Harms winner of prestigious national award

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This article was published 20/04/2017 (2562 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Armed with a university degree and four years of NCAA Division I hockey under his belt, Steinbach’s Brendan Harms is now looking to the pro ranks to continue his hockey career.

Harms, 22, has made his mark over the years with whatever team he has played for, including winning back-to-back championships with the Portage Terriers and for the past four years in NCAA Division I hockey with the Bemidji State Beavers in Minnesota.

Year four with the Beavers has been a memorable one for Harms, both on and off the ice. An alternate captain at Bemidji State this year he helped the team to their best ever Division I performance, a squad that also included former Pistons’ defenceman Justin Baudry from La Broquerie, who has just completed his second year at Bemidji.

Harms also was recently named the winner of a prestigious national award, given to only one player annually in NCAA Division I hockey in the U.S. And that was the 2016-17 Senior CLASS Award for collegiate hockey.

Harms also excels in the classroom and that is why he is the winner of the award, given annually to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in Division I men’s hockey. The award was chosen by a nationwide vote of Division I men’s hockey coaches, U.S. national hockey media and fans.

With a 4.0 grade point average as a business administration major at Bemidji State, Harms is the first student athlete from the school to win the award. To be eligible for the award, the student-athlete must have notable achievements in four areas: classroom, community, character and competition.

Never mind hockey, just imagine having this award on your resume when your hockey career winds up and Harms hits the job trail.

In a national press release from Overland Park, Kansas, announcing Harms as the winner, Bemidji State head hockey coach Tom Serratore said, “Brendan Harms personifies what it means to be a student athlete. He does everything the right way, always committed to his work in the classroom, in the community and on the ice. Brendan leads by example and makes a positive impact with everything he does and everyone he meets.”

During his four-year tenure at Bemidji, he has also spent a considerable amount of time as a volunteer in the community, including working with the Bemidji Boy’s and Girl’s Club, BSU’s Campus Clean Up Project, the local food shelf and community garden. He also volunteered with the suicide prevention walk, assisted fellow students during BSU’s fall move-in, and visited a local school to play hockey with students during recess.

After the Beavers saw their season come to an end in March, a season that was the best ever at Bemidji State, Harms went to Fort Myers, Florida, where he suited up for the final four games of the regular season with the Florida Everblades of the East Coast Hockey League.

Now back at Bemidji, where he is putting the final touches on his degree before graduating in June, he told The Carillon in a telephone interview earlier this week, “it is a quite an honour to win this award, it means a lot. I was excited just to be a finalist, to see some of the guys in this group, some of the great players that have won this in the past, it’s pretty cool to be recognized in this manner.”

In his four seasons at Bemidji State, Harms totalled 88 points in all, including 33 goals in 141 games with the Beavers. One of the highlights for him this year was picking up four assists in one period in a game at Northern Michigan in November, and was named the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in that series where he garnered a goal and five assists.

Overall this season, the 6’, 190 lb forward had eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points in 35 games.

Goals and points are much harder to come by in NCAA Division I hockey. As a 16-and-17-year-old with the Portage Terriers he garnered 50 goals and 120 points in 100 games overall as he helped the Terriers win two MJHL championships. Those teams also included his brother Tanner Harms, along with Brett Adnum and brothers Steph and Yvan Pattyn.

Following his two years in Portage he spent one season in the USHL with the Fargo Force where he was a force on the ice leading the team in scoring that year with 70 points, including 25 goals.

As far as the Terriers are concerned, he speaks fondly of his time in Portage. “It’s amazing what they have been able to do there, all the championships they have won.” He says he still speaks to Portage coach Blake Spiller. “Blake also came down to see one of my games this year against UND at Grand Forks.”

Harms scored one goal in his four-game stint with the Everblades, who finished first overall in their conference this year, but lost the first two games of the playoffs to the eighth- place Orlando Solar Bears. Perhaps Harms should have stayed on in Florida for the post-season, evidently they could have used the help.  

In his final season at Bemidji, Harms was instrumental in helping lead the Beavers to a standout record of 20-6-2-2, winning the MacNaughton Cup for the first time.

After graduation Harms will return to Steinbach for the summer, where you will again see his friendly smile, working in the clubhouse at the Steinbach Fly-In Golf Club.

In the meantime, Harms has an agent working on his behalf and he expects to be attending camp this fall with one of the ECHL teams. “From there,” said Harms, “my next goal is hopefully into the AHL.”

“I want to continue playing hockey, we’ll see where it takes us.”