Chris Hennum takes over Bemidji girls hockey with high expectations

Bemidji turned to Chris Hennum to keep its girls hockey surge going after a breakthrough winter that ended a 19-year state tournament drought. The school named Hennum head coach on May 29, handing him a program that just reached the Class AA state tournament for the first time since 2007 and now faces the harder task of staying there.

Activities director Kristen McRae said Hennum stood out because of his work developing aspiring girls hockey players and his knowledge of the game. Hennum had already been active in the Bemidji Youth Hockey Association as both a head and assistant coach, and one account said he coached youth girls hockey in Bemidji for nearly a decade. That background gives him a direct link to the pipeline that feeds Bemidji High School, where expectations have risen sharply after the recent postseason run.

Hennum takes over from Mike Johnson, who retired after eight seasons behind the Bemidji girls hockey bench. Johnson’s final team delivered the kind of breakthrough that changes how a program is viewed around the state. Bemidji won the Section 8AA title on Feb. 12, beating Moorhead 4-3 at Bemidji Community Arena in front of a standing-room crowd. It was the Lumberjacks’ third section title in program history and their first since 2007.

The state tournament followed, and it was not a one-game appearance. Bemidji entered the Class AA bracket as the No. 5 seed with a 20-5-1 record, then fell 6-4 to Edina in the quarterfinals on Feb. 19. The Lumberjacks were shut out 2-0 by Lakeville North in the consolation semifinal on Feb. 20 and lost 3-2 in overtime to Farmington in the consolation final on Feb. 21. The tournament run still marked a major step for a team that had spent nearly two decades chasing that return.

The challenge for Hennum is preserving that momentum while making the program his own. Bemidji’s roster had already produced top-end scoring from junior forward Bailey Rupp, who was listed with 44 goals and 20 assists in the Minnesota State High School League preview, while names such as Megan Berg, Naomi Johnson, Lily Lauer and Sami Cowger gave the team depth and experience. That kind of foundation is exactly what Hennum inherits.

The pressure only grows with the next structural change. Bemidji High School activities are set to join the Central Lakes Conference beginning in the 2026-27 school year, a shift that will affect scheduling and competitive alignment across sports, including hockey. For Hennum, the first test is simple to define: prove that Bemidji’s breakthrough was the start of a standard, not just a single season.