously you’ve got Big Ten schools, Big Ten programs, Big Ten cities. Duluth, Mankato, St. Cloud, Grand Forks, they’re all much bigger than Bemidji State. We’re a unique school in those terms. We’re smallest in terms of enrollments. We’re a small community.

“You’re not going up there for the malls.”

It’s not just the school’s location and size that sets it apart, though. The way the coaching staff came together isn’t a common story. It reveals a lot of what is special about the program and what has it poised for continued growth.

Scanlan took the head coach position in the summer of 2014 when Steve Sertich stepped down after eight years at the helm. Among the finalists for the position were Scanlan, a former goaltender for the Beavers, and Amber Fryklund, who was not only a former Beaver but also an assistant under Sertich.

When Scanlan took the job he asked both Fryklund and assistant Shane Venkeer, who also attended Bemidji State, to stay with the program. Fryklund became the Associate Head Coach.

“For me, it was real easy. I just hoped she would want to stay on. I never thought at one time of not asking her to stay or not be a part of the team based on what I was told.” – Jim Scanlan on Amber Fryklund

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Former Minnesota State men’s hockey coach Troy Jutting is among four finalists identified by Bemidji State for its open women’s head coaching position. Current Bemidji State women’s assistant Amber Fryklund, Minnesota State women’s assistant coach Brett Bruininks and East Grand Forks High School athletic director and head girls hockey coach Jim Scanlan round out an impressive list of candidates.

According to a BSU press release, the quartet have been invited to Bemidji for on-campus interviews scheduled for Wednesday, June 4 to fill the position left vacated by the retirement of Steve Sertich on March 17 following an eight-year run guiding the Beavers.

Jutting, a Richfield native, has spent the past two seasons on Dean Blais’ staff at the University of Nebraska-Omaha after a 26-year affiliation with Minnesota State as a player and coach. A four-year letter winner for the Mavericks, Jutting compiled 145 points in 136 games before turning his attention to coaching. Jutting stood behind the Minnesota State bench for 22 seasons, including the final 12 as head coach in which he led MSU to a 184-224-55 record and was honored with two Western Collegiate Hockey Association Coach of the Year awards (2002-03 and 2007-08).

Bemidji State’s all-time leading scorer with 122 points accumulated from 2000-03, Fryklund returned to her alma mater three years ago as an assistant under Sertich after several seasons coaching in the Minnesota high school ranks. The Hibbing native was a Minnesota Ms. Hockey finalist before landing in Bemidji where she guided the Beavers through the program’s formative years. Fryklund became BSU’s first All-WCHA selection when she garnered second team honors as a junior in 2001-02.

A four-year letterwinner at Notre Dame from 1992-96, Bruininks is coming off of his first season as an assistant with the Minnesota State women’s program after a three-year stint as head women’s hockey coach at Concordia College (Minn.) from 2010-2013. In his first season at Concordia, the Minneapolis native he led the Cobbers to a single-season program record of 15 wins and the program’s first MIAC tournament berth in 10 years. Bruininks, who played professionally for minor-league affiliates of the Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks and Carolina Hurricanes from 1996-99, received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1996, before earning his Master’s of Education degree from the University of Minnesota in 2005 and his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 2009.

Scanlan, a two-time All-American goaltender for the Beavers from 1978-82 who helped lead BSU to a pair of national titles as a player, brings with him a wealth of experience coaching both men’s and women’s hockey. He recently capped off his sixth season at the helm of the East Grand Forks High School girls team by leading the Green Wave to the Minnesota state tournament for the first time in program history. As coach of the EGF boys from 1996-2005, he led them to four trips to St. Paul. Prior to that, Scanlan served as an assistant coach at North Dakota (1989-96) and Michigan Tech (1985-89).

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