Mitch Cain chosen by the Windsor Spitfires in the OHL priority draft.

 Bemidji State University - Mitch Cain

Cain enjoying freshman year at Bemidji State
A A A - text size
Wednesday, 30 November 2011 - 1:48pm
By Lucas Punkari, Staff writer
With the NCAA hockey season getting underway in mid-October, Fort Frances native Mitch Cain was unable to get home to be with his family and friends for Canadian Thanksgiving.
However, with the Bemidji State Beavers having this past weekend off for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, Cain made the trip north, with a couple of teammates coming along for the ride.
Hunt Sunset Country
view counter
“Tyler Tosunian and Sean Rudy are both freshman on the team, as well, and they couldn’t make it back home for Thanksgiving, so I decided give them a little bit of home cooking from my parents here,” Cain noted.
“It’s been great to be back home and be back in my own bed again, and to also have a chance to see my friends and family,” he added.
Cain has been in Bemidji since August, where he is in his first year as a forward with the Beavers’ hockey team and loving every minute of it.
“The program is just awesome,” he enthused. “The coaching staff is great and I’m definitely learning as much as I can.
“Right now, I’m just trying to be a sponger and take in everything that I can.
“I get to see a lot, as well, from all the different kind of players that we have not only on our team, but around the league [WCHA], as well, and I think that makes that league stand out as the best, bar none,” Cain added.
Besides getting used to the world of Division I hockey, the 20-year-old Cain also has been getting back into the swing of things with his studies.
“I was actually pretty excited about doing that again as I had a couple of years off from being in school,” he noted.
“I still haven’t decided yet on a major, so I’m just doing general studies right now,” he explained.
“But at this point, I plan to stick to the sciences and just go from there.”
On the ice, Cain made an impact in his first in-game action of the season back on Oct. 2, when he scored a goal in a 7-0 exhibition win over the visiting Regina Cougars.
“It was a little nerve-wracking before I went out on the ice for that game as that was my very first college hockey game of any kind,” he admitted.
“But it was very nice to get a goal there in that game, and I also got a chance to play with my new teammates.”
Two weekends later, Cain made his first regular-season appearance for the Beavers against the host Colorado College Tigers, netting his first WCHA goal in a 3-1 loss on Oct. 14.
“I was playing with a couple of good linemates [Brance Orban and Drew Fisher], and I just managed to find the puck on that play,” he recalled.
“It’s always great to get that first goal, but to do it in my first WCHA game was awesome, and I’m definitely going to remember that game for a long time.”
Cain has played in 10 games for the Beavers so far, registering that one goal and adding three assists to show for his efforts.
“My coaches have said that both the amount of games I’ve played and my numbers [themselves] are not bad numbers for someone in their first season,” he noted.
“For me, though, it’s all about getting that college experiences this season, not just on the ice but off the ice, as well.”
One thing Cain feels has helped in his transition to the world of NCAA hockey was his time in the USHL over the last two seasons, where he played for the Des Moines Buccaneers.
“I think that the USHL is the best league for someone to go and prepare for playing college hockey,” he remarked.
“The college game is that much faster, and the guys are bigger, stronger, and more skilled.
“To get to see that style of hockey is really fun, and when you are playing it’s a real-eye opening experience,” Cain added.
“But for me, I think that being in the USHL for two years really helped me in that transition into the league here, and it has also allowed me to come in and play a role for the Beavers right away.”
Also helping out Cain and his fellow freshmen is the coaching staff at Bemidji State, led by long-time head coach Tom Serratore.
“They constantly do a lot of hands-on work with you, and they teach you a lot of information that you take in right away at the start,” Cain said.
“I think myself and all of the other rookies are coming along quite nicely, and overall I think things are looking pretty good for all of us.”
The Beavers currently sit 10th in the 12-team WCHA loop with a 3-6-1 conference record (5-8-1 overall). But despite the record, Cain feels team is doing well.
“We are just coming off of a big win over North Dakota, which was huge for the program as we haven’t beaten them since 1970,” Cain noted.
“Our coaching staff was pretty excited after that game. And looking ahead to this weekend, we know that we are going to have some pretty intense games against St. Cloud State on the road.”
Cain personally is looking forward to that set of games so he can face another Fort Frances native and former Jr. Sabres’ teammate Ryan Faragher, who has taken over the starting goaltending role at St. Cloud State in his freshman season.
“I can’t wait to try and put one past him,” Cain smiled.
“We made a trip up to Duluth a couple of weeks ago to play Minnesota-Duluth and while the games didn’t go all that great, it was nice go against my buddy [and fellow Fort Frances product] Joe [Basaraba] there,” Cain said.
As for the rest of the season, the expectations Cain has set are much more than just getting goals and assists on the scoresheet.
“It’s always nice to contribute and things like that, but my goal right now is to just compete every night,” he stressed.
“The big thing that our coaches want is players who are both passionate and intense, and I’m going to try and do that as much as I can.”

Congratulations to Mitch Cain, who was chosen by the Windsor Spitfires, 183rd overall in the Ontario Hockey League priority draft Saturday May 3rd, 2008.  Mitch played 43 games for the Fort Frances Jr. Sabres this season. He scored 14 goals and had 27 assists in the Sabres first season in the SIJHL.  Mitch was also named the SIJHL's, "Rookie of the year".